Like the car Colin had almost hit just blocks from the Sanchezes' home?
Colin felt something akin to a key turning in a lock, and strained to remember exactly what he'd seen. The car careening toward him, swerving in the last instant, the vehicles brushing past with only inches to spare. Two men in the front seat. What kind of car?
A Camry.
Blue.
Reaching for his phone, he called Detective Wright, who answered on the second ring.
"Have you heard anything about Margolis?" Colin asked.
"Improving. Or so they say. Still in critical care and still unconscious. How are things there?"
"They're okay. Maria's safe."
"And tonight?"
"She'll stay here. She's well protected."
"If you say so. What do you need?"
"I'm thinking that Atkinson might be driving a blue Camry. Relatively new."
"Why do you think that?"
Colin outlined his reasoning.
"You wouldn't have happened to have gotten a license plate, would you?"
"No."
"Okay. It's not much, but I'll get the word out. Everyone wants to find this guy, the sooner the better."
Colin disconnected, somehow sure that Lester had been in the blue Camry that night. He felt certain, even if he couldn't explain the reason, other than to assume that his subconscious mind was somehow ahead of his conscious mind in understanding that the answers were there, if only he could find them.
"What are you doing out here?" Evan asked, joining Colin in the front yard.
"Thinking," Colin answered. It was half past six, and dusk had given way to darkness, the autumn air hinting at even cooler temperatures as the evening wore on.
"I figured. I saw the smoke drifting out of your ears."
Colin smiled. "I just got off the phone with Detective Wright," he explained, recapping the conversation. "What are you doing out here?"
"As sweet as Carmen is, her food is kinda spicy. Lily asked me to get her some gum from the glove compartment to help cool down her mouth. If you ask me, Lily just wants her breath to smell minty fresh, because not having minty fresh breath isn't ladylike." He shrugged. "By the way, what do you make of all this? Maria's family, I mean?"
"I think they're great."
"It's kind of amazing, isn't it? Her entire extended family showing up to keep her safe?"
Colin nodded. "I doubt even my immediate family would show up."
Evan raised an eyebrow. "Don't kid yourself. When things were bad, even your family circled the wagons."
"Friends, too," Colin said. "Thanks for your help today. I know you wanted to spend the day in bed with Lily."
"You're welcome." Evan shrugged. "But it wasn't going to work out anyway. I couldn't stop thinking about Margolis, which kind of put a damper on my mood. I still can't figure out how he let Lester get the jump on him."
Colin paused. "When he was on the porch, did he look confused to you?"
"He looked pissed off," Evan said. "Because we hadn't left yet."
"How did he look before that?"
"I have no idea, dude," Evan said, shaking his head. "Everything is so jumbled, I'm not really sure what happened. I can remember hearing shots and seeing you doing your crazy thing, but after that... it's just all blood. My brain's so scrambled, I can't even remember why I came out here in the first place."
"You came out here to get Lily some gum," Colin reminded him.
"Oh yeah. That's right. Minty freshness." Evan started toward the car and then turned around to look back at Colin. "Do you want a piece?"
"No," Colin said.
But Dr. Manning probably would...
Colin wasn't sure why Margolis's description of Manning's compulsive gum chewing leaped to mind, but after considering it, he shook his head, deciding to head back inside with Evan and rejoin Maria's family. They were a marvel, he had to admit. Talk about circling the wagons. In times of crisis, family was sometimes all you really had. Hell, even Dr. Manning showed up for Lester. He'd spoken to Margolis, he'd shown up at the station, and he'd also immediately arranged for an attorney, since Lester had been in no condition to do so himself.
But... how had Dr. Manning even known of Lester's arrest? Wright had said that the attorney had shown up ten minutes after Lester had arrived at the station. Colin knew from experience that it was almost impossible to procure an attorney that quickly, especially on a Friday night after business hours. Which meant that Dr. Manning had known that Lester had been arrested well before his arrival at the station. It was almost like he was there...
And had parked his car in the driveway?
