See Me (54 page)

“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 sé
…
No entiendo
…
Habla más 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, Mamá!
” Maria translated, moving next to her. “
¿Es ésto el director de la fundación? ¿Quién 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.

“
¡Sí!
” Carmen said, seemingly on the verge of tears. “Charles Alexander!
¡Él es el director! ¡Él estaba aquí en la casa!
”

“Colin!” Maria yelled, grabbing his arm. He turned, his panicked gaze on her.

“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 policía! ¡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.

He slammed on the brakes, skidding onto the main road to the screech of an oncoming car’s tires. Undeterred, he sped up again, only dimly aware that Maria was screaming into the phone at Detective Wright.

Colin continued to accelerate, surging close to a hundred miles an hour, feeling déjà vu as he swerved into the bike lane and slowing but not stopping for red lights. He leaned on his horn, flashed his lights, and cut through parking lots as precious seconds ticked by.

Maria had hung up with Detective Wright and was now frantically dialing and redialing, her actions growing even more panicked.

“Serena’s not answering her phone!”

“Find out when she left the dorm!” Colin shouted.

“But… how?”

“I don’t know!”

Colin changed lanes, ran another red light, and checked the rearview mirror. Evan’s headlights were too far behind to see anymore, and Colin squeezed the steering wheel, furious with himself for being so stupid, for missing the obvious. Thinking about Serena, telling himself that he’d get there in time to save her.

He’d get there. He had to get there.

Charles Alexander. Alexander Charles. He’d seen the name on the computer, and the connection was right there on the refrigerator, in the damn letterhead! And Serena had even said the name at dinner! It was obvious, and Colin couldn’t understand why it had taken him so long to put it together. If something happened to Serena because he’d been so damn stupid…

Colin vaguely heard Maria shout the name Steve into the phone… Heard her demanding to know when Serena had left… heard her say that Serena was running late and had left at 6:40…

“What time is it?” Colin demanded, speeding so fast he was unable to take his eyes from the road for a second. “Check your phone!”

“Seven twelve…”

Serena might not have arrived yet
…
 

Or she was there already
…