“You’re a dispatcher, Mr. Valdez. And an ethically shaky one, historically speaking. You know how it’s done. You know they’re not going to find anything that makes it look like anything other than a suicide. It’s nicely arranged and anything that would be able to suggest otherwise has been compromised by a few days in the lake. You know it.”

“Maybe.”

“And as to the company, go ahead and look at it all you want. Scratch that—I want Chicago PD to look at the company as much as they want. Hell, I’ll open the file cabinets myself. Because the company is one hundred percent clean in this.”

“And if they’re looking at the company, they’re not looking at your dad.”

Tunney clapped his hands. “There you go. Everyone who does business knows our past. They expect we’ll get looked at from time to time. That’s a sunk cost, in terms of our business. That won’t strike anyone as unusual. And we’ll come out clean.”

“But your dad is chairman and if something comes out about him, everyone will assume the company rots from the head.”

“Yes. Nothing would stick, of course. Nothing ever sticks to Pop. The city and feds were after him for decades. But perception matters. The company’s clean. Dad isn’t. I want to focus away from him.”

“There’s a hitch to this plan of yours.”

“Tell me.”

“Jimmy Albert is still missing. We can’t find him. And if the only way to find him is through your dad, then you have a problem.”

Tunney glanced over at Cody again.

“What?” I said. “What is it?”

“I’ll give you something that will help you,” Tunney said. “But I need your word.”

“You need what?”

“Your word. That this thing gets steered to Wooldridge and not to my father.”

“Are we children here?”

Tunney sighed. “No, Mr. Valdez, we’re not. We’re two ethically compromised businessmen trying to find our way to a deal. You want to find your friend. I want to keep my dad from jail and my company off the rocks. I’m not stupid enough to try to bribe you and you wouldn’t be stupid enough to take it. Threatening you doesn’t serve my interests and won’t bring you to my side. All that we have at this point to offer each other is trust. So: Give me your word and when you go I’ll make sure you have information. And I will owe you a favor. That’s the deal.”

“And if I break the deal?”