"Yes. And by that, the message I'm sending is that I trust you to be careful. I'd like you to trust me the same way."

Ken didn't trust her, but he sure as hell wasn't going to throw away this opportunity. It still enraged him that Charlene was walking around free after trying to help her friend lure him out, and if he could have those girls in side-by-side cages, it might be worth the nagging feeling that Vivian had probably let their boss feel her up before she murdered him.

He gave his wife a hug. "I do trust you," he whispered into her ear.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. From now on, no secrets."

"No secrets."

Ken pulled away. "I assume you didn't mean that I should go after her today, but I think there's a window of opportunity."

* * *

Hey, Charlene! My schedule just cleared a bit this evening. By any chance are you available around 8:00? If Gertie wanted to tag along, that would be fantastic—we had a great meeting yesterday, and I could give you both more information about the approach I'm going to take.

P.S.: Obviously you haven't signed on yet. No pressure!

* * *

Charlene forwarded the e-mail to Lugens and called him.

"Tell him yes," said Lugens. "Don't say anything about Gertie. Just say yes and ask him where."

* * *

Ken gave her the address of a bar. Bad part of town. Usually crowded. It would be difficult for the police to keep tabs on the customers and look for somebody suspicious, because just about everyone in that shithole looked suspicious. Ken had gone there a couple of times, searching for potential victims, but he'd had no luck.

Of course, he wasn't going to be there, at eight o'clock or otherwise. He just wanted the cops to think they might have a place to nab him.

* * *

"We've got a couple people in there posing as customers," Lugens told Charlene over the phone. "It's a terrible place for a business meeting. We get called out there all the time."

"What time are we going to get there?"

"Early. Seven-thirty. I'll explain everything to you on the ride over, but you'll have a plainclothes cop on the barstool on each side of you. Anybody who approaches you for any reason gets discreetly steered away and questioned. Another cop will be posing as a bouncer, so he'll be checking IDs as everybody comes in. We'll also be keeping an eye on people outside the venue. Either a legitimate web series producer is going to have a very startling meeting, or we're gonna catch this guy."

"Thanks," said Charlene. "I'm looking forward to being his bait."

"Don't call it bait. We'll keep you safe. He won't get close enough to touch you."

"I really hope he shows."

"Me too. I'll be there to pick you up when your shift ends."

* * *

Ken hated his new look.