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“Yep, that sums it up.”

We were silent for a long moment.

“So, a baby girl, huh?” I finally said.

“Yeah, looks just like Julie. Frank is going to be in so much trouble when she turns sixteen. He better keep his gun handy.”

“What about the rest of the gang? How are they doing?”

In the eleven years I’d been with this team, we’d had men transfer out, we’d had men retire, two were injured, but they’d come back. Eight years ago, Sully died, but it hadn’t been in the field. So the core group of us, Clay, me, Lisbon, Zypher, John and Ramsey, had held strong. Other Raider teams talked about us. But then that day when the bullet hit the cement, fragments hit me, our luck had run out again. Clay knew who I wanted to know about.

“Zephyr is still hung up on the girl he met in Canada when we went heli-skiing in the Canadian Rockies.”

I smiled. That had been one of our best two-week leaves.

“I sure as hell won’t be doing that for a while,” I sighed.

“What did your demon from hell say about that?”

“Hell, Clay. I’m still not supposed to lift anything over twenty-five pounds. The demon told me that if I do my exercises religiously, I could graduate up to forty pounds in another four weeks.”

“So? Do your exercises religiously. In the meantime, we’ll just change our plans and do the sand boarding in Namibia next year. The only lifting required will be your snowboard. Just don’t land on your bad shoulder. Easy as pie.”

“You know. That doesn’t sound too bad. As a matter of fact, that sounds damn good.”

“Well, keep doing what the football god tells you to do.”

I laughed again. Talking to Clay was just the medicine I needed.

“Okay, that was enough deflection. Tell me how the hunt is going.”

“I’m in Jasper Creek. So far, nothing. I was told that there might be somebody who could tell me something. A woman who owns a diner told me that there is this other woman who is, and I’m quoting, old as dirt, and she would remember Rose McDonald and the twins. Maybe even their father, Arthur Beaumont. I won’t be able to get in touch with her until tomorrow morning.”

“So, you really didn’t want to talk to me. You were just bored. Is that it?”

I laughed yet again. “That about sums it up.”

Clay laughed too. “Well, get bored more often. I worry about you.”

I shut my eyes for a moment. Clay was my brother, and I’d been out of line shutting him out. “I promise.”

“Thank God. Now give me your address. My mom wants to send you some cookies.”

“I haven’t landed anyplace yet,” I admitted.

“You’re sleeping somewhere tonight, aren’t you?”

“In a motel, that really should be called a Motel 3.”

“That bad?”

“Except for the fresh flower in the room. I had to pay extra for the towels, and I didn’t trust the nose-picker desk clerk far enough to give him my credit card. First, I didn’t want him touching it. Second, I worried if he had it on file, he’d use it.”

“Sounds like you found a winner.”

“Sure did. I’ll be changing tomorrow night.”

“Call me when you get the address.”