“‘Dear Chris.

“‘I wasn’t going to tell you, but Lieutenant Decker prevailed upon me.’ ”

He paused.

“‘I wasn’t going to tell you, but Lieutenant Decker prevailed upon me.’

“Now that really angered me. It angered me that she wasn’t going to tell me. It angered me that she only told me because you told her to do it, and it really pissed me off that you made lieutenant.”

“Sounds like you were angry, Chris.”

“Yes, I was, and it’s Mr. Donatti to you.”

“You already told me that.”

“Well, you seem to have forgotten. I’ll chalk it up to old age.”

“Fair enough.” Decker rubbed his eyes. They felt hot and itchy. “Terry tells me you two have been in contact for several years now.”

“Minimal contact.”

“What does that mean?”

“Ask her.”

“She says you come out to see her and your son a half-dozen times a year.”

“So she still writes to you.”

“Occasionally.”

Chris rolled his eyes.

Decker said, “Yeah, she told me you don’t approve.”

“No, that’s not what I said. I told her that she shouldn’t put anything down in writing. If she wants to talk to you, she should call you. I know that Terry has some kind of father fixation with you. It’s harmless. It’s probably healthy in light of the fact that her old man is a raging alcoholic. I just don’t want any connection to me in writing. It’s not healthy for her or the kid.”

Decker thought a moment. “Cops don’t know about Terry or the kid, do they, Chris?”

Donatti gave Decker a hard stare.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Decker answered. “So who does know about them other than me? Joey?”

Donatti closed his eyes, then opened them. A harmless gesture, except it was one that Decker knew very well. It meant that Decker had touched on something. It meant that Chris was edgy.

Decker smiled. “Joey has no idea that you’re in contact with Terry. He thinks you broke it off with her eight years ago, and that was that.” The smile widened. “Joey doesn’t know dick about her or the kid, does he?”

“Am I reading this right, Decker?” Donatti’s nostrils flared. “Are you actually using Terry as a bargaining chip?”

“God forbid! You know I don’t work that way.” He exhaled. “Be hell of a lot easier if I did.” He pointed to the pictures. This time, Chris finally looked at them. “I’m a stranger here, Mr. Donatti. I need help. I’m interested in any information about the hit and what this guy did to get bumped. But more important, he was with a fifteen-year-old girl. This girl, here.” Decker pointed to the one picture he had of Shaynda. “She’s gone, and the parents are frantic. Any ideas?”

Donatti answered with another shrug.

“Is that a yes or a no?”

Donatti didn’t answer. A timer dinged. “Excuse me, I have work to do.” He stood up and waited for Decker to do the same.