See Me (37 page)

Colin just had to find it.

And if Lester happened to be there tonight, having realized that Maria wasn’t at her condo?

As much as Colin itched to exact punishment, he’d call Margolis. Maybe they could charge Lester with trespassing, maybe even breaking and entering, in addition to stalking.

The street was quiet and empty. On either side of him, through gaps in the curtains of the nearby houses, he saw the occasional television flickering, but he suspected most people had turned in for the night.

He reached the vacant house and a quick check of the front door showed a lockbox on the doorknob, courtesy of the Realtor. There were no partially open windows on the porch, nor any pry marks. He went around to the side of the house and noiselessly hoisted himself over the fence, into the backyard. With the flashlight, he inspected the windows one by one, hunting for a small gap or pry marks.

It wasn’t until he reached the opposite side of the house that he found it.

A bedroom window, five feet up, nearly but not fully closed. Pry marks on the frame, no doubt used to take off the screen. Easy for Colin to climb through, despite the distance from the ground, but for Lester? He scanned the yard and spotted an old plastic picnic table set, made for children. Based on four imprints of flattened, yellowing grass, the table from the set had been moved recently.

Bingo.

Using the screwdriver, he popped the screen off, then wedged the window open a bit farther before pushing it wide with his hands.

With a quick jump and climb, he was inside.

He walked through the darkened house, observing that the floor plan was similar to Maria’s parents’ house, with windows in the kitchen and a family room offering an unobstructed view of the Sanchezes’ back porch. But the view was almost too perfect, facing both ways, and Colin knew that Lester wouldn’t have wanted to be spotted.

Which left only one possibility.

Colin traversed the short hallway, turning into the only bedroom on the rear side of the house. Unlike the ones in the kitchen and family room, the window that offered a view of the Sanchezes’ back porch had curtains. Turning his flashlight on, he scanned the pile carpet.

Indentations near the window. Footprints.

Lester Manning had been here.

And there was also the chance that he might return.

 

 

It wasn’t until he was driving home that Colin realized he’d overlooked something important.

Where had Lester parked?

It struck him as unlikely that he would have parked in the driveway of the vacant house, or on the street in front of someone’s home. It was too noticeable, especially since many people wanted to park their own cars in front of their houses. At the same time, Lester probably wouldn’t have wanted to park too far away.

Turning around, Colin drove back through the neighborhood, not sure what he hoped to find, until he came upon a park that included a grassy field, a jungle gym, and benches stationed beneath oak trees. On the opposite side of the street, ten or twelve cars were lined up; adjacent to the park were seven more. The lateness of the hour suggested that they belonged to the people who lived across the street, owners with multiple cars and nowhere else to park.

However, another car here would be more likely to go unnoticed – ideal for Lester – and he was sure he was right. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he snapped photos of the cars, along with their license plates. He wanted to know which ones belonged. And as he did, his thoughts began to coalesce.

He wanted to know what Lester looked like.

He wanted to find Lester’s car and license plate.

He wanted to know whether Lester was staying in the area, and if so, where.

Then, after that, he wanted to spend a few days watching and learning everything he could about the man.

 

 

“To what end?” Evan asked, squinting at him across the kitchen table; Lily was already asleep in the bedroom.

“Margolis said that he needs proof. I’ll get him proof.”

“You’re sure you’re not doing this because you want to beat the crap out of him?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, you want to beat the crap out of him, or yes, you’re not going to beat the crap out of him, even though you want to?”

“I don’t intend to go anywhere near him.”

“Good idea. Because you have serious issues.”

“Yes.”

“And how exactly do you intend to find him? Are you just going to hang out at the park and watch for strange cars?”

“Probably.”

“Because you think that Lester might one day park there again?”

“Yes.”

“And how are you going to know which cars belong and don’t belong?”

“Persistence.”

Evan was quiet for a moment. “I still think it would be a better idea if you just let Margolis do his job.”

Colin nodded. “Okay.”

 

 

After a few hours of sleep, Colin was back in the Sanchezes’ neighborhood with a notebook the following day. He’d parked a few blocks away and headed to the park, exercising on a floor mat he’d brought from home while he waited.

It was early, the sun not yet up, and all the cars he’d seen a few hours earlier were still there.

It was more than an hour before the first person emerged from one of the houses, hopped into a car, and drove off. Colin jotted the make, model, and color in the notebook. There was a flurry of activity at half past seven, and another flurry forty-five minutes later. Two more people claimed their cars as Colin was getting ready to leave for class, leaving only a single red car – a two-door Hyundai – adjacent to the park, and another two on the opposite side of the street.

Probably nothing, but he nonetheless noted the information.

On his way out, he detoured down the street with the vacant house. The street was empty, and he decided to risk it. Pulling over a few houses down, he headed for the house before cutting toward the fence.

Peeking over, he saw that the plastic picnic table was exactly where it had been hours earlier; the window, too, appeared to be untouched. If Lester wasn’t here, then the three remaining cars weren’t likely his. Call it 99 percent certain.

In class, he found himself only mildly interested in what the professors were saying and struggled to take proper notes. Instead, he wondered whether he should head to Lester Manning’s last known address in Charlotte or continue to stake out the vacant house. Or, if Maria slept at her place, whether he should watch for Lester there.

All good options, but it was impossible to be in three places at once.

What if he chose wrong?

His mind continued to circle the problem.

 

 

After leaving campus, he returned to the Sanchezes’ neighborhood. The red Hyundai parked adjacent to the park was still there, while the two others across the street were gone.

The lonely car seemed out of place. Again, on his way out, he stopped at the vacant house and peeked over the fence. No change.

Lester wasn’t in the vacant house. Which made sense. Neither Maria nor her family were home.

 

 

He decided to stay as close as possible to Maria for the next few days. If Lester was still determined to exact his revenge, he would eventually find her, wherever she was. And wherever she planned to be, that’s where Colin needed to be as well.

He called and invited her to dinner; on the phone, she was a little better than she had been the day before, but still tense. He picked her up at her place after work and drove her to a bistro near the beach, where they could hear the soothing sound of the waves.

Again, she avoided any talk of Lester or Margolis; instead, she focused on her and Jill’s plans for the new firm. Talking about the new venture, along with a couple of glasses of wine, was enough of a distraction to raise her spirits.

Returning to Colin’s place, they chatted with Evan and Lily before Maria finally reached for Colin’s hand. Despite her relative calm, it had been clear to him all evening that Maria had no desire to return to her condo.

 

 

Colin checked the vacant house on Wednesday morning, making sure to swing by the park and continuing to note the comings and goings of parked cars. Just as he was beginning to think that Lester had either abandoned the viewing post of the house or parked his car elsewhere, Wednesday evening brought a change in that the red Hyundai adjacent to the park was gone.