OUR WAITRESS RETURNED. "Your tea, sweetie," she said, placing a stainless steel pitcher of boiling water, a mug, and a Lipton tea bag in front of Kimi.
"Thank you," Kimi said, without looking up.
The waitress looked at me. "More coffee?"
I nodded and she refilled my cup and then McNulty's.
Once the waitress had moved to another table, Kimi tapped the article with her finger. "If the person in this story is Angel, how did he end up in Seattle?" She was trying to sound professional, but her voice quavered.
McNulty leaned forward, so close that I could feel his anger. "The person you saw with him the first day of practice—that's a cousin. When the trial ended, Angel moved in with him to get out of harm's way in Philly. Angel needs two more credits to get a diploma. When he graduates, there's a college that'll give him a football scholarship. I'm not telling you which college, so don't ask, but it's a safe place, a place where guys from Philly would never think to look.
"Once Angel enrolled at Lincoln, his football coach from Aramingo High called me. He said reclaiming that stolen season would mean everything to Angel, and he asked me if I could somehow get Angel onto my team. I checked with the Washington State Athletic Association—I'm not a cheater and I never was, in spite of the rumors—and they gave me the go-ahead. I've kept Angel below the radar to be on the safe side. But because of you two, those gang guys back in Philadelphia now know he goes to Lincoln High, and when you get your precious article published, everybody in the country will know."
"That's not fair," Kimi said. "We didn't know any of this. Besides, we haven't published anything."
"Not yet you haven't," McNulty said, looking right at me. "But you can still go to Chet the Jet. It's not the story you thought you had, but it's still one helluva story. You'll make quite a splash, and that's what this is all about, right?"
He was right. It was a great story, and there was nothing to stop us from publishing it. I could rework what I'd written and the Times would jump at it: Hero Makes Most of Second Chance.
I looked to Kimi. How much did making a name for herself matter to her? Our eyes met, and she gave her head a small shake. I turned back to McNulty. "We won't go to Chet the Jet, or to anyone. Not unless Angel says we can."
"That'll never happen," McNulty said.
"Then we'll never publish," I said.
McNulty's eyes shifted to Kimi.
"I won't tell anyone," she said.
He smoothed his napkin with his fingertips. "Now I need to ask you a couple of things. Things that matter for Angel's immediate safety."
"The guy in Philadelphia—his name?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
"He knows Angel goes to Lincoln, but what else does he know?"
"Nothing."
"You didn't give him Angel's home address? Angel's cousin told me you've been around his place."
"He wanted Angel's address, but I didn't give it to him."
"You're sure? Because if you did, tell me so I can get Angel out of there."
"I'm positive."
"All right, last thing. This guy—how did he sound to you? Gut feeling."
My heart drummed in my chest. "Dangerous."
McNulty's jaw tightened. He took out his wallet and dropped a five-dollar bill and two ones onto the table. "This is on me," he said, and then he left.
Kimi finished her tea, and I finished my coffee. The waitress picked up our cups along with McNulty's money. "You can keep the change," I said.
"Thanks, honey."
After we trudged back to the car through the snow, I drove Kimi home. The sidewalks and lawns were white, but the heat from the car engines had turned the streets into gray slush. When I pulled up in front of Kimi's house, she stepped out of the car. Instead of closing the door and going inside, she leaned back toward me. "Gang guys don't forget, Mitch. They're all about payback. They'll kill him if they get a chance."
"Kimi, Philadelphia is three thousand miles away. They don't know where Angel lives. It's not like they have an American Express credit card and they're going to use it to fly out here, rent a hotel room, rent a car, and then drive around looking for him."
She stood holding the door for a long time. "We missed something before," she finally said. "What if we're missing something again?"