'We have a generator, of course,' she said earnestly, looking me in the one and a half eyes she could see.
'It gives power to the house, and also charges two new banks of batteries linked together in parallel. That's for emergencies and to keep the generator noise down at night.' She giggled.
'Mom goes totally postal if the generator is left on late.'
I laughed, though not as much as Luz as she tried to drink some milk. Carrie joined us with two steaming mugs of coffee.
'It's not that funny.'
'Then why has milk come through my nose?'
'Luz! We have a guest!' As she poured milk into her mug and passed the jug over to me, her eyes were fixed on Luz with a look of such love and indulgence that it made me feel uncomfortable.
I nodded at the cooker.
'So you have gas as well?'
'For sure.' Luz carried on with her lecture.
'It's bottled. It comes by helicopter with the other stuff, every fifth Thursday.' She looked at her mother for confirmation. Carrie nodded.
'The university hires a helicopter for deliveries to the six research stations in-country.'
I looked as interested as I could, given that what I really wanted to discuss was how to get my hands on the rifle I'd seen on the wall, and to see if it was any good for what I had in mind. I peeled a banana, wishing that I'd had a resupply every fifth week during my stays in the jungle over the years.
Luz was just finishing her food as Carrie checked the clock by the sink.
'You know what? Just leave your plate on the side and go and log on. You don't want to keep Grandpa waiting.' Luz nodded with delight, got up with her plate, and put it down next to the sink before disappearing into the computer room.
Carrie took another sip of coffee, then called out, Tell Grandpa I'll say hello in a minute.'
A voice drifted back from inside the computer room.
'Sure.'
Carrie pointed at the hug pictures on the fridge door and one in particular, the guy in a polo shirt with grey- sided black hair, holding hands with Luz on the veranda.
'My father, George he teaches her math.'
'Who are the ones holding the babies?'
She turned back and looked at the fading picture.
'Oh, that's also my father, he's holding me we're on the far right. It's my favourite.'
'Who are the ones with you?'
Luz stuck her head round the corner, looking and sounding worried.
'Mom, the locks picture has closed down.'
That's OK, darling, I know.'
'But, Mom, you said it must always be-' Carrie was sharp with her.
'I know, baby, I've just changed my mind, OK?'
'Oh, OK.' Luz retreated, looking confused.
'We home-school everything else here. This keeps her in contact with her grandfather, they're real close.'
I shrugged.
'Sounds good,' I said, really not that fussed she hadn't answered my question. There were more important things on my mind. It was time to cut to the last page. Is that rifle in the bedroom in working order?'
'You don't miss much, do you, fever man? Of course ... why?'
'For protection. We can call your handler for one, it's not a problem. It's just that I haven't got much time and I want to get going as soon as I can.'
She rested her arms on the table.
'Do you people never feel secure without a weapon?'
Those intense green eyes burnt into me, demanding an answer. Problem was, I reckoned her question was more complicated than it seemed.
'It's always better to be safe than sorry that's why you have it, isn't it?
Besides, Charlie's no Mr. Nice.'
She stood up and walked towards her bedroom, 'For sure, like death but if he catches you doing whatever it is you're going to do, you'll need more than an old rifle.'
She disappeared behind the door. From this side of the room I could see the foot of the bed and the opposite wall. It was covered with photographs, both old and new, smiling adults and children doing more family love-fest stuff. I could hear working parts moving back and forth, and the chink of brass rounds as they fell on to each other. I supposed you'd have it loaded and ready to go, otherwise why have it on the bedroom wall?
She reappeared with a bolt-action rifle in one hand, and a tin box with webbing handles in the other. It didn't have a lid, and I could see cardboard boxes of ammunition.
My eyes were drawn to the weapon. It was a very old-style piece of kit indeed, with the wooden furniture stretching from the butt all the way along the quite lengthy barrel to just short of the muzzle.
She put it down on the table. It's a Mosin Nagant. My father took it from the body of a North Vietnamese sniper during the war.'
I knew about this weapon: it was a classic.
Before passing it across, she turned it to present the opened bolt and show me that the chamber and magazine were clear. I was impressed, which must have been plain to see.
'My father -what's the use of having one if you don't know how to use it?'
I checked chamber clear and took the weapon from her.
'What service was he in?'
She sat down and picked up her coffee cup.
'Army. He made general before retiring.' She nodded over at the fridge pictures. The beach? Those are his Army buddies.'
'What did he do?'
Technical stuff, intelligence. At least there's one good thing that can be said about George he's got smarts. He's at the Defense Intelligence Agency now.'
She allowed herself a smile of pride as she gazed at the picture. There's a senior White House adviser and two other generals, one still serving, in that photograph.'
That's some bad-looking scar on the end. Is he one of the generals?'
'No, he left the service in the eighties, just before the Iran-Contra hearings.
They were all involved in one way or the other, though Ollie North took all the heat. I never did know what happened to him.'
If he was part of the Iran-Contra affair, George would know all about jobs like this one. Black-ops jobs that no one wanted to know about, and people like him wouldn't tell anyway.
The connection between these two, George and the Pizza Man, was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. But I was a small player and didn't want to get myself involved with whatever was going on down here. I just had to be careful not to bump into it, that was all. I needed to get to Maryland next week.
Luz called from the other room, 'Mom, Grandpa needs to talk with you.'
Carrie got up with a polite 'Won't be long,' and disappeared into the next room.
I took the opportunity to have a double-take at the tall, square-jawed, muscular George smiling with Luz on the veranda. It was easy to see where she got her big green eyes from. I checked out the digital display on the bottom right of the picture. It was taken in 04-99, only eighteen months ago. He still looked like the all-American boy with his short hair and side parting, and, what was weird, he looked younger than Aaron. The Pizza Man, on the other hand, looked like death warmed up compared with his black-and-white former life. He was skinnier, greyer and probably had lungs like an oil slick, going by the way I'd seen him take down that nicotine.
TWENTY-TWO
I got back to the real world and examined the weapon, which looked basic and unsophisticated compared
