Side Story #1 - Colt - Page 38

He kept observing Malcolm Beaumont for a few more minutes. The man just stood there like a statue, watching the empty street, until he finally made his way back into the diner.

Colt wondered the hell had been going through Malcolm's head throughout that whole encounter. Had he just been trying to protect old lady behind the bar? According to Boh, the two men hadn't been violent or even threatening. And if trying to protect her was his motivation, then why had he changed his mind once they got outside?

Hmm.

Maybe Malcolm suspected that they knew something about or were otherwise involved in Rex's death. That might explain his initial outburst. Or hell, the outburst could've been a ploy just to get them outside so that they could talk more privately. Then, maybe Malcolm figured that trying to work with them--or at least pretending to--would be more productive than picking a fight.

Eh. That was a lot of maybes. Colt knew he was probably read too much into the actions of a half-drunk stranger, but still. Trying to discern motives was an important part of detective work.

And he didn't think Malcolm was a complete idiot, either. The man had showed signs of cunning back Fred's store.

It would make sense if Malcolm was privately investigating his friend's death.

But of course, Colt didn't actually have confirmation that they were friends. He wished could learn more about their relationship without having talk to Malcolm directly. If he could manage that much, then he could at least start regarding Malcolm as less of a suspect and perhaps even something of an ally in this investigation.

That was probably pushing it, though. A partner would obviously be enormously helpful, but the risks currently outweighed the benefits in Colt's mind. And no doubt, they always would.

Ah, well.

The situation had resolved itself, he supposed. And hell, he might've even been better off now. Malcolm had not only run the Muetts out of town for him but also disincentivized them from returning, which further lowered the probability that anyone would ever find their missing thugs. That was good news. Sort of.

Finally, Colt returned home. It was barely midday, but he was already starting to feel tired. Probably the lingering effects of overexerting himself a few days ago. It wasn't as bad as yesterday, but it was still obnoxious, and he couldn't wait until his body was back to normal.

As he pulled up to the cabin, he noticed a familiar figure already waiting for him at his front door.

Alice Ridgemont was there, leaning against the wall with her hands together. Her bicycle was right next to her, propped up on its kickstand.

He was a bit surprised. He'd told her that he would be out today, so he figured that she would just check in on Brick tomorrow, but apparently not.

He parked the car and got out.

"Hello!" Her white-and-gold robes fluttered as she gave him a wave.

"Hey," he said flatly. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, not too long. Don't worry."

His natural frown deepened. "I didn't tell you what time I would be out or when I would be back."

"Yeah, I just kinda guessed."

He tried not to sigh. "If you were going to show up today, anyway, you should've told me."

Her natural smile lessened. "Are you angry? Ah, I guess I am intruding..."

"I'm not angry," he said, somewhat angrily. "I just meant, we could've organized the timing better so that you weren't stuck out here waiting for me."

She brightened right back up and skipped over to the car. "Oh, so you were just concerned about me, then. That's sweet, but it really is fine. If you weren't home, I would've just gone and had lunch on my own."

Alright, whatever. He made no response and moved to retrieve the stroller from the trunk. How she could be so cheery about everything, he had no fucking idea. Some people were just wired differently, he supposed.

"Oh!" she said upon seeing it. "So that's what you were up to. I was curious."

"If you were curious, you could've just asked."

"Really? You would've told me?"

He gave her a look. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I have? This look like a secret to you?"

She gave a light shrug and went around to the other side of the car. "I don't know. You just seem... you know..."

He didn't know. "I seem, what?"

"Just. Um. Very. Ah. You seem like a very private person. That's all I'm saying."

He just looked at her.

And she looked back.

"...Well, you're not wrong." He bent down and retrieved Thomas from the backseat. And he moved to grab Stephanie as well with his other arm, but Alice opened the other door and picked her up first.

"There we are," said Alice, using a baby voice. "You are a such a cutie, you know that? I bet you do, don't you? Yes, you do."

And in spite of himself, Colt was tense.

Alice had never actually held one of the twins before, but she'd been playing with them constantly over the last few days. And they clearly liked her.

And... he supposed he trusted her. Sort of.

But still. He was trying his hardest not to say or do anything crazy, right now. This was a perfectly normal situation. Alice was just a regular woman, doing a regular thing. It was nothing to lose his shit over.

She carried Stephanie over to the stroller and placed her in first, then looked up at Colt, who'd just been standing there and watching with Thomas in his arms the whole time. From the expression on her face, she didn't think she'd done anything strange.

Well, because she hadn't.

She had no way of knowing that she was the first person besides him to pick one of them up in months.

Come to think of it, the last person had been Hector Goffe.

He'd known that all along, of course, but suddenly, that seemed like an insane notion to Colt's mind, somehow.

Goddammit.

These kids were going to grow up starved for social interaction and turn out like this weirdo Alice if he didn't do something about it.