'Twenty-five. Phi Beta Kappa from Yale.'
' 'Impressive. ' '
Norm said, 'Don't even think it, Win.'
Win shook his head. He wouldn't. She was in the business. Harder to disentangle. When it came to the opposite sex, Win liked quick and absolute closure.
'I stole her from those sons of bitches at Nike,'
Norm said. 'She was a bigwig in their basketball department. Don't get me wrong. She was making a ton of dough, but she smartened up. Hey, it's like I told her:
There's more to life than money. You know what I'm saying?'
Myron refrained from rolling his eyes.
'Anyway, she works like a dog. Always checking and rechecking. In fact, she's on her way to Linda Coldren's right now. They're going to have a late-night tea party or something girly girl. ' '
Myron and Win exchanged a glance. 'She's going to Linda Coldren's house?'
'Yeah, why?'
'When did she call her'?'
'What do you mean?'
'Was this appointment made a long time ago'?'
'What, now, I look like a receptionist?'
'Forget it.' .
' ' Forgotten. ' '
'Excuse me a second,' Myron said. 'Do you mind if I go make a call?' '
'AmI your mother?' Zuckerman made a shooing motion. 'Go already.'
Myron debated using his cellular phone but decided not to piss oif the Merion gods. He found a phone booth in the men's locker room foyer and dialed the Coldrens'
house. He used Chad's line. Linda Coldren answered.
'Hello?'
'Just checking in,' Myron said. 'Anything new?'
'No,' Linda said.
'Are you aware that Esme Fong is coming over?'
'I didn't want to cancel,' Linda Coldren explained.
'I didn't want to do anything that would draw attention.'
'You'll be okay, then?'
'Yes,' she said.
Myron watched Tad Crispin walk by in the direction of Win's table. 'Were you able to reach the school?'
'No; nobody was there,' she said. 'So what do we do next?'
'l don't know,' Myron said. 'I have the override Caller ID on your phone. If he calls again, we should be able to get the number.'
'What else?'
'I'll try to speak to Matthew Squires. See what he can for me.'
'I already spoke to Matthew,' Linda said impatiently. 'He doesn't know anything. What else?'
'I could get the police involved. Discreetly. There's not much else I can do on my own.'
'No,' she said firmly. 'No police. Jack and I are both adamant on that point.'
'I have friends in the FBI '
'No.'
He thought about his conversation with Win. 'When Jack lost at Merion, who was his caddie?'
She hesitated. 'Why would you want to know that?'
'I understand Jack blamed his caddie for the loss.'
'In part, yes.'
'And that he fired him.'
'So?'
'So I asked about enemies. How did the caddie feel about what happened?'
'You're talking about something that happened over twenty years ago,' Linda Coldren said. 'Even if he did harbor a deep hatred for Jack, why would he wait so long?'
'This is the first time the Open has been at Merion since then. Maybe that's reawakened dormant anger. I
don't know. Chances are there's nothing to this, but it might be worth checking out.' '
He could hear talking on the other end of the line.
Jack's voice. She asked Myron to hold on a moment.
A few moments later, Jack Coldren came on the line.
Without preamble, he said, 'You think there's a connection between what happened to me twenty-three years ago and Chad's disappearance?'
'I don't know,' Myron said.
His tone was insistent. 'But you think '
'I don't know what I think,' he interrupted. 'I'm just checking out every angle.'
There was a stony silence. Then: 'His name was Lloyd Rennart,' Jack Coldren said.
'Do you know where he lives?'
'No. I haven't seen him since the day the Open ended.'
'The day you fired him.'
'Yes.'
'You never bumped into him again? At the club or a tournament or something?' +
'No,' Jack Coldren said slowly. 'Never.'
'Where did Rermart live back then?'
'In Wayne. It's the neighboring town.'
'How old would he be now?'
' ' Sixty eight. ' ' No hesitation.
'Before this happened, were you two close?'
Jack Coldren's voice, when he finally spoke, was very soft. 'I thought so,' he said. 'Not on a personal level.
We didn't socialize. I never met his family or visited his home or anything like that. But on the golf course' he paused 'I thought we were very close.'
Silence.
'Why would he do it?' Myron asked. 'Why would he purposely ruin your chances of winning?'
Myron could hear him breathing. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse and scratchy. 'I've wanted to know the answer to that for twenty-three years.'
Chapter 6
Myron called in Lloyd Rennart's name to Esperanza.
It probably wouldn't take much. Again modern technology would simplify the feat. Anyone with a modem could type in the address www.switchboard.com -a Web site that was virtually a telephone directory of the entire country.
If that site didn't work, there were others. It probably wouldn't take long, if Lloyd Rennart was still among the living. If not, well, there were sites for that too.
'Did you tell Win?' Esperanza asked.
'Yes.'
'How did he react?'
'He won't help.'
'Not surprising,' she said.
'No,' he agreed.
Esperanza said, 'You don't work well alone, Myron.'
'I'll be fine,' he said. 'You looking forward to graduation?'
