The Covenant Read Free Page B

about a job. What kind of job are we talking about?”
    â€œPhotography.”
    â€œProfessional photographer, huh? I just paid a fortune for my daughter’s wedding pictures. Her photographer drives a bigger car than I do, but here you can hardly afford a decent place to live. Maybe you should think about another line of work.”
    â€œAre you hiring? I know how to shoot radar and write tickets.”
    â€œThat’s funny as hell. You almost made me laugh.”
    â€œIt’s what I live for, Sheriff,” I said.
    â€œSo, you work out of your car and you’re a photographer.” He said it almost like he didn’t believe me. “Where’s your camera? Did you lose that in the lake, too?”
    â€œI gave it to that girl, the one that looks like an Elle model.”
    Lorio flipped back several pages in his notes. “Mercedes LaGrance.”
    â€œWhat made you give her your camera and run off like that?” Stegall asked me.
    My only choice now was to brass it out and hope for the best. “I thought I saw somebody fall in the lake.”
    â€œPeople fall in the lake every day. Nobody calls 911.”
    â€œThe guy looked like he was having some kind of fit. I thought he might drown. Of course, I could have been mistaken.”
    Stegall nodded and leaned back in his chair. “We all make mistakes. But that’s the problem. You didn’t make a mistake. Somebody really had fallen in the lake and drowned. Only not when you say he did. How do you explain that?”
    â€œMaybe he had a stroke.”
    â€œThat’s not what I mean and you know it.”
    â€œAll I can tell you is what I saw,” I said. “I can’t explain how I saw it.”
    Stegall closed his notebook and put his shoes up on the desk. They were cheap, black leather, so shiny they looked like plastic, remnants of an old wad of gum stuck to one heel. “The coroner believes the deceased had been in the water for several hours. Officer Lorio said you mentioned this fact, yourself, when he arrived on the scene. You claim you saw the deceased fall in the water, yet this girl…”
    â€œMercedes LaGrance,” Lorio filled in the blank.
    â€œâ€¦ says she didn’t see anybody on the levee at the time.”
    All I could do was shrug.
    â€œThat can only mean you had prior knowledge…”
    â€œJust one problem, Sheriff. I wasn’t there when he drowned. If you want to know what time I arrived, ask the old man at the gate.”
    â€œI intend to do that,” he said.
    â€œGood.” I crossed my arms and waited.
    â€œMeanwhile, I’ll hold you as a material witness until we can get this straightened out.” Stegall nodded to Lorio, who removed the handcuffs from his belt and asked me to stand.
    While he cuffed me, Stegall came out from behind his desk. “I hope you understand, this is just procedure. Senator Mickelson has a house at Stirling Estates. Until we can be absolutely sure what happened, we’re forced to treat this as a possible threat to national security. No doubt it will all be straightened out in the morning and you can go on your way.”
    â€œYeah, it’s just one night in jail.” I twisted my wrists in the cuffs—Lorio hadn’t put them on too tight. “No biggie.”
    â€œI’m glad you understand our situation,” Stegall said. His smile said he didn’t give a rat’s ass if I understood or not. “Of course, you’ll be staying with us in the county lockup. Our jail is much nicer than the one in town. Probably a whole lot nicer than that roach motel you live in.”
    â€œI can hardly wait to get there.”
    Lorio led me to the door and opened it. “Just one last thing, Mrs. Lyons.” Stegall stuck his thumbs in his belt and leaned back against his desk. “The EMT said he had a lot of trouble finding a good vein due to all the tracks in your