By now, I knew what she drove. It was a vintage Ford Fiesta – cute in that artistic sort of way. Usually, she parked in the driveway, not inside either of the two garages. Peering through the darkness, I saw no sign of her car.
Instead, I saw a dark sedan – a Mercedes from the looks of it. So Chloe wasn't home? Where was she? Working?
In front of me, Leo was still talking. "I saw you move in. A couple months ago, right? You liking it so far?"
Well, that that depends, Leo. Are you Chloe's dad? Or the guy who's fucking her?
I kept my tone neutral. "I'm liking it alright."
"Good. Glad to hear it," Leo said. "Me? I've had the house a while now. Nice place." He glanced toward the bonus garage. "Except when the circuit blows."
I followed his gaze. "The circuit?"
"Or the panel. Whatever it's called. The electric. You know."
With that piss-poor description, Ididn'tknow. But the way it looked, neither did he. "Right," I said.
"Don't ask me why," Leo said, "but the guy who built this place? He put the panel in theunattachedgarage. In Michigan. Can you believe it? The thing blows in the middle of winter, and what am I doing? Walking through a foot of snow to flip the damn breaker. Crazy, huh?"
It wasn't winter yet. Andsomethingabout this was crazy. But what kind of crazy, I still wasn't sure. I wanted a better look. I glanced toward the garage and said what a normal neighbor might say. "Need some help?"
"Nah," Leo said. "I've got a guy coming. I'm in town for just tonight, so it's a rush thing." He glanced down at his watch, a Rolex by the looks of it. "Flight leaves in five hours, so I’m in a pinch here."
I worked hard to keep my voice neighborly. "You work out of town?"
The guy chuckled. "Work, fun, same difference. I'll be gone a few weeks, maybe more." He smiled like we were best buddies. "Depends on the action, you know?"
I didn't know. And I wasn't sure that I wanted to. But I asked, anyway. "What kind of action?"
"Eh, I'm in the entertainment biz. Kind of like you." He glanced toward my house. "Speaking of which, I bet you've got some nice honeys in there, huh?"
"Honeys?"
"You know. Girls. I don't want to get weird or anything. But –" He gave me an oily grin. "– I saw that tape of yours." He barked out a laugh. "Man, you really stuck it to her."
I gave him a good, long look. Twice my age or not, I wanted to smack that smile off his face. If this jackasswasChloe's dad, it would go a long way in explaining why she hadn't introduced us. The guy was an embarrassment, even by my own shitty standards.
But I had to know for sure. "So," I said, trying for that same neighborly tone, "you got any kids?"
"Yeah," he said. "One. You?"
Something in my shoulders eased, not a lot, but enough to feel it. "No," I said. "No kids."
The guy laughed. "Not that you know of, huh?"
I knew. I'd been careful. Still, I managed to say, "Right."
The guy leaned closer, looking toward my place. "So the reason I stopped you, is I was wondering something."
That made two of us. "Yeah?" I said. "What?"
"You ever need extra girls, like for parties?"
I froze. What the hell was he asking?
"Aw come on," he said. "We're just two guys talking, right?" He gave a loose shrug. "I mean, I know how it is."
"Yeah?" I felt my jaw clench. "How is it?"