Forty minutes later, Margolis rolled up to Colin’s car and pulled to a stop, his sedan idling in the road, the passenger window rolled down.
“I thought I told you to get the hell out of here,” Margolis said.
“No,” Colin said, “you didn’t. You told me not to get out of the car or follow him.”
“Are you purposely trying to be a smart-ass?”
“No.”
“Because you sound like a smart-ass. I go out of my way to prevent you from getting arrested last night, and then you ‘forget’ to mention this idea of yours this morning? So you can play Mr. Law Enforcement again?”
“Maria told you that Lester had taken her iPhone. They’re easy to track. I figured that you’d probably looked into it already.”
The expression on Margolis’s face revealed that he’d overlooked the obvious.
Recovering, he snapped, “Believe it or not, my world doesn’t revolve around you and your girlfriend. I have other cases. Big cases. I was getting to it.”
Sure you were, Colin thought. “Will you get Maria’s phone?”
“If he has it. I have no proof that he does, other than your word.”
“As of a couple of hours ago, it was still there,” Evan interjected. “I checked before I came out here.”
Margolis stared at Evan, his irritation evident, before finally shaking his head.
“I’ll get her phone,” Margolis said. “Now get going. Both of you. I don’t need you here, and I don’t want you here. I’ll take care of it.”
He rolled up the window, released the brake, and let the car drift forward before finally pulling to a stop directly in front of the bungalow. Colin watched as Margolis stepped out and took a moment to survey the place before finally rounding the car and heading up the walkway.
As he climbed the steps to the porch, he turned toward Colin and jerked his thumb, reminding Colin it was time to go.
Fair enough, Colin thought. The key was still in the ignition and he cranked it, only to hear silence, the engine completely dead. Not even a click. Colin tried again with the same result. Dead.
“Let me guess,” Evan said. “Your car sucks.”
“Today, maybe.”
“Margolis isn’t going to be happy.”
“There’s nothing I can do.”
He was talking to Evan while keeping his attention focused on Margolis, who’d yet to knock at the door. Instead, the detective was at the far end of the porch, peering at the car parked in the drive. When he turned, Colin thought he saw a look of confusion on Margolis’s face as Margolis finally moved to the door. He hesitated before knocking; after a long pause, Margolis reached for the doorknob and turned it, cracking the door slightly.
Someone calling out, saying come in and that the door was open?
Margolis spoke through the crack, then pulled out his badge as he pushed through the already open door, vanishing from sight…
“Let’s go to my car,” Evan said. “We can be gone by the time Margolis gets out. I know he hates you, but I don’t want him to hate you any more than he already does. Or me, for that matter. He looks mean.”
Colin said nothing. Instead, he was thinking about the expression he’d seen on Margolis’s face right before he’d knocked at the door. Margolis had seen something, something that… didn’t make sense? Surprised him? Something he hadn’t expected?
And why would Lester have invited him in if he was paranoid and afraid of the police?
“Something’s wrong,” Colin said, the thought coming automatically, even before he realized he’d said it.
Evan looked over at him. “What are you talking about?” he asked, and in that instant, Colin heard the distinctive pop of gunfire, loud and explosive, two shots in quick succession.