Chapter 4

“Jethro,” I said in a low voice, “what time do you get off work?”

Following my cue, he said, “Nine.”

“I’m staying at the Starlight Motel. Wanta come over and watch a movie or something?

“You bet. Which room?”

I gave him my room number, and he moved to another table to wait on a customer, so I took the check up to the cashier and paid it, adding a generous tip to the credit card charge.

After I left the restaurant, I drove around for a bit, eventually locating the residence of Jack Nelson, which also had a swing set in the backyard. How depressing: two families about to be split because two people simply couldn’t—or wouldn’t—keep their pants zipped.

Back in my room, I changed into shorts and a more comfortable T-shirt, opened the bottle of wine I’d brought with me, and settled down for a boring evening of television. A little after nine, there was a knock on my door, and I let Jethro into the room, carefully locking and chaining the door behind him.