Page 96 of Proof

“You had to keep digging, didn’t you?” Chris seemed more unnerved now. “Why do you always do this, Luna? Sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Luna snapped at him. “He was my friend, Chris! I cared about him! Why shouldn’t I try to find out what happened to him? Have you ever cared for anyone and lost them? And not known what happened? You’re the detective. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing!”

Gaines knew he’d struck a nerve. He also began to realize that Luna had no idea what she’d stumbled upon. “Alright. Let’s start from the beginning. You were looking for information about a friend. You discovered he had been killed in an accident. Then what?”

“Then we were in Safeway three days ago, and I thought I recognized his voice, but he left before I could approach him.”

“How did you end up at Canyon Farms?” He repeated the question.

Luna sighed. “When I was waiting in the car, I spotted the same guy, wearing the same shirt, and I took a photo. When I enlarged it, I knew it had to be Brendan. I saw the name of the farm on the side of the truck and took a ride out to see if it was really him.”

“And that’s it?” Gaines was staring her down.

“That’s it. I swear. All I wanted was proof. Proof that I wasn’t losing my mind.” She handed him her phone. “See?”

He transferred her call log, then threw the phone on the ground and stomped on it.

Luna freaked out. “What are you doing!”

“Saving your hiney. And my job,” he huffed.

Her eyes grew wide. It finally hit her. “Oh. My. Gosh.”

At that point, his laptop pinged. Luna’s call log came through. He looked it over several times. There were no calls out of the ordinary, in or out. He was beginning to believe her. “So what’s with the hair?”

“I needed a change.” She tilted her head and gave him a puppy-dog look.

“I like it.” He finally smiled.

“So now what happens?” she asked.

“Now I have to corroborate your story.” He picked up his phone and dialed the agent who was guarding Brendan. “Jack? Gaines here. Can you ask your person if he had any encounters with one Luna Bodman?” He paused. “I know it’s late, but this is crucial to our investigation.” He could hear the agent rallying his charge. Mumbled voices sounded in the background. The agent returned to the phone.

“He said they were in college together, and she stopped by the farm. He hadn’t had any contact with her since before their incident. She just showed up out of nowhere, and he told her to leave.”

A sense of relief flooded Gaines. “Thanks.”

“Anything else I can do for you now that I’m awake?”

“No. Just get him situated to wherever he’s going next.”

“Will do.” The agent ended the call.

“You are going to have to come to our makeshift office and explain to the other agents what happened. They’re not going to take my word for it, but at least Brendan has corroborated your story, and I have your phone records. That is, provided you weren’t using a burner phone.” He squinted at her.

“Check the cell towers. I know you can do that.” Her tone was just this side of sarcasm.

“We will do that, just as a matter of course.”

“Do you believe me now?” She reached across the table to touch his hand. He pulled back.

“We have to make this a clean interview. Nothing personal.”

“I get it.” Luna realized she had inadvertently put someone’s life in jeopardy, and she might have cost Chris his job. “I’m really sorry about all this. Truly.”

His eyes softened. “I know you are.” He pocketed her phone and shut his laptop. “Be at the Arroyo Pinion at nine tomorrow morning. Meet us in the lobby. Oh, and my name is Charles Gannon.” He got up from his chair and went to the front door, where Max was standing guard. “It’s okay, pal.” Chris put his hand out, and Max gave him his paw. Luna took that as a good sign.

“See you in the morning.” Chris smiled for the second time that night.

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