lawyer,” he says with a smile, “but I’ve got to get in shape.”
“I won’t keep you long,” I say, and we quickly go over my bill, which despite its large size draws no objection from him. It’s actually less than the estimate I had given him at the start of the trial.
“I still can’t believe Bobby killed all those people,” Kenny says.
“Could you believe he wasn’t paralyzed?” I ask.
“No, that just blew me away.”
Kenny and Tanya have very few questions; they’re still flushed with relief that their lives haven’t been permanently derailed. I finish my coffee and get up to leave.
“Man, can’t you stay another couple of hours? I need an excuse not to work out.”
“That’s probably the only athletic thing we have in common. Hey, let me ask you a question,” I say, and then describe in detail my plan to become a placekicker for the Giants.
“That sounds pretty good,” he says.
“You think it could work?”
“Not a chance in hell,” he says, and laughs.
He’s challenging my manhood. “Be careful or I’ll be on that field before you will,” I say.
He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. They’re looking to activate me next week in time for the game at Cincinnati.”
Tanya stands to pick up the coffee cups. “Don’t remind me,” she says, smiling.
The comment surprises me. “You don’t want him to play?”
“Not in Cincinnati. I’ve got bad memories of that. But this time I’m going… Watching it on television was horrible.”
Kenny explains. “I got my bell rung in the fourth quarter when we were out there two years ago. I was out cold. Late hit.”
I nod. “I think I remember that.”
“Only time that ever happened to me. Man, that was scary as hell. Next thing I knew it was four hours later in the hospital. I didn’t even know who won. Bobby had to tell me.” He shakes his head sadly, probably at the awareness that Bobby won’t be there to tell him anything anymore.
I head out to the car, and I’m three blocks away when it hits me. I drive the three blocks back to the house about twice as fast, then jump out and pop open the trunk. I’ve brought a lot of my case files with me, in case I needed to refer to them to answer any questions about my bill, and now I pore through them until I find the piece of information I need.
Tanya Schilling is surprised to find me standing there when she answers the doorbell. “Sorry, but I need to talk to Kenny.”
“Sure, come on in,” she says. “He’s still in the den goofing off.”
She goes into the kitchen while I go back into the den. Kenny is also surprised by my reappearance. “Hey, you forget something?”
“Are you positive that Bobby was with you in the hospital in Cincinnati?” I ask.
“Absolutely. And not just because he was my friend. He was my trainer… it was his job to be there.”
“Kenny, I’m going to ask you something I’ve asked you before. Last time you wouldn’t answer; this time you’ve got to.”
“What is it?”
“The night you dropped Troy off at his house… the night he died… who was the woman you were arguing about?”
“I told you, I don’t remember,” he says. He can see by my face that I’m not going to drop it, so he changes his approach. “She’s got nothing to do with this.”
“I think she’s got everything to do with it,” I say.
“Tell him, Kenny.” It’s Tanya, standing in the doorway.
Kenny looks like the classic deer in the headlights. “Tell him what?” he asks, but it’s clear he knows what. And he now knows that she knows.
Her voice is firm. “You tell him or I will.”
I press him. “Who were you arguing about that night, Kenny?”
He nods in resignation. “Teri Pollard. Bobby’s wife.”
I already knew the answer to that question, and I can make a good guess at the answer to the next one. “Why were you arguing?”
Kenny looks at Tanya, gets no help, and turns back to me. “Troy was fooling around with her.”
“Why did you care?”
“Bobby was my friend. They had a good marriage… they had a son… I didn’t want him breaking them up.”
“There’s more to it than that,” I say.
“No,” Kenny says, “that’s it.”
I turn to Tanya. “Can you tell me?”
She nods. “Yes, I’ll tell you. Jason Pollard is Kenny’s son.”
Kenny whirls in surprise. “How did you know that?”
“Because I know you. Because I live with you. Because I understand you. You think I could