“You won’t be bothered by your enemies while you’re in Midnight,” Olivia said. “At least, when Lemuel is there.”

“But he’s not. Any idea of when he’ll return? I’d like to stay to see Granddaddy settled in a real nursing home. With more supervision. But I’m not going to die to make that happen.”

“Of course not,” Olivia said. “He’s had his turn.”

Barry said, “When you put it like that, doesn’t make me sound too good.”

She raised her eyebrows. “But it’s the truth.”

He lifted his shoulders, let them drop. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“You better take Tommy to the men’s room. You never know what kind of conversation he’s going to have with another customer.”

Barry went with Tommy while Olivia took Suzie to the ladies’ room and Manfred paid their bill. Olivia, glancing back at the wreck of the table, thought, I didn’t know old people could eat that much. She remembered her own grandmother picking at the food on her plate. But her grandmother had been ill . . . her last illness.

Manfred and Barry loaded Suzie and Tommy into Manfred’s car this time, and Olivia drove alone. The solitude was a huge relief. She listened to Yo-Yo Ma the whole way into Dallas. It cleared her mind and calmed her. She felt much better when they stopped for the final briefing, which took place at a filling station in Bonnet Park. But by then, she’d come to a decision.

“I have to go in,” she said.

Everyone stared at her, but that didn’t bother Olivia. She was used to it.

“But the maid might recognize you, you said yourself,” Manfred said. “And I know Lewis would recognize me.”

“Give me ten minutes at a Goodwill and she won’t know me,” Olivia promised.

“Where are you going to find a Goodwill around here?” Barry waved a hand. “I don’t care if you come in or not. But I have to be out of Dallas by dark, and I’m not kidding. So if you’ve changed your mind, fine with me, but get your ass in gear.”

“Okay, give me thirty, and I’ll be back.” She’d spotted a wig shop five blocks south, and she went in there first, emerging with short black hair. There was a consignment shop a block away, and she came out of it in a pair of very tight jeans and a tank top and sandals. She put on a lot of eye makeup with the help of the rearview mirror.

When she got back to the filling station, she found Tommy and Suzie sipping icy drinks while Manfred filled his gas tank and Barry stared at the sky and his watch alternately. There were hours of daylight left, but it was easy to see he was genuinely anxious.