The thing was: Tom Irwin had never really been a brave man. Yes, he had bravado and, yes, he can lie with the best of them, but this? Wasn't that. Not at all.

"And what else do you think is going to happen?" he asked, trying to sound brave, at least. "Because I'm sure you've thought it through since the last time we had this conversation."

He was an idiot. He was such an idiot. But, God. He wanted to know.