Page 98 of In His Sights

She frowned. “That’s the weird thing. I saw him drive off in it, and then not long after, he walked back. Then they both headed for the Ave.”

Gary didn’t think it weird. He thought it was chilling.

“Do you know the make of the car?” Riley seemed to be thinking more clearly than Gary was, thankfully.

Her wrinkled brow furrowed even more. “I’m not very good with cars, I’m afraid.” Then her face brightened. “It’s black. Does that help?”

Gary thanked her, and they walked briskly to their car. Riley drove up the street, both of them scanning ahead for any sign of either of Ludlow or Dan. When they reached Dorchester Ave, Riley pointed to the right. “The old lady mentioned donuts. There’s a Dunkin’ sign. Let’s check in there.”

It was worth a shot.

They turned into the parking lot in front of the small mall. Dunkin’ Donuts was off to the right, with tables and chairs out front. Inside, most of the tables were occupied, but there was no sign of them.

Riley flashed his badge, then held up the photos. “Have either of these men been in here? Within the last hour.”

The girl behind the counter peered at the photos. “I haven’t seen him,” she said, pointing to Dan’s photo. “The bearded guy… maybe he bought coffee? I couldn’t swear to it.”

Gary asked to speak to the manager, and the girl scurried toward a door at the rear. When the manager appeared, Gary didn’t waste time with explanations. He showed his badge. “Do you have security cameras?”

“Yes. There’s one in here, and another that shows the parking lot.”

“We need to see your footage for the past hour.”

The manager frowned. “I’m sorry, but I can’t share security footage just like that, even if you are the police. There are procedures for that kind of thing.”

“And I would be following those procedures,” Gary remonstrated, “but this happens to be urgent. A man’s life might be at stake.”

He hoped to God he was wrong about that.

The manager widened his eyes. “Oh, I see. Well, maybe this once.” He took them to a small back room where two monitors sat on a shelf above a PC. “We had them installed a while back. The place got broken into twice. I mean, what are they going to steal from here?” He tapped the keyboard, and the footage ran backward, a counter at the bottom of the screen showing the time.

“Stop.” Riley pointed to one of the screens. “There he is.” Ludlow picked up two cups, walked away from the counter, and halted at the table by the window, his back to the camera.

“Is that the man you’re after?”

Riley ignored the manager, his gaze locked onto the screen. “What’s he doing?” he murmured.

The manager rolled his eyes. “Adding sugar, sweetener, or creamer to the coffee, I imagine.”

Riley’s gaze met Gary’s. “Or something completely different.” He addressed the manager. “Let’s look at the parking lot camera.” The manager scrolled back, and Gary’s breathing hitched.

“Wait. There.” The screen froze on an image of Dan and Ludlow walking across the lot. They reached the street, then crossed it when the lights changed.

They thanked the manager and hurried out of the shop. On the other side of the street was a children’s playground, but no sign of Dan or Ludlow.

Gary was starting to get a very,verybad feeling.

Little kids played on the jungle gym and slides, watched by adults, and beyond the park, a T-ball game was in play. Gary pointed to a guy who was obviously a coach. “Let’s see if he saw anything.” He walked quickly to him. “Excuse me?” Another flash of his badge. “Sorry to interrupt your game, but did you or any of the players see these two men here a little while ago?” Riley held up both photos.

The coach peered at them. “Yeah. They were sitting over there in the children’s playground, talking.”

“Did you see where they went?” Riley asked.

The coach pointed toward the parking lot across the street. “They headed in that direction. But I think there was something wrong with this guy.” He indicated Dan’s photo. “I was about to go over to them and ask if I could do anything, but the tall dude helped him to a car. He looked awful.”

Gary’s heartbeat stuttered. “Did you happen to notice the make of the car?”

“I think it was a black Honda Civic, but I can’t be sure.”

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