See Me(110)

Maria wasn’t sure what to say. In the silence, she heard Colin’s voice.

“When was he admitted to the hospital?”

She watched as Margolis’s eyes shifted toward Colin.

“I don’t know. My friend couldn’t find out. Medical records are confidential and that kind of information can’t be released without the patient’s permission. That clearly wasn’t going to happen. At least, not right then. But my friend knows what he’s doing, and so he asked one of the other patients, and the guy said that he thought Lester had been there for five or six days. Of course, considering the source, you’d have to take that information with a grain of salt.”

“In other words, it’s possible that Lester slashed the tires and left the notes.”

“Or he might have been in the hospital. And if he was in the hospital, then obviously it isn’t Lester.”

“It has to be him,” Maria insisted. “I don’t know who else it could be.”

“How about Mark Atkinson?”

“Who?”

“Cassie’s boyfriend. Because I looked into him, too. It turns out that he may or may not be missing.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m still doing some preliminary work on that, but here’s what I can tell you. Mark Atkinson’s mother filed a missing persons report on her son about a month ago. But after I talked to the detective and right before I called you, I spoke with her to get more information, and I’m still not sure what to make of it. She told me that in August, he sent her an e-mail saying that he’d met someone online and that he was quitting his job and going to Toronto to meet her in person. She had no idea what to make of that, but in the e-mail, he told her not to worry. He said he’d prepaid his rent and that other bills were being paid online. The mother says she received a couple of printed letters from him saying that he was on a road trip with the woman, one of them postmarked from Michigan and another from Kentucky, but according to her, they were – and I quote – ‘vague and strange and impersonal, and not what my son would write.’ Other than that, there’s been no contact with him, and she insists that he’s missing. She says he would have called or texted her, and the fact that he hasn’t done those things means that something has happened to him.”

The new information left Maria’s head spinning, and it was all she could do to stay seated. Even Colin seemed at a loss for words.

Margolis looked from one to the other. “So that’s where I am right now. If you’re wondering what my plan is, moving forward, I’m going to give the good doctor another call and see if he can grease the wheels and find out when Lester was admitted. Or better yet, have his son give the physicians at Plainview permission to tell me. Depending on what I learn there, I may or may not check into the Mark Atkinson thing. But frankly, that’s a lot of legwork, and again, I don’t know how much more time I can commit to this.”

“It’s not Atkinson,” Maria repeated. “It’s Lester.”

“If that’s the case, then for now, I wouldn’t worry.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because,” he said simply, “as I just told you, Lester is in the hospital.”





“It doesn’t make any sense,” Maria said to Colin. They were in the parking lot, the sun inching out from behind thin strands of clouds. “I’ve never met Mark Atkinson. I’ve never talked to him. As far as I know, I’ve never even seen him. Why would he be stalking me? He wasn’t even dating Cassie when Laws went to jail. He didn’t come into the picture until later. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know.”

“And why the hell would Lester think I’m out to get him?”

“It’s a delusion.”

She glanced away, her voice becoming quieter. “I hate this. I mean, I feel like I know even less than I did before I came here today. And now I have no idea what I’m supposed to do, or even what I’m supposed to think about all this.”

“I’m not sure what to make of it, either.”

She shook her head. “Oh, one thing I forgot to tell you. I had to cancel with Jill and Leslie tonight because it’s my mom’s birthday. I’ll be at my parents’ place tonight while you’re at work.”

“Do you want me to come by after my shift?”

“No. Dinner will be over by then. My dad makes the meal – it’s the one time a year that he actually cooks – but it’s not a big deal. It’ll be just the four of us.”

“Are you going to stay there overnight? Or head back to your condo?”

“I’m thinking of going home. It’s probably time, don’t you think?”

Colin was quiet for a moment. “How about I meet you there? Just hang at your parents’ and I’ll call you when my shift is done.”

“Would you mind?”

“Not at all.”

She let out a sigh. “I’m sorry that as soon as things started clicking between us, all this had to happen. I hate that you’re having to deal with it.”

He kissed her. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”





CHAPTER 21