I glanced around. Watching the front wouldn’t be a problem. There were plenty of places from which I could do that but if they decided to make a back exit, I saw no good position from which to watch both entrances. I would have to search for a location that covered both. I did another quick scan hoping to see a likely spot that could be put to that use and saw a possibility, but then, a gust of icy wind wrapped itself around me, teasing the back of my neck just as a couple of the shadowy figures whispered past. That settled it. There was no guarantee they were still there and if so would be leaving anytime soon, so I could be out in the cold watching for a long time. I decided on a frontal approach.
I crossed the street, and a light on the porch that was apparently motion-activated blinked on as soon as I started down the driveway. I stepped up to the door and gave the bell a firm push. In a few seconds, I heard footsteps and a shadow fell across the frosted sidelights of the door. Whoever it was had undoubtedly gotten a good look at me on the surveillance system and from the sound of it, decided to come to the door.
The porch light in my eyes and the one behind him from inside obscured him slightly, but when he opened the door, I recognized the man to whom I had delivered the brown envelopes. He stared out at me through his thick lenses with his eyebrows raised.
“Yes? May I help you?” His voice seemed a little edgy.
I’d not given him my name when I made those deliveries and I didn’t know if he would remember seeing me, but reasoned it was better to start with an alias. I put on my best face and most respectful tone.
“Sir, I’m sorry to disturb your evening. My name is Alvin Smith, and I’m searching for someone, a young lady, and I was told she might be here.”
He gave no indication that he recognized me. Perhaps he didn’t. Though he’d seen me twice, both instances were brief.
His head turned slightly to the left and his eyes flicked in that direction for a fraction of a second, then he said, “Well, Mr. er, Mr. Smith—”
A male voice came from behind him, “Hey, don’t make him stand out in the cold, Doc. Let Mr. Smith in.”
A man who’d obviously been listening, stepped from a room on the right down the short foyer, and stood looking toward us. Dr. Bennett dipped his head and motioned for me to come in.
It was cold but I wasn’t going in. “Thank you, sir, but I only need to verify whether the young lady is here or not.”
He opened his mouth but again the man interrupted him. Ken Talbert I presumed. The light shone on him and I could see him clearly. He matched the description. He appeared to be around twenty-one, maybe twenty-two, certainly no older than twenty-three. And he was cocky.
“If you’re looking for Morgan Effingham, yeah, she’s here.” He glanced to his right smiling and holding out his hand. “Come here, baby, somebody’s looking for you.” He pulled her alongside himself and ran his arm around her shoulders.
She stiffened. She folded her arms and didn’t look at him. She looked exactly like her picture only she was smiling in the picture.
I noted that the doctor looked startled and shot a quick look at Talbert but he said nothing.
I smiled at her. “Hello, Morgan. I’m a friend of your sister’s. She hasn’t heard from you in a while and sent me to see if you are all right.”
Morgan said in a voice that carried a tense note, “I’m okay, Mr. Smith.” She cut her eyes to Talbert who was keeping his on me and didn’t notice. “Tell Maddy I’ll call her. Soon.” She flicked her eyes back to me and came out with a half-smile.
I nodded. “Okay, Morgan. I’ll let her know. Be sure and make that call, though. She’s really worried.”
Talbert was smiling. He gave Morgan a squeeze and said, “We just met, you know, and we’re taking time to get to know each other. But I’ll see to it that she remembers to make the call.”
The doctor glanced at him then back at me, and said, “It was nice meeting you Mr. Smith.”
“Yeah, nice meeting you,” said Talbert giving an unsmiling Morgan another squeeze. He looked smug.
I smiled, nodded, and stepped back. The doctor closed the door as I aimed myself in the direction of the bar.
Chapter Twenty-five
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, FROM MY PERCH ON the opposite side of the street four houses up – and freezing my ass off while lying atop a detached garage next to a darkened house – I watched as a man in a brown jacket and tan pants came down Main on foot, turned on Carter, and approached Dr. Bennett’s house.
He leaned in and rang the bell. The door opened and he spoke to someone inside. In a moment, Talbert stepped out with Morgan in tow. He nodded at brown jacket and said something to Morgan then shot a look at the door where the doctor stood, and nodded. The doctor closed the door. They were too far away for me to make out their words but I didn’t think Morgan had responded to whatever he’d said to her. The three of them moved off towards Main and turned right.
This called for a change of plans. Only an idiot wouldn’t have seen that Morgan didn’t want to be with Talbert, and though he’d seemed to think so, I’m not an idiot. He could’ve remained quiet and never said anything when I came to the door but having seen how arrogant the guy was, I wasn’t surprised he told the doctor to invite me in. I had the feeling he wanted to prove how much he was in charge of the situation. Or he was simply stupid.
Originally, I was going to follow them until they got far enough away from Carter Street, and then advise Talbert that it would be in his best interest to let the girl go. There were a couple of times in the past when I had to get someone away from an abductor, so I was prepared to do that if necessary. If he objected, I thought I could persuade him.
The other man showing up was an added wrinkle. From what he was wearing, he was a guard and they always carried a gun, plus he was a big beefy guy. I’d have to handle this with a bit more finesse since Talbert was certain to have a gun, too. I hurried as fast as my three-quarters frozen body would take me down the ladder I’d used to climb to the roof of the garage.
With movement, I began to thaw by the time I got down to the corner. I spotted Talbert’s almost neon blue jacket as they passed under one of the scarce streetlamps. Less bright was Morgan’s jacket, which was more of a mustard than bright yellow. She walked between the two and the brown jacket of the guard was an almost invisible blur. Talbert had her by the hand but she appeared to be leaning away from him. They reached the block where Spruce Street abutted Main. I thought they would turn down Spruce, toward his place, but they kept going straight. A couple of dark outlines wandered near them, and Morgan flinched but Talbert and the guard ignored them. I supposed they were used to them and didn’t want to get lost.
Neither did I so I kept my eyes on him and got as close as I felt was safe. Morgan took a quick look behind them as the dim figures moved by, and it was too dark to see her expression but if she saw me, she made no indication to Talbert or the guard. The sidewalk was in decent shape with not much noise-producing debris lying about, so because they were concentrating on their destination, I was confident they wouldn’t hear me. With the streetlamp receding behind us, in the event either of them chanced looking back, I kept near the buffer trees at the edge of the walkway so that I would be harder to spot. They approached the side road that led to Semptor Labs.
I didn’t know if Semptor Labs was their target but even if it wasn’t, that was a deserted road and it wouldn’t be good to allow them to take Morgan down that path so I increased my speed.