Savage Noir

  Chapter 53 Mrs. Latham’s caregiver drove off one hour later. I waited until she turned off Chenery and disappeared.  I crossed the street, amped up with coffee and my own adrenalin. Chill, I told myself. Her yapping dog announced my presence. I rang the doorbell. And waited. More barking. As I rang again, I watched the door’s peephole.  Insane barking. I saw a shadow. “Reggie! You stop that!” Whimpering from Reggie, then a shriek of pain. She had probably whacked him or brushed him aside with her foot.  “Who is it?” Sounding cautious and annoyed. For a second I felt guilty that I had disrupted her morning. “Jimmy Redmond. I’m a friend of Jason’s.” “Jimmy,” she muttered softly. “Jimmy…”   “We were buddies at Mission High. Classes, wrestling…” I knew better than to say we were on the team together. It would be too easy to look up. She opened the door a crack. “You don’t look familiar.” “That was a long time ago. My hair was longer then.

  Chapter 52 Since Terry was a night owl, I had assigned the night watch to him. He was parked just up the street in my old Honda, probably listening to music through his earphones. Which I had discouraged. Midmorning found me hopping onto a northbound BART, which was nearly empty. The commuters were headed the opposite way, toward the city. Which got me thinking. Any one of them could have walked by young Rip Van Winkle and called it in on his way to work.  I left the Glen Park station and dropped into nearby Belo Coffee & Tea and bought a black coffee to go. Terry was sound asleep when I rapped on the window. No earphones in sight. Good. “Wake up, Mr. Winkle.” No response. I walked around, unlocked the passenger door and slid in and shook him. “Huh?” “Time to wake up, partner.” I stuck the coffee just below his nose. His nostrils flared. Progress. He opened his eyes. “Just taking a break,” he mumbled. “Yeah, right.” I could sympathize. H