Chapter 81

“Why don’t we go into the upstairs den for a minute and exchange contact information?” Mickey said.

“Certainly,” she said.

In the den, they exchanged all of the pertinent information; then he led them downstairs and to the backyard where their car was waiting. When their taillights disappeared up the driveway, he went into the house in search of Ted and found him in the library with Bishop in his lap.

“Time to go to bed, kiddo,” he said. “We’ve got to get up early and go visit Chris before I have to go to work.”

“Okay.”

“Let Bishop out one last time before you put him in his crate.”

“Yes, Sir.”

42

Jacksonville, FL

MICKEY AND TED arrived in Chris’s room a little after seven the next morning and found him wide awake and alert.

“You must be feeling a lot better,” Mickey said, after he kissed Chris.

“Actually, I am. I probably shouldn’t be, but I am.”

“Why shouldn’t you be feeling a lot better?”