yourself to a friend-something awful, something you'd never want anyone to know. You'll feel better. You'll still see that you're worthy of love.' Sawyer was a drug counselor at Rockwell. Billy Lee was a patient there. My guess is that he caught him during a withdrawal episode. When he was delirious probably. He did what his therapist asked. Rule eight. He confessed the worst thing he could imagine, the one moment in his life that shaped all others. Sawyer suddenly saw his ticket out of Rockwell and into the spotlight. Through the wealthy Mayor family, owners of Mayor Software. So he went to you and your husband. And he told you what he'd heard."

Again Jared said, "You have no proof of any of this!"

And again Sophie silenced him with her hand. "Go on, Myron," she said. "What happened then?"

"With this new information, you found your daughter's body. I don't know if your private investigators did it or if you just used your money and influence to keep the authorities quiet. It wouldn't have been difficult for someone in your position."

"I see," Sophie said. "But if all that's true, why would I want to keep it quiet? Why not prosecute Clu and Billy Lee-and even you?"

"Because you couldn't," Myron said.

"Why not?"

"The corpse had been buried for twelve years. There was no evidence there. The car was long gone-no evidence there either. The police report listed a Breathalyzer test that showed Clu was not drunk. So what did you have: the ranting of a drug addict going through withdrawal? Billy Lee's confession to Sawyer Wells would probably be suppressed, and even if it wasn't, so what? His testimony about the police payoffs was complete hearsay since he wasn't even there when it happened. You realized all that, didn't you?"

She said nothing.

"And that meant justice was up to you, Sophie. You and Gary would have to avenge your daughter." He stopped, looked at Jared, then back at Sophie. "You told me about a void. You said that you preferred to fill that void with hope."

Sophie nodded. "I did."

"And when the hope was gone-when the discovery of your daughter's body sucked it all away-you and your husband still needed to fill that void."

"Yes."

"So you filled it with revenge."

She fixed her gaze on his. "Do you blame us, Myron?"

He said nothing.

"The crooked sheriff was dying of cancer," Sophie said. "There was nothing to be done about him. The other officer, well, as your friend Win could tell you, money is influence. The Federal Bureau of Investigation set him up at our behest. He took the bait. And yes, I shattered his life. Gladly."

"But Clu was the one you wanted to hurt most," Myron said.

"Hurt nothing. I wanted to crush him."

"But he too was fairly broken down," Myron said. "In order to really crush him, you had to give him hope. Just like you and Gary had all these years. Give him hope, then snatch it away. Hope hurts like nothing else. You knew that. So you and your husband bought the Yankees. You overpaid, but so what? You had the money. You didn't care. Gary died soon after the transaction."

"From heartache," Sophie interrupted. She raised her head, and for the first time he saw a tear. "From years of heartache."

"But you carried on without him."

"Yes."

"You concentrated on one thing and one thing only: getting Clu in your grasp. It was a silly trade-everyone thought so-and it was strange coming from an owner who kept out of every other baseball decision. But it was all about getting Clu on the team. That's the only reason you bought the Yankees. To give Clu a last chance. And even better, Clu cooperated. He started straightening out his life. He was clean and sober. He was pitching well. He was as happy as Clu Haid was ever going to get. You had him in the palm of your hand.

"And then you closed your fist."

Jared put his arm around her shoulders and pressed her close.

"I don't know the order," Myron went on. "You sent Clu a computer diskette like you sent me. Bonnie told me that. She also told me that you blackmailed him. Anonymously. That explains the missing two hundred thousand dollars. You made him live in terror. And Bonnie even inadvertently helped you by filing for divorce. Now Clu was in the perfect position for your coup de grace: the drug test. You fixed it so he would fail. Sawyer helped. Who better, since he already knew what