No, Colin thought. Margolis would have recognized the car. He'd seen Dr. Manning's car yesterday morning, when the doctor had shown Margolis the gun in the trunk. And if it had been Dr. Manning's car at the bungalow, Margolis probably would have acted...
Confused?
Colin stopped in his tracks. No. It wasn't possible. But...
Families circle the wagons... Son and father... Lester and Dr. Manning... Dr. Manning nervously mowing through a pack of gum while talking to Margolis...
Colin groped for the answer, a forgotten detail... And?
Hadn't he noticed a bunch of gum wrappers strewn on the roof of the building across from Maria's office?
Colin could barely breathe. It wasn't Atkinson and Lester. It was father and son circling the wagons, and all at once, the answers started cascading through his mind as quickly as Colin could form the questions.
Why hadn't Margolis been more cautious at the bungalow?
Because he saw that Avery Manning, the father, was already there.
And Lester's gun?
Dr. Manning had told Margolis the gun likely wasn't real.
Why had Margolis gone inside?
Because Dr. Manning called out to him, assuring Margolis that everything was okay.
It fit; it all fit, he thought, clarity finally emerging.
But Lester was arrested.
Only because Colin was there to take him down. Otherwise, Lester might have escaped.
But Lester might talk.
The attorney Dr. Manning hired would make sure he didn't.
But Dr. Manning had left a message for Margolis, urging him to warn Maria...
After the fact--too late to matter.
And Atkinson?
The man who failed to intervene when Laws abducted Cassie? Who Dr. Manning might feel deserves to be punished as well?
But Atkinson's laptop... the photos, the files...
All of which made Atkinson the perfect fall guy.
By then, Colin was already reaching for his phone, the truth so obvious that he wasn't sure how he could have missed it.
Who had the knowledge and skill necessary to manipulate Lester?
Dr. Manning, the psychiatrist.
How had Atkinson's name come up in the first place?
Dr. Manning.
And Laws's pattern of stalking Cassie?
Dr. Manning knew every detail.
Colin heard a voice on the other end of the phone. Wright, sounding busy and stressed.
"You again," Wright said. "What's up?"
"Check to see if Dr. Manning owns a blue Camry."
Wright hesitated. "Hold on. Why?"
"Have someone check it out while I talk," Colin said. "Just do it. It's important."
After he heard Wright call out the request to another officer, Colin told him everything. When he finished, Wright was quiet for a moment.
"That sounds a little far-fetched, don't you think?" Wright said. "But if you're right, Margolis will be able to clear all this up as soon as he regains consciousness. Besides..." Wright seemed to be wrestling with his own doubts.
"Yes?"
"It's not as though Dr. Manning is trying to hide. Far from it--he was at the station last night and he was at the hospital today--"
"He was there?" Colin asked, feeling a mounting sense of panic.
&
nbsp; "He spoke with Rachel. He wanted to apologize for what his son did and asked if it might be possible to speak with Pete, so that he could apologize to him, too."
"Don't let him near Margolis!" Colin shouted, panic giving way to fear.
"Keep it down," Wright said. "Manning couldn't see him. Even I couldn't see him. Only family is allowed in the ICU--"
"Manning went there to kill him!" Colin interrupted. "He's a medical doctor... He'd know what to do to make the death look natural."
"Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions?"
"Lester didn't shoot Margolis! Dr. Manning did! Lester had Margolis squarely in his sights, but he couldn't pull the trigger. If you don't believe me, test Lester's hands for gunpowder residue."
"That won't tell us anything. It's too late. Those tests get less effective by the hour--"
"I know I'm right about this!"
Wright was silent for a long moment. "Okay... but what about Atkinson's computer?"
"Atkinson is dead," Colin said with sudden certainty. "Dr. Manning killed him. Made it look like he went on a trip, took his car, planted evidence on the computer, made him the prime suspect, and planned it all."
Wright said nothing. After a moment of silence, Colin heard the muffled sound of the detective speaking with someone else. Colin felt his frustration rising until Wright came back on the line, sounding slightly stunned.
"Dr. Manning," Wright said slowly, "owns a blue Camry, and... I gotta go... I want to verify that the Camry was at the bungalow..."
