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"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.
Perhaps it was nothing, but it was time, he thought, to check the license plate, which ended up being a waste of time.
Like the others, it belonged to one of the homeowners.
On Thursday morning, Colin and Maria were having a breakfast of egg whites, oatmeal, and fruit at his place. She told him she was having dinner with Jill and Leslie and then planned to spend the night at her parents' house.
"They're worried about me," she explained, but Colin knew she still wasn't ready to return to her condo alone, especially since Colin had to work. "I think they're also worried about Serena."
"Why?"
"Because I told them I've been staying with her the last few nights. We're not married and they have old-school values. I know you disapprove of lying, but I can't handle my mother's disappointment on top of everything else right now."
"I didn't say anything."
"I know. But I could hear you thinking that I should be honest with them."
He smiled. "Okay. Have you heard from Margolis?"
She shook her head. "Not yet. And I'm not sure if that's good news or bad news."
"It might be no news."
"That would fall into the bad category," she said. "He didn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence in his determination to attack the problem. For all I know, he hasn't done anything yet."
Colin nodded, acknowledging that he'd been thinking the same thing. It wasn't what she wanted to hear, however, so he switched topics. "Tomorrow's the big day."
"For what?"
"Aren't you offering your two weeks' notice?"
"Oh yeah." She smiled. "And yes, it's tomorrow, but it's strange, because I barely think about it unless I'm with Jill. It's just so surreal. A few weeks ago, I could never have imagined that I'd be getting ready to join a start-up."
"What do your parents think?"
"My mom's excited, but my dad's nervous. He knows how hard it is to start a business. He also liked telling people that I worked for Martenson, Hertzberg and Holdman."
"For now."
"Yes." She flashed a wry smile. "For now."
"How's the mood at the office?"
She shrugged. "Hard to say. It's not as bad as it was last week, but it's still gloomy. Work is piling up, and I'm hearing whispers that more people are thinking about leaving. It's one rumor after another. Yesterday, there was a rumor that the firm was close to settling the whole thing--with all the plaintiffs--but that's probably just wishful thinking. If you read the EEOC complaints, Ken was a lot worse than even I thought he was."
"Did you ever tell your parents about him?"
"Not a chance. If my dad had known, he would have gone berserk. Latino blood can run as hot as yours sometimes."
"Then you probably did the right thing by not telling him."
"Maybe. But you didn't do anything."
"You're not my daughter."
She laughed. "He's still not so sure about you. Because of your past, I mean."
"Okay."
"And also because of your present persona."
"Okay."
"He even has this crazy idea that you were the one who was stalking me."
"Why would he think that?"
"Because he thinks he saw your car in the neighborhood when he was out walking the dog yesterday morning. I know he's worried about me, but sometimes he can get a little carried away."
As can I.
CHAPTER 20
Maria
Maria kissed Colin good-bye on his doorstep; though he'd offered to follow her to the office as he had all week, she told him that she'd be fine and to go on and head to his classes. In the instant she'd said it, she'd believed it, but as she drove to work she nonetheless found herself wondering whether Lester might be following her. For the first time since she'd moved from Charlotte, she felt her heart beginning to race for no reason whatsoever. Within seconds, it became harder to breathe and her vision began to narrow.
Instinct took over and she was somehow able to pull the car to the side of the road, feeling her body suddenly go haywire.
Tightness in her chest.
Oh my God...
This wasn't normal.
She couldn't breathe.
Her vision continued to narrow and her thoughts began to slip.
She wa
s having a heart attack and needed an ambulance.
She was going to die on the side of the road.
Her phone began to ring, but she only vaguely heard it sound half a dozen times before it went silent. It dinged a moment later, someone texting.
The muscles in her chest tightened.
She couldn't get enough air.
Her heart continued to pound and terror set in, feeding on the knowledge that she was going to die.
She rested her head against the steering wheel, waiting for the end.
But it didn't come.
Instead, she simply continued to die little by little over the next few minutes, until she was no longer dying at all.
In time, she was able to lift her head from the steering wheel. Her breathing eased and her peripheral vision was returning. Her heart still pounded, but it felt less intense.
A few minutes later, she began to feel better. Still shaky, but better, and though it seemed impossible, she understood that she hadn't been having a heart attack.
