See Me (53 page)

“We’ll both be there. Do not even
think
of asking us not to come. We had nothing on our agenda this afternoon anyway. We’d be thrilled to help.”

In the background, Maria heard Evan’s voice. “Help with what?”

“We’re going to clean up Maria’s apartment. And I have the cutest shorts I’ve been dying to wear! They’re a little short and kind of tight, but this seems like the perfect opportunity.”

In the background, Evan was silent for a beat. “What time are we going?”

When they hung up, Maria looked over at Colin. “I like your friends.”

“They
are
pretty great,” he agreed.

 

 

Two blocks before they reached her parents’ neighborhood, the meaning of Serena’s message became clear.

Her uncle Tito was in the park, kicking a soccer ball with her uncle Jose and a few of her nieces and nephews, and when both of her uncles waved, she knew that what they were really doing was keeping watch.

Meanwhile, Pedro, Juan, and Angelo, her cousins, were positioned in lawn chairs on the front lawn, and some of her younger cousins were in the street playing kickball. Cars she recognized lined the road on either side, all the way to the corner.

My God
, she thought,
my entire extended family is here
. And though she’d been through hell in the last few days, she couldn’t help but smile.

 

 

Despite Colin’s reluctance, she dragged him into the house. Thirty or forty people milled around inside; there were another twenty in the backyard. Men and women, boys and girls…

Serena came rushing forward. “Crazy, huh? Dad actually closed the restaurant today! Can you believe that?”

“I don’t think we needed everyone to come…”

“He didn’t ask them to,” she said. “Everyone just showed up when they found out you might be in trouble. I’m sure the neighbors wondered what on earth was going on, but Dad went around and explained that we were having a family reunion. After today, there will always be a family watch patrol in the neighborhood until Atkinson is behind bars, but they’ll be more subtle about it. They’ve decided to organize shifts.”

“For me?”

Serena smiled. “That’s how we roll.”

 

 

It took Colin almost half an hour to extract himself – everyone wanted to meet him, even if many of the greetings were in Spanish. As Maria walked him back to the car, she reflected that despite everything, she was blessed.

“I still think I should go with you,” she said.

“I doubt your parents would let you leave.”

“Probably not,” she agreed. “I’m sure my dad is watching from the window right now. Just in case.”

“Then I guess I’m not allowed to kiss you.”

“You better,” she said. “And make sure you bring Evan and Lily back here for dinner, okay? I want the rest of my family to meet them, too.”

 

 

Colin didn’t make it back to the house until half past five. Some family members had left, but most had stayed. For her part, Lily was perfectly at ease the moment she stepped out of the car, even if Colin and Evan seemed a bit uncertain.

“What a wonderful show of solidarity and love,” Lily pronounced with a hug as soon as Maria walked up. “I simply can’t wait to meet each and every member of your wonderful family!”

Lily’s Southern-tinged Spanish delighted everyone she met, the same way it had charmed Maria, and as the relatives crowded around her and Evan, Maria pulled Colin away and stepped onto the back porch.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“I’ll need to put a final coat of paint on the wall, but the primer was able to cover up the spray paint. We got rid of everything broken, and set aside the stuff that might be able to be cleaned. I’m not sure there’s much we can do about your clothes, though.” When she nodded, he went on. “Did you hear any updates on Margolis? Or have you heard from Atkinson?”

“No,” she answered. “I’ve been checking my phone for messages all day.”

He looked around. “Where’s Serena?”

“She left a few minutes before you got here. She has that interview tonight, and she had to get ready.” Maria reached for his hand. “You look tired.”

“I’m okay.”

“It was more work than you expected, wasn’t it?”

“No,” he said. “But it was hard for me to keep my anger in check.”

“Yeah,” she said. “For me, too.”

 

 

After making the rounds with the family, Lily and Evan joined Colin and Maria at the table on the porch.

“Thanks for cleaning up my place,” Maria said.

“It was no problem at all,” Lily said. “And I must say, it’s an absolutely charming location. Evan and I considered moving downtown as well, but Evan insisted that he couldn’t imagine having no lawn to mow.”

“I don’t do that now,” Evan said. “Colin does it. I hate mowing the lawn.”

“Hush, now,” she said. “I was just teasing. But you should know that physical labor can be quite attractive in a man.”

“What do you think I was doing today?”

“My point exactly,” she said. “You cut a very appealing figure as you were moving furniture, you know.”

The door to the porch opened and Carmen came out carrying place settings for each of them, followed by several plates of food that occupied more than half the table. Not only had the kitchen been hopping all day, but most of the relatives had brought food as well.

“I hope you are hungry,” Carmen said in English.

It was too much food. Just like always. While Colin seemed to have expected it, both Evan and Lily looked overwhelmed.

“This is great, Mom,” Maria said, suddenly grateful for her mother’s wordless demonstration of love. “I love you.”

A
fter dinner, Colin wandered out to the front yard, seeking some time alone. A pair of uncles sat in lawn chairs overlooking the street, nodding at Colin’s polite salute. Reflexively, he relived the destruction he’d seen at Maria’s house, trying to piece together its connection to Atkinson and Lester.

