I picked up and said, "Hello?"

"Mr. Miller?"

"Yes, hi."

"I tried you a couple times today."

"I was at work."

"Really?" he said. "I'm surprised you didn't take some time off."

"What's going on?" I asked.

Although I detected some suspicion in his voice, I wasn't very concerned. I figured if there had been a really important development he wouldn't be contacting me by telephone.

"Well, we've been continuing our investigation, but unfortunately we haven't made much progress. We're still not sure why Rebecca Daniels killed Charlotte O'Dougal, but it's this other murder Ricardo Alvarado that's getting at us. Alvarado was a strong guy. We just don't buy that Rebecca Daniels was able to kill him, causing those kind of head injuries. On the other hand, when a guy and his girlfriend are killed less than a couple days apart we gotta think there's some connection."

"I don't know what to tell you," I said.

"I was hoping you might've thought of something you didn't tell us yesterday," Romero said. "We checked out those clubs you mentioned, but that didn't get us anywhere. You have any other ideas how your girlfriend might've come into contact with Alvarado?"

"If I did, I would've called you."

"Sometimes people forget things, or they think something's not important so they don't bother»

"I didn't forget anything."

"I understand that, Mr. Miller, but I'm conducting an investigation"

"There's nothing to investigate," I said, nearly screaming. "You know Rebecca killed that woman, and it's obvious she had nothing to do with killing Alvarado."

"Why is that obvious?"

I realized I was talking too much and I'd better shut up.

"Because," I said, "like you said, he was a strong guy and I don't know, okay? Maybe Rebecca did kill him, but I told you everything I know."

"Very well," Romero said. "But if anything else comes up I'm going to contact you again. I'm sure you won't hesitate to do the same."

A few minutes later I was putting the groceries away, wishing I hadn't lost my cool. Rather than saying it was obvious that Rebecca hadn't killed Ricky, I should've tried to convince Romero that Rebecca had done it, suddenly remembering some story about a drug dealer she was in debt to. I feared that the longer Romero dug around, trying to figure out what had happened to Ricky, the more likely he'd stumble on the truth.

I had other messages on my machine and I played all of them. Aside from the messages from Romero and Aunt Helen, a few of my old friends had called, saying that they'd read about Rebecca in the papers and wanted to check on how I was doing.

I ate half a banana and a spoonful of yogurt, but I was too aggravated to eat anything else. I imagined Romero questioning Kenny, and Kenny turning me in or holding out to blackmail me either way I'd lose. I considered beating Kenny to the punch and calling Romero back. I could swear that Ricky's death had been an accident, but why would Romero believe me now? It wouldn't help my case that Charlotte, the only person who could back up my story, was dead.

I was short of breath and starting to sweat.

"I need some space," Barbara said. "Oh, stop," I said.

"I'm serious," she said. "I think one of us should move leave New York."

"What're you talking about?"

"I applied to some firms in San Francisco."

"What?"

"And if I get a good offer, I'm leaving."

"Why the hell're you gonna do that?"

"To get away from you."

"Is this more crap from Dr. Kellerman?"

"No, this is what I think."

"Yeah, right. What else did Kellerman say about me?"

"Listen to me this'll be good for you too. You'd be better off with me gone. You could meet somebody, have a normal relationship»

"You just need a vacation. Maybe we should go someplace, the Berkshires or Vermont, or how about Europe? I saw an ad in the paper for cheap tickets to Paris."

"You have to be your own person, David. You have to be a leader, not a follower»

"What're you talking about?"

"You can't depend on me so much you can't follow me everywhere."

"You're not leaving me."

"Yes I am."

"If you go to San Francisco I'm going with you."

"You can't do that."

"Oh, yes I can."

When I left for work in the morning all the reporters were gone, and I decided this was a sign that things might work out for me after all.

Some new story had probably broken that was more interesting than Rebecca's, and pretty soon Rebecca's story would fade completely. As for Kenny, now that he was being questioned and maybe watched by the police he'd probably decide that trying to blackmail me was too much trouble. If I was lucky, I'd never hear from him again.

At work, I remained in my office most of the day, editing several articles. I also worked on my Prime Net article, which was getting even more positive. A few newspaper and TV reporters had left messages on my voice mail, but the Rebecca murder/suicide story definitely seemed to be petering out. Around lunchtime Angie dropped by, suggesting we go out, but I told her I was too busy. Later in the day I saw her talking to another reporter in the corridor outside my office, and I went in a different direction to avoid her.

On my way home, I said to Barbara, "Okay, you want me to become my own person I'll become my own person."

I stopped at a wine store on Amsterdam and decided I'd become a wine expert. I usually never spent more than ten bucks on wine, but I asked the owner to suggest a cabernet in the thirty-dollar range. At home, I sipped the Chateau Montelena with my eyes closed, trying to appreciate its nuances, and then I decided I'd have to make other changes in my life. I'd throw out my rock CDs and replace them with a collection of light jazz and classical. I'd redecorate my apartment, get classier furniture from Restoration Hardware or Ethan Allen. And I'd take a class at the Culinary Institute, learn how to cook French food.

Wednesday morning I was still feeling upbeat about myself and the future when I entered my office building and got the shit kicked out of me. It happened so fast I didn't realize what was happening until I was on my back in front of the revolving door and punches were landing against my face. Finally, a security guard pulled Robert Lipton off of me.

Lipton looked like a wreck his thin gray hair hanging over his scruffy face, his eyes swollen and puffy, as if he hadn't gotten any sleep in days. I realized that the edition of Manhattan Business with the negative article I'd written about Lipton's company had hit the newsstands.

"Son of a bitch!" he screamed at me as the guard held him back. "I'll kill you! I'll fuckin' kill you!"

He continued yelling, telling me that, thanks to my article, he'd lost three of his biggest clients. Two cops showed up. After the security guard explained what had happened, one of the cops asked me if I wanted to press charges. I declined. I didn't want any unnecessary involvement with the police, but I also felt bad about what I'd done to Lipton and I didn't want to screw up his life more than I already had.

The injuries to my face from Ricky and Rebecca had almost disappeared, but now I had a fresh welt on my left cheekbone and my upper lip was swollen and bleeding.

The security guard had given me a first-aid ice pack, but Lipton had gotten a few good whacks in and it didn't help much. I was hoping to lock myself in my office and stay there all day to avoid any attention, but Mike, the guy Angie had dated, had been downstairs in the lobby while the cops were talking to me, and when I arrived in the office he had already told everyone what had happened. Holding the icepack up to my face, I had to hold court in the office's reception area, giving my account of the incident. Everyone expressed their sympathy, and then Jeff took me aside and tried to persuade me to press charges.