See Me(134)

On the plus side, none of the neighbors had seemed to notice him, and the street itself had been quiet. A couple of people had walked past his car; a few kids had run by kicking a soccer ball. The mailman had come by and Colin had temporarily gotten his hopes up – he could, perhaps, catch the name of whoever lived in the house by checking the mailbox – but the mailman passed the house, making no deliveries at all.

That was odd. He’d stopped at every other home on the block.

It might mean nothing at all.

Or it might mean that whoever was living at the house didn’t generally receive mail, because their mail was sent elsewhere.

It made him wonder.





Time continued to tick by. Four o’clock now, and Colin was getting antsy. He wrestled with the urge to do… something. He wondered again whether to call Margolis. Wondered whether to risk a knock at the door. He trusted himself not to overreact. Or mostly did, anyway.

He stayed in the car, taking long, slow breaths, and was startled when his phone dinged. Evan.

What are you doing?

Colin texted back, Nothing.





Another hour passed. Five o’clock, with the sun beginning to sink lower, still bright but predicting the gradual onset of dusk. Colin wondered when, or if, the lights would go on inside; since he’d been there, it had become easier to imagine that no one was inside the bungalow at all.

His phone dinged again. Evan. Again.

I’ll be there in a minute, the text read. I’m almost at your car.

Colin furrowed his brow, then looked over his shoulder and saw Evan approaching from behind. Evan hopped in and closed the door, then rolled up the window. Colin did the same.

“I knew you’d be here. As soon as I left you, I knew exactly what you intended to do. And then you lie to me in your text? About doing nothing?”

“I wasn’t lying. I’m not doing anything.”

“You came here. You’re watching the house. You’re watching for Lester. That’s something.”

“Not if I haven’t seen him.”

“So what’s the plan now?”

“I’m still working on it,” Colin answered. “How’s Maria?”

“She was asleep on the couch when we got there, but as soon as she woke up, Lily started talking to her about our wedding plans. I figured I might as well check on you, since Lily can talk for hours on that subject…”

At that moment, Colin caught the flash of movement at the front of the bungalow. The door opening. A man beginning to step onto the porch, holding a can of something.

“Get down,” Colin hissed as he quickly lowered himself as well. “And stay down.”

Evan automatically did as he was told. “Why?”

Colin slowly poked his head up without answering, needing a closer look. The man had moved onto the porch, the front door open behind him. Colin peered closer, conjuring up Atkinson’s image. Definitely not him, he decided, and he tried to remember what Maria had said about Lester’s clothing last night. Faded red shirt and torn jeans?

Yes, Colin thought. Same thing the man was wearing now.

Lester?

Had to be, and Colin felt another surge of adrenaline. Lester was at the bungalow. Hadn’t even changed his clothes…

A few seconds later, Lester turned around and walked back inside, the front door closing behind him.

“Is it him?” Evan whispered.

“Yeah,” Colin said. “It’s him.”

“And you’ll call Margolis now, right? Like you said you would?”

“Okay,” Colin said.





On the phone, after cursing Colin roundly for withholding information, Margolis snapped that he was on his way and would be there as soon as he could. No, he’d told them, do not follow Lester, or anyone else for that matter, if they leave the house. Let him handle it, Margolis demanded, and if Colin so much as got out of the car, he’d find a reason to put him in cuffs because he was getting sick and tired of Colin pretending he knew what the hell he was doing. There were a few more choice words as well, and when Colin disconnected the call, Evan looked over at him.

“I warned you that he wasn’t going to be happy,” Evan commented.

“Okay.”

“And you don’t care?”

“Why should I?”

“Because he can make your life even more miserable.”

“Only if I do something that gets me in trouble.”

“Like interfering in police business?”

“I’m sitting in my car. I called him with information he needed. I’m not interfering. I’m a potential witness. He told me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

Evan shifted. “Can I sit up again? I’m getting a cramp.”

“I don’t know why you’re still hunkered down in the first place.”





Forty minutes later, Margolis rolled up to Colin’s car and pulled to a stop, his sedan idling in the road, the passenger window rolled down.

“I thought I told you to get the hell out of here,” Margolis said.

“No,” Colin said, “you didn’t. You told me not to get out of the car or follow him.”

“Are you purposely trying to be a smart-ass?”