The First Counsel

* * *

"I can't believe this. Why the hell was he--?"

"Michael, calm down," Trey says on the other line. "For all you know--"

"He was taking my picture, Trey! I saw him!"

"Are you sure it was just of you?"

"When I asked him about it, he ran away. They know it, Trey. Somehow, they know to focus on me, which means they're not going to stop digging through my life until they hit either a casket or a . . . Oh, God."

"What?" Trey asks. "What's wrong?"

"When they find out what I did--they're going to rip him apart."

"Rip who apart?"

"I gotta go. I'll speak to you later."

"But what abou--"

I slam down the phone and dial a new number.