Instead, she knew her panic attacks had returned.
It was another half hour before she felt completely normal, and by then she was already in her office. Barney wasn't around, but he'd left a new matter for her--the regional hospital was being sued by a family over an infection called pseudomonas that had eventually led to a patient's death--along with a hastily scrawled note asking her to get started on finding the appropriate legal decisions necessary to bolster their defense.
She was pondering the entry point for her research when her cell phone rang. She glanced at it, then looked closer, making sure she hadn't been mistaken. Serena?
She pressed the button, connecting the call. "Hey," she said, "what's up?"
"Are you okay?"
"Why?"
"I called earlier but you didn't answer," Serena chirped.
"Sorry," Maria said, thinking back on the panic attack. "I was in the car." The truth, even if it wasn't the whole truth. She wondered what Colin would think about that.
"How goes it with the investigation?"
"Nothing yet."
"Have you called Margolis?"
"If I don't hear from him today, I will."
"I probably would have called already."
"I'm sure. So... what's up?"
"What do you mean?"
"You never call me this early. And why aren't you in class?"
"It starts in a few minutes, but I just had to tell someone. I got an e-mail last night, and it turns out that I'm one of the three finalists for the scholarship. I guess the dinner at Mom and Dad's must have had a positive influence... Though the e-mail didn't exactly say it directly, I think I might actually be in the pole position."
"Pole position?"
"Yeah. You know, when they restart a race following a wreck or whatever, that's the car in the first position."
"I know what it is. I'm just curious how you know what it is."
"Steve watches a lot of NASCAR. He makes me watch it, too."
"So it's really a relationship now?"
"I don't know... there's this really cute guy in one of my classes. He's a little older though, and he's dating my sister, so that might be a problem."
"That is a problem."
"I'm just glad you put your ego aside and went to talk to him."
"It had nothing to do with my ego."
"Ego, close encounter at a bar fight, same thing."
"You're insane, do you know that?"
"Sometimes," Serena admitted. "But it's worked out so far."
Maria laughed. "That's great news," she said. "About the scholarship, I mean."
"I don't want to get too excited just yet. Don't tell Mom or Dad."
"I wasn't the one who told them last time."
"I know," she said. "Do they still think you've been staying in the dorm with me?"
"Yes. And it's my turn to say don't tell them."
Serena laughed. "I won't say anything. But I'm pretty sure Mom knows that you've been staying with Colin. Of course, she's operating under the don't-ask-don't-tell policy, which means it probably won't come up tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Yeah, tonight."
"What's tonight?"
"You're kidding, right? Mom's birthday? Family dinner? Don't tell me you forgot."
Oops. "Uh..."
"Seriously? Do you never check out my posts? Or my tweets? I know you've got a lot going on, but how could you forget Mom's birthday?"
She'd have to cancel dinner with Jill and Leslie, but they'd understand, right? "I'll be there."
"Are you going to bring Colin?"
"He's working. Why?"
"Because I was wondering whether to invite Steve."
"What does one have to do with the other?"
"It's simple. I figure that if Dad is busy glaring at Colin, he won't be able to grill Steve, and they'll think he's great in comparison."
Maria scowled. "That's not funny."
Serena laughed. "It's a little funny."
"I'm hanging up now."
"See you tonight!"
After hanging up with Serena, Maria realized she felt strangely nervous as she made her way to Jill's office. She didn't think Leslie would be offended--it was an honest mistake--nor did she want Leslie to question Jill's recommendation. But when she said as much to Jill, her friend laughed aloud.
"Are you kidding? Leslie doesn't care about that kind of stuff."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. It's your mom's birthday. What are you supposed to do?"
"I could have remembered in the first place."
"There is that," Jill noted, and Maria grimaced. Surprising her, her cell phone rang again. Thinking it was probably Serena again, she was going to ignore it before realizing that she didn't recognize the number.
"Who is it?" Jill asked.
"I'm not sure," Maria said. After debating for a few seconds, she took the call, praying to God that it wasn't Lester.
"Hello?"
It wasn't Lester. Thank God. She listened to the voice on the other end. "Yes," Maria finally said. "I'll be there."
She disconnected the call but continued to hold the phone, thinking about it. Jill must have seen her expression.
