“I remember. Why?”
“I think there’s a strong possibility that he is.”
“Because his car was near the park? And Lester couldn’t have slashed her tires?”
“Not just for those reasons. I’m thinking about the car I saw earlier, the one in the bungalow driveway.”
Evan turned, then took a step backward, improving his angle. “What car?” he finally asked.
“Exactly,” Colin said, continuing to ponder it. “It’s gone.”
Colin returned to the Sanchez place a few minutes before midnight. Maria was sitting with her parents in the living room, and Colin watched as she stood. She said something in Spanish to her mom – most likely that she’d be back soon – and walked with Colin out to the car.
“Where’s Serena?”
“She went to bed.”
“She’s staying here, too?”
“Just for tonight. My parents told me to tell you that you’re welcome to stay, too. Of course, since you’d have to sleep on the couch, I told them you’d probably rather go home.”
“You could join me.”
“It’s tempting,” she said. “But…”
“No worries,” he said. When they reached his car, he opened the door for her.
“What was wrong with your car, by the way?” she asked as she slid in.
“The battery,” he said.
“So I was right, huh? I guess that means you should listen to me more often.”
“Okay.”
As they were driving to her condo, Colin told her about the missing car.
“Maybe the police took it.”
“Maybe.”
“Do you think Atkinson came back for it?”
“I don’t know. I figure I’ll call Detective Wright tomorrow. They may not tell me, but considering that I kept Margolis alive until the ambulance came, I hope they will. Either way, they should know.”
She turned toward the window as they navigated the largely empty roads. “I still can’t believe that Lester shot him.”
“If you were there, you’d believe it. He was out of control. Like he snapped.”
“Do you think they’ll get any answers from him?”
Colin considered it. “Yes. Once he’s lucid again. I have no idea how long that will take, though.”
“I know he can’t get to me, but…”
Maria stopped short of saying Atkinson’s name, but then again, she didn’t have to. Colin wasn’t taking any chances. He took a circuitous route back to Maria’s condo, alert to any suspicious cars. Maria knew what he was doing and made no objection.
It was just after midnight when they pulled into a space reserved for visitors at her condo complex. Colin stayed alert to any movement, but all was quiet as they climbed the steps to her door.
There, however, Colin and Maria froze.
They both saw in the same instant that the doorknob had been broken off, and that the door stood partly ajar.
Her place had been trashed.
As Colin watched Maria wander around in a daze, crying nonstop and surveying the damage, his own outrage continued to grow.
Couches, chairs, and pillows slashed open. The dining room table overturned. Dining room chairs tilted on broken legs. Lamps shattered. Photographs torn. The contents of the refrigerator splattered and smeared throughout the kitchen. Her things. Her home. Violated. Shredded. Ruined.
In the bedroom, her mattress had been torn open, the bureau knocked over and drawers broken, another lamp shattered. Empty cans of red spray paint littered the floor and virtually every piece of clothing in her closet had been marked by the paint.
This, Colin thought, was what rage looked like. Whoever did this was as out of control as Lester, maybe more so, and the fury Colin felt was getting difficult to control. He wanted to hurt the guy, kill the guy…
Beside him, Maria gasped, her sobs becoming even more hysterical, and Colin put his arms around her when he spotted the words that had been painted on the bedroom wall.
You will know how it feels.