Ken frowned at the computer screen. What the hell was Charlene Fox's problem? Uptight bitch. He could solve that problem with money. If he told her that his investors had authorized a payment of, say, five thousand dollars, she'd at least meet with him. He had to wait, though. Didn't want to seem too desperate and make her think he had an ulterior motive. He sent back a polite e-mail thanking her and asking her to let him know if she changed her mind. He'd follow up later. He was in no hurry.

The other girl was also a problem. He didn't want to meet her for lunch. He wanted their conversation to end after dark. In a perfect world, he wouldn't meet her at a restaurant at all, but he couldn't imagine that she'd show up at a private location to speak with him. If she was that dumb, he probably wouldn't even kill her, knowing that her own day-to-day existence was enough of a struggle.

Actually, he wrote back, I've got a lot going on this week and it might be better to wait until Thursday anyway. Can you do 6:00?

He glanced at what he'd written. That didn't sound desperate, did it? Would she question his motive? If she pushed back, he'd go with a lunch meeting, which he'd use to put her at ease so he could set up another meeting for a future and more dangerous time.

He sent the e-mail.

Stared at his screen until she replied.

That works!

You pick the place, he typed. I'll be there at 6:00.

Red Lobster?

See you there!

* * *

For the next three days, Ken paid only quick visits to the basement after work. It helped keep Vivian off his ass and made his home life a little more bearable. He even wished he could do it on an extended lunch break, but Darrell had daytime dibs on the house Monday through Friday unless Ken specifically made plans ahead of time. Ken had shown up once, only a couple of weeks after they started renting the house, and Darrell had coerced him into videotaping the encounter, using an actual VHS recorder to ensure that nothing could accidentally get uploaded to the internet. It had not been a pretty sight. It wasn't anything Ken wanted to see in the first place, but they'd mostly stuck with missionary, which meant that his primary visual was Darrell's enormous gyrating ass. After that, he made it a point to respect their schedules.

So he went after work, staying only long enough to water Olivia and watch her for a few minutes.