French led her into the house.Marcus let his eyes linger on her a little longer than they should have before marching across the street to the house across from the front yard.
When had things gotten so complicated with her?He used to love how easy it was to be her friend.She was the only person in his life he felt safe opening up to.Now he felt like he had with Cheryl, like he was walking on eggshells all the time.Not that it was Kate’s fault.It wasn’t.He just couldn’t seem to figure out how to go from being someone’s friend to being someone’s boyfriend without completely ruining everything.
Maybe he was too broken for love.He had seen serious death and destruction, stuff that made Cox seem like a nippy puppy.It had strengthened an already powerful protective streak in him and left him unable to cope with the idea of the people he cared for in danger.That caused him to be overprotective, and that caused the people he loved to lash out, and…
And that had nothing to do with Cheryl and not much to do with why he and Kate didn’t work out.He was worried about her yes, but that wasn’t why they had failed.
He just couldn’t figure it out.
He reached the front door of a slightly more modern-looking colonial of wood and drywall construction and knocked on the door.A pair of thin fingers pulled down the slats of the blinds covering the window next to the door, and he smiled.
The fingers and the blue eyes peering through the blinds at him disappeared.A moment later, the door opened, and a woman of around forty appeared, blond, fit, and beautiful but with the weathering that came with age revealing themselves in the lines pulling at the corners of her mouth and the thickness just beginning to soften the curve of her hips.
“Yes?”
“Good morning, ma’am.I’m Special Agent Marcus Reid of the FBI.”
“Yes, I saw the uniform.Is this about Warren?”
“Yes, ma’am.I was wondering if you noticed anything suspicious a few nights ago?”
“What night was he killed?”
“Sunday night, ma’am.The 29th.”
The woman took a deep breath.“You can call me Shirley.And no, I didn’t notice anything.We were all talking about that last night, actually, how none of us saw anything.It’s… scary.”
She folded her arms across her chest.The worry in her eyes pulled at Marcus’s protective streak, and he had to resist an urge to promise that everything would be okay.He really hoped he wasn’t going to become a basket case over the whole Cheryl and Kate drama.
“When you say we, who do you mean?”
“Me and some of the other neighbors: Ryan from next door to Warren, Cathy and Gary from next door to me, Frank from the corner.We were all disturbed by the fact that we didn’t notice anything.”
“No vehicles that didn’t belong to you or your neighbors?No late-night visitors?”
Shirley breathed deeply.It brought color to her cheeks, which didn’t help Marcus’s instincts at all.“No one we noticed.It…” She looked down, then met his eyes.Their blue was soft, like a fall afternoon.“We don’t really pay attention.That’s the scary part.We all think we’d notice if something happened, that others would notice if something happened to us.But we wouldn’t.We didn’t.We’re all so wrapped up in our own lives.”She shook her head.“How did he die?”
“I can’t divulge that,” Marcus replied.And you don’t want to know.“What can you tell me about Warren?”
“He was nice.Quiet.He kept to himself, but he would stop and talk if you talked to him.I used to see him at the church at the end of Dunbar Street.”
“The Catholic Church?St.Francis’s?”
“Yes.He attended morning mass every Sunday.We’d chat for a few minutes.I used to feel sorry for him.He didn’t have anyone in his life.I think he had an ex-wife, but no kids.”
“Did you have a romantic interest in him?”
Shirley giggled.It sounded nice.“In Warren?Oh no.No, he was… I’m sorry.”She got her laughter under control and said, “No.He wasn’t my type.I’m not really into burly men.No offense.”
“None taken,” Marcus replied, though that stung a little more than it should have.“Was anyone else close with him?”
“I wouldn’t say we were close.That’s actually the point.No one was close with him.We were all friendly from a distance.”Her smile faded.“I think that’s a problem.It used to be that people were close with their neighbors.We were all friends.Even if we weren’t friends, we were a community.Now?It feels like everyone’s just out for themselves.It’s sad.”
She lowered her eyes.Marcus resisted an urge to put a hand on her shoulder and handed her a card instead.“If you think of anything else, call me.”
She took the card, but it was clear from her expression and tone that she didn’t expect to think of anything else.“I will.Thank you.”
The other neighbors all gave him the same story.They hadn’t seen anything suspicious.For most, that was a disturbing wake-up call.They should have noticed something—one of their own was dead—but they hadn’t.
