Two things happened within a moment of each other that added to Maggie’s unease. The first was a text message from Marcus that read Schofield is in the wind, watch your back. The second was a car horn sounding out on the street. The prolonged nature of the noise seemed strange. If it had been someone pulling out of a driveway and nearly backing into another car or something similar, the horn’s blare should have been quick and angry. She hadn’t heard screeching tires or a collision. Still, it wasn’t strange enough to warrant investigation.
The basement was large and open, half finished, half given over to storage. Shelves containing plastic totes of all sizes labeled with masking tape and marker filled the storage space. There was also a gun safe in one corner, but she lacked the skills to open it. There was no sign of the kidnapped women.
Once upstairs, Maggie crept into the foyer to see if the cop was still outside. Looking through the shades, she saw his car but not him. Maybe he was walking the perimeter. In which case, she was stuck inside the house. She couldn’t let the cop see her leaving the house, federal agent or not.
She moved to the back of the house and peered out a window, but there was no sign of the officer in the backyard or near the garage. Then she moved into the kitchen and looked out through a window to the north side of the house. Her eyes scanned the neighbors’ homes, since the officer might have decided to start asking questions.
And then she saw him. Walking into the neighbor’s house was a man wearing navy-blue and white coveralls. Stan had sent them all an image of Harrison Schofield that he had retrieved from the company’s website, and although the guy in the coveralls was only visible in profile, she could have sworn that it was the same man. But why would Schofield return here? And why would the cop not have stopped him?
Unless the officer was already dead.
Maggie took her Glock 19 from the holster at her hip and ran toward the back door.