Page 25 of Smoke Screen
“About why you have this. Have you beenwatchingme?”
“Please answer the question. Is this your building?”
Maddy forced her head to move again, to look at the video. “It appears to be, yes.”
“You don’t know what your own building looks like?”
Breathe. That’s all she needed to do. Just take in air, let it out.Look her in the eye.That’s all she had to do. Nothing to hide.
She brought her gaze back to Walker. “Of course, I do. But the exterior of the development looks the same no matter what unit we’re looking at. Without seeing the building number, I can’t confirm.”
“Fine,” Special Agent Walker said. She zoomed in on the building. On the sign in front of a row of low shrubs. “Can you read this sign?”
She sure could. A nagging thought—lawyer, lawyer, lawyer—hammered away, beating in time with her already throbbing temples. How could this be happening?
“Building Two.”
“Is that your building?”
“It is.”
“Excellent. Now, we’ve confirmed it’s your building. You live in unit Two C, correct?”
“Correct.” She held up a hand. “Excuse me, but I’m not sure what’s going on here. What does where I live have to do with any of this?”
“We’re getting to that,” Walker said. She tapped the iPad, then pointed to the wall. “Please direct your attention to the screen. You’ll see a man walk up the stairs and stop in front of what I have confirmed is unit 2C.”
The video started and a man in jeans and a T-shirt walked into the frame.Oh no.
No, no, no. It couldn’t be the same guy. The one with the tat.
Maddy checked the date. Fifteen days earlier. Before the robbery. Could this guy be going to her door? According to Walker, yes, but Maddy didn’t know him. Why would he be going to her apartment?
“I don’t know who that is.”
“Keep watching, please.”
The man climbed the steps and halted in front of Maddy’s door. Stopped right there and turned, lifted his hand to knock and there it was.
The tattoo.
What in God’s name?
She forced herself to not react. To stay completely erect, not shake her head, not breathe deeply even though—God help her—her lungs strained for oxygen.
She checked the timestamp; 5:02.
Okay.That’s good.She spun her chair and faced the two agents.
“This was—” she looked at the date again, did quick math. “A Tuesday. I don’t get home until six o’clock. Everyone here will confirm that. Why would I invite someone to my house at five? It’s a mistake, or he was up to no good. Either way, I don’t know him.”
Special Agent Walker tapped the iPad again. “Let’s look at another piece of footage.”
Her mind reeling, Maddy turned back to the screen. To her left, Frank and President Thompson remained silent. What could they be thinking right now?
She couldn’t worry about that. Not when something wild and completely unexpected was happening. Was she a suspect? Did the FBI somehow think she was involved?
No. Couldn’t be.
