"What are you doing?" "Running assignments." "Homicide in Dorchester." "No, I mean that cheerful sound you're making with your mouth." "My Favorite Things, Coltrane." "I've known you eight years, Garret." "Never once have I known you to hum a happy tune." "Go to Dorchester." "Look, I gave Lily a ride home last night." "She seemed a little down." "Really, what'd she say?" "Nothing about you, which is a first." "So what's the deal with the ex?" "There's no deal." "We're communicating." "Vertically or horizontally?" "That's very funny." "Dr. Macy, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we just got a call on a dead teenager and Dr. Sanders was up next so I gave him the file." "Okay, Lily, thanks." "The thing is, it's this..." "It's a student from Loyola High." "That's Abby's school." "Never been so glad to see you." "Remember Dr. Sanders?" "Hey." "Damon's dead, Dad." "I talked to him this morning, he was fine." "Damon?" "Damon Tremaine." "I met him in ninth grade in summer session." "He's such an amazing guy." "They said he was fine one second and then he just fell down and died." "Listen, you just try to take it easy, okay." "I need to go do my job." "I'll be right back." "I'm Dr. Macy from the M.E.'s Office." "My associate, Dr. Sanders." "Jim Evans." "I run the basketball program here at Loyola." "What happened?" "We were running a full court drill." "Damon crossed half-court and he hit the deck." "I thought he had sprained his ankle, but he didn't get up." "Was he breathing when you got to him?" "We tried CPR until the paramedics arrived." "I just can't believe this could happen." "I read about this guy." "He was one of the top high school players in the state." "All right, listen, let's just run the basics and get a wagon down here fast, okay?" "Hey, Eddy." "What's up?" "What have we got?" "Single gunshot to the back of the head, execution style." "ID?" "No." "No wallet, no keys, nothing." "No witnesses either." "Of course, a half a dozen people heard the gunshot, but..." "My guess is the shooter took off through that alley over there." "Small caliber." "Oh, must have come here to score." "That and a little grocery shopping." "He had this bag here with him." "Ah, milk and heroin." "That's the breakfast of champions, right?" "He probably lived in one of these flophouses around here where the junkies shoot up, sleep and eat." "In that order." "Of course, that's in between changing diapers, right?" "How could he be dead?" "I mean, he's a month younger than I am." "How could this have happened?" "I won't know until I examine him." "Damon was the best player that Loyola ever had." "Every college in the country was after him." "Did you know him well?" "I didn't date him if that's what you're asking." "It isn't." "I'm sorry." "I used to hang with him a lot before he became a basketball god and started spending every second either practicing or lifting weights." "He used to hassle me about not having everything figured out." "God, he knew exactly what he wanted." "Listen, are you going to be okay?" "I got to go." "Call you as soon as I know something." "Okay." "All right." "Dad?" "I found this on the upstairs table, at Mom's." "Thanks." "Look, Abby, your mom's been going through a tough time since Walter left, and I..." "You don't need to explain." "Well, no, I know." "It's just..." "No, Dad." "I'm a big girl and I understand and I'm totally cool with it." "You are?" "Sure." "Why not?" "I have plenty of friends whose parents have split then hooked back up." "It's no biggie." "Call me later?" "Yeah." "Ever see one of these before?" "Membranous hind wings, dentated legs, clavated antenna?" "Interesting." "Where'd you find it?" "Pulled it off the shoe of a dead junkie in Dorchester." "Can it help me find out who killed him?" "Let me look into it." