My gaze lifted from the pages, stained with Preston’s stereotype red, to his face. “Spoiled Brat High?”

“I was going for Harvard-Westlake but blanked on the name.” He drained his glass and set it down, completing his collection on my coffee table. Now that I’d felt the mood in his condo, I understood better why he dropped by at every opportunity. Stretching, he rose from the couch, not seeming to note the tufts of stuffing clinging to his pants. He turned down the volume on the evening news, which, refreshingly, didn’t include me, and gathered his various stacks of papers.

He paused beside me on his way out and said archly, “I edit you hard because I care.”

“I could warm my hands on your affection.”

“Call if I can be of further assistance.”

“Further?”

“Of course. ‘Farther’ is for distance.”

“Never mind.”

He disappeared from the room, leaving behind the bottle of Havana Club, which, down to its last drops, was no longer worth hiding. I sank into my reading chair, which alone had been spared Xena’s wrath, and propped my feet on the ottoman. The news jingle gave way to a commercial for Chain of Command—a coveted fifteen-second spot my publisher had refused to grant me before I’d been indicted for murder. Marketing had chosen a disturbing publicity still of my face, which looked somewhere between angry and constipated, floating eerily above the cover of my most recent novel.

Next, adhering to some bizarre karmic logic, the familiar drumbeat opening of the main title sequence of Aiden’s War. Here was Johnny Ordean tackling a street hustler, there ducking a roundhouse Your next move, while challenging, is not unclear: You need to get an illegally obtained hair analyzed. Here is your assignment, as dogged protagonist: How can you meet this challenge in a manner unique to you? In a way that draws upon who you are or, better, in a way that only you can? thrown by an unappealing Arab. Looking noticeably more svelte than he had in his role as Father Derek Chainer, Johnny stopped for a zoom close-up as he did weekly, or nightly if you had a dish.

I flashed on the scene I’d caught when I was at the bar with Caroline—Johnny crouching over a corpse, studying the bullet casing he’d impaled on a paper clip. HUSTLE THIS TO FORENSICS THE CASING NOT THE HOT DOG.

I shuffled through the pages, finding Preston’s final note. Then I tugged my cell phone from my pocket and dialed.

Over the pulsing beat of club music, a guy with a strong Brooklyn accent: “Johnny Ordean’s phone.”

Ever since Aiden’s Law had racked up enough episodes for a DVD box set, Johnny had assumed the affectation of unavailability, putting nine layers of entourage between himself and others.

“Surprisingly,” I said, “I’m calling for Johnny. This is Drew Danner.”

“Andrew Danner? The…?”

“Murderer,” I said. “Sure. That’s me.”

Animated shouting, then Johnny’s voice, hoarse and loud: “Drew? That you? Crazy days, bro. Crazy days. You kill that broad?”

“Twice.”

“Drastic.” Johnny partook vigorously of the bad slang that seemed to sweep through L.A. every other season like a crimson tide.

“How’s it going?”

“Solid. The show’s kickin’. We’re doing a spin-off next year.”

“Aiden’s Law Omaha?”

“Very funny, bro. It’s called Mary’s Rule, and the sister—”

“Listen, I need a favor. You still have criminalists on staff as expert consultants?”

“Yeah, a handful.”

“I have a hair that I need to get run by a crime lab. It could prove me innocent.” Of course, it wouldn’t prove me innocent, but I was trying to feed him the kind of dialogue to which he was accustomed to responding. “I need to know who it belongs to.”

“Like a clue?” Noticeable excitement in his voice.

“Yeah, Johnny. Like a clue. Can you have one of your guys do it?”

“Sure, I’ll take it in to them, say I need to see how it works for an episode idea I’m developing. They love walking me through that stuff at the lab. When you need it by?”

“As soon as possible. It’s hard for me to describe how important this is.”

“Bring the hair by Flux. It’s a closed party—I’ll have you put on the list. I’ll call one of the consultants, have him check out the hair tonight.”

“You can get that done? Tonight?”

“I’m Johnny Ordean. I can get anything done.”