Page 81 of You'll Never Find Me

But right then, he got a hot call of a burglary in progress, so couldn’t follow up with Carillo’s neighbors.

He’d return this afternoon.

Thirty-Seven

Margo Angelhart

Theo came by my house early Wednesday morning. He was a tall clean-shaven black kid with a conservative haircut and easygoing manner.

“Why are you here?” I asked when I opened the door. “I’m on my way out.”

“Thought you might want backup.” He grinned broadly. Theo was a hard person to get angry with, but right now I was irritated.

“I don’t need backup.”

“You need someone to watch your ass with that angry cop running around.”

“I should never have told you about that,” I muttered.

“Seriously.”

“I’m helping Jack with a case, and I need to go—without you.”

I bolted the front door, checked my new security system to make sure it was functioning, and motioned for Theo to follow me to the side door.

“This is nice,” he said, running his finger along the server that ran the six security cameras. I slapped his hand.

“Don’t touch.”

“Maybe you should have—”

“Don’t say it. Because yes, I should have had this in place before someone broke into my house.”

“It’s the barn door, baby. My grams always said no use closing the barn door after the horse has gone.”

“I’m familiar with the expression.” I grabbed my favorite folding KA-BAR knife from a drawer in the kitchen, stuffed it into my front pocket. “Let’s go.”

“Seriously, Margo, I want to help.”

“You already did, and I don’t need help today. Don’t you have class?”

“Only Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

Which I knew.

We walked out to the driveway and I locked the deadbolt. “Theo, I have a lead on Jennifer White, and I don’t want or need company. But thanks.”

“I’m bored. Give me something to do. And not busy work.”

I considered, then said, “Go to my office. Check my mail. Talk to the other businesses, show them a photo of Peter Carillo and ask if they’ve seen him or the minivan anytime since Monday. I think the Orozcos have a security camera, so ask if you can check the feed. I know the liquor store has cameras, but Manny is an asshole, so 50/50 if he’ll let you look. Document everything if there’s anything to document, and then let me know what you find. Good?”

“Sounds like busy work.”

“It’s not. I was going to do it yesterday but got sidetracked with Jack’s case.” I wasn’t lying.

“Alright, fine, but you need me for something else? Call.”

“I promise.”