“No bother,” I said, trying to sound like I meant it. “What’s up?”

“Rock got a call from Father Jim Wilkins tonight.”

“Oh?”

“He said you’d been asking some odd questions.”

“I only called to reconfirm the time for the memorial,” I said. “We spoke for all of five minutes.”

“You’re not in any trouble, so don’t worry,” she said. “Rock hardly knows the guy—hasn’t seen him in forever—but apparently Derek kept his parish going all these years.”

“He’s probably after more money,” I said. “Now that Derek’s gone, he’s afraid his coffers will dry up.”

Lacey laughed. “You sound just like Rock. That’s almost exactly what he said verbatim.”

“He volunteered some information. He told me he’d given all the Wolfe kids their first communion, and he also said Derek doted on Riley.”

“Doted is hardly a fair word.”

“He probably didn’t know about…” I couldn’t finish. Saying the words made me feel…dirty.

“Right. Are you sure that’s all you talked about?”

“It was a short conversation. I didn’t ask him anything. Like I said, he volunteered it.

“Good enough for me,” Lacey said. “Thanks, Charlie. Again, sorry to bother you.”

I walked back into the office and took my seat. The Cosmo still sat on the table. Nearly an hour had passed, and Roy showed no sign of coming out of Dr. Woolcott’s office.

“This isn’t unusual,” the receptionist offered, as I glanced around the room nervously. “These late appointments often go on for an hour or so later because she doesn’t have anyone else waiting.

I nodded.

This was important. I could wait.

44

Roy

The pine trees were thick in the woods. The needles bristled against my cheeks, prickling me. Though it was daylight, the trees and shadows obscured the light, and I squinted to maintain my vision.

The light ahead seemed just out of reach. Every time I got closer, another tall and narrow pine tree popped out, its branches impeding my progress.

More trees.

More trees.

More trees.

Snakelike roots protruded from the ground. I had to maneuver around them lest I trip over one and fall.

I tripped only once.

Now I had the dance down. The roots—they had a design. Once I figured out the puzzle, I could skate around them smoothly.

The trees, though. They kept popping up.

And I got colder.

The wind whipped through me, leaving icy shards on my skin.

But I wore a coat.

Weird. I didn’t remember putting on a coat. But suddenly it was there, a down parka, and my arms were no longer cold, and the icy shards warmed into coziness.

Keep going, a voice said. Just keep going.

Was the voice inside my mind? It seemed to drift into me along with the wind, but it didn’t sound like my voice. Didn’t sound like a man at all.