B007GFGTIY EBOK by Simon Wood Read Free Book Online

but I have some questions for you,” Santiago said. “You’re OK answering them?”
    “Sure.”
    “Did you know Shane well?”
    “We were college friends.”
    “Is there any next of kin we should contact?”
    “He has a sister, Rebecca. She lives in LA.”
    “You live in Fairfield. Is that correct?”
    “Yes.”
    “You’re a long way from home on a school night,” Santiago said.
    “I work with Shane at Marin Design Engineering. I’m on contract with them.”
    “So you commute?” Santiago asked.
    “No. I work from home.”
    “OK. I think I understand. Why the late-night call to Mr. Fallon? Eleven thirty is a little late for a business call.”
    “MDE is under a tight deadline and they’re working around the clock on this one. Shane’s my contact for questions and I had a question, so I contacted him.”
    “What was the question?”
    Hayden reeled off some technobabble Santiago didn’t understand. His response sounded solid enough, but Santiago saw the lie. Hayden looked up and away—a classic liar’s reflex. Santiago sighed inside. He didn’t like it when witnesses lied. It never worked out well.
    “OK,” Santiago said. “It says here you drove from Fairfield to San Rafael, some fifty miles, just because Shane didn’t sound like himself.”
    “Yes.”
    Santiago cocked his head. “Excuse me, but that sounds a little overzealous.”
    Hayden glanced over in Shane’s direction. “Considering my friend is dead, I wouldn’t say that.”
    Santiago tapped the report. “You told the deputy that Shane claimed to have done something terrible. Any idea what that terrible thing could be?”
    “No.”
    Hayden didn’t look up and away this time.
    “But you’re good friends. You must have some idea.”
    “We are, but we’d lost touch until last week.”
    “How long were you out of touch?”
    “Three years.”
    “You said Shane seemed high.”
    “It seemed that way. He was delusional. He trashed his home looking for bugs that weren’t there. I don’t think he really knew who I was.”
    “Is that why he tried to stab you?”
    “He didn’t stab me.”
    Santiago pointed at the bloodstained holes in Hayden’s shirt. “Didn’t he? Whether you like it or not, your friend assaulted you.”
    Santiago watched Hayden gear up to say something but then bite it back. He wished Hayden hadn’t. He might let something slip if he lost his temper. Santiago decided to push a little harder.
    “Do you know what drugs Shane used?”
    “He didn’t use drugs,” Hayden snapped.
    “But you hadn’t seen him in three years. You don’t know what he was into.”
    The remark took the fight out of Hayden. “I know my friend. He wasn’t an addict. He wasn’t the type.”
    “Do you think we’ll find drugs in his system?”
    “Yes,” Hayden conceded.
    Rice brought out his iPhone and after a minute of fussing with it held the screen up for Santiago to see. It was Hayden Duke’s rap sheet. He had drug possession and dealing charges against his name, but the charges looked to have been dropped.
    Santiago nodded at Rice and he put the phone away.
    “Mr. Duke,” Santiago said. “Everyone has a skeleton or two in their closets and understandably they don’t want them aired to the world. Now, I’m not looking to trash Shane Fallon’s name. I just want to get to the heart of the matter. Mr. Fallon was disturbed. If drugs pushed him over the edge, I want to know. It’ll save a lot of time and embarrassment if I can get answers now.” He paused for Hayden to absorb the speech. “Now, did you provide Shane with the drugs he took tonight?”
    “What kind of bullshit question is that?”
    “Steady, Mr. Duke,” Rice said.
    “Steady, my ass,” Hayden shot back. “I just saw my friend hang himself and now you’re looking to bust me for drugs?”
    “You do have multiple drug charges on your record.”
    “My record? I don’t have a record. You should check your facts. My college roommate, Paul Bishop, has