“There’s a mall about ten miles from here,” Joe said. “But what about here?”

“Here? In the motel office?” Vikki frowned. “With people coming in and out to bitch about broken Ping-Pong paddles?”

“Here, on the property. Maybe on the beach. Why not?” Joe asked. “Our people will just look like tourists, picking up sand dollars, soaking up some rays. And it won’t be as weird as taking Maya to a mall where she’s never been before. I could be sitting with her, on a lounge chair, under a beach umbrella. Wingfield sees her, hands over the funds, and that’s when we drop the net on him. We could maybe even have Letty nearby, so Maya won’t be too freaked out.”

“Maybe,” Vikki said slowly. “If we did it late in the afternoon, it won’t be so crowded. But what if Wingfield decides to cross us up, or gets violent? I don’t like the idea of an innocent civilian stumbling into our little drama.”

“I thought you said he isn’t a violent type,” Joe said.

“Evan hit Tanya,” Letty said.

Both cops turned to stare at her. “He did?” Vikki said.

“I had no idea until this week,” Letty admitted. “Tanya never even hinted that he’d gotten physical with her. Maya was here in the office, with me and Ava, when two of our regulars, Merwin Maples and Oscar Jensen, got into a knock-down, drag-out fight. I thought they were going to actually come to blows. Over a parking spot! When the fighting got heated, Maya lost it. That’s when she said it. That she’d seen her daddy hit her mama.”

“Dear God,” Vikki said, her face paling. “Wingfield never struck me as that kind. I mean, I always knew he was a crooked, scheming sociopath, but I never saw him as the kind that would hit a woman.”

“In front of her kid,” Joe added.

“We won’t give him the chance to get physical tomorrow,” Vikki vowed. “He’s flying down here solo, has no idea where the handoff is taking place until he gets in the car with me. And I’m not gonna tell him where we’re headed. If he tries anything with me, he’ll live to regret it.”

“And I’ll help you make that happen,” Joe said.

The office door chimed and Ava struggled in, burdened down with two armloads of groceries. Her neck was ringed with a dozen brightly colored plastic leis, and she wore a straw islander hat.

“Aloha!” she greeted the trio. “Who wants to help me get ready for bingo, Hawaiian style?”

“I was just heading back to the efficiency,” Vikki said. “Really? Hawaiian bingo?”

“The regulars love it,” Joe told her.

“I can help,” Letty said.