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"Your guy has a record," Ethan said triumphantly.
"What is it for?" Connor asked. Even now, they were parking outside the building and staring at his front door. Behind it, Cami now knew, a criminal lived.
"Assault. Get this—five years ago, he got into a fight with the neighbor, who would have been Tracy’s ex-husband. The guy accused him of being a peeping Tom and spying on his wife. Mario denied it, but in the process, he got angry and assaulted the other guy. He was given a suspended sentence and also, I understand, the neighbor sued him and won. He had to pay about thirty thousand dollars as compensation."
Cami's eyes widened. That explained why Mario had moved to this cheaper accommodation. And it also pointed to him having a real grudge against Tracy and perhaps other residents in his old area. He might resent everyone for the actions of a few and be looking to get payback on the entire community.
"You think this could be a revenge move?" she asked Connor when he had cut the call.
But he wasn't jumping to any conclusions yet. "I think we need to ask him that. Let's get face to face with him, and he can tell us."
Connor got out of the car, walked confidently into the building and up to the apartment’s front door, and knocked sharply on it. The sound was loud, even over the noise of passing traffic and a faraway sound of hammering and welding from the auto repair shops beyond.
But Mario didn't come to the door.
Connor knocked again and Cami started feeling worried. What if they couldn't locate this man? They needed him urgently. They had to get a suspect in custody by this evening. They could not afford any delays.
At that moment, the door flew open with a bang, but it wasn't Mario's door. The door to the left, belonging to the apartment next door, opened suddenly to reveal a gray-haired man with a long handlebar mustache and an irritable expression.
"You're disturbing the peace. He's not home!" the man snapped.
Connor turned to him and politely showed his ID. "We need to question Mr. Mario Donde regarding crimes in the area. Do you know where he is?"
The man paused. Cami got the sense that he was deliberating on who he disliked more, Mario or law enforcement. She didn't think either was far down on the list. But the pendulum came down in their favor. The man jerked his thumb in the direction of the auto repair shops on the other side of the street.
"He works there. At Reg's Repairs. That's where he'll be now."
"Thank you," Connor said.
Feeling the pressure mounting, Cami followed him across the road.
Reg's Repairs looked like it had been a warehouse, once upon a time, that had been converted into an auto repair shop. Inside, it was cavernous and had an open floor plan. The workshop area was massive, with light in front, growing dark toward the back. There were about twelve cars in various states of disassembly inside. The sound of banging, hammering, welding, and drilling filled the air, which smelled of oil and scorched metal.
Connor stopped one of the workmen who was hurrying out, rolling a tire, and asked, "FBI here. Is Mario Donde around?"
The man pointed to the far corner of the warehouse, where Cami saw a lean, muscular man at work on a car, with a toolbox beside him. Leaning over the open bonnet, Cami saw that he had a tousled head of dark hair and a slightly rounded, cherubic face, but Cami knew that appearances could be deceptive.
As they walked towards him, Cami's stomach was tight with nerves.
"FBI," Connor said when they reached the man. "Are you Mario Donde?"
Mario's head jerked up. He stared at them in surprise, which quickly turned to horror.
And then, he flung the spanner at them.
The heavy tool arced through the air and Cami instinctively ducked, feeling it flash above her, hearing the resounding clang as it hit a metal pillar behind her.
And then, with a thud of feet, Mario turned and began running, as if for his life, into the darkened depths of the repair shop.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Cami straightened up, feeling appalled. That spanner had almost hit her. It could have hurt her badly. And now, things were moving like lighting as, with a curse, Connor powered in pursuit of the fleeing motor mechanic. She had only a moment to take in this situation before realizing that she, too, should be chasing Mario Donde down.
There was no way she could keep up with him; he was racing as if he had been shot from a cannon. But she couldn't just stand by and let him get away.
He was fleeing toward the back of the large warehouse. Where was he headed? There was a door at the far side. But where could that lead?
Into the back streets?
