Owen nodded to show he understood, then typed, How will I communicate with you?

Leave phone on, volume turned up, she wrote. I’ll call and wake you before going in and you can give me the info. We’ll set a time. Midnight.

1, he texted back.

She nodded her agreement.

If I haven’t traveled, he wrote, don’t enter the house. He’s fast and vicious.

“OK,” she said aloud, putting down her phone. She then picked up Mrs. Hultz’s gun from the table. Grabbing it by the handle, she aimed it away from them and unlatched the cylinder. With her free hand, she pushed the cylinder through the frame to reveal all the chambers. She squinted, then latched it closed. “You’ve only got two bullets in here,” she said.

Owen nodded like he knew it all along, and she shook her head.

“Don’t put your finger on the trigger until you see what it is you’re going to shoot. You don’t want to misfire with only two bullets. With these rounds, you can hurt him and stop him for a minute or two. That’s all the time it’ll buy you. I doubt you’ll have to use it, but if you do, aim for the heart or the head. The heart of the Ambrogio is dead center.” She pointed directly at her solar plexus.

Owen and Kiara took William next door to Mrs. Hultz’s house, along with his paraphernalia of playpen and bottles and blankets. The old lady was, of course, as Owen had expected, nearly unbearable. Taking William in her arms, she led Kiara around the dining room, where all her photos were on the hutch and the wall surrounding it. “I have three children, all daughters,” she said. “All grown and married.” Owen guessed she took the young mother on a tour of her family in order to illustrate there was nothing to worry about, her baby was in good hands. That wasn’t enough, though. She went on to point out the photos of Owen when he was a baby and in grade school, high school, et cetera. “He was cute,” said his neighbor.

“I’ve always gone for the pale, nerdy types,” said Kiara.

“Well, you hit paydirt with this one,” said Mrs. Hultz.

Owen could feel himself blushing.

“We have to get going,” he said.

Kiara ran through her nightly routine with William. Mrs. Hultz nodded and said, “Everything will be fine, dear. Go and have a wonderful time. Don’t worry if you get back late; you can always pick him up in the morning. He can sleep in his playpen. I’ll watch him like a hawk.”

As they walked next door, Owen said, “The pale, nerdy ones?”