Lester and Atkinson had once worked together, and Lester had introduced Atkinson to his sister. And while Maria believed that Lester had been sending messages to her, Dr. Manning suggested that Atkinson was responsible.

It was uncanny timing that Atkinson had disappeared shortly before Maria’s stalking began. Presumably, Atkinson had slashed Maria’s tires, but which of the two had killed Copo? Lester shot Margolis; Atkinson removed the car from the bungalow and later trashed Maria’s place. Given the trove of information found on Atkinson’s computer, his involvement in Maria’s stalking seemed clear-cut, but certain details continued to bother Colin.

Dr. Manning had mentioned an argument between Lester and Atkinson and said they’d had a falling-out, but when had they regained each other’s trust? Which one was in charge? Why had Dr. Manning insisted that Atkinson was trying to frame Lester when it seemed clear they had to be working together? And if they were working together, why drive two cars to the Sanchez house the night Lester attacked Maria?

And yet… as Colin had cleaned Maria’s condo, he’d thought back on the earlier conversation with Detective Wright and realized that there was no evidence conclusively linking Atkinson to the trashing of the condo yet. There wasn’t any conclusive evidence supporting the idea that he’d slashed Maria’s tires, either. Despite the content found on his computer, Maria had never interacted with him or even seen him. She’d said all along that Atkinson’s involvement never felt plausible to her, which meant…

What?
 

Suppose Atkinson really had gone off to meet a woman. And what if Lester knew that Atkinson would be out of town? Lester could have planted the information on Atkinson’s computer and taken Atkinson’s car while he was away. Lester could have – as Maria had pointed out the night before – easily paid someone to slash Maria’s tires. Maybe even trash her condo. It would be the perfect setup… as long as you believed that Lester was capable of such intricate planning. Based on the behavior that Colin had witnessed at the bungalow and the way Wright had described Lester’s actions at the station, that felt unlikely. And since Atkinson had apparently driven Lester back to Shallotte after he’d shown up at the Sanchezes’, Atkinson had to have been nearby. They had to be working together, and Colin supposed that Lester must have been spooked by the sirens. Atkinson must have heard them, too, fueling his own panic, and he’d picked Lester up before racing the two of them out of the neighborhood. They would have been driving fast and possibly as recklessly as Colin had, but in the opposite direction…

Like the car Colin had almost hit just blocks from the Sanchezes’ home?
 

Colin felt something akin to a key turning in a lock, and strained to remember exactly what he’d seen. The car careening toward him, swerving in the last instant, the vehicles brushing past with only inches to spare. Two men in the front seat. What kind of car?

A Camry.

Blue.

Reaching for his phone, he called Detective Wright, who answered on the second ring.

“Have you heard anything about Margolis?” Colin asked.

“Improving. Or so they say. Still in critical care and still unconscious. How are things there?”

“They’re okay. Maria’s safe.”

“And tonight?”

“She’ll stay here. She’s well protected.”

“If you say so. What do you need?”

“I’m thinking that Atkinson might be driving a blue Camry. Relatively new.”

“Why do you think that?”

Colin outlined his reasoning.

“You wouldn’t have happened to have gotten a license plate, would you?”

“No.”

“Okay. It’s not much, but I’ll get the word out. Everyone wants to find this guy, the sooner the better.”

Colin disconnected, somehow sure that Lester had been in the blue Camry that night. He felt certain, even if he couldn’t explain the reason, other than to assume that his subconscious mind was somehow ahead of his conscious mind in understanding that the answers were there, if only he could find them.

 

 

“What are you doing out here?” Evan asked, joining Colin in the front yard.

“Thinking,” Colin answered. It was half past six, and dusk had given way to darkness, the autumn air hinting at even cooler temperatures as the evening wore on.

“I figured. I saw the smoke drifting out of your ears.”

Colin smiled. “I just got off the phone with Detective Wright,” he explained, recapping the conversation. “What are you doing out here?”

“As sweet as Carmen is, her food is kinda spicy. Lily asked me to get her some gum from the glove compartment to help cool down her mouth. If you ask me, Lily just wants her breath to smell minty fresh, because not having minty fresh breath isn’t ladylike.” He shrugged. “By the way, what do you make of all this? Maria’s family, I mean?”

“I think they’re great.”

“It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it? Her entire
extended
family showing up to keep her safe?”

Colin nodded. “I doubt even my immediate family would show up.”

Evan raised an eyebrow. “Don’t kid yourself. When things were bad, even your family circled the wagons.”

“Friends, too,” Colin said. “Thanks for your help today. I know you wanted to spend the day in bed with Lily.”

“You’re welcome.” Evan shrugged. “But it wasn’t going to work out anyway. I couldn’t stop thinking about Margolis, which kind of put a damper on my mood. I still can’t figure out how he let Lester get the jump on him.”

Colin paused. “When he was on the porch, did he look confused to you?”

“He looked pissed off,” Evan said. “Because we hadn’t left yet.”

“How did he look before that?”

