“I was never good at school.”
“Then talk to me. You are interested in a boy?”
“Yes.”
“Have you spent any time with him?”
“Not really. I go to his place of employment.”
“That’s good. You are interacting with him. I take it he doesn’t know what you do.”
“Are you nuts?” Mac barked. “I could never tell him that. He’s too good. Too pure.”
“You will have to tell him something,” Byron pointed out.
“I’m working on it.”
Byron nodded. Mac was getting frustrated. “He’s single?”
“Yes. He has a family but not close by. Although he returns home several times a year. They seem close.”
“You’ll have to keep that in mind. You won’t be able to keep him from his family. Not if he’s close to them.”
Mac rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t do well with families.”
“You’ll learn,” Byron assured him. “When it’s something that your boy needs you find a way.”
“What else?” Mac seemed almost excited now.
“You want to be his Daddy?”
“Yes.” No hesitation.
“And he’s a boy? You can’t force it.”
“He’d make the perfect boy. He’s smart, funny, and super sweet. He cares about other people and goes out of his way to help.”
Byron nodded. “Do you know what kind of boy he is?”
“Not exactly. I thought about putting some listening device in his apartment but that didn’t seem right.”
“It’s not. You need to take your time and get to know the boy. You can’t cheat on this.”
“That’s what I thought.” Mac didn’t look happy about it.
“If he’s interested in you,” Byron said calmly. “He’ll open up.”
“Thank you. I guess that’s what I wanted to hear. I just need to wrap some things up first.”
“Mitch’s father?”
“He thought he could play me.”
“Did you kill for him?” Byron had to ask. Even if he didn’t really want to know the answer.
“No, nothing like that. But I did get rid of some evidence he didn’t want to see come to light. I didn’t do it for him. I did it for the victim. The poor kid didn’t want his story getting out and the cops were closing in. I promised him that no one would ever know.”
Byron nodded.