I had to admit that was a bit weird. Of course, it was possible that someone had gotten out while Haruto wasn’t looking and was now hung up on a problem with a particularly tricky delivery, but there was something about its too black glass that I didn’t like.
“Shall we go say hello?” I said to Fletcher.
She grinned, the expression just a little bit wicked.
“What about me?” Haruto asked, dropping his hold on the slim slat to twine his fingers together.
What about him? If there was some kind of danger, obviously, I didn’t want him anywhere near it, but at the same time, I wanted to know if he recognized anyone in the van. I decided his safety was the most important thing. “Wait here. Keep your phone close.”
Haruto looked relieved, shoulders slumping slightly as he let out the breath he’d been holding. He walked us back down the corridor and used his card to grant us access to the elevator, joining us on the ride down to the lobby where he would wait, hidden, while we went out to speak to his supposed stalkers.
Fletcher and I left the Highland Archive Centre and sauntered down the pavement towards the van as if we hadn’t a care in the world, though I hooked my thumb through a belt loop near my holster. The vehicle didn’t move as we approached, and I winked at Fletcher as I reached out and rapped on the window. After a moment, it began to roll down, something squeaking within the mechanism. Two young men stared out at us with flat expressions on their faces underneath all the stubble.
“What’s the crack, guys?” I said with false cheer.
The one in the passenger’s seat puffed on the cigarette. “There a problem?”
“Can I ask what you’re doing here?” I said, still smiling, though there was a sharp edge to the expression.
“Deliveries.”
“What sort of deliveries?”
“Who wants to know?”
The smile sank off my face. If they were really out on deliveries, they wouldn’t mind telling us the truth, but he kept answering a question with a question, and I didn’t like it.
“Inverness Police,” Fletcher said smoothly. “Normally, we’d leave you to your business, but you are loitering outside an active investigation, so I’m sure you understand why we decided to check-in.”
I peered between the men as Fletcher spoke, trying to search the vehicle subtly for anything incriminating. Both men dressed in grey and black, and I was sure I saw the bulge of a pistol under the passenger’s dark denim jacket. What kind of delivery man needed a gun? There was a manilla folder stuffed between the seat and the centre console, but its contents were tucked neatly inside, leaving nothing for the curious eye. The truck’s berth was cut off from the front half by a reflective glass partition and a band of steel mesh.
“Just doing your job, huh?” the driver sneered. “Is your job harassing random people?”
“Sometimes, yes,” I joked. I didn’t know if we wanted to tip our hand that investigating Haruto’s claims of stalking or leave him out of it. These people, if they were following him, would either move up the timetable for whatever it was they wanted to do, or they would leave him alone.
I decided to take the risk to see if I could get a reaction out of them. “Is there a reason Haruto Sato thinks you're stalking him?” I asked bluntly.
“Never heard of him,” the man said, but the skin around his eyes tightened just for a second. “Well, if there’s nothing else, we need to go. We’ve got a tight delivery schedule.”
“Of course. I’m sure that’s why you’ve been sitting here so long.” I patted the open window with my hand and winked at the men inside before I finally stepped back. “Come on, Fletcher. Gentlemen.”
The driver gave me a phoney, one-finger salute and then rolled up the window and started the car. Fletcher and I watched them reverse out of their parking spot and take off down the street.
“Do you think they’re actually watching Haruto?” Fletcher said.
“Seems like it.”
“And you want to follow them, don’t you?”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
We hurried back to our own car and peeled out after the white van. The roads around the park were wide and long, so the shady men were still well within sight, and it wasn’t hard to wind our way after them, gaining ground while trying not to get too close.
“Are you sure about this?” Fletcher asked as she texted Haruto to let him know what we were doing. He no doubt became concerned when he saw us leave so quickly.
“Of course.”
I was not, but I was running on my gut. It was all I had to go on.
As soon as we left the lazy streets between the parks, the white delivery van noticed us following and hit the gas, ducking between the lanes and taking a sharp right turn. That wasn’t suspicious at all. I had to hit the brakes before I could follow as a small blue car cut me off in the oncoming lane. As soon as it passed, I popped the clutch and screeched through the turn, accelerating rapidly as I swapped through the gears. I caught a glimpse of the van’s tail end whipping around another corner, and since the street was empty, I had no trouble edging my speed higher and higher. I shifted into neutral as I hit the turn, using the car’s momentum to make it through, jumping back into gear as soon as I could.
But the delivery van was gone. I snapped my head around, searching for it even as I kept my speed high.
“There!” Fletcher yelled, pointing down an intersection as we flew past it, and I cursed. I wasn’t very familiar with the streets in this part of town, and Inverness wasn’t laid out like one of those American cities where the whole thing was a grid, and you could predict where each one would wind up.
So I hit the
