“Mr. Graves?” he implored. “We don’t want to take up too much of your time, but we were wondering if you wouldn’t mind talking to us about the damage you repaired to the boat, or any other damage you noticed when it was brought in.”
Another grunt came from underneath the boat. “Yes, there was damage to it.”
Silence again, as Kelsi and Dylan waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t. They shared a pained but equally amused look.
“Right,” Dylan began again. “Can you describe the damage you saw for us, please?”
“I could.” Mr. Graves was quiet again for a second, and Dylan thought he would have to drag the man out and force him to givethem actual answers. Luckily for all of them, Mr. Graves rolled out from underneath the hull with another of his heavy sighs. The man could trademark those. “Would it be easier if I showed you?”
Dylan and Kelsi looked at each other, shocked.
“Show us? You have pictures?” Dylan held his breath. Yes, he and Kelsi had hoped that he would have photographic evidence to share with them, but they hadn’t been sure.
Mr. Graves clambered to his feet, walking to a digital camera they hadn’t noticed before hanging from its strap on the wall of tools. He pulled it down and fiddled with it, pressing a couple of buttons before he passed it to them. Kelsi grabbed it carefully, and, holding it between the two of them, they flipped through the pictures.
Clear as day, a large and jagged scratch sat along the starboard side. This was exactly what they had needed. Dylan and Kelsi locked eyes over the camera, having a silent conversation.
Seemingly satisfied, Kelsi asked if they could get copies of the pictures. Mr. Graves grunted a yes, and they were able to transfer the photos to Kelsi’s phone with a SIM card adapter that she apparently carried with her in case of this exact situation. Dylan would never understand how women always seemed to have anything and everything imaginable in their purses. He tilted his head at different angles and squinted his eyes to look at the dimensions of her bag. Seriously, were those things bottomless?
“Why didn’t you tell the police you had these?” she asked Mr. Graves.
“Well, that’s ’cause they didn’t ask. Not my job to do the work of the police for them. I got enough to do around here to keep me busy.” He waved his wrench around to emphasize his point.
When all the pictures were uploaded to her phone, Kelsi spoke gently. “Mr. Graves, would you consider testifying in this case?”
“Don’t see why you need me. You got them pictures.” He stuck his hand with the wrench back into the engine. “No.”
“No?” Dylan echoed.
“No,” Mr. Graves repeated.
“Please, sir.” Kelsi jumped back in the conversation, casting Dylan a look while Mr. Graves still had his back to them.
Dylan cleared his throat to help her. “The pictures are incredible, really; they will make a difference in this case. But we can’t introduce the photographs unless we have someone on the stand to testify that they’re accurate representations of the boat and its damage. That’s where you would come in.”
Mr. Graves was silent for a long time, hands frozen, eyes trained on the engine in front of him. “Okay,” he said finally. “I can take a day off, I guess. The boats ain’t goin’ nowhere without me. If only so that boy gets what’s coming for him. Ya know, he told me my work was subpar. Subpar!” he emphasized, waving the wrench in his hand agitatedly, causing Kelsi and Dylan to each jump from their stools and take a giant step back out of the danger zone.
Dylan’s leg screamed at him in protest, but he leaned his weight to the right and ignored it.
“Now, I haven’t forgotten what you two did to that poor boat all them years ago. I don’t want you around these ones any longer.”
“Thank you, Mr. Graves,” Kelsi gushed sincerely, before she and Dylan cast each other conspiratory smiles.
CHAPTER 18
Kelsi
17 Days to Trial
She’d avoided hermom since their fight. As she stared up at her childhood home, the anxiety crept in. This was the biggest fight they’d had in a long time. It didn’t help that she knew her anger toward her mom had been valid but misplaced.
Really, Kelsi had been angrier at herself and at how she still got sidetracked by Dylan. Even though she’d had years to tackle her hang-ups with him, he still got to her.
Kelsi raised her hand to knock before lowering it, then repeated the action. She leaned her head back to stare at the porch roof, inhaling a deep breath for five seconds before exhaling. “Come on, Kelsi, you’re being ridiculous,” she chided herself. Before she lost her nerve, she rapped her knuckles sharply against the blue door three times in quick succession.
Loud barks and a series of thumps sounded from behind the door. Kelsi could imagine Savannah and Bailey tripping over each other on their way to investigate the noise, most likely hoping it was a certain delivery driver with a monthly dog treat subscription. Her mom’s voice, threaded with laughter, filtered through the door, and Kelsi tensed, wringing her hands together.
“All right, all right! Settle down, you two. Go sit.” Her mom swung the door open on the last word, still looking toward her two furballs.