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Nice hat." "Thanks." "Well, what do you think?" "You're a vision of idiocy." "You mean you're not even the least bit curious about the hat?" "Uh, no." "Come on, insectus, take a guess." "Mentally deranged chimney sweep?" "Close, in that I will be sweeping away the soot and cobwebs to explore our collective nightmarescape." "It's my mate's business." "I'm taking over while he's away in Barbados." "See, the topper is so the tourists can pick me out in a crowd." "What, that's been a problem before?" "Look, see." "Boston Fright-seeing Tour." "Haunted history, ghostly byways." "Add yourself and you've got a horror hat trick." "Add forty bucks a head and you got a new Porsche." "Is that a dog?" "New admit." "Oh, okay." "A, it's alive and B, I am not a vet." "Not the dog." "Her." "Bless you." "Oh, I'm..." "Oh, allergic." "Sorry." "This little guy was found with her." "She was walking him in Cambridge Common when she passed away." "There's no identification." "All right, then let's get her into Trace and run some prints." "What about him?" "Oh, I defer to ancient Korean wisdom when it comes to dogs." "Which is?" "They inspire longevity and good health." "Oh, did you hear that?" "As part of a complete nutritious breakfast." "Just get him out of here." "Mrs. Tremaine, I'm Dr. Macy." "I'd like to offer my condolences for the loss of your son." "Thank you." "We'll be performing an autopsy this afternoon." "Is there anything you can tell me about Damon's medical history that would be helpful?" "He was fine." "He hadn't missed a day of school in three years." "My daughter Abby goes to Loyola." "She said that Damon was a great kid." "He was a popular boy." "Sweet, smart." "Everything was going great until that man got a hold of him." "You mean Coach Evans?" "That bastard's responsible for my son's death." "What makes you say that?" "Damon loved to play basketball." "And I supported it as long as his grades were good." "But Evans had him practicing morning, noon and night." "Wind sprints, special diets." "Who knows what else?" "If there's anything unusual about Damon's death, I can assure you we'll find it." "If we're lucky, we'll know more tonight." "If I was lucky, my son would still be alive." "Hey." "Still no luck on missing persons." "Find anything?" "Yeah, one strange thing." "She's wearing an outfit that costs more than my car." "Well, she was found on Cambridge Commons." "There's a lot of rich folks around there." "Yeah, that's what I thought." "Then I looked at her hands." "Whoa." "These are working hands, years of harsh chemicals, manual labor." "Self-made woman?" "Or maybe just a maid." "Bless you." "Is that mutt still here?" "Animal Control took him an hour ago." "She's got some hair on her jacket." "If she's a maid, how come she's wearing Chanel?" "I'm guessing hand-me-downs." "Let's start calling all the household help agencies, see if anyone didn't show up for work this morning." "Okay." "Jordan." "Oh." "I got your page." "What's the emergency?" "No emergency." "Just thought I'd keep you in the loop." "Since when do you keep me in the loop?" "Well, I figured I'd spare you the whole going behind my back, being obnoxious routine you normally resort to, you know." "Oh, well, when you put it that way." "So, what have we got?" "Nailed the shooter in the John Doe case." "Oh, wow." "That was fast." "His name is Keith Walker, small-time dealer." "The guy had the keys, the wallet, everything." "Killed the man for twelve dollars." "Has he confessed?" "Not yet." "He lawyered up." "Well, I ran the victim's prints." "His name's Chris Vanders." "Yeah, yeah, so did we." "Not much of a record, though." "He's got possession charges for cocaine, heroin." "That's it." "Have you located the mother and the baby yet?" "We sent a unit to the address." "They're on their way in." "This part never gets easier." "That poor kid's going to grow up without a father." "Some father." "Hey, it's not all black and white, Jordan." "I didn't realize you were such a bleeding heart." "I'm not." "I'm just saying the guy's life was complicated." "I mean, come on, he was buying dope and diapers?" "I'd say he was a bit conflicted. "A bit"?" "A junkie, I can deal with, but a junkie with a kid, that kind of pisses me off." "I'm just giving him the benefit of the doubt, that's all." "Detective Winslow, this is Tanya Vanders, Chris Vanders' wife." "Hi, Mrs. Vanders." "I'm Detective Winslow." "This is Jordan Cavanaugh." "She's the medical examiner assigned to the case." "Hi." "Where's Amy?" "I'm sorry?" "My baby." "He had my baby." "He came by whenever he was clean, to see Amy, you know, and yesterday he showed up about two o'clock." "He said he'd watch her while I did some errands." "And when I came back, they were gone." "And then I got a call from the police saying Chris was dead." "We know about his heroin use." "He was found in a known drug neighborhood." "Any idea why he'd take the baby there?" "I don't know." "He did lots of crazy things." "Any idea who his dealers were?" "No." "Look, we're going to canvas the neighborhood where he was