Win said, “I have to get back to the office.”

Myron was surprised. “You don't want to hear what Esperanza has to say?”

“No time.”

His tone slammed the door on further discussion. Win reached for the knob.

“If you need my special talents,” he said, “I'll have the cellular.”

He hurried out as Hester Crimstein entered. She watched him disappear down the corridor. “Where's he going?”

“His office.”

“Why's he in such a rush all of a sudden?”

“I didn't ask.”

Hester Crimstein raised an eyebrow. “Hmm.”

“Hmm what?”

“Win was the one in charge of the account with the missing money.”

“So?”

“So maybe he had a reason to silence Clu Haid.”

“That's ridiculous.”

“Are you saying he's incapable of murder?”

Myron did not reply.

“If even half the stories I've heard about Windsor Lockwood are true-”

“You know better than to listen to rumors.”

She looked at him. “So if I subpoena you to testify and if I ask if you've ever witnessed Windsor Home Lock-wood the Third kill someone, what would you say?”

“No.”

“Uh-huh. Guess you also missed the class on perjury.”

Myron did not bother with a comeback. “When can I see Esperanza?”

“Come on. She's waiting for you.”

Esperanza sat at a long table. She still wore the orange prison suit, her now-uncuffed hands folded in front of her, her expression serene as a church statue's. Hester signaled to the trooper, and they both left the room.

When the door closed, Esperanza smiled at him. “Welcome back,” she said.

“Thanks,” Myron replied.

Her eyes took him in. “If your tan was any darker, you could pass for my brother.”

“Thanks.”

“Still got the smooth tongue with the ladies, eh?”

“Thanks.”

She almost smiled. Even under these conditions, Esperanza still looked radiant. Her supple skin and ink black hair shimmered against the fluorescent orange backdrop. Her eyes still brought forth thoughts of Mediterranean moons and white peasant blouses.

“Are you feeling better now?” she asked him.

“Yes.”

“Where were you anyway?”

“A private island in the Caribbean.”

“Tor three weeks?”

“Yes.”

“By yourself?”

“No.”

When he didn't elaborate, Esperanza simply said, “Details.”

“I ran off with a beautiful anchorwoman I barely knew.”

Esperanza smiled. “Did she-how to put this delicately?-did she boff your brains out?”

“As it were.”

“Glad to hear it. If any guy needed to have his brain boffed out-”

“Right, I'm the guy. Voted Most Boff Needy by the senior class.”

She liked that one. She leaned back and crossed her legs cocktail-lounge casual. Odd in these surroundings, to put it mildly. “You didn't tell anybody where you were?”

“That's right.”

“Yet Win still found you in a matter of hours,” she said.

It surprised neither of them. They sat in silence for a moment or two. Then Myron asked, “You okay?”

“Fine.”

“Do you need anything?”

“No.”

Myron was not sure how to continue, what subject to broach or how to broach it. Once again Esperanza took the ball and started dribbling.

“So are you and Jessica through?” she asked.

“Yes.” It was the first time he had said it out loud. It felt weird.

That made her smile, big time. “Ah, the silver lining,” she said triumphantly. “So it's really over? Queen Bitch is gone for good?”

“Don't call her that.”

“Is she gone for good?”

“I think so.”

“Say yes, Myron. It'll make you feel better.”

But he couldn't. “I'm not here to talk about me.”

Esperanza crossed, her arms, said nothing.

“We'll get you out of this,” he said. “I promise.”

She nodded, still playing casual; if she were a smoker, she'd be blowing rings. “You better get back to the office. We've already lost too many clients.”

“I don't care about that.”

“I do.” Her voice had an edge now. “I'm a partner now.”

“I know that.”

“So I own part of MB SportsReps. If you want to self-destruct, fine. But don't drag my lusted-after ass down with you, okay?”

“I didn't mean it like that. I just meant we've got bigger worries right now.”

“No.”

“What?”

“We don't have bigger worries. I want you to stay out of this.”

“I don't understand.”

“I have one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the country working on my case. Let her handle it.”

Myron tried to let her words settle in, but they were like unruly children after a sugar fix. He leaned forward a bit. “What's going on here?”

“I can't talk about it.”

“What?”

“Hester told me I shouldn't talk about the case with anyone, even you. Our conversations are not protected.”

“You think I'd tell?”

“You can be forced to testify.”

“So I'd he.”

“You won't have to.”

Myron opened his mouth, closed it, tried again. “Win and I can help here. We're good at this.”

“No offense, Myron, but Win is psycho. I love him, but his kind of help I don't need. And you”-Esperanza stopped, looked up, unfolded her arms, lowered her gaze back to his-“you're damaged goods. I don't blame you for running away. It was probably the right thing to do. But let's not pretend you're back to normal.”

“Not normal,” he agreed. “But I'm ready for this.”

She shook her head. “Concentrate on MB. It's going to take all your efforts to keep her afloat.”

“You're not going to tell me what happened?”

“No.”

“That doesn't make any sense.”

“I just spelled out the reasons-”

“You're really afraid I'd testify against you?”

“I didn't say that.”

“So what is it? If you think I'm not up for this, okay, maybe I buy it. But that wouldn't stop you from talking to me. In fact, you'd probably tell me just to keep me from poking around. So what's going on here?”

Her face slid closed. “Go to the office, Myron. You want to help? Save our business.”

“Did you kill him?”

He regretted it the moment the words came out of his mouth. She looked at him as if he'd just reached across the table and slapped her face.

“I don't care if you did,” he pressed on. “Til stand by you no matter what. I want you to know that.”

Esperanza regained her composure. She slid her chair back and stood. For a few moments she stared at him, studying his face as though searching for something that was normally there. Then she turned away, called for the guard, and left the room.

Big Cyndi was already manning the reception desk when Myron reached the offices of MB SportsReps. They had a prime location, right smack on Park Avenue in midtown. The Lock-Horne high-rise had been owned by Win's family since Great-Great-Et-Cetera Grandpa Home (or was it Lockwood?) had torn down a tepee and started building it. Myron rented space at a premium discount from Win. In return Win handled all the finances for Myron's clients. This deal was a bargain for Myron. Between the primo address and the ability to guarantee his clients the financial services of the near-legendary Windsor Home Lockwood III, MB SportsReps had an air of legitimacy few small firms could boast.

MB SportsReps was on the twelfth floor. An elevator opened directly into their reception room. Muy classy. The phones were beeping. Big Cyndi put people on hold and looked up at him. She looked even more ridiculous than usual. No easy task. In the first place, the furniture was too small for her, the desk legs actually teetering on her knees like something a father might experience when visiting his child's elementary school. In the second place, she still had not washed up or changed from last night. Normally Myron, the image-conscious entrepreneur, would comment on this, but now did not seem an appropriate (or safe) time.