See Me(144)

“How so?”

“Screaming. Fighting with the officers. Trying to bite the officers. And once they got him in there, he started kicking at the doors, banging his head on the wall. Crazy stuff. Even scared the other prisoners, so he had to be moved out. A doctor was called in, who gave him something to calm him down. It took five officers to restrain him, and that was when the attorney showed up. He’s claiming all sorts of civil rights violations, but it’s all on camera, so no one’s worried about Lester having some sort of case that might spring him. I wanted you to know that right up front. That’s not going to happen, no matter what his attorney might say. He shot a cop. Anyway, the point is, no one’s been able to talk to him yet.”

Maria nodded, feeling numb. “How’s…?”

“Pete?” Wright asked. “He made it through the night. He’s still in critical condition, but he’s stable for now and his vitals are improving. His wife is hopeful that he’ll regain consciousness sometime today – the surgeon said it was possible – but we’re still in a wait-and-see mode on that front. Rachel was able to spend some time with him this morning. Their boys, too. Of course, it was scary for them. They’re only nine and eleven, and he’s their hero, you know? After coffee, I’ll head over there, see if I can sit with him a bit, or at the very least, sit with Rachel.” When Maria didn’t respond, Wright rotated his coffee cup in place. “I also looked into the car that was at the bungalow. I remember seeing it, too, and to answer the question from last night, the Shallotte police did not impound the vehicle. Nor did the sheriff’s department. Which means that Atkinson showed up after the police had left to retrieve it.”

“Maybe,” Colin said.

“Maybe?” Wright asked.

“He may have been there all along. Maybe he ducked out the back when Evan and I were trying to save Margolis. He hid out for a while, then came back. That also might explain how Margolis got shot in the first place. He went in expecting one person, and then was surprised by two.”

Wright studied Colin. “When Pete talked about you,” he said, “I didn’t get the sense he liked you very much.”

“I don’t like him, either.”

Wright raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you save him?”

“He didn’t deserve to die.”

Wright turned to Maria. “Is he always like this?”

“Yes,” she answered with a wry smile, then switched gears. “I still don’t see how or why Lester and Atkinson are working together to target me —”

“There’s more,” he said, lifting his palm to stop her. “That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I spoke to the detective in Charlotte that Pete was working with. His name’s Tony Roberts, by the way, and when I filled him in on what happened to Pete, he told me that Pete had called him yesterday, but that he hadn’t been able to check out Atkinson yet. Of course, this put the request on a whole new level, and he called Atkinson’s mother, picked her up, and went to Atkinson’s apartment. She was able to convince the manager to let him in. There’s still a missing persons report on file, even if up until now, no one had believed her, and she’s the next of kin. The point is, she was more than happy to let Roberts help find her son, and I guess that when Roberts got there, he hit the jackpot. It just wasn’t in the way the mom wanted. It turns out that Atkinson’s laptop was still there, and Roberts was able to access it.”

“And?”

He looked at Maria. “He had files about you. Tons of information. Background information, school records, information about your family, where you live and work, your daily schedule. He even had information about Colin in there. Photographs, too.”

“He had photographs?”

“Hundreds. Walking, at the store, on the paddleboard. Even while you were working. It seems he’s been watching and following you for quite a long time. Spying on you. Roberts removed the laptop as evidence, over Mrs. Atkinson’s sudden vehement protests. As soon as she saw what was on it, she tried to withdraw her consent to enter the place, but by then it was too late, and Roberts had it in hand. Defense lawyers would likely raise a stink, but there was a missing persons report, she gave her consent, and the evidence was in plain sight. Roberts, though, was better than that – he let me know he’d actually recorded her saying that she wanted him to access the computer. With that said, once we get Lester to talk, it’ll probably be a moot point anyway. Lawyer or not, he’ll end up talking. The crazy ones usually end up spilling everything, especially once they get lucid, because guilt sets in.”

Maria wasn’t sure that was true, but… “Why does Atkinson want to hurt me?”

“That part, I can’t answer with certainty. I can tell you there was information about Cassie Manning on the laptop, too, but you’re already aware of that link.”

“Do you have any idea where Atkinson is now?”

“No. We have an APB out on him, but since no one seems to know where he’s been, I’m not sure how much good that will do. Again, I’m hoping that Lester will be able to tell us more, but when that will be is still up in the air. It might take a day, it might take a few days, it might take a week, and then we’ll still have to deal with the attorney and his father, both of whom will tell him not to answer any questions at all. Which raises the question of where you want to be for the next few days. If I were you, I’m not sure I’d hang around Wilmington.”