Page 63 of Shadows Reel

“Are you doing all right?” Joe asked.

“Mentally or physically?”

“Either one.”

“I’ve done hours of windshield time and I’ve taken a few hits,” Nate said.

Joe wanted more details but knew not to ask for them. “Are you completely on your own?”

“Not completely. I’ve got a few friends. One in particular.”

“Do you trust him?”

“I do.”

“When can we expect to see you?”

“Soon, I hope.” There was another pause, as if Nate was contemplating saying,Or never.

“You can always come back,” Joe said. “You don’t have to finish this.”

“Wrong. Ihaveto finish this.”

Nate said it in such a definitive way that Joe knew it was pointless to try to talk him out of it.

“Well, we miss you,” Joe said. “Kestrel is a firecracker, just like her mom.”

Liv reacted to that with a grin.

“I miss her,” Nate said. “Being away from her and Liv is harder than I imagined. Now I know what you’ve been dealing with all of these years.”

“But it’s not so bad, is it?” Joe asked, smiling. “It’s certainly better than sitting naked in a tree watching the river flow by.” Which was one of Nate’s pastimes when he was single and off the grid. That, and submerging himself in the reeds near the bank of the river with a breathing tube to “experience what a fish feels like.”

Nate didn’t respond. Joe imagined his friend covering the mike on his phone and talking to someone.

“I’ve got to go,” Nate said in a whisper.

“I understand,” Joe said, although he understood nothing. “Be safe.”

“You’ve been a good friend,” Nate said as he terminated the call.

Joe felt the hairs on his neck prick up.

“What?” Liv asked Joe as he handed the phone back to her.

“He said I was a good friend,” Joe said.

“You are.”

“I just wish he hadn’t said it in that way. Did he tell you where he was?”

“Not specifically,” Liv said. “Somewhere in Washington State. He was ‘in the heart of the beast.’ Which I took to mean Seattle.”

Joe nodded. He said, “If it were anyone else, I’d be really worried.”

“You’re telling me,” Liv said. “I’ve had a knot in my stomach for days. Today was the first time I feel like I’ve cut loose for at least a few hours.”

“Go back and have some more wine. It’s okay.”

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