I struggled not to laugh.“Seriously?”
“Yep.It was a nice night, and I needed some fresh air.”
“Whose boat did you use?”
“It was one of the community boats.”He chewed at a hangnail, avoiding my gaze.“I told Ray I was taking it out.”
“Did you?”I studied him and got the feeling maybe he was lying.Surely he knew I’d check.“You know, I’ll ask Ray about that, right?”
He looked uneasy.“Oh, yeah, maybe I forgot to tell him that time.Sometimes I forget.”
You sure you just didn’t want anyone knowing you were taking the boat out, Craig?
“And Ray doesn’t mind that you take the boat out without telling him?”I asked skeptically.That was complete bullshit.Ray was a very organized guy.No way in hell he was cool with people using the boats and not telling him.
“Sure.”
I laughed gruffly.“I find that really hard to believe.”
He bristled.“You calling me a liar?”
“No, I just find it hard to believe Ray doesn’t care if people use the boats without telling him.”I paused.“But it’s no biggie.It’ll all get cleared up when I ask Ray.”
“Whatever,” he muttered, going back to attacking his hangnail.
“So you took the boat out just to get some fresh air, that’s your statement?”I smiled politely.
“That’s right.I went out because it was a nice night.You should try it sometime.Maybe you wouldn’t be so uptight.”He looked smug, as if he thought he’d really pulled one over on me.
I watched him for a bit, formulating how I wanted to drop the other bomb on him about what Lena overheard him saying.I clasped my hands on the tabletop and met his surly gaze.“And you just happened to go out on the night Eddie Salcedo died.”
“What of it?”
I leaned forward.“Because I have a credible witness who overheard you saying you were going to kill Eddie for sleeping with your wife.”
This time he looked rattled.His eyes widened, and he sat forward, face red.“What?”
“I have a credible witness—”
“They’re lying,” he snarled, starting to stand.
“Sit down, Craig,” I said, standing to meet him.The man had six inches and probably sixty pounds on me, and I had no illusions about how that would go if it got physical.But we were in my station, on camera, and Craig knew that.After a tense few seconds, he dropped back into his chair.
I sat back down slowly, keeping my eyes on him.The room was quiet except for the hum of the fluorescent light overhead.Craig was breathing hard, his nostrils flaring, but he stayed in his chair.The fight had gone out of him, at least physically.What replaced it was something closer to panic.
“Nobody is lying, Craig.”I kept my voice level.“You were seen on security footage taking a boat out the night Eddie died.And a credible witness heard you threaten to kill Eddie Salcedo.Those are facts.Now you can keep telling me you went out for fresh air on a nice night, or you can tell me the truth.But I want you to think very carefully about which one of those options is going to help you more right now.”
He stared at the table.His massive hands were flat on the surface now, fingers spread, like he was trying to hold himself steady.The bravado that had walked through the door with him was gone.What was left was a big, angry man who was starting to realize how much trouble he was in.
“I didn’t kill Eddie,” he said.His voice was lower now, rougher.Less defiant, more desperate.
“Then tell me what really happened that night.Because right now, Craig, what I’ve got doesn’t look good for you.You threatened to kill a man, and that man ended up dead on the same night you were out on the water.If you’ve got a different story, now is the time to tell it.”
He was quiet for a long time.Long enough that I started to wonder if he was going to lawyer up, which would have been the smart move.But Craig Barlow wasn’t a smart-move kind of guy.He was the kind of guy who thought he could muscle his way through anything.
“Fine,” he hissed.“I’ll tell you why I was out on the fucking ocean that night.”
“Please do.”
