Page 34 of Sean's Sunshine
And nowBillycouldn’t stop smiling.
“So you’re back!”
They both turned their heads toward the older man walking steadily toward them, his alligator-fat Chiweenie waddling up behind him.
“Dude!” Billy cried, and the amiable creature went right to him, raising his head for a solid ear rub, his little Chi-tail springing about madly against his back. “C’mere, buddy. Haven’t seen you for a couple of days. Missed you!”
“I could say the same,” Bob said, smiling genially. “Hope you’re still healing well.” He nodded toward Sean, who looked embarrassed.
“He lifted weights and got an infection and had to be hospitalized for two days,” Billy said, feeling a great deal of vindication and glee. “Because he’s a stupid asshole, that’s why.”
Sean grimaced up at Bob. “Stupid asshole,” he rasped, and then used both thumbs to point toward his own chest. “Me.”
Bob chuckled. “So you were gone for a bit. Did you hear about the break-in over on Cherry Pit Court?”
“Is that really a street name?” Billy asked suspiciously. “Because that’s the—”
“Pits,” Bob finished for him, grinning. “Yeah, I know it. I think the contractors got tired. The main street was named after his son, Alvin, and then the cul-de-sacs are all Apple Seed, Peach Stem, and Watermelon Rind. It’s weird.”
“Tired of his job?” Sean asked, surprised, because who thought of street names, really.
“Maybe a little drunk,” Bob conceded with a wink. “Anyway, that blue house on Cherry Pit, the one with the yellow trim—”
“I know that house,” Billy said, surprised. “It’s pretty… not brown. And they’ve got flags in the front. Rainbow flags, peace flags. Very liberal.”
Bob—who called himself a “lapsed republican”—squeezed his eyes shut in self-deprecation. “Of course,” he chided mildly, “you’d remember the liberal house.”
Billy smiled, all teeth. “It would be wrong if I didn’t!”
There was some laughter then, and Billy knew how heshouldfeel about politics—all mad at this old white guy for voting for Reagan back in the day—but how he actually felt was that this old white guy was really pretty decent. And his dog was super friendly, which meant the decent went through and through. You couldn’t have a super friendly dog if you were a douchebag.
“So tell us about the house on Cherry Pit,” Billy prompted. He’d been expecting Sean to do it, but then he glanced next to him and saw Sean working hard to keep his breathing even. Oops, time to pull his weight.
“That got dangerous,” Bob said soberly. “That was a mom and her two kids. Dad was out of town on business, and she was all alone. But Charlie and Parker—you know Parker, the big black lab?”
“Good dog,” Sean said, nodding.
“He’s the best. But they live next door to pretty house, and they heard sort of a clatter. Parker was not messing around when that guy tried to break into the woman’s garage. Charlie opened the door because Parker was losing his mind, and they heard a clatter, and when they looked at the space between the houses, they saw the guy had dropped his crowbar next to her smaller garage door. Someone here is going after houses. I tell you, it’s not safe at night.”
Sean frowned. “Have all the break-ins…,” he breathed, “been at night?”
That brought Bob up short. “Mmm… no. Some of them have been during the day. The guy on Peach Stem works the night shift. His garage was broken into during the day.”
“What… did… they… steal?” Sean asked.
It was Bob’s turn to frown. “From his place? His air compressor and his tools. He likes to do home improvement, so he had some good ones.”
Sean nodded, and BillyandBob waited for him to pull in some more air. Finally it appeared he had his wind back again. “What was taken from the other houses?” he asked, almost smoothly.
“Bicycles,” Bob said thoughtfully. “Power tools, air compressors. Same sort of thing. The house on Cherry Pit has an old Mustang in the garage. The husband likes to work on it on the weekends, to refurbish. I’m sure he’s got some valuable equipment in there.”
Sean nodded. “Did any of the houses have dogs?” he asked, and Billy glanced at him sharply.
“No,” Bob responded promptly, and then, with more thought, “but they all have dogs nearby.” He frowned. “That might not mean anything. I mean….” He nodded his chin toward the manydogs currently walking the track with their owners or chasing balls in the middle of the soccer field. “The sidewalks are wide, the bike lanes are plentiful, and we’ve got this great park in the center. Lots of people have dogs.”
Sean nodded but chewed on his lip a little, and Billy wondered what he was thinking. With a little grimace, Sean held up a finger and reached into his pocket for his wallet, then pulled out a plain white business card.
“If you hear of any other thefts, call me,” he said. “I’m going to do some snooping and call in some favors, okay? I don’t like that he’s choosing houses where people are sleeping. It could get dangerous.”