“Yes,” she answered with a wry smile, then switched gears. “I still don’t see how or why Lester and Atkinson are working together to target me —”
“There’s more,” he said, lifting his palm to stop her. “That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I spoke to the detective in Charlotte that Pete was working with. His name’s Tony Roberts, by the way, and when I filled him in on what happened to Pete, he told me that Pete had called him yesterday, but that he hadn’t been able to check out Atkinson yet. Of course, this put the request on a whole new level, and he called Atkinson’s mother, picked her up, and went to Atkinson’s apartment. She was able to convince the manager to let him in. There’s still a missing persons report on file, even if up until now, no one had believed her, and she’s the next of kin. The point is, she was more than happy to let Roberts help find her son, and I guess that when Roberts got there, he hit the jackpot. It just wasn’t in the way the mom wanted. It turns out that Atkinson’s laptop was still there, and Roberts was able to access it.”
“And?”
He looked at Maria. “He had files about you. Tons of information. Background information, school records, information about your family, where you live and work, your daily schedule. He even had information about Colin in there. Photographs, too.”
“He had photographs?”
“Hundreds. Walking, at the store, on the paddleboard. Even while you were working. It seems he’s been watching and following you for quite a long time. Spying on you. Roberts removed the laptop as evidence, over Mrs. Atkinson’s sudden vehement protests. As soon as she saw what was on it, she tried to withdraw her consent to enter the place, but by then it was too late, and Roberts had it in hand. Defense lawyers would likely raise a stink, but there was a missing persons report, she gave her consent, and the evidence was in plain sight. Roberts, though, was better than that – he let me know he’d actually recorded her saying that she wanted him to access the computer. With that said, once we get Lester to talk, it’ll probably be a moot point anyway. Lawyer or not, he’ll end up talking. The crazy ones usually end up spilling everything, especially once they get lucid, because guilt sets in.”
Maria wasn’t sure that was true, but… “Why does Atkinson want to hurt me?”
“That part, I can’t answer with certainty. I can tell you there was information about Cassie Manning on the laptop, too, but you’re already aware of that link.”
“Do you have any idea where Atkinson is now?”
“No. We have an APB out on him, but since no one seems to know where he’s been, I’m not sure how much good that will do. Again, I’m hoping that Lester will be able to tell us more, but when that will be is still up in the air. It might take a day, it might take a few days, it might take a week, and then we’ll still have to deal with the attorney and his father, both of whom will tell him not to answer any questions at all. Which raises the question of where you want to be for the next few days. If I were you, I’m not sure I’d hang around Wilmington.”
“I’m supposed to go to my parents’ today,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Wright looked dubious. “It’s your call,” he said. “Just be careful. From what Roberts was telling me, Atkinson is not only dangerous, he’s probably just as crazy as Lester. So let me give you my phone number. I want you to call me if anything strikes you as out of the ordinary or something else comes to you, okay?”
If Wright’s intent had been to scare her, it had worked. But after last night, Maria was going to be afraid no matter what, until Atkinson was finally caught.
They got in the car, and as Colin set out toward her parents’ he reached for his phone.
“Who are you calling?”
“Evan,” he said. “I want to see if he’s busy today.”
“Why?”