Page 25 of Out of the Shadows
“Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“Yes. If Charlie calls, find me.”
Chapter Nine
Not one person was at home when Margo knocked on each door in the building, except a guy on the ground floor who was renting the space through Airbnb and didn’t see or hear anything.
Next, she went to the restaurant that Charlie had ordered from Thursday night. They made specialty pizzas with hand-tossed crust and her stomach growled when she entered. She knew she was hungry when everything on the menu looked good. She ordered a personal-size buffalo style—spicy buffalo sauce, chicken, pineapple, mozzarella and blue cheeses.
She sat at the bar and ordered a soda while she waited. It wasn’t too busy yet, so when the bartender put her drink down, she asked, “Do you know Charlie Barrett? He comes in here quite a bit.” That was a guess. She pulled out her phone and brought up the photo Logan had texted her, showed it to the woman.
“Charlie, yeah. Comes in at least once a week. Why?”
“I’m a private investigator and his ex-wife hasn’t been able to reach him for a few days. He was supposed to take the kids this weekend and didn’t show.” Slight fib, but close to the truth. “I checked his condo, his work. She’s worried about him.”
“I’ve seen his kids, boy and girl. Nice kids.”
“She doesn’t want to call the police yet, but will be filing a missing persons report if I can’t track him down. Were you working Thursday evening?”
“Yeah, until closing. He came in that night, or was it Friday?” she wondered out loud.
“Thursday,” Margo said. “Ordered a special combo.”
“I remember now, I was here both nights.”
“Was he alone?”
“Yeah...” Now the bartender sounded a bit skeptical about speaking to her. “Do you want to talk to my manager?”
“Who served him?”
“Me. He sat at the bar while he waited and had a beer, took the pizza with him.”
“Alone?”
The bartender glanced behind her, but Margo couldn’t see who she was looking at. “Yes,” she responded.
“Did he say anything about his plans?”
“I didn’t talk to him, other than hello. I really can’t tell you anything else. Charlie comes in once or twice a week, really nice guy, brings his kids sometimes. That’s it.”
Margo’s order was called and the bartender went to the counter and retrieved it for her. “Here,” she said. “Look, if you need more information you’ll have to talk to my manager, we’re not supposed to talk about customers.
“Thanks for your help.”
Margo left with her pizza and walked back to the condo complex. Before she let herself into the lobby, she noticed a late-model black sedan with tinted windows. It stuck out to her because it was idling... and she was almost positive it had been there earlier, when she first entered.
Idling likely because it was too hot to sit in a car without A/C.
She typed in the code, put the pizza down on one of the tables in the lobby. The windows were smoked glass, so she couldn’t see out. Well, she’d just have to be bold.
Unfortunately, she’d left her camera in her Jeep, so she pulled out her phone and hit the camera app. In Arizona, only rear license plates were required on vehicles. The car was facing her; she needed to get behind it for a picture.
If they weren’t up to anything, no harm. If they were... she’d like to know who was watching Charlie’s building.
She pretended she was walking the two blocks back to the pizza place, but then cut across the street directly behind the car and quickly took pictures of the plate, mindful that whoever was inside could come out and confront her.
Instead, they sped out of the parking place, nearly sideswiping a Tesla.
