Sit there and wait.
Lunchtime had already come and gone when I started my little stakeout. Now as the clock closed in on two in the afternoon, I could feel my blood sugar dipping. If Leon were here, I thought, he’d have protein bars and water and a special container to piss in. Not to mention a fake beard and glasses.
There was a light stream of traffic on the street, but nobody had come out the door since I’d been escorted out of the Grindstone building. I spotted a little deli behind me, maybe half a block down the street. I figured I’d have to eat something soon or I’d pass out, so I slipped out of the truck. I ordered a sandwich, then used the bathroom while the girl behind the counter put it together.
As I was about to come back out, I heard the door to the deli open and then a familiar voice. It was the young kid who had come to the door first, before passing me off to Mr. Charming. I cursed my bad timing and then waited in the bathroom while he ordered two sandwiches and Cokes. Then there was some other conversation that made me think these two kids had a little something more going on besides buying lunch. Finally, they seemed to be done and when I was sure he had gone, I opened the bathroom door and came out.
I paid for the sandwich and a bottle of water, thanked the girl, and went outside just in time to see the young man going back into the Grindstone building.
He ordered two sandwiches, I thought. Not three.
I went back to the truck and kept waiting.
The afternoon slid by. The sun went down. Cars went up and down the street with their lights on while a soft light snow began to fall. Just another April evening in Bad Axe, Michigan. I sat in the truck and turned it on once in a while to run the heater for a minute, then I turned it back off. A Michigan State Trooper’s car from the post down the street rolled by at one point and I thought he’d surely stop and ask me what the hell I was doing sitting there all day, but he kept going without even looking at me.
By six o’clock I started to get hungry again, but I didn’t want to repeat my lunchtime performance so I stayed put. The streetlights came on and I had just enough light to see the front door of the Grindstone building. Right around seven o’clock I saw two figures come out the door. One of them locked the door and they crossed the street together and went into the theater’s parking lot. I lost sight of them as they got into their separate vehicles. I saw a Jeep Cherokee pull out of the lot, followed by a Corvette. If I was going to follow either one of them, I wanted it to be the older man, and I figured he’d be the one driving the classic midlife crisis Corvette. So I pulled out and followed that car across town. The car stopped at a little apartment building, and now that we were in better light I could see it was an older model Corvette with peeling mint-green paint and a big dent in the rear fender. The young kid got out and went inside.
My first impulse was to just jump out and grab the kid, see if I could convince him to talk to me, but I figured that would be a bit of a gamble. It was a card I’d play if I didn’t have any other choice. For now, I’d be content to just know where the kid lived.
I went back to the main street and pulled up in front of the Grindstone building. It looked dark and completely deserted, but I rang the bell just for the hell of it. Maybe the old man was still inside, I thought, working on his movie. But no, there was nobody home.
I had spotted a little motel on the way into town, so I went back there and checked in for one night. I went into my room and stripped off the bedspread. I may not know that much about anything, but I know never to lie on a motel bedspread. As I was setting the alarm clock, my cell phone rang. It was Chief Maven.
“I thought you were going to call me,” he said.
“I was, if anything happened. So far I’ve just been sitting around and waiting.”
“What are you talking about? Didn’t you talk to Wiley?”
“I went to visit his film company, but he wasn’t there. For somebody who’s supposedly working day and night on his movie… I mean, I don’t suppose that’s the kind of work you can do at home, right?”
“Are you telling me this guy wasn’t there at all today?”
“I’ll go back tomorrow and see if he shows up. If not, I’ll have to think of something else to try. I know one thing, the people who work for him aren’t going to be much help. Not willingly.”
“I don’t know,” Maven said. “I’m not down there, but I’m getting a funny feeling about this guy. More and more every time I think about it.”
“What’s going on up there, anyway?”
“More of the same. This new man, Special Agent Kozak, he wanted to talk to you today, just to go over what you did, going out to Misery Bay that first time, coming back and finding Raz. You know, your whole part in it.”
“Agent Long or Agent Fleury could have filled him in on that.”
“You know how these guys are. They want to hear it from the horse’s mouth.”
“So what did you tell him?”
“That I told you to take a long trip to get away from all of this. He wanted your cell phone number, but I told him you had a bad habit of not turning it on unless you were calling somebody. I also told him I had no idea where you are right now.”
“That must have made him happy.”
“Let him be mad at me, I don’t care. If it gives you the chance to do your thing down there, then it’s worth it.”
“Well, I should have something by tomorrow,” I said. “I sure as hell ain’t gonna wait around all day and spend another night here.”
“All right, well, let me know. Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“You too, Chief.”
“It’s strange being here alone, McKnight. I’m in this house where I’ve lived with my wife for thirty years. Where my daughter grew up. There’s nothing left here now but the smell of murder.”
“Sounds like you could use a motel yourself.”
“I hate motels, McKnight, more than almost anything. I feel sorry for you that you have to be in one tonight.”
On that bright note, I said good night. We were two men alone in two different places, three hundred miles apart. There wasn’t much that made sense anymore, and we both knew we had a lot more work to do before things got any better.
And we’re rolling…
… Hold on! This is all going too fast. Let me catch up here.
… I told you, you have to wait for your cue.
… It’s all right, keep going. We’ll get the aftermath here.
… That’s a great effect, the red on the floor. Very striking.
… Close in on the face. I remember you!
… That’s it. Just like that. Beautiful.
… How do you like us now, Trooper Razniewski?
… You’re giving it your all, but next time wait for the cue, okay?
… Okay. We’re good.
And cut.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I was back on the street when the sun came up. My two new friends didn’t seem like early morning types, but maybe Mr. Wiley was. Maybe he’d be there putting in a half day’s work before the other two even showed up.
I parked on the other side of the street this time, which meant I was facing away from the Grindstone building. I had my side-view mirror angled just right, so I could see the entrance. I had a bag of food and a bottle of water already in the truck, too. Plus a newspaper to duck behind if I needed to. Leon would have been proud of me.
I sat there while the whole town of Bad Axe woke up to another gray and blue April day. Cars began to roll by. I lay my head back and repositioned the mirror. Then I waited.