Page 360 of A Matter of Time

My plan was simple and logical, because the way I figured it, I had one course of action left open to me. I had to retrace my steps and start from where the car and I had been abandoned by the carjackers. They had wanted to check what they’d stolen, and would have done that close to, but not in, their own neighborhood. My first step was to locate them, because working backward would eventually lead me to where I’d been held. It seemed quite reasonable, so I returned to where I’d been last and walked until I found an area with lots of foot traffic.

There was a liquor store, a corner market with bars on the windows, several single-room-occupancy hotels, a pawnshop, one of those payday loan places, and a strip club. And while I wasn’t certain this was my carjackers’ neighborhood, it was closest to where I’d been.

The room I rented usually went by the hour instead of by the day. That was what the manager had told me as he counted the four twenty-dollar bills I gave him. He usually didn’t give out a bathroom key, but since I’d given him cash, I was given access. I wasn’t to loan it out though. He didn’t have to worry; I wasn’t planning on having company over. I took up my place in the window of my room and watched the vacant lot across the street from me. I was convinced of one thing—the two guys who had stolen the car from the kidnappers lived somewhere in the neighborhood. People were creatures of habit, so my theory was that if I just staked out the liquor store, I would find the men I was looking for.

The heat in the room was minimal, so I had my parka, heavy scarf, and beanie on as I looked through Sam’s binoculars across the street. I called my brother on my burner phone as I kept watch.

“Who is this?”

“Me,” I said distractedly, scanning the area in front of me.

“Jory,” he gasped, sounding relieved and mad at the same time. “Where are you?”

“I’m on a stakeout,” I told my brother. “How’s Sam?”

“He woke up this morning, and he wants you.”

“Nice try,” I said slowly, checking up and down the street. “I talked to one of the nurses and she said he was sleeping soundly and they’re gonna move him out of the ICU today.”

“Where are you?”

“I answered already.”

“What does that even mean? You’re on a stakeout where?”

“See, I have a theory.”

“God, do I even want to know?”

“No, listen—if I can start at where I ended up, at where the car was dumped, and find the guys that took the car from the kidnappers, then I’ve got a jumping-off point.”

“And you don’t think the cops thought of this?”

“Since I didn’t tell them what the carjackers looked like, I’m gonna go with no, they never thought of it.”

There was a silence.

“Why didn’t you tell them?”

“Because basically, they saved my life, right? I didn’t want them to get in trouble for that.”

“Which is admirable, but now you should turn this over to the police. They have access to CCTV surveillance that you do not. I’m certain if you told them, they could find these men much faster than you. Letting the police take it from here is still the best option.”

“So you think it sounds good? Backtracking?”

“You didn’t listen to a word I said.”

“But it is smart, don’t you think?”

“Yes,” he said irritably. “When you lose something, you retrace your steps. You want to know where you were, so you backtrack to the last place. That makes sense.”

“See?”

“But that doesn’t mean you should be the one to do it or do it alone. Tell me where you are and I’ll come sit with you.”

“No, thanks. I’ve got this.”

“The hell you do. The guy who wants you could be watching you right now. You could be hurt or worse so… just tell me where the hell you are before I call the police.”