found, get the press involved." "If she's alone, no one will be taking care of her." "Will she be okay?" "Tell me the truth, Dr. Cavanaugh." "How much time?" "We will find her as soon as we can." "As soon as we know anything, we'll call you." "I promise." "Do you have someplace to go?" "No." "Why don't you come with me?" "I can take you back to my office." "Maybe you could get some rest there." "Thank you." "Here we go, my darlings." "As promised, the spooky saloon, the gruesome groggery, the petrifying public house." "Yes, scary, yeah." "Lmpressive." "Nigel." "Mmm-hmm." "Can I have a word?" "Certainly, certainly." "One moment, my darlings." "Right, yeah, what?" "Who are these people?" "Terror tour." "And you found them where, exactly?" "Waiting around for one of those dull-as-dishwater Paul Revere Slept Here snore buses." "I offered them an alternative." "You stole an international tour?" "I prefer the term "diverted," but yeah." "Look, the joint's closed until dinner, so why don't you take these people back to their bus?" "Because they're expecting chilling tales from the haunted tavern." "Come on," "I bet you're a regular gay raconteur when you get going, hey?" "Hey?" "I have my moments." "The problem is the place isn't haunted." "Yeah, well, these people are looking to be entertained, not write a bloody master's thesis." "You want me to spin some line of bull to these people about ghosts in the bar?" "Weave an alternate history is all I ask." "What's in it for me?" "Twenty hungry, thirsty Germans." "Bratwurst and beer ring a bell?" "Jawohl." "Willkommen!" "Hey, we got a match on Jane Doe's dental records." "Her name was Hilda Ruiz." "Good." "Next of kin?" "Well, I got a number in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico." "I talked to her sons." "She worked as a domestic in Cambridge for eight years." "And her employers didn't report her missing?" "Maybe they figured she was just taking a sick day?" "She needed more than a sick day." "Her lungs were a mess." "Tons of scar tissue." "Do you have any idea why?" "Eight years up close and personal with cleaning chemicals." "She might as well have been working in a mine." "Can her children arrange for her body to be sent home?" "She sent money every month to Mexico to support them." "Did her sons have a contact number for the family she worked for?" "Maybe I should go to the source." "You said she was found in Cambridge Common?" "Yeah." "It's time to go knock on some doors." "The bloody hook came closer and closer." "And he knew the vengeance of the pirate ghost was upon him." "Woo!" "Bravo." "Thank you, barkeep Cavanaugh." "That was quite the tale of horror." "Friday night, Scooby Doo rerun, right?" "Never miss an episode." "That's brilliant." "Brilliant." "Well, thanks again for the brew and the blarney." "Ah..." "Oh, no." "Their tab's settled." "I double-checked it myself." "Oh, they're all settled." "You still owe me a speaker's fee." "Oh, but..." "Come back any time." "Most cases of sudden death are due to cardiac arrest." "But that wouldn't explain the low body temp I got at the scene." "Since time of death isn't an issue." "What about drugs?" "I ordered a tox screen." "Jugular veins were distended, heart's enlarged." "Looks to be." "What?" "I used to run eight or nine games a day in the hot sun when I was his age." "Felt invincible." "Bet he felt the same." "Well, you know, when you're a kid, you never think you're pushing yourself too hard." "If you want to go all the way, you got no choice." "That sounds like the voice of experience." "I played ball as a freshman at Cal." "At Berkeley?" "You must have been pretty damn good." "Yeah, I could play." "But once I decided to go pre-med, something had to give." "This kid never even got to make the choice." "This is the nicest room we've got." "The rest of the place can be pretty creepy when you're not used to it." "Hey, can I get you something to eat or drink?" "I'm okay, thanks." "Amy." "That's a very pretty name." "Yeah, we named her after my grandmother." "She's usually napping by now." "I finally got her on one of those schedules they talk about in the baby books." "It's hard being on your own." "My dad raised me alone." "I'm sure there were times when he wished I wasn't around." "No, he didn't." "Just find her." "Please." "So, what'd you guys find?" "Well, there's some dusty residue embedded into the soles of his shoes." "Okay, get me a sample." "Nigel, can you run that?" "Yeah, sure." "I