By now, I had my headlights on and all the time I was angling my way up the steep curving asphalt drive, I sensed eyes upon me. Probably somebody peering out from one of those wide but cunningly concealed balconies. A new Mercedes Benz four-door sedan and a two-door BMW were parked outside the attached three-stall garage. Twilight had turned the sky a purple color that I always associate with the Nevada desert. Birds cried intense and lonely songs in the hardwood windbreak on the west side of the house. As I walked up to the door, I breathed in some of the expensive air. It smelled and tasted fresh. Ellie Wilson opened the door. "Mr. Payne. I'm surprised to see you." "I'd like to talk to Bob, if that's possible." "Why, of course. But it probably would've been better if you'd called ahead. He's on the phone long-distance with his brother right now. Sometimes they talk for more than an hour. One time they talked two hours." If she was nervous about me meeting Bob, she hid it well.
