He stared at her for a moment before he pushed to his feet. “Okay. I’ll let you go with me to find Melvin, but that’s as much as I’m willing to compromise. Besides, finding Melvin may not be as easy as you think. Sometimes he disappears for days, and I’m unable to locate him.”
“I understand. If we don’t find him, we can keep going back until we do. At least we’ll be doing something to find out who’s behind all that’s happened.”
Seth stared at her for a moment before he sighed. “I hope we can. Nothing would please me more than to have all this brought to an end.” He glanced at his watch. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some sleep. I have to go into the office in the morning, but I’ve made arrangements for a police officer to watch the house while I’m gone. He’ll be out front in his car until I come back after lunch. Then I’ll take you to the hospital before we go on the hunt for Melvin.”
“Thank you, Seth. I’ll see you then.”
He gave a curt nod and walked from the room. Callie dropped back down in her chair, propped her elbows on the table and covered her eyes with her hands. His words that nothing would please him more than to have all this brought to an end troubled her. On the surface it had sounded like he wanted to bring her uncle’s case to a close, but she knew him well enough to know he was talking about something entirely different.
He couldn’t wait to have her out of his home and out of his life again. If they could find Melvin tomorrow, Seth might have his secret wish granted sooner than he thought.
If tomorrow worked out like she hoped, she and Seth might never have to see each other again.
FIVE
The next afternoon Seth drove his car slowly up and down the streets of south Memphis. Callie sat beside him. She hadn’t said a word since they’d left the hospital after checking on Dan. The news didn’t seem to change any. Dan hadn’t regained consciousness, but he was still holding his own. Seth supposed they should be thankful Dan was still alive, but gratitude proved harder every time he entered the Critical Care Unit to see his friend clinging to life by a thread.
He glanced at Callie out of the corner of his eye. She appeared hopeful that if they were able to find Melvin he would have some answers for them. He understood how badly she wanted the attacker caught, but he suspected there was more to her thinking than she’d shared with him.
Clearly, she couldn’t wait to be away from him and out of the house he shared with his mother.
If things worked out the way she hoped, maybe he could make quick work of finding the culprit of the attacks, solving the decades-old missing-person case and leaving her and her uncle free of all danger. Then she could go back to living the life she’d chosen.
“Where do you usually see him?” Callie’s words cut through the silence in the car.
He darted a glance at her before he directed his attention back to the street ahead. “I never know. It may be on a street corner, under a light pole or playing basketball on the playground at the school down the street. If I don’t see him within the next few minutes, I need to leave. There are always eyes watching who comes into this neighborhood, and I don’t want my car to draw any attention.”
Seth guided the car around the corner and sucked in his breath at the sight of Melvin walking up the sidewalk toward them. As they drove past, Melvin tucked his chin to his chest, stuck his hands in the pockets of the baggy shorts he was wearing and hunched his shoulders. He’d given the signal he wanted to talk with Seth.