feel terrible for that woman." "I feel even worse for the baby." "What about that beetle I found?" "Ah, well, traditionally, it is found in warmer regions of the Eastern Seaboard, in Georgia, Louisiana, the deep South." "But at some point last night, Chris Vanders stepped on a beetle nest." "In the deep South?" "No, probably not, but someplace very warm." "The female doryphora only lays her eggs in temperatures above eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit." "That could be anywhere with a heater." "And one of the fibers on his pants leg is a wool commonly used in industrial carpets." "Distinguishing feature being its color." "What color exactly?" "Puke green." "So I did some checking, and based upon the weave and the fabric grain, the manufacturer appears to be an industrial firm in Arlington." "Now, it's used mainly in hotels." "That's a long shot." "How many hotels in Boston proper?" "I don't know." "But I've got a feeling I'm about to find out." "Thanks for picking me up." "I was just too freaked out to drive." "Well, you know, it's tough to lose someone you care about." "It's just so weird how one second they can be laughing and smiling, and then the next..." "Tell me, did Damon ever talk about taking performance-enhancing drugs?" "You know, amphetamines, steroids or anything like that?" "Everyone knows that some of the jocks take drugs to help them play better." "Did Damon take them?" "He didn't say and I didn't ask." "I do know that Coach Evans is a banner freak." "Basketball championships, he lives for them." "Word is that he looks the other way if players want to improve their game." "This just feels like a bad dream." "I'm sorry about your friend." "He had such big plans, college and then pro basketball." "And then he was going to go into business like Magic Johnson." "So maybe we could do something this weekend, catch some jazz, maybe see a movie." "How's that sound?" "You mean like you, me and Mom, the three of us?" "I didn't really think about it." "But maybe, I mean, I suppose we could..." "I would, but I have other plans." "We're really upset about Damon, so some of us wanted to go up to Kyle's house in Maine and just chill out." "Kyle?" "Now, is that the kid with the pierced tongue and the lizard tattoo?" "It's a python." "Oh." "Did your mom okay this?" "Not yet, but she'll be cool with it." "Plus, it'll give you two some alone time." "Abby?" "Never mind." "Lily, you need to get me that damn dog." "I thought you were allergic." "Hey." "That's him." "I found this on a telephone pole near the Common." "I called them four times about their missing housekeeper and they wouldn't return my calls." "What are you going to do with the dog?" "I'm going to make the little mutt earn his keep." "We've come up with a list of possible hotels your husband stayed in last night." "Any of these ring a bell?" "Yeah, Manchester Hotel." "Must have dragged him out of there half a dozen times when he was high." "Nope." "Are you sure?" "Told you, I haven't seen either of them." "You understand there's a baby missing." "That her father's last whereabouts were two blocks from this hotel." "Hey, look, people pay for privacy here." "I mind my own business." "Listen, moron, a man's dead, his kid is sick somewhere and you're being a complete..." "Jordan, Jordan, let's show some tact here." "Okay, the way I see it, you got two choices." "You either help us or I call in a sweep search of this entire place." "No telling what you got going on here, pal." "Search like that takes, I don't know, ten days." "Of course, we close you down in the meantime." "Yeah, well, you can't shut me down." "This place is on the historical register." "I'll make sure to stick a flag out front when I bolt the door." "Come on." "Okay, I seen him." "He's been here two weeks, room 207." "Did he have a baby with him?" "I don't know." "Look, all I know is that he owes me a week's rent." "When he didn't show up yesterday, I padlocked the door." "She's gone." "Over here." "Amy." "Hold it right there, ma'am." "Who are you people?" "Boston Police." "Ma'am, Boston Police." "We..." "There's been a mix-up, ma'am." "Very sorry." "There's a lot of other names on that list." "We should get going." "Okay." "What..." "I'm sorry." "How's she holding up?" "She'll be a lot better when we find her kid." "We canvassed the neighborhood where he was killed, checked every hospital, day-care center and nursery in the area." "That list of