What Passes For Normal

Chapter 30

Across the street Teddy spotted a guy in a hoodie and dark jacket. Something about him made Teddy take a second look, something familiar. Teddy remembered Kodi and his friends on the front lawn, taunting him and Darwin. That walk. One of the guys that night had the same walk, kind of a swagger. Was it him?

When the guy saw Teddy looking at him he turned his head quickly away. Teddy called out, "Hey!" and the guy started walking faster. When Teddy stepped onto the street toward him, the guy broke into a run. Teddy went after him and Jello and Byron followed.

"Wait up!" Teddy shouted after him. "I just want to talk to you!"

"Be careful!" Teddy heard Uncle Joe shout behind him as he rounded a corner in pursuit. The guy was fast but Teddy was faster. As they cut through a parking lot going from Fort Street onto Langley, the guy looked back over his shoulder.

"Hold on a sec!" Teddy shouted. "It's about Darwin!"

The guy didn't slow down at all, but Teddy was gaining on him. He was only five or six strides behind now and Teddy debated what to do if he caught him. Tackle him to the ground? What if he had a knife? The plan didn't matter because suddenly the guy stopped running. Teddy stopped too.

They stood catching their breath a few metres apart, staring each other down. The guy made some ludicrous motions like he was going to rush him, but Teddy stood his ground. Behind him Teddy heard Jello and Byron stop running. They were ten or fifteen metres back.

"All good, T?" Jello called out. Teddy motioned for them to stay there.

"You know Kodi, right?" Teddy said to the guy. "You were with him at my house the other night."

He just smirked and didn't say anything.

"Do you know what's going on with Darwin?" Teddy asked. Still no answer.

"Do you know where she is?" Teddy asked.

The guy smiled again and shook his head. He knows, Teddy thought.

"Somewhere you're not gonna find her," the guy said.

"Listen," Teddy said, trying to sound calm and friendly, "if you guys just let her go, the police don't even have to know anything, OK? But, if you guys... if anything happens to Darwin, it isn't only Kodi who goes to jail. You know that, right?"

"Accessory to a kidnapping, dumbass!" shouted Jello. Teddy hadn't realized that he and Byron had moved to within earshot.

"Pretty fucking serious!" added Byron.

"Fuck you!" the guy yelled and bolted. Teddy went after him.

Hoodie guy raced up the pedestrian walkway running between Langley and Government Street, cut right on Government then left onto View Street. Teddy kept pace with him but didn't try to get closer. He didn't think the guy was going to lead him to Darwin, but he figured he'd get tired pretty soon and then maybe he'd talk.

A very loud, short burst of a siren startled Teddy. A police car was coming up a side street. Should he keep going and hope the cops wouldn't chase? He thought better of it and slowed down. The car turned onto View Street and pulled up next to him.

"What's going on?" asked the driver, a blonde-haired guy, probably in his thirties. Teddy could see his partner in the passenger seat, an Asian guy. They looked more amused than anything else, perhaps pleased that something was livening up a boring early morning.

"Nothing," said Teddy. "Well, not nothing. I'm chasing that guy cuz I think he knows where my friend Darwin is. She's missing. I filed a report."

"Uh, yeah," said the driver. "We were briefed on it. Why do you think that guy knows something?"