“This is a site like that. Most of it is regular stuff. I get my lawn jobs there. But if there’s a particular need, somebody there contacts somebody, and it gets set up. All secure and untraceable. I found out about the site when I was in the clink.”

Rose wishes she’d ordered a drink. She puts her elbows on the bar. “I hate it that everything is in cyberspace. Sometimes I think I need a cyberspace suit to keep from exploding into a billion pieces.”

“Tell me about it.” Eddie sighs. “First time I went away—back then—at least you knew your client. Now it’s all digital.”

Inwardly Rose curses Al Gore for inventing the internet. There is no way she could unravel that skein of cybertrails. She doubts even Marion could.

“You never met with an actual person?” Rose asks.

“Nobody.”

“How did they pay you?”

Eddie’s face twists into a pained expression. “What difference does it make?”

“The difference between life in prison and going home with Tania and Amy,” Rose says.

“So now I’m your bitch?”

“Pretty much. How did they pay you?”

Eddie drains his beer. “I needed a truck for my business,” he says. “Tania won’t marry a guy with no work. She says she’s had enough of criminals and deadbeats.”

Rose punches him in the arm, much harder than Tania had. “You were going to murder me for a used truck?” she explodes. “You couldn’t have at least asked for a new one?”

“Keep your voice down,” Eddie whispers.

“Tania’s tired of criminals. You’re a criminal,” Rose says, the low cost of her life making her vindictive.

“I am not!” Eddie rejoins. “That was one last job, just to get my business going. I don’t do crime no more.”

“Where did you get the truck? You had to pick it up, or have it delivered.” There had to be contact at some point in the exchange.

“I picked it up at Goodman’s Used Cars. The paperwork and everything was all done. I had to get insurance. That was it.”

Rose takes out her notebook and writes down Goodman’s Used Cars. She puts the notebook away. Looking hard at Eddie, she says, “Eddie, you are a two-bit crook. Don’t tell me you graduated from that to murder for a lousy used truck.”

Eddie fidgets. He glances over his shoulder at Tania and Amy. He takes a deep pull on his beer. Finally, he says sullenly, “My mom’s not from here, if you get my drift. The email said somebody would call ICE on her. This isn’t exactly a sanctuary city.”

“Oh, gosh.” Rose thinks about this. “Your mom is an illegal alien?”

“Mom never did an illegal thing in her life,” Eddie says sharply.

“You didn’t kill me, though. What happened to Mom?”