WE PULLED up behind Lily's. Max got out. He'd go inside, tell them to open the back door for us.
I lit another smoke, offering her one. "There's a woman inside. Her name's Lily. She's a good friend. Of me and Max both. She's the one I want you to talk to, okay?"
"About what?"
"She'll do that part. All you have to do is what you say you always do…tell the truth."
"Is she gonna ask me about Train?"
"Not the way Reba asks questions."
I got a blank look back. Train didn't tell all his people how his fleshy polygraph worked.
"Never mind," I told her. "Lily's a certified social worker. You know what that is?"
"Like a shrink?"
"Yeah, sort of Anyway, the point is that she's not allowed to repeat anything she's told. Anything you say to her is confidential. That's the law."
"But…"
"Elvira, listen to me, little girl. You think any of those kids running around in karate outfits could stop Max? This talk with Lily- it's for you. I know you don't understand that. I know you don't trust me. You don't have to. We made a deal. I took you out of Train's joint and I let you go back. He can't stop me and my friends. I have to find out some things and I want Lily to talk with you. You do that and we're done."
"What if I don't?" Not pouting, curious.
"Then I'm going to ask Train."
"He said you'd be back. He's never wrong."
"You think about that. You decide how I'm coming back." I'd been searching for the right button. Tried one more. "You want to protect Train, talking to Lily's the way to do it, understand?"
"My mother…"
"Is out of this."
"She says you're hers. Her old boyfriend."
"What does Train say?"
"How did you…? He said you were nobody's child. That's what he said: 'That man is nobody's child.'"
"You know what he meant?"
"Maybe."
I threw my smoke out the window.
"I'll talk to her," the girl said finally.
The back door opened and I led her inside.