Page 26 of Smoke Screen
Lawyer, lawyer, lawyer.
More video footage from the Center appeared on the screen. The first floor. The campaign trail exhibit. A man dressed in khakis and a golf shirt stood in front of a mural of President Thompson’s grammar school. The mural depicted the day then-candidate Thompson announced his presidency.
She focused on the man’s profile, but he stood too far from the camera and the quality was a bit grainy. She checked the date. The day after the other man had visited her apartment.
Three seconds in, Maddy entered the frame and did what she’d done every day for the last two years since the Center opened.
She stopped to speak with a visitor.
The video froze.
So did she.
She focused on the images, forced herself to focus, to shut down her mind’s chaos and zoom in on the video of the man pointing to the mural and her nodding, apparently agreeing with whatever he’d said.
Him.The one who’d been with the other two men she’d spoken to on the other video, who had his back to her.
He looked different this time. More … refined.
Probably done purposely to somewhat disguise himself.
Did she remember him?The smile.A good one, like Phin Blackwell’s, always made her a sucker.
The man onscreen had been cute. More rugged than handsome and when he lifted his hand, she noted the lack of a wedding ring. What single, ready-to-settle-down woman wouldn’t?
“Wait.” The word rushed out, her panic finally bursting free. “I remember. He told me he went to the same school as the president. That’s why he was pointing.”
Yes!That was it.
“Did he say anything else?” This from Special Agent Blackwell.
Maddy thought back on the encounter. On her disappointment when the man moved on without extending their conversation or making any attempt to engage her further.
A spurt of anger erupted over her constant tendency to analyze whatshe’ddone wrong, what was lacking inherwhen, really? She should be analyzing everyone else. Particularly this guy. She’d wondered why he didn’t find her attractive. She’d even thought about the three pounds she’d gained recently.
Damned exhausting, all this self-berating.
How dumb it all seemed now, considering the guy was a thief casing the place.
She shook her head. “No. He didn’t say anything else. He walked away.” She pointed. “If you start the video again, you’ll see that.”
The footage rolled. The man nodded at Maddy, hit her with his cute smile, and moved on.
The room fell silent for a few seconds while the video rolled. She knew little about legalities, but she’d watched enough true-crime shows to know she might be a suspect.
Lawyer, lawyer, lawyer.
She spun her chair, facing the agents. “Do I need a lawyer?”
Special Agent Walker shrugged. “You tell us.”
Ohmygod.
They thought she had stolen priceless jewelry. How could that be? After everything, what was it about her that let them believe that?
At the end of the table, Maddy somehow felt President Thompson’s gaze on her. Head high, she turned to him. “Sir. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but whatever it is, I’m …”
What?
