Ben Rehder [Rehder - A Tooth for a Tooth

This one is for Martha Lind,
a sweet friend and avid reader who will be missed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Im lucky to have the best editing and proofreading team in the business, along with friends and family members who provide expert-level input on a variety of topics. Much appreciation to Tommy Blackwell, Becky Rehder, Helen Haught Fanick, Mary Summerall, Marsha Moyer, Stacia Miller, Linda Biel, Leo Bricker, Kathy Carrasco, Naomi West, Martin Grantham, John Strauss, Betty Blackwell, and Tony Turpin. All errors are my own.

1

People were stupid. No question about that. What kind of idiot leaves his car door unlocked all night in his driveway? A frigging retard, thats who.

Lennox had no qualms about stealing all their shit. They deserved it, basically. It would teach them a lesson, if they had any brains at all. Lock your damn doors. That was the lesson. Dont be a retard.

He was using the same method tonight that he always used. Drive out to one of the decent neighborhoods west of Austinout near Driftwood or Dripping Springs or Spicewoodwhere each home sat on a couple acres of land. Because the houses were spread out, the neighbors couldnt really see what was going on next door. Especially when it was two in the morning, when all the idiots and retards were sleeping.

This particular neighborhood was called Sunrise Vista Estates. How stupid. Marketing bullshit. Lennox had driven around the neighborhood a few days earlier and scoped it out. His ancient Honda Prelude didnt fit in too well with the newer cars parked in front of the homes, but that was fine. Anyone seeing him drive around at the time probably thought he was there to fix a sink or deliver a pizza. Morons.

Now, in the darkness, he killed the headlights and continued slowly down a long, straight road, using only the moonlight to guide him. He coasted to a stop on the shoulder beside a vacant lot, tapping the brakes for only a few seconds.

Then he sat in the Prelude quietly and waited. It was harder than hell, sitting there all fidgety and jittery, but he had to do it. If anyone had seen him pulling over and wondered what the hell he was doingand then decided theyd come out and investigate, like some kind of neighborhood badass enforcerthey would likely do it pretty quickly.

Ten minutes passed. The street remained dark.

Twenty minutes. He wasnt concerned about the cops. If someone called the sheriffs office about a strange car in the neighborhood, it wasnt like a deputy would rush over to check it out. That kind of call was low-priority bullshit. A deputy might not show until morning, or maybe not at all. The sheriff would simply log the call and forget about it unless there was a repeat call about the same car.

At the thirty-minute mark, Lennox was satisfied that everything was cool.

He opened his doorstill in darkness, because hed disabled the interior dome lightand stepped out. Closed the door quietly with a gentle push.

Then he set out on foot, taking quick but light steps on the asphalt. He was wearing dark clothes. Not using a flashlight.

Most of the homes were cloaked in near-total darkness. No porch lights burning. No lights illuminating the vehicles in the driveways. Perfect, but Jesus, how stupid could you be? Lennox knew for a fact that lights kept people like him away, but some of the retards out here in the boonies were too concerned about light pollution, or a high energy bill, or annoying the neighbors, or whatever.

Lennox had two ground rules. First, he didnt break into vehicles. The door had to be unlocked. And second, he didnt mess around with any vehicle that was parked more than forty or fifty feet from the street. That way he could check the doors and get back on the street real quick. Less risk. Easier to haul ass if he had to. Lennox figured some angry homeowner would be less likely to shoot him once hed reached the street. That was his theory, anyway. Nobody wanted to shoot a prowler and have him die on the street, because you could supposedly get in trouble for that shit.

Lennox stopped for a moment near a circular driveway in front of a large home built of sandstone. Parked right out front was a white Land Rover SUV. He didnt know what model it was. He didnt care. Why the hell would he care? What difference did it make?

He waited again. Just listening for any noise that might indicate someone was awake inside the home, or in any of the nearby homes.

But there was nothing. Just the sound of crickets or frogs or whatever that noise was.

Without wasting any more time, he followed the driveway around to the SUV and went to the drivers-side doorthe side closest to the streetand tried the handle. The door was unlocked. Frigging owner was a retard. Lennox quickly climbed into the SUV and closed the door behind him, to kill the interior lights.

Now he used the muted light from the screen of his phone to take a closer look around inside the SUVand he immediately saw some high-dollar equipment. Like a GPS navigation unit mounted on the left side of the dash. He pulled it loose and stuck it inside a plastic grocery sack. Then he grabbed a nice dash cam that was suction-cupped to the inside of the windshield.

He looked inside the center console and found a wallet. What an enormous idiot. Lennox took a quick glance inside and saw several hundred dollars in tens and twenties. He stuffed the cash into the sack. Left the rest.

In the passenger seat, underneath a gym bag, was an iPad. Now it was his. He made sure it was powered off and stuffed it into the sack.

He popped the glove compartment and saw a small silver handgun inside a holster. Lennox paused for a moment. He wasnt into guns, and in fact he was a little bit scared of them. Hed stolen a couple, but hed never fired one. This one was probably worth several hundred dollars.

Just as he reached for it, the porch light of the house popped on.

Lennox laid his phone flat against his thigh, killing the light, and froze.

Nothing happened for a full minute. Maybe the person inside was looking out the window, too scared to come outside.

Then the front door of the house slowly swung open.

Jesus frigging Christ. Lennox had never been caught before. Not for burglary. Should he jump from the SUV and try to run? If the owner of the SUV had a gun in his car, he probably had several more inside the house, right?

After what seemed a very long time, a man appeared in the doorway. Middle-aged dude. Thin brown hair and a paunch. Wearing a blue T-shirt and sweatpants.

And holding a shotgun loosely in his left hand.

Lennox didnt dare move. Despite the porch light, the interior of the SUV remained bathed in shadows. The man with the shotgun probably couldnt see Lennox. He stood in the doorway for thirty seconds, then raised his right hand and pointed it at the SUV.