“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?”
“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.