And Then She Was Gone(86)

“What is this place?” Chandler asked. “A house, or a business?”

“I’ll drive around and see if there’s a sign,” Jack said.

Jack circled around the block. Sure enough, mounted on two white posts was a large green sign with gold letters that spelled out Tate, Wolfe and Rice. Experts in Civil Litigation.

Jack parked in a lot across the street, in a spot from which they could see Michael’s car. Fifteen minutes later, Michael hurried out of the law office, smiling, and got back in the Toyota.

“Did you see his face?” Chandler asked as Jack pulled out and followed Michael again. “Why did he look all happy?”

“I don’t know.”

They continued to follow the Toyota, but always keeping at least one car between them. It looked like Michael might get back on the highway, but he drove right past the on ramp.

“I guess he’s got someplace else to go,” Jack said.

When they reached the downtown business district, the Toyota pulled into a parking space by the curb. There were no open spaces around it.

“What do I do?” Jack lifted his foot off the gas.

“Just keep going,” Chandler said.

They drove past the Toyota, and Jack saw a space farther down the street.

“Do I park?” Jack asked.

“Er…”

“Do I park?”

“Ummm…”

“Do I park?” Jack nearly shouted.

“How the hell do I know?” Chandler blurted.

Jack zipped into the parking space and put the car in park. He glared at Chandler. “If I ask something, you need to answer me.”

“What if I don’t know the answer? You want me to make something up? Ask me again.”

“What?”

“Ask me again.” Chandler lifted his chin.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Do I park?”

“Blue.”

“What?”

“See. My answer makes no sense because I don’t know the answer.”

“Then tell me that,” Jack said.

“I did. I said I didn’t know if you should park.”

“You didn’t say I don’t know. You just went, ah… um… errr…”

“So what if I did?” Chandler’s finger poked the dashboard.

“Sorry. Look, I’m not trying to be a jerk, but we need to get our communication down. Pretty soon I’m not going to be asking where a parking spot is, I’m going to be asking where the guy who’s trying to shoot us is.”

“That’s a good point,” Chandler admitted.

Jack glanced in the rearview mirror. “Here he comes.”

They both looked down and scratched at their faces as Michael walked down the sidewalk and past the car.

“Where’s he going? What should we do?” Chandler asked.

Jack thought for only a moment. “We follow him.”

“You did hear my whole don’t-get-us-arrested speech, right? The guy flipped out once already. And why are we following him anyway? For all we know, this is nothing more than a wild goose chase.”

Jack ignored the question and got out of the car. “You wait here.”

“What?” Chandler said.

“You don’t blend. You’re a giant.”

“But you’re the one he’s seen already.”

“He saw you too,” Jack said.

“Not as well. I stayed in the car, remember?” Chandler pointed at himself. “I should go.”

“I don’t want you to get jammed up,” Jack said.

“Back to back. It’s settled.”

“Okay. You follow him, and I’ll follow both of you from the other side of the street. If he gets someplace and starts coming back, we’ll switch sides.”

Chandler nodded. He got out of the car and followed Michael down the sidewalk. Jack crossed the street and kept pace.

The lunchtime rush was in full swing. Businesspeople rushed down the street and darted into restaurants in the daily scramble called “lunch hour”—even though for many it was only a half hour. Like contestants on some warped game show, they had to race out of their offices, find a place to eat, order, scarf it down, and then hurry back before their time expired.

Even in the lunch crowd, because of his size, it was easy to keep an eye on Chandler as he moved down the sidewalk. Jack kept his head tipped slightly down and tried to walk casually.

Michael and Chandler passed by a busy bistro. Because of the warm weather, the outside tables were packed. Michael slowed considerably; Jack almost came to a stop.

Chandler was getting too close to Michael.

Jack was about to try to signal Chandler to slow down when Chandler knelt and tied his shoelace.

Michael picked up his pace and kept moving.

Jack almost walked straight into a pole as he continued to watch them from across the street.