Jessica turned some more pages, all of which were filled with photos of spiral-permed girls, boys with bad mullets, and both sexes sporting ugly feathered dos. There were big glasses, bigger shoulder pads, and lots of light-blue eyeshadow and frosted lipstick. She came to the surnames beginning with S but couldn’t find Tony Shaw.

With a growing sense of dread, Jessica kept on turning the pages until she came to those students whose surnames began with a Y. She ran her finger slowly down the page and came to a Bobby Yang and a Rachel Young and a Tina Young and a Bill Younger.

But there was no Rob Young.

And there was no photo of her father on the page.

15 PRYCE

15

PRYCE

Pryce had been partners with Medina for more than a decade, and in all that time, he had never lied to him.

At least, not about anything serious.

Sure, there had been the little white lies. Like turning down a ticket to the Lakers game because he “had plans” when he actually just wanted to spend the evening curled up on the couch with Angie. Or pretending to like the cologne Medina had bought him one Christmas even though the smell reminded Pryce of cat piss.

Little white lies. Not giant black ones. Not until yesterday, when he’d told Medina there was no problem with the phone messages he held in his hand.

That lie had been as big as the Empire State Building.

Pryce had kept tabs on Jessica and Tony Shaw over the years, even though he knew it was risky. Occasional online searches from computers that wouldn’t be traced back to him. Internet cafés. Libraries. Never at home or at the office. It was during one of those searches he had learned of the unexpected and premature death of Tony Shaw. Pryce hadn’t been anywhere near New York City when he’d found out the news, despite what he’d told Jessica.

Another lie.

He had feared Tony’s death had been violent, that the past had finally caught up with him. Discovering his friend had died of a massive heart attack, with no suspicious circumstances involved, had brought a sense of overwhelming relief. Quickly followed by a profound sadness. They hadn’t just been best friends—they’d been as close as brothers when they were kids. Family without the blood connection, with an unbreakable bond that meant they would’ve done anything for each other.

It was the reason why his friend had reached out to Pryce the night it had all gone wrong in Eagle Rock.

After reading about the death of Tony Shaw, Pryce had immediately decided to make the trip east to say goodbye to his “brother” in person. It had been his first mistake—emerging from the shadows of the internet into plain view at the funeral.