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RICK HAD BEEN WATCHING the cabin all day. Boyle and Marisa had come out earlier, but since then he'd only seen the big man who'd arrived with the lady and the baby that morning.
It was that big man Rick kept thinking about. Rick had a bad feeling about him. He carried himself like a soldier.
Or a cop.
Rick didn't like him. But the lady and the baby he'd arrived with made him wonder. And the other lady. Maybe they were relatives or something. Rick had researched Boyle while the tracer app on his laptop showed their car passing into New Hampshire. This place, Nutfield, was Boyle's hometown. Probably the big man and his family were his friends or something. And the other woman. Maybe a sister. Maybe just another friend. They were probably all in there right now, talking about Rick and the brat.
She was in the bedroom of the empty cabin Rick had found. Just a few doors down from Marisa's. He'd broken in, then he'd jumped back in his car and driven down the road to watch. When no cops arrived, proving there was no silent alarm, he'd returned and made himself comfortable.
It wasn't the nicest cabin on the lake, that was for sure. Which was why he'd picked it—why get an alarm to protect a dump like this? Needed updating. Brown carpet, ugly plaid couches. But it was better than that rat trap Leslie had found them. And it had this nice deck.
The deck had been empty of furniture, but he'd dragged a padded rocking chair out from the living room, along with a kitchen chair to use as a footrest. Not a bad deal for a couple of hours of spying.
He had to admit, this wasn't the worst part of his adventure, sitting on the back deck of a cabin, sipping water with one hand, watching through his binoculars with the other. He wished he could see the front of their cabin from here, too. But it was quiet on the lake. He had heard car doors slamming earlier and been out in front in time to see everyone get there. He was sure he wouldn't miss anything as long as he stayed outside and stayed vigilant.
The problem was, he was bored to tears.
When Nate and Marisa had come out earlier, their voices had traveled across the little cove. Not that he'd been able to make out what they were saying. And the big man had come out twice, once just a few moments before, to make phone calls. Again, Rick couldn't make out the man's words. Too bad he didn't have a listening device. He'd love to hear what was going on over there.
He pulled out his real cell phone. He shouldn't turn it on. Didn't need to get in contact with anybody or hear from anybody. Ever since he'd lost his temper with Leslie, ever since he'd...
Nope. Wasn't going to think about that.
But ever since, he'd been paranoid. But he could turn it on for a second, right? See if any of his friends had texted him.
He powered it on and checked the texts. Nothing important. A couple missed calls, one from Jessica. Odd for her to have called again.
He powered off the cell and thought about that. Why would Jessica call him again? Either Hunter was really eager to see him, or something was wrong.
He needed to call her back. But he wasn't going to leave his real phone on, and he couldn't use his burner. Someone was probably trying to trace it. He didn't know how that stuff worked, but he wasn't taking any chances. So. What to do?
He stared at the lake and was considering driving to town for a fresh burner when the answer hit him. He'd taken all of Leslie's stuff when he'd left the apartment, including her purse. And in her purse was her cell phone and her burner phone. He wouldn't use the cell—the cops were surely monitoring that one. Only an idiot would use the cell phone of a dead person.
But the burner... He was the only one with that number.
He jogged outside to his car. He'd left Leslie's car near the apartment in Chelsea and had switched to his own, kicking himself for being stupid enough to choose hers in the first place. As soon as the cops found her body, they'd look for her car. Duh.
His car was clean, except for all the crap inside it. Most of it was Leslie's stuff that she'd had at the apartment. He dug through her purse, found her burner, and powered it on.
There was just enough juice in the battery to make the call.
He dialed Jessica's number.
When she answered, he said, "Hey. Sorry I didn't get back to you yesterday."
"Oh. I didn't recognize the number."
He jogged back to the house. "I'm having trouble with my phone. I borrowed a friend's. What's up?"
"It's Hunter." Her voice sounded strained.
"What's wrong?"
"We didn't end up going out of town. He's sick."
Rick closed the cabin door behind him. "Sick how? Like, really sick, or..."
"Doctors aren't sure what it is yet. They ran a bunch of tests. They're worried, because the fever came on really fast."
"Is he at home?"
"In the hospital. I thought..." She sounded like she was about to cry. "I know it's a lot to ask, but he's asking for you. Any chance you could stop by tonight?"
Rick raked his hand through his short hair. Tonight was impossible. Tomorrow would be difficult. If he could wrap this up... "I'm out of town. I should be home tomorrow or Monday."
"Are you sure you can't get here...?"
"You know I'd do anything for Hunter. Tomorrow's the best I can do."
"Okay. I'd really appreciate it." Jessica sounded relieved. He'd never known her to be that much of a worry-wart. Something must be really wrong with his little brother.
"Anything for Hunter." Rick meant it, too. His older brothers were big, boring turds. But Hunter, even if he was only Rick's half-brother, meant more to him than Andrew and John combined. That was his only regret about moving to SoCal. He'd miss the kid. "Hey, can I talk to him?"
"Oh. Actually, he's asleep right now, and he's really weak." There was a pause. "But if he's feeling better when he wakes up, I'll have him call you."
"Okay. Use this number. Maybe he just needs to get some rest."
"I hope you're right," Jessica said. "Listen, just call when you're on your way. I don't know if we'll be in the hospital or home, so—"
"Sure. I'll give you a ring when I'm on my way, let you know when to expect me."
"Thanks, Rick. I really appreciate it."
After he finished the call with Jessica, he powered Leslie's burner off. Hunter, sick. That wasn't okay, not at all. Rick would try to step up the timeline to get there as soon as possible.
He'd been waiting for Boyle's friends to leave most of the day, and he couldn't wait any longer. Who cared if they were there when he called? Maybe that's exactly what they were waiting for. If that was the case, they'd leave when the call came in.
Might as well give them what they wanted. Make them feel like they had some control.
He snatched his burner phone and dialed.