“Roberts is afraid of reactions and delayed reactions, that’s why he’s on his way. I can’t do what he wants. Do you think you can help me with her? It’s asking a lot, I know. There won’t be any other trouble—”

“I haven’t thought of it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m not worried.”

“All right. After the calls, wake her. I’ll be almost there. Don’t tell her anything but that I’ve been on the case and I’ll be wanting to talk to her. Order breakfast for us all. She won’t be eating much once I start telling her, but at least I want it to start well.”

“You want me to be there?”

“Yes. I want it out in the open as fast as possible. The sooner she sees the reactions of people like you and Mike and my father, the better off she’ll be. We’ll see. Are you ready, Karen? It’s going to be a rough time.”

“I will be. I’ll be ready.”

“This will probably put me out of business. More people than Roberts will want it. It may even be worse. What’s left will have to go to Mike.”

“I was thinking about that,” she said.

“You have a voice in it. We can stop.”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I have thought about it, Joe. I know you. I do know you.”

He was leaning against the desk. “It isn’t going to be just the way we planned. We aren’t going to be the same people.”

She said, “It’s getting late. We’ll have our time, Joe.”

“Yes,” he said. “I’ll see you.”

About the Author

About the Author

Roderick Thorp is the author of The Detective, Rainbow Drive, and Nothing Lasts Forever, the basis for the movie Die Hard. He has worked as a private detective and done extensive crime reporting, including a twenty-one-part series on cocaine traffic in Southern California, which was published in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Thorp’s other novels include Into the Forest, Dionysus, Slaves, The Circle of Love, Westfield, Jenny and Barnum, Devlin, and River.

RODERICK THORP

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