Chapter 21

When he picked up the receiver the third time, Carlo edged into his peripheral vision. “Who are you calling now?”

“An old friend.”

Very old. And not one he was convinced would actually talk to him, but right now, he didn’t see any other option.

Five minutes and three transfers later, he sat on the end of the couch to brace himself for the conversation.

“You might be the last person on this planet I ever expected to hear from again.” Though it had been a decade since Joe had last spoken to him, Captain Wallace still sounded like his voice box was filled with gravel. “There any particular reason you’re crawling out of the woodwork now?”

He tried not to wince. “Yeah. Emmett’s little brother.”

Dropping the name did the trick. Wallace had been more than happy to accept Joe’s resignation after Emmett’s death, blaming him for the tragedy even after he was cleared of wrongdoing. As far as Joe was concerned, that was all right. He had blamed himself, too.

“What’s wrong with the kid?”