This first vacation since his heart attack had been stressful with a capital S. He was relieved they were going home tomorrow morning. Two hours from his primary care physician, the sword of doom had precariously dangled above his breath. This whole month, he’d sucked it up, not once confiding in his wife his feeling of dread. A real man shielded his family from anxiety. Yet there was one scenario even he was powerless to control: the crucial moment when Officer Gomez would suture the relationship between him and the deceased victim, AKA Todd Gray. Only Ryan knew the true identity of the vagrant sporting the TG lettered yellow jersey. As he observed Rory’s chest rhythmically inflate and deflate, his thoughts skipped fifteen months backwards to the moment he’d been verbally accosted. It was highly irregular for a patient to meet with his claims adjuster. Insurance companies bestowed upon their claims reps fake identities, lowering the odds of personal confrontation. That fateful Monday, upon returning to his desk after lunch, Ryan commenced digging into a stack of claims when a young man bustled into his cubicle.
