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Letty laughed and said to Baxter, “I’m going. You can have the fuckin’ drums, I’m going to Marina Ray.”
“It’s MarinadelRey, not Marina Ray. I’ll tell you what, sister: a good off-the-books software job pays a hell of a lot more than blowing some fat old sailor dude for a living,” Sue said. “Give us a phone number and a few hours. You’re likeable folks...”
“Nobody ever said that before,” Baxter said, rolling his eyes.
“...and we know off-the-books computer people. We’ll ask around, and we’ll take a modest fifteen percent commission,” Sue concluded. To Letty: “Was that a real gun?”
Letty: “No. I carved it out of a bar of Ivory soap and colored it black with shoe polish.”
“It’s real,” Baxter said. And, almost reluctantly, picking up on a comment by Billy Greet, “She could shoot the balls off a gnat. I’ve seen her do it. There are ball-less gnats all over North Florida.”
The waiter reappeared. “So, are you folks ready to order?”
Seven
Letty and Baxter left Bob and Sue with a phone number and the waiter, and walked around the corner to the truck. “What do you think?” Baxter asked, as they walked.
“What I think is something I never thought I’d think,” Letty said. “It’s kinda... weird.”
“What was weird?”
“That you could get a job with Homeland as an undercover guy,” Letty said, as she looked up at him. “You’re really good at this. I never sawthatcoming.”
“Well. Thank you, I guess,” Baxter said. He glanced back down the street. “When I saw them, I wasn’t scared anymore. They looked like every software couple I ever met. Sue was the brains there.”
“I think you’re right,” Letty said. “About all of it. Let’s get back to the motel and call Delores, see what they can do with the photos.”
They drove around a couple of blocks to get back to Colorado,then Baxter turned right when he should have turned left, and Letty asked, “Where are you going?”
“Looking in the rearview mirror. There’s a beige Toyota back there that followed us through a couple of turns, but it’s hanging back at corners... Always keeps cars between us.”
“They’re following us? Youaregood at this,” Letty said.
“I read thriller novels,” Baxter said. “A lot of them.”
He took them down Colorado, then around a corner, where they spotted an empty parking spot across from a Blick Art Materials store. “There,” Letty said, pointing.
Baxter parked and they walked across the street to the art store, where they browsed for a few moments, and Letty bought a clutch mechanical pencil, a pack of leads for the pencil, and a drawing book. As she paid with the NSA credit card, Baxter muttered, “I didn’t know you drew.”
“I don’t,” Letty said. “The only thing I ever drew was a horse’s head in fifth grade and the teacher thought it was a chicken. But... we gotta buy something.”
They walked back across the street and got in the truck. Two blocks down, Baxter asked, “Is that the same Toyota? Can you see it in the wing mirror?”
Letty looked: “I don’t know. Head back to the motel... see what this one does. Try not to lose him at a traffic light.”
The Toyota stayed well back, sometimes behind two cars, or as many as four, but tracked them all the way to the motel. They parked outside their room, and went in.
“What do you think?” Baxter asked.
“I think they’ll talk it over and then they’ll come here,” Letty said. “Maybe... make an offer to test us out.”
“Maybe.” He considered the idea for a moment, then shook his head and said, “In the meantime, give me the memory card from the camera and I’ll pass the photos along to Nowak. Tell her what we’ve done so far.”
“Good. I’ll whack on the drums and then I’m gonna take a nap.”
Letty suggested to Baxter that if there were a knock on the door, he quickly take off his jeans and answer barefoot, in a tee-shirt and underwear: “We don’t want to look ready for anything.”
“Yes.”
