The Mirror Man, стр. 82

“I didn’t expect to see you back here so soon,” Jeremiah said.

“I wanted to collect my paycheck in person,” he said. “I wanted to feel it in my hands. I’m a goddamn millionaire! Besides, I have the package here. I wanted to put it in your hands. I’m glad to get rid of it, tell you the truth. It gives me the creeps.”

Jeremiah took the lunch box from Brent and looked around the apartment for a place to stash it. He supposed he ought to hide it somewhere, just in case Scott had any last-minute ideas to double-cross him. Finally, he settled on the freezer, scooping a gallon of Rocky Road into the sink and stuffing the whole thing inside the sticky container. He shoved it into the back, behind three pizzas and a frozen lasagna, and closed the door.

“You’re not worried they’ll find it in there?” Brent asked. “It’s kind of a lame hiding place for something like this.”

“Scott’s convinced I stashed it somewhere else. I showed him a photo of a storage place. He doesn’t need to know I got that photo off the web.”

“Smooth, Jeremiah.”

“Brent,” he said, “I’m going to need your phone. I need that evidence if we’re going to stop them.”

Brent hesitated for a moment and then handed it over. “Why can’t I just forward the photo to your phone?”

“Scott took my phone as collateral already.”

“I can save it to the cloud.”

“No,” Jeremiah told him. “I want control of this. I don’t want it out there. It’s risky.”

“Fine,” Brent said. “I’m glad to be rid of that, too. I’ve been sleeping with it under my pillow. What are you going to do with it?”

“I’ll get it to Walt Thompson. He’ll know what it means. He’ll figure it out.”

“A lot of people are going to burn for this.”

“Which is why you need to leave, Brent. You and Mel need to get away. I’ll do what I can to make sure you’re protected, but once this hits the fan, it’ll be out of my hands.”

“I’m getting away. Believe me.”

“What are you going to do with the money?”

“I’ll tell you one thing—Mel and I are going to have one hell of a honeymoon!”

“Good,” Jeremiah said, “that’s a good idea.”

“So, I suppose this is goodbye.”

“I suppose it is,” Jeremiah said. “And, as I understand it, I won’t be able to contact you again. They’re setting us up with entirely new lives, new names, everything. Very cloak and dagger.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I have no idea. Write, maybe, or travel. After I take care of the evidence, I just want to go somewhere with Parker and be a dad. That’s all I really care about right now. That’s all I want to do.”

“I won’t even know your name,” Brent said. “I wouldn’t be able to find you if I tried.”

“Maybe I can get word to you somehow. Maybe, if they ever finally release the update of that damn game, you can look for Clyde.”

“Clyde is a badass. So are you. How’s the hand, by the way?”

Jeremiah shrugged casually and looked at his bandage. Dr. Pike had seen to the wound—made a cleaner cut, this time under heavy anesthesia, sutured it and put him on powerful antibiotics to guard against infection. Brent’s boxing glove bandage had been replaced with something slightly more manageable.

“Sit down, Brent. Let’s have a drink—one for the road.” He got two beers from the fridge and they sat down in the kitchen. “I don’t know how to say thank you,” he said.

“You don’t have to.”

“If it weren’t for you, I’d be stuck here another six months. God knows what would have happened to Parker, the way things were going. I might have gone back to nothing. You gave me a second chance. And you risked everything to do it.”

“You gave yourself a second chance,” he said. “I just opened the door for you.”

“Look, Brent, I don’t mean to go all fatherly on you or anything, but can I offer you some advice before I leave?”

“Sure, Pops.”

“I’m serious. This is important. You’ve got to learn something from all of this.”

“I have,” Brent said. “If you think you might have to cut off someone’s finger, don’t eat a breakfast burrito in the morning.”

“As useful as that may be, I hope you learned something from my mistakes. I hope you realize that it doesn’t have to be that way for you. Don’t ever become the kind of asshole I was.”

“C’mon, Jeremiah,” he started.

“I mean it. All of that stuff you said when we were arguing. That’s all true. I know that. And somewhere, you do, too. Or else you wouldn’t have been able to come up with it so quickly. You’re not that good of an actor, pal.” Jeremiah took a breath. “If you ever start to doubt yourself, promise me you’ll take a good hard look at your life and turn it around before it’s too late. You get to decide who you are and who you’re going to be. Don’t let anyone else decide for you.”

Brent raised his beer bottle to Jeremiah’s and smiled.

“Parker’s a lucky kid,” he said.

“Maybe. But I’ve got a lot to make up for. That starts today.”

Natalie Young knocked on the frame of the open door a half hour later and came into Jeremiah’s rooms without an invitation.

“I wanted to see how you’re coping,” she said. “Make sure you’re okay with all of this, you know, before you leave.”

Jeremiah snickered and shook his head. “How thoughtful of you,” he said.

She came farther into the room and took a seat on the edge of the couch, an unspoken bidding for him to join her, which he ignored.

She sighed heavily and looked at his face for a long moment before she spoke.

“Jeremiah. I thought you and I should have some closure. I thought I might be able to help you prepare for what comes next.”

He almost laughed.

“What comes next? Really, Natalie? What comes next is none of your damn business. I don’t need