AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“When my colleague picked up the box to log it into evidence, a bomb was triggered. Fortunately, we were able to disarm the bomb, so you’re facing an attempted murder charge of an officer of the law instead of murder. The bomb was similar in design to the bomb planted on theWater Lily.ATF is currently analyzing the material to determine if it came from the same C-4 shipment that was stolen from a construction company in Bellingham, Washington, which matches the material in both bombs.”
Matt stared at Avila, who now looked both worried and confused.
“None of that is in my house,” Avila said. “You got the wrong house.”
“We didn’t get the wrong house.” Matt showed him the address on the warrant and additional photos.
“That’s not my box. I’ve never seen it. I swear.”
“It was behind a panel in your dining room.”
“No, it couldn’t have been.”
“In the den off the living room.”
“See? It’s not mine. I don’t even use that closet. The house belongs to my brother-in-law. I rent it from him during the summer when I work for him. I mean, he gives it to me cheap—I pay enough to cover utilities and stuff. All the other times of the year he has it up on Airbnb. That’s it—whoever was there before me left it. Ask him. He’ll tell you.”
Avila was grasping at straws, trying to find a way out from under the mounting evidence.
Catherine spoke up for the first time. “Damon—may I call you Damon?”
He nodded.
“Did you know Neil Devereaux?”
“Yeah, of course. You know that.”
“I do?”
“I talked to that other agent, the cute blonde. I told her he used to come in a lot.”
“Okay. Did you know him well?”
“Like as well as any regular at the pub. He was friends with Pete, my brother-in-law. Talked to him a lot. They, um, both lost their wives to cancer, they just got close, I guess.”
“Did Neil ever talk to you about the cold case he was investigating?”
“No. I mean, everyone knew he was looking into it, and he once asked if I’d known Brian and Jason. I said sort of, not really, because I really didn’t know them. University of Washington is huge. I mean, I might have known them, but I don’t remember, you know.”
He was overtalking, which was always a good sign.
Catherine asked, “Do you mean to say that you knew them but not well, or you told Neil you knew them, but you really didn’t?”
“The first one—I mean, I might have had a class with one of them or something, it was a long time ago. I knew their names.”
Suddenly, Matt saw exactly where Catherine was going with this and he now knew why Neil thought Avila was guilty.
“How did you injure your knee?” she asked.
He stared at her and said nothing.
“Damon, you do remember the accident that shattered your leg, an injury so serious that your football career was over.”
“It was a car accident,” he said quietly. “I don’t like to think about it.”
She nodded and removed the accident report from her file. She turned it so he could read it. “Do you see the name on the fifth line? Under ‘other vehicles involved’?”
He didn’t comment.