“I have no idea, dude,” Evan said, shaking his head. “Everything is so jumbled, I’m not really sure what happened. I can remember hearing shots and seeing you doing your crazy thing, but after that… it’s just all blood. My brain’s so scrambled, I can’t even remember why I came out here in the first place.”

“You came out here to get Lily some gum,” Colin reminded him.

“Oh yeah. That’s right. Minty freshness.” Evan started toward the car and then turned around to look back at Colin. “Do you want a piece?”

“No,” Colin said.

But Dr. Manning probably would
…
 

Colin wasn’t sure why Margolis’s description of Manning’s compulsive gum chewing leaped to mind, but after considering it, he shook his head, deciding to head back inside with Evan and rejoin Maria’s family. They were a marvel, he had to admit. Talk about circling the wagons. In times of crisis, family was sometimes all you really had. Hell, even Dr. Manning showed up for Lester. He’d spoken to Margolis, he’d shown up at the station, and he’d also immediately arranged for an attorney, since Lester had been in no condition to do so himself.

But… how had Dr. Manning even known of Lester’s arrest? Wright had said that the attorney had shown up ten minutes after Lester had arrived at the station. Colin knew from experience that it was almost impossible to procure an attorney that quickly, especially on a Friday night after business hours. Which meant that Dr. Manning had known that Lester had been arrested well before his arrival at the station. It was almost like he was there…

And had parked his car in the driveway?
 

No, Colin thought. Margolis would have recognized the car. He’d seen Dr. Manning’s car yesterday morning, when the doctor had shown Margolis the gun in the trunk. And if it
had
been Dr. Manning’s car at the bungalow, Margolis probably would have acted…

Confused?
 

Colin stopped in his tracks. No. It wasn’t possible. But…

Families circle the wagons
…
Son and father
…
Lester and Dr. Manning
…
Dr. Manning nervously mowing through a pack of gum while talking to Margolis
…
 

Colin groped for the answer, a forgotten detail… And?

Hadn’t he noticed a bunch of gum wrappers strewn on the roof of the building across from Maria’s office?
 

Colin could barely breathe. It wasn’t Atkinson and Lester. It was father and son circling the wagons, and all at once, the answers started cascading through his mind as quickly as Colin could form the questions.

Why hadn’t Margolis been more cautious at the bungalow?

Because he saw that Avery Manning, the father, was already there.
 

And Lester’s gun?

Dr. Manning had told Margolis the gun likely wasn’t real.
 

Why had Margolis gone inside?

Because Dr. Manning called out to him, assuring Margolis that everything was okay.
 

It fit; it all fit, he thought, clarity finally emerging.

But Lester was arrested.

Only because Colin was there to take him down. Otherwise, Lester might have escaped.
 

But Lester might talk.

The attorney Dr. Manning hired would make sure he didn’t.
 

But Dr. Manning had left a message for Margolis, urging him to warn Maria…

After the fact
–
too late to matter.
 

And Atkinson?

The man who failed to intervene when Laws abducted Cassie? Who Dr. Manning might feel deserves to be punished as well?
 

But Atkinson’s laptop… the photos, the files…

All of which made Atkinson the perfect fall guy.
 

By then, Colin was already reaching for his phone, the truth so obvious that he wasn’t sure how he could have missed it.

Who had the knowledge and skill necessary to manipulate Lester?

Dr. Manning, the psychiatrist.
 

How had Atkinson’s name come up in the first place?

Dr. Manning.
 

And Laws’s pattern of stalking Cassie?

Dr. Manning knew every detail.
 

Colin heard a voice on the other end of the phone. Wright, sounding busy and stressed.

“You again,” Wright said. “What’s up?”

“Check to see if Dr. Manning owns a blue Camry.”

Wright hesitated. “Hold on. Why?”

“Have someone check it out while I talk,” Colin said. “Just do it. It’s important.”

After he heard Wright call out the request to another officer, Colin told him everything. When he finished, Wright was quiet for a moment.

“That sounds a little far-fetched, don’t you think?” Wright said. “But if you’re right, Margolis will be able to clear all this up as soon as he regains consciousness. Besides…” Wright seemed to be wrestling with his own doubts.

“Yes?”

“It’s not as though Dr. Manning is trying to hide. Far from it – he was at the station last night and he was at the hospital today —”

“He was there?” Colin asked, feeling a mounting sense of panic.

“He spoke with Rachel. He wanted to apologize for what his son did and asked if it might be possible to speak with Pete, so that he could apologize to him, too.”

“Don’t let him near Margolis!” Colin shouted, panic giving way to fear.

“Keep it down,” Wright said. “Manning couldn’t see him. Even I couldn’t see him. Only family is allowed in the ICU —”

“Manning went there to kill him!” Colin interrupted. “He’s a medical doctor… He’d know what to do to make the death look natural.”

“Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions?”

“Lester didn’t shoot Margolis! Dr. Manning did! Lester had Margolis squarely in his sights, but he couldn’t pull the trigger. If you don’t believe me, test Lester’s hands for gunpowder residue.”

“That won’t tell us anything. It’s too late. Those tests get less effective by the hour —”

“I know I’m right about this!”

Wright was silent for a long moment. “Okay… but what about Atkinson’s computer?”