Live No Lies (Lawson & Abernathy 2)

Mack sorted through the file for a few moments, then he cleared his throat and adjusted himself in his seat. He placed a recorder before him and clicked it on.

“I’m going to be asking you a few questions—” Mack paused to check the paper before him “—Greg Keith, and you need to reply truthfully and accurately.”

“Who is Dimitri Stankovich?” Mack offered the first question.

Greg laughed.

“You’ve got some nerve calling that name out like that,” he said.

“So, you do know him?”

The man’s smile vanished instantly. He cleared his throat uneasily and reclined into his chair.

“Erm, I don’t know him,” Greg denied.

“But you knew enough to accuse me of defying the sanctity of the name.”

“I don’t know who he is, all right? But I’ve heard the name. Everyone knows about the Stankoviches—” Greg paused to take a deep breath. “—they’re only about the most famous people around. They have this massive noodle manufacturing company. There’s no way you can tell me that you haven’t heard of them.”

Okay, he’s clearly rattled by the mention of the guy’s name.

“Well, that’s a decent piece of information right there, Greg. Except that there are discrepancies.”

Mack paused to stare at Greg before he continued.

“You just said that you’ve never seen Dimitri, yet here I have you standing close to him on the beach.”

Mack placed a close-up picture of Dimitri on the beach, flanked by a burly man on the right and Greg on the left.

Mack gave Greg a questioning stare. The man’s lips parted and closed. Mack could see the wheels turning in his head.

“Look, man, I had no idea that’s who he was.”

“You had no idea who he was here—” he dropped another picture “—or here too—” he dropped another “—I can keep them coming.”

“Why am I here exactly?” Greg blurted. “What crime are you accusing me for?”

“For aiding and abetting Dimitri in human trafficking, drug trafficking, and murder, to name a few.”

Greg laughed.

“How do you come up with your facts, man?”

“I have concrete evidence, Greg, that you were spotted near multiple families whose children were taken.”

“Please,” Greg snickered.

Mack caught him looking toward the two-way mirror. He noted that this wasn’t the first time Greg had looked that way, either. It was almost as if he was wary that he was being watched, as if that bothered him.

“You’ve got to understand, Greg, you’re not getting out of this. There’s enough evidence to send you to jail. Witnesses are willing to come forward and testify. There’s video footage that presents you in compromising positions. And I’ve organized a catalog of trails that show you following a child from place to place right before they go missing a few days later.”

Greg looked toward the two-way mirror again.

“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do any of those things.”

“Well, I have them here with me. Good luck trying to talk your way out of such incriminating evidence.”

Mack noticed that Greg just sat there, unmoving, with his arms folded over his chest. He’d anticipated an attitude of this sort, and he had a contingency plan in place. He brought out a photo and slid it over so Greg could see it.