I know this is no time to get distracted, but I can’t help but smile. “So now I’m your boyfriend?”

“Stay on subject here. Even if I jump in and take the beating myself, they’re still going to tear you down with me.”

I stop mid-step, a few feet from the scoreboard. “How do you know? Did someone say that to you?”

“They don’t have to say it-you know how it works.”

Much as I hate to admit it, she’s right about that one. Every time a bigshot falls, everyone near the epicenter goes down with them. Even if I’m innocent, the public needs to think we’ve cleaned house.

I close my eyes and shade them with my hand, hoping to get some distance. For the past two days, there was always at least one clear way out-sacrifice Nora and save myself. But once again, with Nora, it’s never that simple. Even if I give her up, they’ll still hang me out to dry. “Damn!”

My shout rumbles down the lane, but Nora never looks up. With her head bent over, and the way she stuffs her hands behind her knees, she once again becomes that little girl. It’s not easy for her either. She knows she’s put me in this one. That’s the penlight at the end of the tunnel-she’s not just worried about herself-she’s worried about me. “Michael, I swear to you, if I thought it’d be like this, I never would’ve-”

“You don’t have to say it, Nora.”

“No. I do. Whatever else happens, I got you into this, and I’ll get you out.”

She says the words forcefully, but I can still hear her fear. Her eyes are locked on the floor of the bowling alley. Her bowling alley. She’s got a lot more to lose. “You sure you want to risk this, Nora?”

Slowly, she looks up at me. She’s been debating this one since I dropped her off the other night. Her hands are still stuffed nervously behind her knees. But the answer comes as quickly as her grin. “Yeah,” she nods. “No question.”

My mind is racing with all the reasons Pam and Trey gave me to walk away. And all their Freud-babble explanations for why I’d stay: my need to protect, my need to help my dad, my need to somehow get the inside track to the President… But as I stand here-as I watch Nora-there’s only one real thing that makes sense. Unlike before, it’s not about the stupid things like the way she looks at me and the way she says my name. It’s not about how much she needs me, or even who she is. In the end, as I take it all in, it’s about what Nora Hartson is willing to give up-for me-to make things right.

“I’ll get you out,” she repeats confidently. “I’ll get you-”

“We,” I interrupt. “We got in. We’ll get out.” I take the seat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. It’s the same thing with my dad-sometimes the only way to problem-solve is to look past how we got here. And while I don’t necessarily like it… with my family… it’s the only way I know how to live.

Once again, she picks her head up. A soft smile lights her cheeks. “Just so you know, I hate romantics.”

“Me too. Hate ’em with a passion,” I shoot back. She’s got the comeback ready, but I don’t give her a chance. The only way out of the box is to figure out what really happened. “Now what about your bodyguards? Did you tell them what’s going on?”

“These guys? They just work the weekends. I told them we went on a date and you pissed me off. They figure this is makeup time. Why? Did you tell your girlfriend Pam?”

“How do you know about Pam?”

“I checked you out, Garrick. I don’t date every slob in the building.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I add.

“That’s not what she thinks, Romeo.” She gets up from her seat, heads for the alley, and throws an imaginary bowling ball down the lane. “You know Nixon used to come down here and bowl ten games back-to-back? Is that psychoville, or what?”

As she asks the question, I can’t help but notice how quickly her mood’s changed. Within seconds, she’s a different person. And once again I’m reminded that I’ve never met anyone who can make me feel so old and so young at the same time.

“So did you tell Pam, or what?”

“Yeah,” I say hesitantly. “I didn’t have anyone else to talk to, so I-”

“Don’t apologize. Chris said I should’ve got to you sooner.”

“You told your brother?”

“He’s family-and one of the few who can handle it.” She throws another imaginary ball down the lane.

Pointing to the rack of bowling balls, I say, “Y’know, the real ones are right behind you.”

She looks at me with those pick-you-apart eyes. “I hate bowling,” she says, matter-of-factly. “Now tell me what happened when you went to see her.”

“Caroline?”

“No, the other dead woman with thirty grand in her safe. Of course, Caroline.”

I quickly relay all the important details.

“So Simon narked on you?” she asks when I’m done. “Forget Washington-ruthless; this guy’s film-industry.”

“That’s the least of it. Let’s not forget he might’ve killed her.”

“You don’t think it was a heart attack?”

“I guess it could’ve been… but… with everything from the bar, it seems like a hell of a coincidence.”

“Maybe,” she begins. “But you’d be surprised why things happen-especially around here.”

I’m not sure what she means by that, and she’s not giving me a chance to ask.

“Assuming it was Simon,” she continues, “why do you think he did it?”

“It’s got to have something to do with that money.”

“You still convinced he’s selling secrets?”

“I don’t know. When you sell secrets, you drop off information. He had nothing but cash-the same cash that was in Caroline’s safe.”

“So you think he was being blackmailed?”

“Married man in a gay bar? You saw his expression in there. He didn’t look like he was in control-he was scared. If you wanted control, you talked to Caroline.”

“I see where you’re going. Caroline’s the blackmailer, and Simon killed her to stay quiet.”

“She’s the only one with access to all that personal information. And she relished it. You should’ve seen how she came after me.” Staring at the end of the alley, I have a lateral view that allows me to see all ten pins. “There’s just this one thing that doesn’t make sense: If Caroline was doing the blackmailing, why didn’t Simon take back his money when he killed her?”

Once again, Nora finds that dark grin. She shakes her head like I’m missing something. “Maybe he didn’t know the safe’s combination. Maybe he didn’t want to get caught with it. For all we know, maybe it really was a heart attack. Or best of all, with his fake story, maybe it’s the best way to put the blame on you. If he saw us the other night, he certainly could’ve seen the cops. Now the whole plot changes. The ten thousand the cops confiscated was only a quarter of it. The rest you gave to Caroline as hush money. The consecutive numbers on the bills prove it. You’re the one who was being blackmailed. You’re the one who has the money. You’re the one who killed her.”

The money. It always comes back to the money. In the safe. In my glove compartment. In my name. Consecutively marked, it’s all tied to me. She’s hit it on the head. The money with the D.C. police is a time bomb. And as soon as someone finds out about it, it’s going to explode. Even if it was a heart attack-with that kind of cash in my possession… in that neighborhood-just raising the specter of drugs, my job’s history. They’ll cut me loose simply to avoid the front-page story. And if the autopsy shows it’s a murder… Oh, God. I rub the back of my neck, doing my best to stall. What I’m about to say is going to set her off, but it has to be done. “Nora, if this starts snowballing, it’s going to work its way to the top.”

Across the narrow room, she leans against the rack of bowling balls and stares directly at me. She knows it’s true. I can see it in her dancing eyes. She’s terrified. “They’re going to try to kill him with it, aren’t they?”