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“That’s for damn sure,” Larry said.
“Just what in the hell do you have against my father?” I demanded. “He’s been the mayor for over ten years. Before that, he was a prominent attorney in Snow Creek.”
Silence for a minute. Neither Joe nor Larry responded to me.
Finally, Joe said, “I have a name, Uncle. Was one of the men Nico Kostas?”
“No,” he said.
“Just tell us,” I pleaded. “It will be worth your while. You’ll get a lighter sentence. And Joe has already offered you money for a lawyer.”
Larry looked intently at me. “Why is it so important for you to learn the truth?”
“Because Luke Walker was my cousin. Because Talon is Joe’s brother. Because I have a son of my own now, and I would die inside if anything like this ever happened to him. So I want to know the truth. I want to know who those fuckers are so we can get them off the street and they’ll never again hurt innocent children like my son.”
Larry regarded me, his face stern bu
t unreadable. “Look, I’ve got nothing against you, kid—”
“Kid? I’m thirty-eight,” I said.
“To me, you’re a kid.” Larry coughed. “I’m not going to tell you who they are.”
I stood. “Then Joe and I will find them on our own.”
Larry curled his lips into a sleazy half smile. “Keep looking if you want to, kid, but let me give you a piece of advice. The truth is overrated. Once you open the door to that dark room, getting out is damn near impossible.”
“Yeah, I was probably pissing in the woods,” Joe said after I’d relayed my memory to him. “I don’t recall any of that.”
“Let your mind relax.”
“You sound like Melanie.”
“All I can say is that’s when I found it. I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning, staring into space, and the memory just came to me.”
“I’m not real good at forcing my mind to relax,” he said.
“I’m not either. It kind of happened by accident, like it did the other time in the hot tub.”
“Then what makes you think I can do it on demand?”
“I’m not saying you can. If you don’t remember, you don’t remember. Like you said, you were probably pissing in the woods somewhere.”
“Why would your dad say that to a kid?”
“Because he was my dad, Joe. He was fucked up. He probably didn’t think I could hear him. And even if he did, if we’re right and he drugged us, that whole weekend would be lost or fuzzy, which it is.”
“You think Justin might be alive.”
“I don’t know. Maybe he was drugged, and my dad left him by the river to retrieve him later, only we found him first.”
“Why would your dad keep him alive, if he…”
“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t touch him after all. Damn!” I shoved my hand over my forehead and my fingers through my hair. “I want to get into his head, but I don’t want to just as badly.”
“I know. I get it. But if it helps us to think like he does, we need to try.”
“Fine for you. You’re not his flesh and blood.”
