“No, I’m not lost yet. And if I am, you’ll find me, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Where are you, Pete?”

“In the hayloft. Why? Are you looking for a roll in the hay?”

“You old flirt. Where were you fifty years ago?”

“Flying over North Vietnam.”

“All right. That’s an acceptable excuse. But what I’m looking for today is your email address. I’m going to send you some photographs.”

“Of you?”

“Of the person you nearly rammed when you tried to slink off from your surveillance of me yesterday morning.”

Silence. Then Pete sighed. “Guilty as charged. Guess I wouldn’t make a very good spy.”

“Let’s just say your ground game isn’t your air game. But I am interested in identifying who was in that other car. Did you get a good look?”

“You mean considering I nearly ran straight into him? Yes, if the photo re-creates an expression of surprise and panic, I should be able to recognize the poor bastard.”

“Good. I’m sending you eight photos total, including two women on the off chance they had their hair pulled back or cut short. It’s okay if you can’t be sure. You can prioritize your maybes.”

“You want to tell me what this is all about?”

“You want to tell me why I now own an extra phone?”

He laughed. “Curt and I were foolish enough to think you might be getting into something over your head. I was your unwanted backup.”

“I’m touched. I really am. Look at the photos and we’ll talk.”

Twenty minutes later, Pete Varner called back. “I think the man matches the picture labeled Ed O’Hara. I can’t be completely sure, but both he and the man I saw in Richmond have an angular face and thin eyebrows.”

“Thanks, Pete,” Ethel said. “That’s very helpful.”

“These certainly aren’t police mug shots you sent. These look like official ID photos.”

“They are, which is why I’m proceeding cautiously.”

“Which means you’re crossing dangerous paths, circumventing someone’s authority.”

She couldn’t insult his intelligence by arguing. “Is this the phone you always keep with you?”

“Every place but the shower.”

“Then take a shower tonight and keep it with you after that. I’ll text you instructions if there’s a way to help me.”

“And a way to find you, Amelia?” he asked.

“Well, isn’t that the point? Goodbye, Pete.”

Ethel next placed a call to Agent Warren Hitchcock. The phone rang a long time before he answered it.

Without a hello, he said, “Sorry. I saw it was you and was talking to someone. After your last call to me, I didn’t dare answer where I could be overheard. This place has gone crazy since those bills disappeared.”

“Are you in trouble?”