He followed her to the dining room, where Vivian's laptop rested on the table. She sat down, clicked a few times, then turned the laptop so he could see.

"Tonight a Hornbeam Ridge man, Lee Montgomery, is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, following the abduction of his six-year-old son," said the newscaster, who wore too much makeup. "Montgomery set the boy free after a tense standoff, but took his own life before the authorities could arrest him. Two women saw Montgomery walking with his son and called 911 about his suspicious behavior. The women followed him until Montgomery ran from the vehicle and threatened to kill both his son and himself. One of the women, Charlene Fox, made efforts to talk Montgomery out of harming his son, going so far as to offer herself as a hostage instead."

The scene cut to a girl speaking to the camera. She wore a bad wig with straight brown hair. Ken leaned forward. The name "Gertie Richardson" appeared on the bottom of the screen.

"Yeah, we were terrified that he was going to kill his son," she said. "But my friend talked him down. She doesn't think she's a hero but I sure do. We were out there trying to save my cousin but she ended up saving somebody else instead. A completely crazy night."

The scene switched back to the newscaster and her male co-host. "Police say the young ladies were trying to serve as bait for whomever is responsible for as many as eight missing women over the past few months."

The other newscaster chuckled. "Sounds like he should be worried."

"The boy is back with his mother, who suffered moderate injuries at the hands of her husband. And now over to Stan with our Doppler weather radar report."

The news clip ended.

"Play it again," said Ken.

Vivian played the clip again.

"What does serving as bait even mean?" he asked.

"I guess it means that they were going to kick your ass."

"What do they think, that I'm careless? That I'm stupid? So, what, that bitch was just wandering around in a cheap wig waiting for me to leap out at her?"

"Wigs like that aren't cheap."

Ken wanted to tell his wife to shut up, but thought better of it. "I don't like that newscaster laughing at me. Who the hell does he think he is? Does he think I'm a joke? How hard would he be laughing if I killed his daughter?"

"If you go after the family of the news guy, you'll get caught for sure."

"I'm not really gonna do it. I'd love to, though. Make him do a live news report while he watches me choke her. Maybe I'll go after those two bitches. They want to be bait? I'll turn them into bait. Play it again."