Page 148 of Think Twice

Emily didn’t reply.

“We could have handled this on our own. As his parents.”

Emily put her hand on Myron’s arm. “I thought you’d understand.”

“I do,” Myron said to her. Then he turned to Greg. “Take a second. Your strength as a coach was your ability to draw up the perfect game plan. You watched game film tirelessly. You read scouting reports. No one prepared for a game like you did.”

Greg leaned forward. “It’s why I know this will work,” he said.

“Will it?” Myron said. He pointed to the phone. “Calls on that phone were made to the Prine Organization.”

“Right.”

“Ronald Prine was murdered while you were in custody. Are you going to say you shot him from your prison cell?”

Greg turned his gaze toward Emily. Emily gave a helpless shrug.

“I need you to listen to me,” Myron said to Greg. “The FBI doesn’t know how many people were murdered—and framed—by this serial killer. At least half a dozen, probably a lot more. There was one in Texas, one in New York, one in Las Vegas, one in Nebraska… all over. There were zero connections between all the cases. Zero. Nothing the FBI could put their finger on. Not a clue. The killer could have continued to operate like this for years. They may have never been caught, except one thing blew open the case.”

They both waited. Greg reached across the table and took Emily’s hand. For the briefest of moments, she looked unhappy about it, even repulsed by his touch, but then it was as though she realized that they were in it together, as Jeremy’s parents, the two of them against the suddenly strange interloper named Myron.

“You, Greg. Don’t you see? Your DNA ends up at the Callister murder scene. And you are connected to Jordan Kravat.”

“How?” Greg asked. “Jordan Kravat was, what, my girlfriend’s son’s ex-boyfriend. I mean, that’s not much of a connection.”

“But it isn’t a coincidence, Greg. I need you to stop and think about this. Who else is connected to both? Who could have framed you for Cecelia Callister and framed Joey Turant for the murder of Jordan Kravat?”

“What are you trying to say?” Greg asked. “That Jeremy is the connection?”

“No. I’m asking—”

“Because I hadn’t seen Jeremy in months before I went to Vegas.” He turned to Emily. “You remember. He was on some mission and incommunicado for four months.”

“I remember,” Emily said.

Greg folded his hands and put them on the table. “Myron, listen to me. We need to buy a little time, so we can sort this out between us—before we tell anyone else, okay? Maybe you’re right. Maybe I need to take a step back and do what I do best. Scout. Plan. Get methodical. The three of us.”

It was then that Myron’s phone rang.

He checked the caller ID.

It was Jeremy.

Everyone at the table froze.

“Why is he calling you?” Emily asked.

Myron didn’t wait for Greg or Emily to offer advice on how to handle the call. He hit the answer button.

“Hey,” Myron said.

“Hey,” Jeremy replied.

There was an awkward silence. Myron switched the phone from his right hand to his left. Emily and Greg stared at him.

“I thought I’d see you at Greg’s release.”

“I got held up,” Jeremy said.