DUARTE WAS ON HIS CELL PHONE, SMILING AT THE SOUND OF Alice's voice again.
He said, "Hey, it's me."
"Wow, two calls in one day. You might really miss me. I think that's probably a first for Alex Duarte."
"Could be." He was surprised she knew him so well after only a few months of sporadic dating.
Then she really amazed him. "Unless you're calling for another favor?"
He didn't speak.
She raised her voice slightly. "Oh my God, that's it. You need another favor. What is it this time? Carbon-date a rock? Get a DNA sample from a cigarette butt?"
"You can do that?"
"What?"
"Get DNA from a cigarette?"
"Yeah, sure." There was silence on the line, then Alice said, "I'm waiting. What's the favor?"
"Lift some prints from a padlock."
"When will I get it?"
"Tomorrow. I just sent it overnight express."
"You were pretty sure of yourself."
He kept an easy tone. "Alice, this could be serious. I just want to keep it simple for now."
"How'd you pack it? Will it be stable and not disturb any potential prints?"
"I packed in a small box with some paper wadded up and holding it in place."
"That sounds pretty good."
"Will doing these things get you in any trouble?"
"Less trouble than dating you."
"Alice, you're the best."
"You better show it when you get back."
"Thanks." He waited to hear her, but there was silence. Almost like she expected him to say something else. Then he did. "I gotta go. I'll talk to you soon."
She didn't even say goodbye, so he hung up.
Ike looked at Faith and knew with certainty that he couldn't just let her walk away. The problem was he didn't know what to do with her. He didn't know who would miss the young lady. He didn't know how hard it might be to silence her or if she'd fight and escape. That would bring way too much heat on him.
He felt in his pocket for his buck knife. The only thing he had ever used it for was opening boxes and once for cutting chicken at a new place off Florence Avenue in Omaha. He looked into her eyes, and even with his limited experience, realized she wanted him to kiss her.
Slipping the knife out of his pocket, he said, "You wanna see what I'm haulin'?"
"Sure." She took a small step back then fell in step with him to the truck. He used the only extra key he had to the sturdy Master Lock. The door slid up easily as he kept track of where she was standing.
He stepped up into the truck. "C'mon." He motioned her up with his empty left hand, the knife still folded in his right.
Once she was inside, he opened the knife in front of her and acted like he was prying off one of the boards to the crate.
"What is it?" she asked, inching closer to him.
He gripped the knife, saying, "It's unusual. I was tapped special just to transport it because of my record for this kind of stuff." He flexed his arm, knowing she had no clue what he was poised to do. He had never killed anyone up close before.
Faith ran her small hand over the wooden crate and stared at it like it was a magic lamp.
The fact that his first up-close victim was a woman didn't make it harder; it didn't surprise him either. He had spent so little time with women other than his mom, that he didn't really understand the differences between them and men.
Ike looked at her, with the knife still ready. He knew he had to keep her quiet but couldn't seem to force his arm forward. No matter how important this was to him and the country, he could not seem to will his hand to plunge the knife into her exposed stomach.
As her shirt inched up her midriff, she leaned closer to him, looking for something other than a kiss.
"Shit," he shouted.
Faith cowered slightly. "What? What is it now?"
"Look, you'll thank me for this later, but for now, I'm gonna have to close you in here."
"What?"
"And if you make any noise, like scream or pound on the door, I'm gonna have to kill you." He held up the buck knife. "You understand?"
She stared at the knife with a new expression.
He raised his voice. "You understand, Faith?"
She shook herself out of her daze and stared at him for a moment. "Why? I'll keep quiet." A sob crept into her voice.
He slid the door down and slapped the lock back on it as he muttered, "I know."