Chapter 43
The next morning, decked in fishing attire and armed with fresh bait and fishing poles, Red and Rachel set out in their rented boat.
“Somehow I think this was a ruse to get some fishing time in,” Rachel said as Red went about setting up his line. They were a few hundred feet away from the lake house. Rachel had one eye on the backyard and one eye on Red.
“Hey, got to fit it in while I can.” Red threw out his line and waited.
Rachel checked her watch. “It’s almost nine o’clock. Not much going on.”
“Give it a couple of minutes and then take out the binoculars. Do a slow pan of the house and coastline.”
This could be a big break, and Rachel didn’t want to screw it up. If they didn’t discover any concrete evidence that Melinda was up to no good here, she’d be heading back to New Orleans and turning over everything to Agent Krapek and Detective Jones.
Red popped opened a can of diet soda and calmly waited.
“I don’t know how you can do that,” Rachel said.
“Do what?”
“Sit there so patiently.”
“It’s an art.”
Rachel reached in her bag and pulled out the binoculars. She started scanning to the east of the house and worked her way slowly down the coastline. She zeroed in on a man who was sitting with his back to the window, hunched over a counter in the kitchen area. No one else was visible.
“I see a man sitting at a kitchen counter. Eating breakfast, scanning a newspaper or magazine,” Rachel said.
“Melinda isn’t alone, then. Description?”
“Dark skinned, maybe African American. Can’t see much.”
She slowly brought the binoculars around to the living room. A large flat-screen TV was mounted to the left of a rock fireplace. Through the binoculars she could see that the TV was on. Upon closer inspection, she could tell it was some kind of news channel, but nobody was watching it. Both the couch and the chairs were empty. She adjusted the binoculars and started scanning the upper floors, when a movement caught her eye. Someone with blond hair, maybe a boy, walked across the room.
“Wait! I’ve got another person on the second floor. Is that a bedroom? It’s someone young, but I can’t tell if it’s a boy or a girl.” Rachel paused and adjusted her lens, zooming in closer.
“Definitely a boy. I can’t tell if it’s Patrick or not.” Rachel quickly scanned the rest of the second floor before putting the binoculars away. “No other activity.”
“With no positive identification, there isn’t much we can do.” Red pulled his ringing cell phone out of his pocket. Rachel listened to Red as he talked to whoever was on the other line. The conversation lasted less than a minute. “Who was that?” she asked.
“Adam’s boss from the restaurant. Adam was fired two weeks ago. That was all she could tell me, but then she alluded to the fact that the restaurant was missing some money. Although she didn’t come out and say directly that Adam took it.”
“Given his criminal history, that’s possible.”
Red felt a tug on his line. “Hey, I think I got something. Get the net.”
Rachel waited while Red pulled in a large fish. “It’s a spotted bass,” he said, admiring the fish. “Too bad I can’t keep it.” He quickly pulled the fishhook out and tossed the fish back in the lake.
“We should go ahead and call in. Let Krapek know what we’ve found, especially about Adam.”
Red started up the motor on the boat. “Agreed. Let’s head back to the marina, turn in the boat, and give her a call. Let them handle it from here.”