He was going to murder his wife for her betrayal.

After he killed her husband.

Chapter 32.

Upon receiving a text message from Eddie stating that he had cracked the pass codes for Rachel's computer and cell phone, Joshua drove to his friend's house.

He had the revolver, stored in its case, in his satchel, and he'd stuffed the bag deep in the Explorer's cargo area. He'd done Internet research on the handgun, but there was a big difference between reading about how to handle a gun, and having someone demonstrate its proper use. He was hoping that Eddie would be familiar with firearms. Eddie seemed to know a little bit about everything.

In the meantime, without a permit for the gun, he opted to hide it. He didn't want to get pulled over by a cop and be charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Eddie and his wife, Ariel, lived in Candler Park, an old Atlanta neighborhood about five minutes east of downtown. Candler Park was an eclectic community of indie shops, funky art galleries and boutiques, trendy cafes and bars, and old houses, the value of which had soared into the stratosphere as intown living trumped buying a house in the suburbs.

Their sage-green, renovated Victorian stood on a knoll, a narrow paved lane leading to the detached garage. A web of white holiday lights were spun across the shrubbery, and a trio of illuminated plastic snowmen twinkled in the front yard.

"Hey, sweetie," Ariel said at the door. "Come on in."

Joshua came inside and gave Ariel a hug, which was awkward since she was only five feet tall. Dressed in a white sweater and jeans, she was a petite woman with an endearing smile, bright eyes, and a short natural. A former elementary school teacher, she'd become, like Eddie, her own boss: she owned and operated a thriving pre-school center in Buckhead.

Although both Eddie and Ariel were thrifty people, they didn't have any compunction about spending money on their house. They had bought the place almost ten years ago as a fixer-upper, and had plowed enormous amounts of time, energy, and resources into renovations. With its gleaming hardwood floors, artfully selected earth tone colors, imaginative lighting, and period furniture, it looked like a home out of a magazine.

"Eddie told me what happened," Ariel said.

"Oh, he did." Joshua had asked Eddie not to tell anyone. He'd forgotten that "anyone" excluded Eddie's wife.

"It's such a terrible thing. But I'm sure you and Rachel will work it out. The love you two have for each other is real. Whatever she's running from, you'll overcome."

"Yeah. I hope so."

"Don't hope so, sweetie. Know so. Positive thinking."

"All right, Master Yoda."

"Sorry, I dropped into teacher mode." Ariel smiled self-consciously. "But you get my point. Your mental energy is the key to the outcome. Focus on the resolution that you desire."

"That's enough teaching for tonight." Eddie waddled out of the kitchen and into the hallway with their toddler, Gavin, in his arms. When the kid saw Joshua, his eyes brightened. Eddie brought him to Joshua. "Say hi to Uncle Josh, Gav."

"How's it going, little man?" Joshua swung aside his satchel and hefted Gavin onto his hip. The child gazed at him, babbling and grinning. Joshua thought about last night's dream of walking the beach with Rachel and their child, and an almost crippling anguish clenched his heart.

He might never have that life, the family Eddie enjoyed. He'd been on the track to achieving it, but Fate had conspired to rob him of his reward for being a regular, nice guy.

His eyes moist, he handed Gavin to Ariel, who had opened her arms to take him.

"Let's go talk," Eddie said.

Eddie's office was located in a large space in the basement. It looked like a junkyard of computer hardware. Computers, keyboards, monitors, modems, printers, scanners, disks, hard drives, memory boards, and other spare electronic parts were stacked and scattered everywhere, and mountains of boxes held other equipment.

"Every time I come down here, I wonder why Ariel lets you get away with keeping it in this condition," Joshua said.

"Upstairs is hers, downstairs is mine. Works for us."

Exposed fluorescent bulbs showered them with harsh white light. The main work area was in the midst of the chaos: a couple of tattered swivel chairs, and a long, chipped wooden table on which sat three computers, one of which Joshua recognized as Rachel's laptop.

Eddie sat in one of the chairs. "Pull up a seat and check out what the maestro has done for you, man."

Sitting, Joshua scooted closer to the desk. Eddie flipped open the lid of Rachel's laptop and angled the machine toward Joshua.

"Turn it on," Eddie said.

Joshua hit the Power button. The computer beeped, and launched into the boot-up cycle.

"So what's the password?" Joshua asked.

"We're not there yet. Keep watching."

Joshua expected to see the Windows log-on screen. But the computer bypassed it altogether and began to populate the display with familiar program icons: Internet Explorer, Microsoft Word, Excel, and so on.

"Wow," Joshua said.

Eddie grinned. "That's right-no password necessary any more, dawg. Am I the man, or what?"

"How'd you do that?"

Eddie winked. "A magician never reveals how he does his tricks."

"You worked the same magic on her cell phone?"

Eddie dug into the front pocket of his hoodie and removed Rachel's flip phone. He handed it to Joshua. "Try it."

Joshua turned on the phone. The small color screen flashed the logo of the cellular provider, and then, instead of prompting him for a pass code, depicted a screen saver of one of Rachel's favorite beach photos. Icons for the Menu and Phone Book filled the bottom of the screen.

"You're a genius," Joshua said. "I owe you big time."

