'And gave him mouth-to-mouth.'
'Can't say I would've done the same. He really is a good guy, like they say.'
'Yeah, I guess so.'
Tres turned to him.
'You guess? Talk to me, buddy.'
Andy hesitated then said, 'Tres, you can't breathe a word of this to anyone, not even Natalie.'
'With what you could tell her about me?'
'I can't imagine what Russell Reeves would do to me if this got out. And Natalie's a reporter.'
'I can't imagine what Natalie would do to me if she found out I hired a PI to follow her. We're in a Mexican standoff, buddy.'
Andy drank beer for courage.
'I'm tracking down Russell Reeves' old girlfriends. Seventeen.'
' Seventeen? No way.'
'Way. All over the country.'
'That's why you've been traveling so much?'
Andy nodded. 'We found the first six women easy enough.'
'We who?'
'Downtown PI, ex-FBI. Russell gave me his name, only the PI doesn't know Russell's the client. Anyway, we found them, and Russell gave each woman a million bucks. Anonymously.'
'Why?'
'He doesn't want anyone to know-'
'No. Why'd he give them money?'
'To make amends, he said. Because he treated them badly and they're down on their luck.'
Tres nodded. 'He's suffering that rich-guilt complex. Feels guilty for being filthy rich, so he relieves his guilt by giving his money away. It's a common affliction among the rich… not for me, but for some rich people.' Tres shrugged. 'Course, for him, a million is like us giving a bum a buck. Well, for you anyway.'
'Thanks.'
'So he's giving away a bunch of money. What's the problem?'
'We had a hard time finding the seventh woman-her name's Frankie Doyle. So I went to her last-known address in Boston, talked to her ex-husband. Name's Mickey. He hit her, so she divorced him three years ago and took off with their five-year-old daughter. They moved to Montana then to New Mexico and West Texas and now to Buda.'
'As in Buda just down the road?'
'Yeah. And they changed their names every time.'
'She must really be afraid of Mickey.'
'Maybe. But we found her. Or Lorenzo did.'
'Why not the FBI guy?'
'He goes by the book.'
'You meet her?'
Andy nodded. 'Says she never dated anyone but Mickey.'
'She's lying.'
'Why would she lie about that?'
'Everyone lies.'
'Maybe.'
'Okay, so she's on the run from Mickey. And Reeves wants to give her a million bucks. I still don't see the problem.'
'Russell says the girl is his.'
' Whoa. Hold on. How?'
'He says they had an affair while he was up in Boston, teaching at MIT. Nine years ago.'
'While he was married?'
'And while she was.'
'Now that's a problem, Russell Reeves with a love child. How does he know the girl is his?'
'DNA.'
'How'd he get her DNA?'
'He didn't.'
'You did?'
Andy nodded.
'How?'
'Band-Aid in the trash.'
Tres seemed impressed.
'Does she know Reeves is the father of her child?'
Andy shrugged. 'When I went back out to get the DNA, she and the girl, they had already bolted.'
'Why?'
'They're scared.'
'Of what? Or whom?'
'I don't know.'
'So Reeves had you tracking down his old girlfriends to find this girl?'
'Yeah… or to find out if he had another child. But here's the weird part.'
Tres laughed. 'Like none of that was weird?'
'Seven of the eight women have sick kids, like Russell.'
'How sick?'
'Cancer, paralysis, cerebral palsy… The only kid who's not sick is-'
'Reeves' love child.'
Andy nodded. 'But Russell's worried she might get sick. Says he might have given the girl the same cancer gene he gave his son.'
'Who's dying.'
'Exactly. Said if she has the gene, he wants his scientists to give her gene therapy. To save her life.'
'So she's running from Mickey… or someone… but doesn't know her daughter might have cancer… or might get cancer.'
Andy nodded again.
'And Russell wants you to find her again.'
'Yep.'
'Complicated.'
They sat quietly and finished their beers.
'Tres, can I ask you a rich person question?'
'Municipal bonds.'
'Is Russell Reeves a complicated person because he's rich? Or is he rich because he's complicated?'
'He's rich because he's a genius. He lives a complicated life because when you're rich, the simple stuff of life is easy. You don't have to worry about paying the bills or buying medicine or affording college tuition. So life can get boring unless you create complications to make it interesting.'
'Like having affairs while you're married to a Miss UT?'
Tres nodded. 'Like most rich people, he figures the rules don't apply to him. He can do whatever he wants. Of course, the past always comes back and bites you in the butt… like finding out you have a love child. Then life gets complicated.'
'Are you like that?'
'I probably will be by the time I'm forty.'
They watched a pedicab try to cross Congress and almost get nailed by a speeding SUV.
'That would've hurt,' Tres said. He turned to Andy. 'Be careful, buddy.'
Andy laughed at his friend's serious expression.
