See Me(135)

“No.”

“Because you sound like a smart-ass. I go out of my way to prevent you from getting arrested last night, and then you ‘forget’ to mention this idea of yours this morning? So you can play Mr. Law Enforcement again?”

“Maria told you that Lester had taken her iPhone. They’re easy to track. I figured that you’d probably looked into it already.”

The expression on Margolis’s face revealed that he’d overlooked the obvious.

Recovering, he snapped, “Believe it or not, my world doesn’t revolve around you and your girlfriend. I have other cases. Big cases. I was getting to it.”

Sure you were, Colin thought. “Will you get Maria’s phone?”

“If he has it. I have no proof that he does, other than your word.”

“As of a couple of hours ago, it was still there,” Evan interjected. “I checked before I came out here.”

Margolis stared at Evan, his irritation evident, before finally shaking his head.

“I’ll get her phone,” Margolis said. “Now get going. Both of you. I don’t need you here, and I don’t want you here. I’ll take care of it.”

He rolled up the window, released the brake, and let the car drift forward before finally pulling to a stop directly in front of the bungalow. Colin watched as Margolis stepped out and took a moment to survey the place before finally rounding the car and heading up the walkway.

As he climbed the steps to the porch, he turned toward Colin and jerked his thumb, reminding Colin it was time to go.

Fair enough, Colin thought. The key was still in the ignition and he cranked it, only to hear silence, the engine completely dead. Not even a click. Colin tried again with the same result. Dead.

“Let me guess,” Evan said. “Your car sucks.”

“Today, maybe.”

“Margolis isn’t going to be happy.”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

He was talking to Evan while keeping his attention focused on Margolis, who’d yet to knock at the door. Instead, the detective was at the far end of the porch, peering at the car parked in the drive. When he turned, Colin thought he saw a look of confusion on Margolis’s face as Margolis finally moved to the door. He hesitated before knocking; after a long pause, Margolis reached for the doorknob and turned it, cracking the door slightly.

Someone calling out, saying come in and that the door was open?

Margolis spoke through the crack, then pulled out his badge as he pushed through the already open door, vanishing from sight…

“Let’s go to my car,” Evan said. “We can be gone by the time Margolis gets out. I know he hates you, but I don’t want him to hate you any more than he already does. Or me, for that matter. He looks mean.”

Colin said nothing. Instead, he was thinking about the expression he’d seen on Margolis’s face right before he’d knocked at the door. Margolis had seen something, something that… didn’t make sense? Surprised him? Something he hadn’t expected?

And why would Lester have invited him in if he was paranoid and afraid of the police?

“Something’s wrong,” Colin said, the thought coming automatically, even before he realized he’d said it.

Evan looked over at him. “What are you talking about?” he asked, and in that instant, Colin heard the distinctive pop of gunfire, loud and explosive, two shots in quick succession.

Colin was already reaching for the door when Margolis flew back out of the doorway, his jacket and shirt soaked in blood, his hand on his neck. He stumbled off the porch, falling backward onto the steps and sliding down onto the walkway.

By then, Colin was already out of the car… operating on instinct… running toward Margolis… accelerating with every step… watching Margolis as he writhed on the ground.

Lester stepped onto the porch, screaming incoherently, holding a gun. He raised it, pointing it at Margolis. Lester’s face held both fear and anger, his hand on the gun shaking. Lester screamed again and lowered the gun before raising it once more…

Colin continued his sprint toward the bungalow, cutting across the neighbor’s lawn, hurdling a small bush, closing in on the porch. On Lester. Zeroing in. A few more seconds.

Lester continued to aim the gun at Margolis without pulling the trigger. His face was red, his eyes bloodshot. Out of control. Screaming at Margolis: It’s not my fault! and I didn’t do anything! and I’m not going back to jail! and I know what Maria is doing!

Lester approached the porch steps, closing the gap between him and Margolis as he continued to aim the gun, his hand shaking. Taunting. Lester, aware of a blur out of the corner of his eye, suddenly turned, swiveling the gun in Colin’s direction…

Too late.

Colin launched himself over the porch railing, arms wide as he collided hard with Lester. The gun went flying, wheeling end over end and landing on the porch.

Colin outweighed Lester by forty pounds, and he felt Lester’s ribs crack as they hit the ground. Lester screamed in agony, momentarily paralyzed.

Colin moved fast, shifting off of Lester’s body, his arm immediately wrapping around Lester’s throat, then he locked the arm down with the opposite hand. Lester began to thrash and squirm, neck sandwiched between Colin’s biceps and forearm. Colin applied hard pressure to the carotid arteries in a classic choke hold as Lester tried frantically to escape.