We ate in the kitchen. I wasn’t certain her dining room had ever been soiled by food.

I filled her in on Lauren’s mom’s condition and on the situation with Merritt. I told her more than I should have about Madison’s disappearance. She asked me about Chaney’s condition.

I told her what I knew, and added, “Ren, you ever think about, you know, donating money to help a sick kid?”

She didn’t look up. She smiled at her plate and used her don’t-tell-me voice. “How far are you in?”

“Lauren and I? A hair over thirty thousand.”

“What do they need?”

“Total? The hospital requires a deposit of about three hundred and fifty thousand.”

“And what has the family raised?”

“Not much. Without us, under fifty.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Great, thanks.”

I expected to be cross-examined more about my motives. I wasn’t.

She said, “Friend time, okay? When you hear what’s going on, it may sound like I want you to play shrink, but I don’t. Okay? Are we clear?”

My mouth was full. After I swallowed, I said, “These days, Adrienne, I’m always grateful for the opportunity not to play shrink.”

“Good. I’ve been dating Cozy for what, like months already, right?”

I nodded. It had been months. I was there the night they met.

“I like him.”

She seemed to want me to say something. I said, “Yes? That’s good, right? He’s a good man, Ren.”

“He is. And yes, it’s been…it’s been good. But lately I’ve gotten”-she smiled coyly-“confused about something. See, a couple of weeks ago he introduced me to his ex-wife. He really wanted me to meet her twin girls, whom he adores. The twins aren’t his; she’s been married twice. His ex-wife’s name is-”

“Erin, I met her last fall. She’s an investigator. She’s nice. I know their situation.”

“Yes, Erin’s…nice.” Adrienne coughed. At first I thought it might be the spiciness of the satay. “Real nice,” she said, coughing again. “The thing is, well, the thing is that I think we’ve started dating.”

It wasn’t the satay.

“You and…?”

“Erin.”

“Erin. You’re dating?”

“Well, we’re going out. And it doesn’t feel like a girlfriend thing. The going out.”

My brain cramped. I asked, “Have you, um-?”

“Not yet, but I think we might be getting close to, um…you know.”

“And you’re okay with-?”

“Sure, I guess. I don’t know. We’ll see.”

“Well,” I said, “it sounds to me like you’re a willing volunteer on this expedition into the wilderness. What’s the trouble?”

Adrienne had scoffed at my choice of wines and poured herself a Miller Lite. She drained half a glass of beer and belched a little bit before she continued. “I’m a little confused here, can’t you tell? I’m still seeing Cozy-I mean I saw him last night-and believe me, he and I, we’re way past ‘close,’ if you know what I mean. So I don’t know exactly what to do with this little sexual preference problem that I’m experiencing.”

“Is this…attraction to women something new, Ren? I mean, have you ever-”

“No, I’ve never. Of course, it’s something new. I mean, sure, I’ve…you absolutely promise you’re not going to go judgmental on me here? You promise? I’ll kill you, I swear I will.”

I knew her threat wasn’t idle. My physical well-being was at stake. I said, “I promise.”

“Peter and I always used to like the same pornography. Girl-on-girl stuff. I thought that was weird. But, you know, I just ended up thinking that it was another sign of how compatible we were. That’s ironic, right?”

It was also denial, but it was certainly ironic. I said, “Sure, Ren.”

“Are you patronizing me?”

I stood up and walked across the counter and hugged her. “This is a little more complicated than dating two different guys, isn’t it?”

“Tell me about it. How do I know what the hell I should be doing?”

“I don’t know. Just pay attention to how it all feels. Sometimes the best way to get off the fence is just to get off the fence.”

She almost coughed up some beer through her nose. “Jesus. People pay you for this? I can’t even decide between AT amp;T and MCI and you’re telling me to decide who to sleep with by jumping off a goddamn fence?”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“Adrienne, I don’t care who you sleep with or who you love.” I pulled back and put my hands on her cheeks and looked her in the eyes. “You’ve stood by me through some pretty questionable romantic choices. If Erin makes you happy, I’m thrilled. If she mistreats you, don’t worry, I know where she lives.”

She looked at me plaintively. “What about Cozy? What do I tell him?”

“Don’t be too concerned about him. He’s a big boy, Ren.”

“He certainly is. And believe me, given my line of work, I’ve seen the competition, so I know what I’m talking about.”

Her phone rang.

Adrienne answered. “What?” She listened for a few agitated seconds and handed it to me. I was dumbstruck to learn I was being invited to go for a helicopter ride.

After I hung up, I explained the situation to Adrienne. She astonished me by being understanding. She said, “Thanks for the advice.”

I said, “That wasn’t advice. I don’t give advice.”

“Whatever. Thanks for making me feel like I’m not totally crazy.”

“Ren, this feels like the first time in days that someone has wanted my counsel on something where someone’s life wasn’t in danger. It’s actually refreshing.” I paused. “And I didn’t say you weren’t crazy. I merely said that it was just fine that you felt like dating Erin.”

She laughed and said, “Go, you have things to do.” And before I had a chance to ask, she added, “Don’t worry about Emily. She’s sleeping over here tonight.”

The call had been from Lucy Tanner, Sam’s partner. I didn’t know how she had tracked me down at Adrienne’s house and wasn’t sure I was eager to.

But she wanted me at the Boulder airport in twenty minutes, which gave me barely enough time to change my clothes and grab a heavy jacket and some gloves and get to my car.

She and I were, apparently, going to be crossing the Continental Divide in a helicopter in the dark, something far down on the list of things I’ve always wanted to do.

But the sheriff’s office in Routt County thought they had found Ed Robilio’s Holiday Rambler near Steamboat Springs.

Lucy was waiting for me in the parking lot at Boulder Aviation, dressed in black jeans, heavy ankle boots, a black turtleneck, and a leather bomber jacket.

“You know Sam can’t go. He’s not supposed to be anywhere near this case. But it was his idea that I take you along. I sold my sergeant on it and I told the locals that you were a psychological consultant to the department and that you just happened to know both of the kids and that you might help us end this peacefully. The local cops seemed grateful for the help. And Sam told me to tell you-as a matter of fact, he told me twice to tell you-that his conversation with his sister-in-law was fruitful. He actually said, ‘Fruitful.’ He surprises me sometimes. He surprises you, too?”

“Constantly.”

She led me through a gate in a chain-link fence. The helicopter was parked on the side of the tarmac. I’d expected a police helicopter borrowed from another jurisdiction. Instead, we were about to board the news helicopter owned by Channel 7.

“What’s the deal?” I asked.

“The department doesn’t have a helicopter and we needed a quick trip. The TV stations provide help sometimes on searches and things. We asked Channel 7. They declined. We told them it might relate to the Brenda Strait story. They balked. We told them nobody else would have the story. They said okay.”

“Just us?”

“Pilot’s coming. We all thought that would be a good idea. And I expect they’ll send a cameraman.”

“Person.”

“Whatever. I probably should have asked you this already. You don’t get airsick, do you?”