“No,” Murray answered, without hesitation. “But I had to look into it. Jake, I’m sorry that I was the one who found those texts. I wish I’d never seen them. But once I did, I had to report it to the court. That’s the job. It’s not personal. For what it’s worth, I hoped like hell it wasn’t true. I hope you and I are still good. My wife wants you to come over for dinner.”

Jake was shaking his head. “You’re going to have to give me a little time on that,” he said. “What happens to Rosie Mendoza?”

Murray shrugged. “She never actually filed a false report. But if you want to press charges . . .”

“No thanks,” Jake said quickly. “I don’t want anything else to do with them.” He looked down at his hands. “This case—these kids—they’re like a tornado, picking up everything in their path, smashing it up, and spitting it back out.”

“And leaving some people untouched. Like a miracle,” Murray added. He told Jake about the plea deals that Hal had struck with Trip O’Connor and Hunter Finch. “He wrapped it up nice and neat,” Murray said. “Trip O’Connor takes the blame and the Finch family pays the bill. Everyone else gets minor charges and community service. Very tidy.”

“You gotta hand it to Hal,” Jake said. “He knows how to work the job. You can tell him I said that.”

“You can tell him yourself,” Murray said. “He wants to see you.”

An hour later, Jake sat in Hal’s office. He’d showered, shaved, and put on a dress shirt. But the stress of the last few weeks was still apparent as he walked through the office, all eyes on him. His jaw was clenched and he kept his eyes on the floor, not meeting anyone’s gaze. It was excruciating, like a perp walk. He had to remind himself that he hadn’t actually done anything wrong.

Hal greeted him at the door, made a public show of patting his back, and motioned to a chair. Hal started off saying all of the right things: He was glad to see Jake; he’d never believed it was true; he hoped Jake was holding up okay. Jake smiled grimly, nodding along. Then Hal got down to the real business.

“Well, Jake,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “What are your thoughts going forward? Of course, you’re welcome back at the office, now that this is all cleared up.”