“Jesus, Lyle. Okay. Don’t get testy. But could you sit? Relax, maybe? You’re making me tense pacing back and forth like a…” Rafe paused, seeming to think and then to decide not to say anything else.
“Like a dog on a chain?” Lyle offered. “Because that’s what I am. I’m a dog on a chain, Rafe. And you’re the one holding the goddamn end of it. So why don’t you tell me why it is that I’ve let you do that? If you know, then tell me, because it’s confusing the f**k out of me. And the last thing we need right now is for me to be confused. I make mistakes when I’m confused. Serious, horrible mistakes.”
“Like you did with your father’s partner.”
Rafe’s reply lifted the hairs on Lyle’s neck. “What do you know about that?”
“Everything,” Rafe said simply.
Rafe lifted his beer again, as though tha