Wright hung up midsentence.
Colin raced inside to update Maria, finding her still on the back porch with Evan and Lily, her parents, and a scattering of aunts and uncles. As Colin related his discoveries, Maria listened silently. By the end, her eyes were closed, and though the revelations were clearly frightening to her, he also sensed a kind of peace in her at finally knowing the truth. Her relatives, meanwhile, remained silent, all of them waiting for her to respond.
"Okay," Maria finally said. "What's next?"
"I'm guessing Wright will put out an APB on Dr. Manning and then do whatever else it is cops do when searching for a suspect and building a case."
Maria thought about that. "But what about the pattern?" she finally ventured. "I mean, if Dr. Manning wanted me to experience everything Laws had done to Cassie, why would he have vandalized my place last night? He had to know that it would make it even more difficult to get to me. And why didn't Lester grab me when he had the chance to..."
Beat me, maybe burn me alive, and then kill himself, she didn't need to add. Colin remembered what Laws had done, but knew that Dr. Manning had never planned to kill himself. He'd wanted Atkinson's body found in the ashes, which would close the case for good, leaving Dr. Manning a free man. All Colin could do was shake his head.
"I don't know," he admitted.
Seven o'clock now, and the night was growing even darker, with just a sliver of moon above the horizon.
As the family, led by Felix, began making additional plans to keep Maria safe, Colin drifted to the kitchen and retrieved a glass from the cupboard. He was thirsty, but he also wanted to be alone while he pondered Maria's questions.
Moving to the refrigerator, he set the glass under the dispenser. Filling it with water, he downed the glass in a single long pull and began refilling it, his eyes absently scanning the refrigerator door. There were photos of Maria and Serena over the years, poems, Maria's confirmation certificate, and a drawing of a rainbow in crayon with Serena's name carefully etched in the corner. Some of the items had begun to yellow at the edges, and the only recent addition appeared to be the letter Serena had received from the Charles Alexander Foundation. It was in the upper corner, partially obscuring a postcard that displayed the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. As Colin glanced at the letterhead, he was again nagged by the thought that the name seemed oddly familiar.
Still...
Maria's questions had left him feeling unsettled. Why had Dr. Manning vandalized her condo? If Dr. Manning wanted Maria to experience everything Cassie had, then why deviate from the pattern now? And why paint the words You will know how it feels in her bedroom when doing so only made her more inaccessible? It was possible, he supposed, that Dr. Manning had panicked or lost control after Lester had been arrested. Colin wanted to believe that, tried to force himself to, but couldn't quite make that leap. Instead, he felt like he'd overlooked something. Either he was missing a piece of the puzzle, or Dr. Manning no longer cared whether he could get to Maria at all...
But why wouldn't he care?
Turning from the fridge, he took another drink, consoling himself with the notion that even without the answers, not only was Maria safe, but she'd remain safe until Dr. Manning was apprehended. Colin and her family would make sure of that. They gave circling the wagons a whole new meaning. Hell, all of them were here right now, standing watch...
But in that instant, he realized he was wrong. Not all of them were here. One of them was missing... and Dr. Manning no longer cared whether he could get to Maria at all...
Because Maria had never been part of Dr. Manning's endgame in the first place?
In Colin's mind, the answers began to tumble fast, clarity emerging... the name on the letterhead and why it seemed so familiar... why Maria's place had been trashed... how Lester had known about Carmen's birthday... the real meaning behind the words that had been painted in the bedroom...
You will know how it feels...
Dropping the glass, Colin burst from the kitchen, through the living room, and down the short hallway into Maria's bedroom. He located her bags and spotted her laptop in her tote bag. Grabbing it, he flipped up the lid, thinking, No, no, no... please God, let me be wrong about this...
He opened the search program and typed in the name of the foundation that had awarded Serena's scholarship... wanted to see it... prayed for it to come up...
No website displayed; just a notice saying the site had been taken down and that the domain name was available.
No, no, no...