his friends we got?" "Yeah?" "No leads." "So, what?" "You just going to give up?" "You've known me too long to say something like that to me, Jordan." "You know how this works." "The force has only so many man hours it can devote to finding a junkie's kid, I'm sorry." "Look, the longer she is out there, the less chance we have of finding her alive." "We better catch a break 'cause she could be anywhere." "Oh, well..." "Hey, hey, hey." "Don't go getting all self-righteous on me here, okay?" "I'm not the bad guy on this one." "Look, I'm not giving up on this baby." "Mr. And Mrs. Hildebrant, this is Dr. Vijayaraghaven - satyanaryanamurthy." "Your office said it was urgent." "I have something you lost." "Pomegranate." "Oh, sweetie..." "Where did you find him?" "Oh, attached to the wrist of your deceased housekeeper," "Mrs. Ruiz." "Remember her?" "What, you don't remember the woman you stepped over for eight years as she buffed your mahogany floors?" "How did you know we had..." "Nitrobenzene." "Puts a real nice shine on your hardwoods and on your lungs." "I'll bet you didn't even spring for health insurance, did you?" "No, of course not." "She wasn't any more important to you than a mop or a broom." "One goes, get another one to replace it." "Well, you may not have afforded her much dignity in life," "but if you're any kind of human beings believe what I saw." "And as I felt the ghostly apparition, a seductive siren song calling me from beyond the grave," "I was imbued with the power of the necromancers." "When are we going to see the face in the bucket?" "Steady on, sir." "The world of the undead must be allowed to unfold." "How about a potty break then?" "We been hoofing it two hours now." "Look, look, you're going to get your face in the bucket and your W.C. All in good time, okay?" "Now, where was I?" "Oh, yeah, right." "The lady from the bog." "The year, 1789." "Hello, Dr. Macy." "Did you leave your resignation on my desk or were you planning on mailing it in?" "We were just leaving." "Okay, next on our tour, Lizzie Borden's favorite hamburger stand." "Tox screen on Damon Tremaine." "And?" "Trace evidence of ephedrine." "That could have caused Damon's heart failure if he had some kind of congenital abnormality." "I want you to check out this kid's medical history." "Sure." "Where are you going?" "Have a word with Damon's coach." "Does it really cost 10,000 dollars to send a body to Mexico?" "I may have rounded it up eight thousand dollars or so." "A bonus for her kids." "That's nice." "Nah, anyone would have done the same." "Oh, I don't know about that." "I do know one thing, though." "Yeah, what?" "When you were reading the Hildebrants the riot act, you didn't sneeze once." "Go, shoot!" "Excuse me, Coach Evans." "Um..." "Doctor..." "Macy." "Macy." "So, I'm surprised to see your guys back on the court so soon." "Yeah, it was their idea." "They figured Damon would have wanted us to keep working." "That's the kind of kid he was." "It's a real tragedy." "All right, all right, that's it." "Let's call it." "I'll see you guys at 7:00 a. m." "Sharp." "So I understand he was a big part of your team." "Could have been a major division-one player." "Definitely had a shot at the pros." "Wow." "Have you figured out what happened yet?" "We suspect heart failure aggravated by the use of ephedrine." "I can't believe Damon would have messed around with that junk." "You know, there are rumors that you encourage your players to use performance-enhancing drugs." "What?" "How dare you come in here pointing fingers at me." "Who do you think you are?" "Now, I don't let my players use drugs, period." "Blood tests don't lie." "Neither do badly-healed stress fractures." "If you're asking me if I pushed Damon hard, you bet your sweet ass I did." "My players learn to push themselves to be the best." "It's the only way to succeed, on the court or off." "Did you know that Damon had a congenital heart defect?" "What the hell are you talking about?" "Yeah." "Vigorous exercise could be risky, especially in the presence of ephedrine." "If there were something wrong with Damon, I would have known about it." "You sure as hell should have." "And if I find out that you did, you've coached your last game at this school or anywhere else." "Word to the wise, octogenarian day trippers, terrible tippers." "I'll keep that in mind." "Oh, I just got your tox screen and blood test results back." "Vanders was clean." "What do you mean?" "I