Chris followed Spencer down the overgrown path behind the apartment complex. The early evening sun was losing its warmth faster now, but it would be a while before it was too chilly for the midges and mosquitoes that flitted and danced around them. They passed through the line of trees that ringed the lake.

Johnny Boy stood on the lakeside, hands clasped in front of him and a face that said he was disappointed but not surprised. He looked to his side, along the shore, where McGrath, jacket slung over shoulder, was skimming stones across the water. Beyond him the trunk of a fallen birch lay across the shingle, its branches, still leafy, held by the muddy water like a harvestman in a web.

The Yo-Yo was sitting on the trunk. Abby cowered beside him. She saw Spencer, but fear held her still.

“Stay here, Chris,” said Spencer.

And Chris knew to stay. He knew that whatever had come back to haunt them lived in lands unknown to him, lands he had never wanted to know.

He watched Spencer walk through the ferns to the lakeside and head toward the stone-skimming man in the white shirt. The bearded man with the glasses who looked like a lawyer or an undertaker fell in behind Spencer. No words were passed.

Chris became conscious of how unwell he felt, like someone had squeezed him into a box that had no give in its sides. He couldn’t decide which he needed most: his inhaler or a bourbon.

Spencer went as if to go past McGrath to get to Abby, but McGrath held up his hand.

“I don’t think you want her to hear what we have to talk about, but it’s your call.”

Spencer hesitated. He called out to Abby.

“Don’t worry, Abby. I’ll sort this out, and we can all go home. OK?”

Abby looked at him, aghast that she would have to stay put a moment longer.

“I promise, it’s going to be fine. Chris and I are here. We’re not going anywhere without you. You hear?”

She nodded. Spencer couldn’t hear her crying, but he could see the shine on her cheeks. He looked at McGrath. McGrath turned back to the lake.

“I knew you might do this, Spence. Hoped I was wrong, but you got to consider all the angles, right?” He threw the stone he’d been holding. It skipped fast and straight, almost to the far bank, leaving a myriad of expanding circular ripples on the still surface. He searched among the pebbles on the ground for the next contender.

“Like I said, Dom, I have a little girl. You were asking me to help you rob a bank. I’m a car salesman. That’s what I do. I don’t like it much, but it’s all I got.”