Even though I knew continuing to argue with him was futile, I decided to press my friend just a bit further on the subject. “So, tell me something. If I can’t help then why did you even bother telling me about this, Ben?”

“Figured since you were there, ya’ had an off chance of hearin’ about it anyway. Thought I’d see if I could get to ya’ first.”

“But…”

He cut me off. “No but’s, Row. It was a judgment call.”

“So how’d you make that call?”

“How else? I flipped a friggin’ coin.”

“What a novel approach.”

“Like I said. Judgment call. Heads I tell ya’ what I can and deal with ya’ bein’ pissed, or tails I don’t tell ya’ and still deal with ya’ bein’ pissed ‘cause I didn’t. For me it was lose-lose no matter what I did.”

“Glad to know I’m worth so much consideration,” I grumbled.

“It was a no-brainer, Row. I got bad guys ta’ catch. Better I spend my time thinkin’ about that instead of whether I want ya’ torqued at me now or torqued at me later.”

“Yeah, I know you’re right,” I conceded.

“If you wanna know the truth,” he offered. “I didn’t actually flip a coin. I was gonna tell ya’ anyway.”

“Why, because you figured I’d probably already heard about it?”

“No… Actually, ‘cause I’m a bit worried about ya’.”

“Don’t tell me, let me guess. Because you’re afraid I’m going to go looking for her?”

“Jeezus, White Man, I keep tryin’ ta’ tell ya’ I ain’t stupid. Hell, I know you’re gonna go lookin’ for her. What I’m afraid of is that you’re actually gonna find ‘er.”

*****

I had to give Ben credit; he definitely knew me as well as anyone could-except for my wife, of course. I was definitely going to look for Annalise, and finding her was my ultimate goal. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to accomplish this, but I knew where I was going to start.