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careers. I was almost positive. I had not found any body parts and hadn't seen him do it, but everything
fit. And on the Internet I did manage to locate some particularly inventive pictures of three of the
missing girls. They did not look very happy in those pictures, although some of the things they were
doing were supposed to bring joy, I have been told.
I could not positively connect Jaworski with the pictures. But the mailbox address was South Miami, a
few minutes from the school. And he was living above his means. And in any case I was being
reminded with increasing force from the dark backseat that I was out of time, that this was not a case
where certainty was terribly important.
But the ugly dog worried me. Dogs were always a problem. They don't like me and they quite often
disapprove of what I do to their masters, especially since I don't share the good pieces. I had to find a
way around the dog to Jaworski. Perhaps he would come out. If not, I had to find a way in.
I drove past Jaworski's house three times but nothing occurred to me. I needed some luck and I needed
it before the Dark Passenger made me do something hasty. And just as my dear friend began to
whisper imprudent suggestions, I got my small piece of luck. Jaworski came out of his house and
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climbed into his battered red Toyota pickup as I drove past. I slowed down as much as I could, and in
a moment he backed out and yanked his little truck toward Douglas Road. I turned around and
followed.
I had no idea how I was going to do this. I was not prepared. I had no safe room, no clean coveralls,
nothing but a roll of duct tape and a filet knife under my seat. I had to be unseen, unnoticed, and
perfect, and I had no idea how. I hated to improvise, but I was not being offered a choice.
Once again I was lucky. Traffic was very light as Jaworski drove south to Old Cutler Road, and after a
mile or so he turned left toward the water. Another huge new development was going up to improve
life for all of us by turning trees and animals into cement and old people from New Jersey. Jaworski
drove slowly through the construction, past half a golf course with the flags in place but no grass on it,
until he came almost to the water. The skeleton of a large, half-finished block of condos blotted out the
moon. I dropped far back, turned out my headlights, and then inched close enough to see what my boy
was up to.
Jaworski had pulled in beside the block of condos-to-be and parked. He got out and stood between his
little truck and a huge pile of sand. For a moment he just looked around and I pulled onto the shoulder
and turned off the engine. Jaworski stared at the condos and then down the road toward the water. He
seemed satisfied and went into the building. I was quite certain that he was looking for a guard. I was,
too. I hoped he had done his homework. Most often in these huge uberdevelopments one guard rides
around from site to site in a golf cart. It saves money, and anyway, this is Miami. A certain amount of
the overhead on any project is for material that is expected to disappear quietly. It looked to me like
Jaworski planned to help the builder meet his quota.
I got out of my car and slipped my filet knife and duct tape into a cheap tote bag I'd brought along. I
had already stuffed some rubberized gardening gloves and a few pictures inside it, nothing much. Just
trifles I'd downloaded from the Internet. I shrugged the bag onto my shoulder and moved quietly
through the night until I came to his grungy little truck. The bed was as empty as the cab. Heaps of
Burger King cups and wrappers, empty Camel packs on the floor. Nothing that wasn't small and dirty,
like Jaworski himself.
I looked up. Above the rim of the half-condo I could just see the glow of the moon. A night wind blew
across my face, bringing with it all the enchanting odors of our tropical paradise: diesel oil, decaying
vegetation, and cement. I inhaled it deeply and turned my thoughts back to Jaworski.
He was somewhere inside the shell of the building. I didn't know how long I had, and a certain small
voice was urging me to hurry. I left the truck and went into the building. As I stepped through the door
I heard him. Or rather, I heard a strange whirring, rattling sound that had to be him, or
I paused. The sound came from off to one side and I whisper-footed over to it. A pipe ran up the wall,
an electrical conduit. I placed a hand on the pipe and felt it vibrate, as if something inside was moving.
A small light went on in my brain. Jaworski was pulling out the wire. Copper was very expensive, and
there was a thriving black market for copper in any form. It was one more small way to supplement a
meager janitorial salary, helping to cover the long, poverty-strewn stretches between young runaways.
He could make several hundred dollars for one load of copper.
Now that I knew what he was up to, a vague outline of an idea began to take root in my brain. From
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the sound, he was above me somewhere. I could easily track him, shadow him until the time was right,
and then pounce. But I was practically naked here, completely exposed and unready. I was used to
doing these things a certain way. To step outside my own careful boundaries made me extremely
uncomfortable.
A small shudder crawled up my spine. Why was I doing this?
The quick answer, of course, was that I wasn't doing it at all. My dear friend in the dark backseat was
doing it. I was just along because I had the driver's license. But we had reached an understanding, he
and I. We had achieved a careful, balanced existence, a way to live together, through our Harry
solution. And now he was rampaging outside Harry's careful, beautiful chalk lines. Why? Anger? Was
the invasion of my home really such an outrage that it woke him to strike out in revenge?
He didn't feel angry to me as always he seemed cool, quietly amused, eager for his prey. And I didn't
feel angry either. I felt half drunk, high as a kite, teetering on the knife edge of euphoria, wobbling
through a series of inner ripples that felt curiously like I have always thought emotions must feel. And
the giddiness of it had driven me to this dangerous, unclean, unplanned place, to do something on the
spur of the moment that always before I had planned carefully. And even knowing all this, I badly
wanted to do it. Had to do it.
Very well then. But I didn't have to do it undressed. I looked around. A large pile of Sheetrock
squatted at the far end of the room, bound with shrink-wrap. A moment's work and I had cut myself an
apron and a strange transparent mask from the shrink-wrap; nose, mouth, and eyes sliced away so I
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