Ward parked the Lexus in the garage and went into the house, closing the rolling door behind them.
“Sometimes I wish we had a big dog,” Natasha said.
“That's doable,” Ward said. “How about a wolf?”
“I was thinking more like a Labrador,” she said. “Or a golden retriever.”
“So, what do you want to do with the rest of the evening, after?” she asked him.
“After what?”
She put her arms around his waist, and kissed him. “If you'll follow me, young man, I'll show you what.”
FIFTY-FIVE
Alice Palmer pulled up in front of Earl's ramshackle house just as the sun was going down. The Tucker home was in a downwardly mobile subdivision off Brookshire Boulevard. As Alice pulled up she saw a girl leaving the porch steps, walking away without looking back at Earl. Earl stood at the porch steps and ambled slowly to the Toyota like an old man shuffling in fast- moving water. He opened the door and slunk into the car, buckling his belt slowly.
“Heeeey now,” he said.
“Are you drunk?” Alice demanded, furious that he could get loaded when something this important was going to be happening and she needed him watching her back.
“I just had a couple beers an’ some little weed is all. Know ah'm sayin’? Ah'm chillin’, babykins.”
“You're drunk as hell,” she said angrily. “You know how important this is to me!”
“It's a deal to me, too, you know,” he replied sluggishly. “Show me tha moneeeey!”
“Shit,” she said. “I don't believe you. You are such an asshole.”
“Come on, baby doll. It's my money too- we-oooowe.”
She stared at him as he turned slowly and stared at her, his eyes bleary and unfocused. There was something red, which looked suspiciously like lipstick, smeared on and around Earl's lips, on his pocked cheeks and his chin.
“Know I love you, baby.” He placed a hand on her thigh and moved his fingers between her legs. “See ah'm sayin’?”
“Never mind,” she said, grabbing his wrist, lifting his hand, and putting it onto his own lap. “Keep your hands to yourself.”
“You sure know how to hurt a man's pride. Mens got they needs, Brenda.”
“Brenda? Who the hell is Brenda?”
Earl squinted, waved his hand dismissively “I said Alice.”
“No, you said Brenda. I'm not high. I heard you distinctly.”
“Naw, baby. I never said no Brenda, know ah'm sayin’? That gal was at the house wasn't Brenda. Jus’ some friend of my sistah. In fact, wasn't no gal up in there at all.”
“No, I don't know what you are saying. Why do you always talk like some inner- city Americo-African thug? Do you know what I am saying?”
“So, I been thinkin’ on how all I'm gonna spend the two grands.”
“Is that right?” Alice said.
“Firstest, we go gets my tat completed up, know ah'm sayin’? Then I gots my eye on niss fat chain what's ultra hot. And some kicks that on be mean time fo’ tha feets. You wants yo man to be kickin’ it cool. Look, baby doll, two grand ain't all that much bread. We gots us a major opportunity here to score a lots more.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“We ain't settlin’ for no two. We gettin’ a whole ten. Know ah'm sayin’? We put the three-eighty up that cracker's nose and tell him ten, Brenda.”
Alice cut the wheel to the right and back hard to the left twice before pulling to the shoulder.
“Whasup? You driving crazy.”
“Do me a favor, Earl.”
“Like what?”
“Get out and make sure my back tire isn't going flat. The car is driving funny. Let me unbuckle your seat belt,” she said.
She undid his seat belt.
Earl grinned dumbly. “I ain't gots to get all the way out, on account I can lean out and see up under at the wheels.” He opened the door, turned in his seat, leaned out, and put his head down close to the ground, stretching to look under the car.
Alice swung her legs up and, pivoting around, planted her back against the door. When her feet connected, Earl flew from the car and landed limbs akimbo, facedown in the gravel. Alice roared away, leaving him lying beside the road. In the rearview she saw him turning his head to watch her.
She slammed on the brakes, opened the door, got out, planted her hands on her hips and yelled, “Walk home, you stupid ass! And screw yourself!”
She would have to just get used to the idea of doing this all alone. After all, she only had to hand over the little car and she could do some shopping at Game World with her reward money.
FIFTY-SIX
Todd arrived at the enormous mall early. In a plain envelope in his front pants pocket, Todd had twenty crisp one- hundred- dollar bills. In a second envelope he had an additional twenty crisp fifties. With someone as squirrelly as Alice Palmer, he had to hedge his bets. This had to end tonight.
After parking, he locked his Colt 1911 in his glove box before climbing out and locking the doors. Pocketing his keys, he walked toward the entrance, joining the throngs filtering into the building.
Hartman made his way to the food court, ordered sesame chicken at the Hunan kiosk, and sat down with his back to that restaurant to eat a leisurely meal and wait for Alice Palmer to show up. From his vantage point he could keep his eyes on both ends of the enormous open space, packed with hundreds of tables and chairs. During the peak hours scores of trash receptacles were emptied every ten minutes, and the tables were filled with patrons. It was a perfect place as public spaces went. At least this way even a wing nut like Earl shouldn't be a potentially dangerous variable.
FIFTY-SEVEN
Natasha poured herself a glass of wine from the bottle they'd purchased on the way home from the cemetery. She opened Leslie's laptop on the counter and waited for it to power up. She heard the TV come on and a few familiar bars of music flowing from the den.
“It's about the virus,” Ward yelled from the den. “Breaking news!”
She rushed into the room to stand beside her husband while the newscaster explained that the child- porn virus was planted on the computers at RGI by a saboteur. The announcer said the FBI and the Charlotte police department would be holding a joint press conference the next morning, but that RGI had been cleared of all accusations.
“All right!” Ward hollered, hugging Natasha. “That's it. Damnation be gone.”
For ten minutes Natasha read her e-mails. About half of them were from people that were furious because her computer sent the virus to theirs. She was careful not to open any e-mails with attachments since the virus was still out there, and probably in some of those e-mails.
The other half of the e-mails were from people saying they knew Ward didn't have anything to do with the
