Page 57

“I’m well. Very well. But what about you? And the wife?”

“Still searching for answers.”

“No doubt, no doubt. But I’m sure Max is on the job. He always is”

“Speaking of wives,” William said, “how’s your Misses? How’s Amelia? What’s she been up to lately?”

“She’s . . . Amelia.” They both laughed. “And she’s giving me more gray hairs, that’s what she’s been up to. But listen: I’ve been asked to coordinate a meeting.”

William smiled. “It must me a major-ass meeting if you’re coordinating it. And who will be at this coordinated by one of the most powerful men in America meeting?”

“You and your lady,” said Hammer Reese, “and Arthur and his lady.”

William looked at Joy. She could only hear William’s side of the conversation since he didn’t put it on Speaker, but she was curious as to what kind of meeting a man of Hammer Reese’s statue would be coordinating. But William had an additional curiosity: Was Arthur Davenport ready to confess?

“And it won’t be in the U.S.,” Hammer continued. “It’ll be here in Canada: for obvious reasons. And since I live in Canada, and since I have a vested interest in all things Canadian, I’m always happy to do my part.”

William smiled. He wasn’t buying his good citizen act for a second. Not that asshole. “So you’re Hammer Reese, the good Samaritan these days, eh?”

Hammer laughed. “Something like that!”

But William was too curious now. “May I ask what this meeting is about?”

“You may ask,” Hammer said, “but I can’t tell.”

William expected that answer. “Where in Canada?”

“Montreal. At Arthur’s glass factory.”

“I thought that shut down years ago.”

“It did.”

William exhaled. It must be about the ambush in Bridell, then, if they have to result to meeting at abandoned factories. “When do they want to meet?”

“Now. Asap. It has to happen today. Just you and your wife, and he and Diana. And myself, the good Samaritan, of course.”

“I would have no problem attending,” William said, “but you can’t expect me to allow my wife to be placed in harm’s way. Not after what happened in Indiana.”

“Did you not hear me say I’m going to be there? If I’m going to be there you’re going to have ground and aerial coverage. Drones and surface-to-air missiles. Every protection imaginable. If I’m there, it won’t be any ambushes I promise you that. But I understand. I’d be overly protective if it was my wife too. So bring Max along as her personal bodyguard. But no one other than Max.”

William looked at Joy again. “Okay. We’ll get over there. Thanks, Hammer,” he added, and then they ended the call.

“Who are we meeting?” Joy anxiously wanted to know.

“Arthur Davenport and his wife.”

Joy had expected Arthur would be at the meeting. But his wife too? William’s former lover who just might lose everything because of one night of sex?

“It’s odd, isn’t it?” William said.

“What’s odd?”

“Asking a lawman like Hammer Reese to coordinate a meeting with us doesn’t seem like the actions of a man who just tried to kill us.”

“Unless he doesn’t know that you know he tried to kill us,” said Joy. “Or maybe he wants to confess?”

“I thought about that too,” said William. “Doesn’t sound like Arthur, but we’ll see. Let’s go.”