Eddie bowed theatrically, nodded at the laptop. "The only files I accessed on the hard drive were the ones I needed to modify in order to get in. Everything else, I've left to you."

"Tonight, I'm going to go over the computer and this phone with a fine-tooth comb." Joshua turned off both devices, slid them into his bag. Then he removed the gun case and placed it on the table. "I was hoping you could help me with this, too."

"What is it?"

Joshua disengaged the pad lock and raised the lid.

Eddie gawked at the revolver. "Oh, shit. Where'd you get this from, dawg?"

"Rachel gave it to me, via Tanisha. I picked it up from the salon this afternoon."

"Are you serious?"

"When she left me the letter, she left this key, too," Joshua said, holding the key between his thumb and forefinger. "She said it would open something she had a strong feeling I would need. This box."

"Why'd she leave you a gun? That's crazy, man."

"She thinks I'm going to need it. She's always had a sixth sense for things, Eddie. I think she's right about this, too."

"She thinks you're gonna have to shoot somebody?" Eddie's gaze was incredulous.

"I guess so. Maybe."

"And why would she have a piece in the first place?" Eddie asked.

Joshua shrugged. "Wish I knew."

"Damn." Eddie dragged his hand down his face, regarded the gun warily. "Well, the only guns I've used have been on Nintendo, X-Box, and Playstation. I wouldn't even know how to load that bad boy."

"That's what I was afraid of." Joshua shut the box. "Thanks anyway."

"Hold up. Ariel would know."

"Ariel?"

"Yeah, man. Let me call her down here." He spun around in the chair, picked up a walkie-talkie from a cluttered side table, and radioed his wife upstairs. The family walkie-talkies were typical Eddie. He and Ariel used them to coordinate their shopping when they made their once-a-month trips to the supermarket, alerting each other to bargains they discovered on their hunts through the store.

Ariel radioed back that she was putting Gavin to bed and would be down in a minute.

Setting aside the walkie-talkie, Eddie glanced at the gun case. "Did Rachel include a permit for that?"

"No. If there's any documentation on it, she's probably hidden it somewhere."

Eddie was shaking his head. "She's full of secrets, isn't she? It's like peeling away layers of an onion. Makes you wonder what's in the center of it all."

"Something that gives a reasonable explanation for all of this, I hope."

Ariel came into the basement. She swept her gaze around, frowned, but declined to comment on the disorder around them. "Gav's finally asleep. What's up, guys?"

"Do you know how to use this?" Joshua opened the box.

Fascination sparkled in her eyes. "Let me see. Is this yours, Josh?"

"Rachel left it for him," Eddie said.

"For real? Get outta here." She lifted the revolver out of the tray. With an adept flick of her wrist, she swung out the cylinder. "It's not loaded."

"You do know guns," Joshua said.

"Of course. My father was a Green Beret. You couldn't have lived in our household without knowing how to defend yourself, or how to handle a gun. I was the only girl out of three boys, but Daddy didn't play that woman-in-distress crap. He made me learn, too."

Eddie smiled at Joshua. Ariel asked Joshua if he had any ammo. Joshua showed her the box of cartridges, and watched her skillfully insert a round in the chamber.

"Can you teach me?" Joshua asked.

Chapter 33.

With the flair of a natural teacher, Ariel gave Joshua a lesson on handgun fundamentals. How to load and unload the revolver. How to engage and disengage the trigger lock. The proper shooter's stance: feet shoulder-width apart, the foot opposite the dominant hand in front, body leaning slightly forward, elbow of the dominant hand locked. How and why to aim for center mass. Why to always assume that every gun was loaded, until proven otherwise.

Afterward, Eddie asked Joshua if he wanted to stay for dinner. Joshua thanked them for their help, but begged off. He was eager to get home and examine Rachel's cell phone and computer.

On the drive back, he stopped by McDonald's to grab dinner. He wasn't actually hungry; he ate out of habit. All he wanted to do was get home and find answers.

When Joshua stepped inside the house, the phone was ringing. He raced to it, heart in his throat-and frowned when he saw his parents' number on Caller ID.

His mother had called him on his cell phone at leastthree times in the past couple of hours. He'd let the calls go to voice mail. He was in no mood to deal with her while he was engaged in other, critical activities.

But he couldn't avoid her forever. Reluctantly, he answered the phone.

"Where you been, boy?" Mom said. "I been callin' you for the last two hours! You was supposed to come over for dinner."

"I never said I'd be over for dinner, Mom."

"Yes, you did! When you rushed out this mornin', you said you'd be back for dinner."

"I don't remember that. But if I said it, I'm sorry. I already picked up something from McDonald's."

"McDonald's? You done had me slavin' in this kitchen all day and you done went and ate some junk food? What's wrong with you?"

Joshua massaged his temples. He wished he hadn't answered the phone. He felt a headache coming on.

His mother was saying, ". . . fried up some chicken, cooked some macaroni-and-cheese, sweet potatoes, turnip greens . . . peach cobbler."

"Sounds delicious. Make me a plate and I'll pick it up tomorrow."

"Chaquita ain't gonna be here tomorrow!"

"Chaquita?"

"She came over here for dinner. She wanted to see you."