Walt said nothing, just waited for her to continue.

“You’ve been in New York for what? A week now? Have you called her? Does Meghan know you’re in town?”

This conversation had taken a sudden turn Walt hadn’t expected.

He shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not ready to call her.”

“What are you running from?”

“What are you running from?” Being pressed on his relationship with Meghan had brought an edge to his voice. He was about to apologize when Avery spoke.

“Ever heard of Garth Montgomery?”

Walt had never been a strong poker player, and bluffing was not his forte. He was sure the shocked look on his face when Avery mentioned her father’s name had not gone unnoticed. Still, he did his best to recover.

“The Thief of Manhattan?”

“Shit,” she said with a laugh. “I forgot about that nickname. But, yeah, that’s him.”

“What about him?”

“He’s my father.”

Walt blinked a few times but couldn’t think of a reasonable question to ask.

“Claire Montgomery is my actual name. Claire Avery Montgomery. When I moved to LA to write for the Times, I used Avery Mason in my byline. It stuck.”

Walt shook his head. “Start from the beginning.”

“After my father was arrested and indicted, I had to get out of New York. On top of stealing billions of dollars from innocent people, my father also had a second life with another woman. I don’t know what I hate him more for. To think the man who used to call me The Claire-Voyant One—the nickname he gave me for my supposed ability to see through his bullshit—had a secret life away from his wife and kids was a betrayal worse than anything he could have stolen.”

Walt’s mind flashed to the shredded postcard patched together with Scotch tape he had found in Avery’s room. The message on it had been addressed to the one-and-only Claire-Voyant.

“I knew my law degree was worthless. No reputable firm was going to hire Garth Montgomery’s daughter. So I fell back on my journalism degree. I moved to California and took a job at the LA Times. I broke a big case about a missing kid in Florida, and it got a lot of attention. I was invited to appear on American Events to tell the story. Mack Carter and I hit it off. Soon, I was guest hosting once a week covering other missing persons stories and the like.”

“As Avery Mason.”

She nodded. “I found my niche with a strange combination of morbidly fascinating cases and the inspirational.”

“Like the lady who crashed into the lake and managed to save her four kids.”

Avery smiled. “You really are a fan of the show.”

Walt nodded. He waited for her to continue.