He typed in Avery Manning's name and recognized the same links he'd perused after he and Maria had met with Margolis the first time. He remembered the link that had included Avery Manning's photograph, and clicked on it even as he rushed back to the living room. Looking up, he spotted Carmen, but not Felix.
"Carmen!" he shouted, hoping she'd be able to understand what he was about to say.
Relatives turned his way, alarmed. Colin ignored them. Ignored Carmen's sudden expression of fright. From the corner of his eye, he saw the back slider opening, Maria about to enter.
By then, he'd reached Carmen. He held up the computer and was pointing to the photograph.
"Do you recognize him?" Colin said, talking loud and fast. Fear now building to panic. "Is this the man who came to the house for dinner? Is this the director of the foundation?"
Carmen began shaking her head. "No se... No entiendo... Habla mas despacio, por favor."
"What's going on?" Maria cried. "What are you doing, Colin? You're scaring her!"
"It's him!" Colin shouted.
"Who?" Maria yelled, his fear contagious. "What's happening?" By then, Felix had come rushing through the slider, too, followed by Evan and Lily, more relatives...
"Look at him!" Colin said to Carmen, pointing to the photograph, lowering his voice, trying and failing to sound calm. "Look at the photo! The director! Is this him? Is this who came to your house for dinner?"
"!Mira la foto, Mama!" Maria translated, moving next to her. "?Es esto el director de la fundacion? ?Quien vino a la casa para la cena?"
Carmen's eyes swiveled in terror between Colin and Maria before she leaned in to scrutinize the photo on the screen. After a moment, she began nodding quickly.
"!Si!" Carmen said, seemingly on the verge of tears. "Charles Alexander! !El es el director! !El estaba aqui en la casa!"
"Colin!" Maria yelled, grabbing his arm. He turned, his panicked gaze on her.
br /> "Where's Serena?" he demanded. "Where is she?"
"At the interview, you know that... What's wrong?"
"Where's the interview? Where's it taking place?"
"I don't know. I guess at the foundation's office..."
"Where's the office?" Colin shouted.
"Downtown... on the waterfront," Maria stammered. "The older commercial area, not the historic district. Tell me what's happening!"
Abandoned buildings, Colin thought. Foreclosed buildings. Fire... Thoughts falling as fast as shuffling cards... Dr. Manning no longer caring whether he could get to Maria... Maria needing to know how it feels... Because it wasn't only about making Maria experience Cassie's terror, it was about punishing Maria, making her feel the same way Dr. Manning and Lester felt after someone they loved had been murdered.
Oh, God...
"Call the police!" Colin shouted. "Call 911!"
"Colin!" Maria screamed. "Talk to me!"
"Avery Manning pretended to be Charles Alexander!" Colin shouted, feeling the clock was ticking and knowing there wasn't time to explain everything. "Dr. Manning had a child named Alexander Charles. There is no foundation. Or scholarship. Dr. Manning made it up," he hissed. "You weren't the target--Serena's the target. She's with him right now and I need to know exactly where she is before..."
Maria understood everything in an instant, her expression stricken as Colin grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him, racing for the door that led to the garage. He vaguely heard Maria screaming, "!Llame a la policia! !Emergencia! !Llame a nueve-uno-uno!" over her shoulder as they burst from the garage, racing to his car.
Maria dove in and Colin was rounding the car when he heard Evan shouting that they were coming, too.
Colin jumped behind the wheel, barking out instructions for Maria to call Detective Wright. He turned the key hard, gunning the engine, his tires screeching as he tore away from the house. In the rearview mirror, he vaguely noticed headlights turning on, Evan and Lily and various relatives trailing in his wake.
"When did Serena say she had the interview?" Colin demanded, even as Maria was waiting for Wright to answer her call.
"I can't remember... Seven, maybe?"
"What's the address?"
"I picked her up at the office once, but I don't know..."
Colin pressed the accelerator to the floor and the engine roared, the car shuddering as it rounded the first curve... Colin fighting the thought that he might already be too late... cursing himself for not figuring it out sooner. The headlights in the rearview mirror grew smaller as the speedometer nosed toward seventy, and then eighty.