“Yeah, Manny. Hoss and Manny. Make fun of their names now, before they get here.”

“And you couldn’t have briefed us on this, say…yesterday?” Reid asked. “Maybe during that silent hour you called lunch?”

“Fuck off, Reid,” Rock said.

“Rock,” Lacey admonished.

“Sorry.” Rock cleared his throat. “Manny has a patient who somehow knew I had left Montana. I didn’t tell anyone. At first, he wouldn’t tell me who it is. Doctor-patient privilege and all. But I think I’ve convinced him.”

“With money?” Roy asked.

“Is there any other way?”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Reid said.

“Don’t you get it? She knew I had left Montana for New York. I didn’t tell anyone, Reid. Not a fucking one.”

“How did your old girlfriend know then?” Reid asked.

Good question. Lacey had told me about Rock’s ex, Nieves Romero, who’d shown up a few days after Rock had.

“We’re thinking from this person,” Lacey said.

“Maybe the patient is Nieves herself,” Roy said.

Rock chuckled, shaking his head. “Nieves wouldn’t go near Manny naked. When you meet him, you’ll see—”

A knock on the conference room door interrupted him. “Come in,” Rock said.

Carla, Rock’s secretary entered, followed by two men, one tall and thin and the other short and stout.

“Hey, guys,” Rock said. “Take a seat. Thanks, Carla.”

She nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

“Everyone, meet Horace Stiers and Parker Manfred, better known as Hoss and Manny.”

Roy chuckled under his breath and was met with a glare from Reid.

I held back my own chuckle. Hoss and Manny? Really?

Rock introduced the rest of us to the newcomers and bade them to have a seat.

“I hear you have information for us,” Reid said.

“Hoss is here as my attorney,” Manny said. “I’ve decided to tell you what you need to know, but we need to be sure of full confidentiality.”

“We can’t offer full confidentiality,” Rock said. “You know that. We need to talk to this woman.”

“She can’t know you got her name from Manny is all,” Hoss said. “And we can give you the name, but she won’t talk to you over the phone. Only in person.”

“We’ll fly her out,” Rock said. “No problem.”

“Well…there is a problem,” Hoss said.

This man looked like he was going to spit a wad of chew any second.

“What’s that?” Rock asked.

“She won’t travel. You’ll have to go to Montana.”

“And you couldn’t have told us this over the phone?” Reid asked.

“And miss out on a trip to New York, all expenses paid?” Hoss chuckled.

Yeah, this room was going to be a spittoon at any moment.

“Fucker,” Rock said, laughing.

“You think this is funny?” Reid asked, his face turning red.

Roy spoke up then. “I think it’s a little funny.”