"Bad news?" Jill asked.
"I'm not sure," Maria offered, thinking it was finally time to tell her friend about her history with Lester Manning... not to mention the drama of the past couple of weeks, including the ups and downs and ups with Colin. The thought of telling everything to Jill wouldn't have bothered her in the past, but volunteering such personal information to her future boss felt... risky, even if Jill was likely to find out anyway.
"Who was it?"
"A cop--Detective Margolis. He asked to meet me."
"The police? What's going on?"
"It's kind of a long story."
Jill stared at her before getting up from her desk and crossing the room. She closed the door and turned around.
"What's going on?" she said.
In the end, confiding in Jill was easier than she'd imagined it would be. Future boss or not, Jill was her friend first and foremost, and more than once, she gripped Maria's hand, clearly concerned. When Maria assured her that it wouldn't affect her ability to help with the start-up, Jill merely shook her head.
"Right now, you have more important things to worry about," she said. "Leslie and I can handle whatever we still have left. You need to do whatever and take whatever time you need, so that you can find a way to put this behind you for good. It's not as though we're going to have clients lining up in the first couple of months anyway."
"It better not take that long. I don't think I'd be able to handle it. I had a panic attack this morning."
Jill was quiet for a moment. "I'll help you any way I can. Just tell me what you need."
Leaving Jill's office, Maria realized again that lower salary or not, leaving to work with Jill not only had been the best option available, but already seemed to be
the best career choice she'd made to that point in her life.
What it didn't do, however, was help the rest of the morning pass more quickly. Nor did her workload; wondering what Margolis was going to say made it difficult to concentrate, which only prevented her from gaining traction on her research for the hospital suit. With her frustration beginning to rise, she set her work aside and texted Colin.
Yes, he texted back, he'd meet her at the station at a quarter past noon.
She peeked at the clock.
Then back at the claim, knowing she needed to review it closely.
Two hours until she met with Margolis.
Time inched by.
When she pulled into the lot, Colin was waiting outside the station, wearing sunglasses, shorts, and a T-shirt. She waved as she got out of her car, hoping it would hide how nervous she was but suspecting that Colin would know anyway.
He gave her a quick kiss before pulling open the door for her. Maria felt a sense of deja vu as she glanced around. Unlike their first visit, however, Margolis didn't keep them waiting long. They'd barely taken their seats before she saw him striding toward them from the rear of the building. Again, he was holding a file, and he used it to motion them forward.
"Come on," he said. "We'll talk where we did before."
Maria smoothed her skirt as she stood and walked beside Colin, past the others working at their desks, past the group of people collected around the coffeemaker.
Margolis opened the door and pointed to the same chairs they'd used before. She and Colin took their seats as Margolis moved to the far side of the table.
"Should I be worried?" Maria blurted out.
"No. Long story short, I don't think Lester's going to be a problem."
"What does that mean?" she pressed.
Margolis tapped his pen against the folder before flicking a thumb at Colin. "It seems you're still spending time with this particular problem child. And I don't know why you keep insisting he come with you when we discuss your case. There's no reason for him to be here."
"I want him here," she said. "And yes, we're still spending time together. Happily, I might add."
"Why?"
"I like his body and he's fantastic in bed," she answered, knowing it wasn't any of his business and not bothering to hide her sarcasm.
Margolis smirked, but there was no humor behind it. "Before we begin, let me set the ground rules. For starters, the fact that you're here at all is simply because I told you I'd look into your allegations, and because I told you I'd be in contact. Because your tires were slashed in addition to possible stalking violations, this is a potential criminal investigation, and in such an instance, ongoing investigations are generally not discussed. Still, because there's also the potential for a civil no-contact order--the Fifty-C--I'm choosing to meet with you and keep you as informed as I think appropriate. Also, keep in mind that because Lester Manning has not been served a Fifty-C, he has--like everyone else--certain and expected rights to privacy. In other words, I'll tell you what I think is important, but I won't necessarily tell you everything I know. I also want to add that most of what I've done has been via the telephone. I've had to rely on a detective friend of mine in Charlotte for a few things, and frankly, I'm not sure how much more I'm going to be able to ask of him. He's already gone out of his way, and like me, he's got cases that are higher priority. Do you understand?"
