Eighteen Years After Ray Abandoned Him on a Dirt Road, Thomas Found His Mother’s Letter

Two dates in pencil, one in August 2006 and one this past June.

Initials next to each.

“Someone at that bank has gone looking for this file twice,” I said.

“J.

T. isn’t a name yet.” Vance shut the box.

“But banks call their customers before they call lawyers, Thomas.

Your father will hear that the file has moved.”

I drove out to the lake with a copy in a manila folder and kept the radio off the whole way.