“What can you tell me about Tanaka?”
“He has ties to Big Energy and Big Pharma. Upton, you made my Ray so happy. I had to try. I stared at Natalie’s text message for the third time this morning, trying to decide whether to respond. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. “What?” Erin asked. “He’s one of ours,” Chloe said, stepping beside me. Her arms, shoulders, abdomen, back… all were fit and tight. Leaning over the table we ate at to give me a beautiful look down that expensive dress, I could almost see her navel. I’ve even acquired CCTV footage of her pulling cash from an ATM near a hot dog stand that didn’t accept credit cards. Carla was different. I hadn’t been able to resist Carla. I’d taken quite a few blows to the head, after all. “How was the funeral?” he asked. He’s friends with the Desai family. “I didn’t know anything about him till that afternoon before he died.”
I looked down at the casket, regretting even more that I hadn’t known more about Ray before he died. Your relationship with Tanaka has soured after everything that transpired on Monday. Something about how he stood and the brimmed hat resting on his head made me certain Henry Psalter was standing there, waiting to talk to me.
