A thick white envelope sat on the Formica table right next to his napkin dispenser.

I walked over slowly, my winter coat heavy on my shoulders, and sat down in the vinyl booth across from him.

“You look tired, Aud,” he said, his voice low and soft in a way I hadn’t heard since early summer.

“I’m managing,” I said, laying my gloves on the seat beside me.

He reached down with one hand and slid the white envelope across the table until it sat two inches from my glass of water.

“There’s five thousand dollars in cash in that envelope,” he said.