mean he didn't have any drugs in his system." "Hadn't touched any for at least a month, maybe longer." "What about the fresh track mark on his arm?" "Well, the chap didn't have much money." "Maybe he was giving blood." "It's twenty bucks a pop." "And the hairs on his body?" "Let me see." "Six of them..." "Six of them belong to Chris Vanders." "One of them wasn't his." "But whoever it belongs to was a very heavy user of both cocaine and heroin." "Any other markers on it?" "Let's see." "The hair was long, red, came from a woman, twenties to thirties." "All right, thanks a lot." "Eddy." "Dispatcher heard the name Vanders, kicked it up to my office." "Got here as soon as I could." "What happened?" "Unit cruised by." "Found her passed out, syringe and a dime bag next to her." "I've been looking at this all wrong, Eddy." "Chris Vanders wasn't trying to steal his baby." "He was trying to save her." "The drug dealer didn't confess before." "Why should he now?" "I might not have stressed to him the importance of cooperation." "Besides, let's face it, he's all we got." "Now, what do you want?" "Need to ask you a few more questions." "Yeah, well, I already told you." "Yeah, I don't say anything my lawyer don't tell me to." "Your lawyer's not here." "Nice try." "I know my rights." "This isn't about Chris Vanders." "There's a baby missing." "And what's that got to do with me?" "I'm not screwing around." "We know the wife was the addict." "Yeah, you're so smart, what do you need me for?" "I'm going to tell you this one time." "I don't know if I can bust you for Vanders' murder, but I guarantee, if that baby dies, you're going away for life." "All right." "I sold to the mother that day." "Satisfied?" "She have the baby with her?" "Yeah." "She was so strung out, she didn't know which end was up." "She was begging." "She actually offered to give me the kid for a dime bag." "So what'd you do?" "What the hell am I going to do with a baby?" "You know, she was pathetic." "I mean, I was actually going to give her a fix just to get rid of her." "So, you know, I'm in the middle of making some kind of arrangement." "You know what I'm saying?" "When, wham, I get popped from behind, right?" "And this guy starts kicking me." "And then she starts in on him, and they're both going at it, and he's screaming at her about the baby." "What's he saying?" "I don't know, something about her being an unfit mother." "Look, I'm just..." "I was just trying to make a living, man." "I get up and I get out of there." "You see him take the baby?" "No." "I told you." "I just left." "What about later?" "When?" "When?" "Later." "You saw him later." "He came back, he bought groceries." "That guy kicked your ass." "He couldn't get away with that, huh?" "You did what you had to do to protect your street name, right?" "Reach into your pocket, grab your gun." "Okay." "I told you I ain't talking about that part without my lawyer." "Right." "I don't care about your lawyer." "Did he have the baby?" "No." "Thanks." "Sit down." "Remind me never to piss you off." "Yeah, a lot of good it did us." "We're not one step closer to finding the kid." "Well..." "Excuse me." "Aye!" "Cavanaugh." "Yeah, I made a few calls about that residue on Chris Vanders' sneakers." "Yeah, what about it?" "It's brick dust." "Did you call the company and ask where they've been used?" "You see, that's just it." "The company that imported them went out of business a hundred and fifty years ago." "So whatever building he was walking around in, well, you do the math." "Okay, thanks, Nige." "I think we just got a break." "He wanted to hide the baby from Tanya." "He wanted someplace safe and warm." "Yeah, so?" "Doryphora decemlineata." "It's a bug we pulled off the bottom of Chris Vanders' shoe." "You only find it in places over eighty-five degrees." "Huh." "Hey." "Over here." "Where's your furnace?" "Hey, hello." "Come on." "Yes, hello, Amy." "How are you?" "Huh, you okay?" "Hmm?" "I know, I know." "You said you had more information on my son?" "Yes, he died of arrhythmic hypertension." "What is that?" "Damon's heart was several ounces heavier than normal." "Combine that with the ephedrine we found in his system, add vigorous exercise and you have a recipe for heart failure." "Are you saying Damon was taking drugs?" "I'm afraid so." "We also got his medical records." "Damon's pediatrician diagnosed an irregular heartbeat." "You authorized a visit to a heart specialist." "Your signature's