Page 26 of Out of the Shadows
They’d either been watching the condo or watching her. She’d put her money on the condo.
If she had to bet, they were waiting for Charlie.
She went back to the lobby and immediately ate a slice of pizza while she dialed Logan. He answered when her mouth was full.
“Hey,” she said, swallowed. “Sorry. So someone was watching the condo. Black sedan. I have the plates.”
“Who?”
“Tinted windows, I couldn’t see inside. I’m going to call someone to run the plates for me.”
“You think they were looking for Charlie?”
“Yep. Did you talk to the police about the break-in?”
“Scottsdale PD is sending an officer to take a report, but I don’t know what might be missing. Can you stay until they get there? I told them you’d be there to let them in.”
“Sure, how long?”
“They said within an hour, that was twenty minutes ago.”
“Okay.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m waiting on a list of Charlie’s friends from Laura, then I’m going to head up to her house and relieve Jack for a few hours. But I was thinking about Charlie’s past—you told Jack that he’s gotten involved with a few get-rich-quick schemes that didn’t work out.”
“It’s been a while—”
“A leopard doesn’t change his spots.” Margo heard her abuela’s voice in her ear. How many times had she heard that cliche growing up?
“Charlie’s closest friends are Bob and Beth O’Neill. The O’Neills have a daughter a year younger than Sydney. I’ll send you their contact information. They’re the only people I can think of, I’m sure there are others. There was a guy he used to work with out at the Wigwam.”
“Is this the same guy he lived with that Laura didn’t want around the kids?”
“It wasn’t so much that as Laura didn’t like the idea of the kids staying at a house with four single men she didn’t know much about.”
“I need those names and addresses.” If Charlie was in trouble, or if he was trying to lie low, going back to his previous residence would be an obvious option.
“Give me a couple minutes.”
“You have until the police come and leave,” she said.
“I’ll text you everything I find.” Logan hung up.
Margo had been starving; she finished the pizza in short order and tossed her trash in a receptacle in the lounge. She usually had toast or fruit in the morning, but today she’d rushed out without anything because she hadn’t gone to the store in a week and all she had in the house was stale bread, a black banana, a half-empty container of garlic dip from Trader Joe’s, and bottle of hot sauce her Aunt Rita had made.
Yes, when desperate, she was known to spread pretty much anything on a piece of bread.
She called her ex-boyfriend, Phoenix PD Sergeant Rick Devlin.
“I’m working,” he answered.
“That’s why I called. I need you to run a plate.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Grumpy.”
“Margo—”
“I’m working a case for Logan Monroe. His sister was run off the road last night with her kids in the car, someone broke into her house, her ex also had a break-in, and a black sedan has been watching his place but drove off before I could confront them. I got their plates.”
