Still a little shaken by that deliberate "smash and grab", the old man cautiously drove down the street towards his next destination: Elizabeth Raiford's house. When he got halfway there, he began to notice that the neighborhood seemed familiar, and there was a reason for that.
He slammed on his brakes suddenly, realizing that he was on this street just that morning. This was the street that the Ferguson house was on. He drove down a little more and parked in the same spot alongside the road that he had parked in that morning. He checked his watch. It was almost three o'clock. The CWS meeting wouldn't begin for another hour. But he wanted to get there early so he could make sure all the members were in the house at the same time. However, he didn't need to be there right now and Raiford's house wasn't too far from here. He could make this one little detour.
As he thought things over, he watched as two plain conservatively-dressed girls walked along the street and then up to the Ferguson house. One of them must have been the girl named Nadine. The old man noticed that Laura's car was gone, so she must not have been home at the moment.
He sighed, thinking that it would be easier if she were home. During his last visit to the Ferguson house, he implanted Laura with a desire to let him into the house. He supposed he'd have to think of something else.
He opened his briefcase and took out the spray bottle, then he left his car and walked across the street and up to the front door of the house.
After ringing the doorbell, one of the two girls he spotted earlier opened it. "Hello," he said, trying to sound as pleasant as possible.
The girl frowned. "Yes?" she asked.
"Are you ... Nadine?" he asked.
"Yes," she said hesitantly.
"I'm a friend of your mother. Can I come in?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't know you."
Just as much of a problem as her mother, the old man thought. Just like he had to do earlier that day, he quickly opened the screen door and sprayed her in the face. He grabbed her, so that she didn't collapse on the floor, then he ordered her to stand up. She complied.
"Tell your friend to come here," he said.
Nadine turned and yelled into the house. "Tina! Come here!"
Tina emerged from the hallway a few seconds later. "Nadine? What is it?" she asked, slowly walking towards her. She was hesitant because Nadine had a dazed look in her eyes that she had never seen before. "Are you alright?"
"Tina. Come here," Nadine repeated. She didn't yell it this time, but it sounded exactly the same, like she was reading it off a script.
"Nadine, what's going on?"
"Tina. Come here," Nadine said a third time. Now Tina knew that something was definitely wrong.
