“Detective, did I tell you that I once stopped a robbery with a tornado?” Leland asks.
“What?” she asks, confused. I don’t blame her; we all are.
“Yep,” he says then finger-guns the air.
“You shot someone during a robbery?”
“I fingered them. Like finger-gunned them. The only one I finger is Jackson. He likes it.”
I’m well aware that he’s using this as a tactic, and I think it’s just horrifying the lady, so… I guess tactic well done.
“Oh, my husband is like that too,” Sophia says as she finally gets up.
And now the two of them are over here with some strange plan of making Patel uncomfortable enough she’ll leave. Patel is standing stone still, like if she doesn’t move, she won’t play a part in this hell.
All the while our dead body lies mere feet from her. Really, she could probably bend down and touch it from here.
Sophia smiles as she walks over to Patel. “I just… I really want to thank you for being so concerned. It makes me feel safe. Do you think I need to take Cam and go somewhere else for a bit? Maybe I’ll go stay with my mother. I think maybe that’d be best.”
“If you do, please let me know, and I’d love to know the address. I just want to keep an eye on you and your son,” Patel says.
I can’t figure out whether that is packed full of concern or that’s her way of being even more nosy.
“I really appreciate it. I will,” Sophia promises while we usher the woman out of the garage and over to the front door. Just as Patel’s opening the door and relief is washing through us, the door swings open and Nathan nearly runs into her.
“Oh! I’m sorry, Detective, I didn’t know you were here. Is something going on?” he asks, immediately on edge.
“No, I was just making my rounds and checking in on your wife,” Patel says. “We had an incident where some peopleattacked Jackson and Leland, so we wanted to make sure you all were safe.”
“Oh my god. Are you two okay?” he asks.
If being okay includes helping your wife hide a dead body then… maybe.
“We’re fine. Jackson simply tossed his smolder their way and they collapsed,” Leland says for… some reason.
Nathan looks confused. “Oh, that’s… good?”
It’s okay, we’re all confused.
“Oh, don’t forget about that leak,” Patel says.
“What leak?” Nathan asks.
“Your wife found a leak under your car. Thought it was oil but it’s in the wrong area.”
“Strange,” he says as he moves past us and drops his bag on a chair.
“Do you think you could give me the number of the place you’d be going to? Address as well? Just so we can be safe?” Patel asks as she steps out onto the front porch and we follow her.
“Yeah, of course,” Sophia says before she quickly jots it down. I’m not quite surewhatshe jots down, since I don’t think she has any family alive, but she does it without hesitation.
And that’s when I hear a scream and a clang.
My head snaps to the side, and I realize he must have gone into the garage to check out the leak.
Leland is through the door in an instant, and by the time we get there, he’s holding Nathan in some type of strange embrace.
“WOW, was that a big rat,” Leland says. “Wasn’t it, Nathan?”
