Guilty By Association

Chapter 32 - Unwanted Hurtle

Chapter 32 – Unwanted Hurtle

As the car came to a stop, Dylan had second thoughts.

“Maybe I should go talk to him, alone? Man to man? He’s my friend. It’ll be weird if I brought you with me, you know? I don’t want him to think that I suspect him.” Anxiety was clear in Dylan’s voice, and Alex understood where Dylan was coming from, but Alex didn’t come all the way here just to wait in the car.

“I suspect him.” Alex said. “I’m not sitting in the car, and this is not a friendly visit. I’m here to ask him questions. You’re here, because you begged me to come. You were on desk duty, remember? You shouldn’t be here, right now.” That shut Dylan up. “Let’s go.”

Getting out of the car, Alex did a quick scan of the neighborhood. It was a nice, clean neighborhood. Across the street, Alex spotted a middle-aged woman come out of her house to pick up the newspaper that was sitting on her lawn. She eyed Alex and Dylan with curiosity, and Alex resisted the urge to smile. He loved curious, nosy neighbors. They were always useful when it came to asking questions. He made a mental note to speak to her after speaking to Chris.

They went up the path and to the door. Dylan was the one who stepped forward so that he could ring the doorbell. Moments went by, but no one answered the door. Dylan rang the doorbell again.

Still, there was no response.

“Maybe he’s not home?” Dylan suggested.

“It’s early.” Alex pointed out. Where could have Chris gone so early?

“I’ll call him.” Dylan offered, his palm reaching into his pocket so he could retrieve his phone. He pulled it out and called Chris. “No one’s answering.” He said.

“He’s running, then.” Alex declared, anger fueling his words. “He’s bloody gone! God! I was such an idiot. I should have realized it sooner. He’s done something wrong and now he’s gone.” He slammed his fist against the wall.

Dylan stayed silent, letting Alex fume silently.

Alex suspected it was because Dylan didn’t agree with what Alex was thinking. Dylan probably thought his buddy was running an early morning errand.  If that really was the case, then Alex, too, would be relieved.

“I’m going to go talk to the nosy neighbor.” He finally declared, eying the house across the street. He was sure there was a pair of eyes peeping through the curtains and Alex wasn’t there to put on a show.

Dylan agreed to join him.

The woman answered the door immediately, as if she was already behind the door when they rang the doorbell. She took in the two handsome men standing on her porch. “Yes?” She asked, in a voice that instantly annoyed Alex. No matter how useful these nose neighbors were, nearly all of their voices annoyed Alex. He didn’t know if it was a psychological thing, or nosy neighbors all tended to have annoying voices.

“We’re FBI, ma’am. We just want to ask you a couple questions.” Dylan said, flashing his badge. “Do you know the man that lives in the house across the street?” For reference, Dylan pointed to Chris’s house.

“Are you talking about Chris Anderson?” She asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Yes, ma’am.” Alex said, a little impatiently.