Page 112 of Nobody's Fool

“What did you find?” she asks.

“Enough.”

We keep our eyes on the baseball diamond.

“I found out how I was scammed. I found out you did it to others. I found out you eventually crossed the wrong people. And I found Buzz.”

That gets her attention. “You found him?”

“Yes.”

“Where is he?”

“Nashville.”

“Tennessee?”

I nod.

She turns away, so I can’t see her face.

I say, “You didn’t know where he was, did you?”

It takes her a second. “No, of course not.”

“No, I mean…” I stop, try again. “Your father had me sign an NDA. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“I wouldn’t betray your trust anyway,” I say. “But even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. Legally, I mean.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, you do,” I say. “Buzz told me when you two ran your scams on naïve tourists, it usually lasted a day or two. Get in, get out, move on to the next mark. But you took longer with me. You kept stalling. I don’t know whether Buzz was full of shit or not, but he thought that you had genuine feelings for me.”

She still won’t face me.

“You remember me,” I say.

I lean forward now, so I can see her profile. Her eyes are squeezed shut.

“Victoria?”

Her eyes stay closed.

“Please,” I say. “For my sake, if not yours.” I turn my body toward hers. My hands are shaking. “You remember me, don’t you?”

And then she finally says it. “Yes.”

I almost ask her to say it again, but I don’t want to slow the momentum. “You remember Buzz too.”

“How is he?”

“He’s okay.”

“What’s he doing?”

“He works in film.”

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