Page 13 of Out of the Shadows (Angelhart Investigations)

“My dad hates it, but he likes Dr. Ahmed. Both of the parents are doctors, but Dad’s friendly with the dad. They have three

kids, but they’re all little.”

“They weren’t home when I went to talk to them.”

“They work at the new hospital down off the freeway. The dad is in the emergency room, I don’t know what department the mom

is in.”

Chris was a wealth of information. “You know the other neighbors?”

“Sure, I’ve lived here my entire life. My mom knows everyone, and I mean everyone .”

“Do the people across the street from you have cameras?”

“Just a camera at their front door, for deliveries and stuff.”

Chris started the recording again, and at ten thirty another vehicle turned in.

A dark truck.

“Go back,” Jack said. “Is that a neighbor?”

“I don’t recognize it.”

Chris rewound, then started the recording in slow motion.

It was night, and the headlights were at first bright, then the camera adjusted. The truck slowed, stopped at the fork even

though there was no stop sign and no other vehicle. Then the truck turned up the street.

“Freeze,” Jack said.

Chris did. Unfortunately, the license plate wasn’t distinct enough.

“Can you go back again?”

Chris did. Now Jack looked at the front of the vehicle. The headlights looked different, one smaller than the other, and that

could be because the plastic covering over one headlight had been broken in a crash. He thought he could see a dent in the

bumper, but it was a heavy-duty truck, and he couldn’t be certain.

“All right, let’s see when they leave.”

Chris fast-forwarded again. Thirty-two minutes later, the truck left, going back the way it had come. At 11:47—not forty-five

minutes later—Logan’s Tesla came into view.

Jack asked, “Can you copy the segment from when we first see the truck until the truck leaves? I’ll give you an email to send

it to. My sister might be able to enhance the license plate.”

Chris started typing, and said, “They broke into the Barretts’ house?”

“I believe so.”

“Damn.” A moment later Chris said, “Okay, email?”

Jack rattled off Luisa’s email, then dictated a message for Chris to type. “Lu, this is Jack using someone else’s email. Can

you enhance the vehicle for make and model and possibly get a license plate? Number one suspect in the break-in. Thanks.”

Jack thanked Chris for his help and ran into Kerry as she returned from dealing with her kids. “Those boys just earned themselves

more chores,” she mumbled. “Was Chris able to help?”

“Yes, smart kid.”

“That he is.” She beamed. She walked him to the door. “Please, let me know if you need anything else. I’ll call Laura and

see if she needs anything?” She said it like a question.

“I’m sure she’d like that,” he said. “Thanks for your help.”

He left and headed back to Mr. Berg’s house.

While Chris thought Laura’s neighbor was grumpy, he was also a teen, and Jack expected Mr. Berg to be cordial with an adult.

He drove up to the house and saw the white pickup in the carport behind the house. He parked on the packed gravel driveway

and before he exited his truck, a man in his early sixties came out from the back of the house, wiping his hands on a rag.

“Whatever you’re selling, I’m not buying,” the man said with a scowl.

“Not selling anything, Mr. Berg. My name is Jack Angelhart and I’m a private investigator. Mrs. Barrett had a break-in last

night, and I was wondering—”

“Don’t know anything about that. I’m busy, so you can move along.”

“I spoke to one of your neighbors and viewed footage from their security camera. You came home thirty minutes before the break-in.”

“You’re spying on me?” The man stepped forward aggressively.

Jack straightened his spine, his cop instincts on high alert. Mr. Berg was not a pleasant fellow. “No, sir,” he said in a

calm, commanding voice. “I’m investigating the break-in.”

“First off, when I came home is none of your business. But since you know, I’ll tell you. I came home at ten last night, had

a night-cap, went to bed, as I always do. I didn’t hear anything, didn’t see anything, and I have nothing more to say.”

“Sorry to bother you.”

“You know,” Mr. Berg continued, “you can tell that woman she needs to keep better control of her dogs. I woke up this morning

and they had dug through my flower garden. See there?”

He gestured to a patch of flowers against the side of the house, partially shaded. Fresh dirt was evident, but Jack couldn’t

see where the dogs had made a mess.

“Took me an hour to get everything back in order again.”

“Thank you for your time,” Jack said before he said something critical.

Before he got back in his truck, the man had disappeared from view.

He had a missed call from Rick, and then a text read: Black sedan registered to Bishop Security, LLC. You’re welcome.

He sent Rick a thumbs-up emoji and sent the info to Tess to run a background, copying in Margo in case she came across the

business.

Margo would be irritated that Rick had sent him the information instead of her. He wished his sister and his best friend would

fix their problems because they were good together. But they were both stubborn, and he was losing hope that it would work

out between them.

He went back to Laura’s and Cody immediately ran out and greeted him, the two Labs on his heels. “I want to check on Nimbus,

to see if she had her kittens, and Mom says I can’t go to the barn alone, can you come with me? Please?”

“Sure,” Jack said, “let’s check on the mama cat. But you should get the dogs inside, we don’t want to spook her.”

“Okay!” Cody said and whistled. The dogs immediately followed him indoors.

It surprised Jack how comfortable he felt with the Barrett family. Maybe because Laura was Logan’s sister. Maybe because her

kids were fun and interesting.

Or maybe because they were all growing on him, including Laura. He didn’t know quite what to make of it.