on the consent form." "I knew about his problem." "But when he started at Loyola, his condition was never reported to Coach Evans or the school doctor." "Why is that?" "That was Damon's decision." "He didn't want to risk his basketball career." "If the coaches had known about his problem, he may not have a basketball career, but he would still be alive." "He was a very ambitious boy." "He saw basketball as the key to his future." "He begged me not to tell the school doctor." "And why'd you listen?" "Damon was strong-willed." "You know how kids are." "They get their mind set on something and they steamroll you until you give in." "I let him convince me that he was an adult, that he knew best." "I'll have to live with that mistake for the rest of my life." "Chris's parents have agreed to take custody of Amy." "If you try to contest it, Lieutenant Winslow's going to file drug charges." "I won't contest it." "Get yourself in a rehab program." "It's never too late to be a good parent." "Chris proved that." "I'm really going to try." "I promise." "Well, I'm not the one you should be making promises to." "Total low blow, Garret." "It's nice to see you, too." "You called Mom and told her not to let me go to Maine with Kyle." "We decided it wasn't a good idea." "You guys decided." "Hello?" "What about me?" "Don't I get a vote?" "Actually, no." "Right, it's just my life and why should I have a say in it?" "Look." "We know that Damon's death really upset you, but we just thought that an unsupervised weekend in Maine..." "You guys start hooking up and you gang up on me." "I know the idea of me and your mom seeing each other must be very confusing to you." "Not really." "Okay, well, you need to understand that no matter what goes on between us, we both love you." "And until you're 18, we're going to decide what we think is best for you." "Right, so let me get this straight." "You and Mom get to do whatever you want and I still get treated like a child." "No offense, Garret, but that really sucks." "I'm sorry you feel that way." "Oh, and Abby, next time you call me Garret, you're grounded for a month." "Max, can I get a scotch neat, the good stuff, please?" "You got it." "So, my daughter driving you nuts?" "Not yours, mine." "Abby, right?" "Yeah." "How old is she?" "Seventeen." "Have a double." "On me." "Tough age, 17." "They're right on the brink of being able to tell you to shove it and they know it." "Right." "Jordan must have been a handful at that age." "With Jordan, this stage started at eleven." "And when did it end?" "I'm still waiting." "You know, the thing is, she's a great kid." "She's so much like her mom." "For better and for worse." "Tell me about it." "With Abby, I don't know." "I'm watching her grow up so sure of what she wants and who she is." "Meanwhile," "I'm less and less sure of who I am." "Well, the good news is your daughter knows even when you don't." "Yeah, good point." "So, what are you boys up to?" "Just a little father talk." "Uh-huh." "Look, I thought you decided you were going to take down that ridiculous bikini team poster by the ladies' room." "No, actually, you did." "I think it's kind of..." "Yeah, hideous." "I'm taking it down." "See?" "Still waiting." "And for the hero of the day, a gin gimlet." "Yeah." "Well, the real hero is in a refrigerated container at Logan Airport, tagged to Guadalajara." "My dad had an engineering degree from the Punjab Institute of Technology." "You never told me your dad was a scientist." "Yeah, but when he came here, he had to work two jobs to support our family." "A counterman at a deli and a grade-school janitor." "Oh, that must have been hard for him." "Yeah, I'm sure it was." "But he never showed it." "A man with an IQ of 185, happy to slap mustard on turkey sandwiches all day and clean toilets all night." "Just so his kids could live the American dream." "You get to spend your days surrounded by insects and people that care about you." "I'd say he got his wish." "You going to admit I was right?" "About what?" "Chris Vanders." "The whole benefit of the doubt." "Oh, that." "Yeah." "Sure, why not?" "What, you're going to fold just like that?" "It was the baby, wasn't it?" "What about it?" "Yeah." "Yeah, got to you." "Softened you up a little bit, huh?" "Get out of here." "What?" "I'm serious." "You looked good holding that baby." "Maybe you should think about popping one out, you know?" "Think maybe I should pop my foot up your ass." "Mmm?" "Yeah."