“And he left three messages yesterday.”

“Did you listen to any of them?”

“I deleted every single one without hitting play,” I said.

Ben gave a short, quiet laugh that barely stirred the appointment cards on his blotter.

He capped his highlighter with a firm click and dropped it into the plastic mesh cup.

“What about the car insurance bill?” he asked.

“The eighty-four dollars he dumped on you after you bought the plates?”

I opened my bottom desk drawer and looked at the black leather cover of my check register.