Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(168)

That’s it… relax and talk to me. I’m going to lead you right where I want you to go.

“Dude, I think you live in that hat. I take it Pantera is your favorite band?”

Scott smiled and adjusted his cap. “Seen ’em in concert probably like ten times. What? You don’t like them?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just wondering if you ever take that hat off your head.”

He chuckled. “Not usually.”

“Hey, I got to step out for a minute.” I gathered up my files. “You want anything? Bottle of water or something?”

“Yeah, water would be cool.”

“Okay. Hang tight. Hey, before I go, how tall are you?”

I watched his reaction, visually marking his fact recall and truth indicators. “Five ten.”

Marcus and a few others were in the surveillance room next door, watching the video feed. I didn’t need to get anything. I needed my suspect to stew for a minute, observing his behavior when isolated. Oddly, he used the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe the table where his fingers just touched.

After another ten minutes of questioning him, hearing his denial that he hasn’t been to Newark lately and watching him blatantly lie to me, I pulled out the video stills. “We have some problems, Scott. I will continue to treat you with respect, but I’m not happy that you’ve been lying to me. I have video evidence that disputes your statements.”

I laid out each photo one by one.

“We’ve been working with a video expert who does facial recognition and all sorts of identification on recordings, and these are the images they captured from video surveillance at Benando Salvage.”

“Here’s a close-up of your hat. Here’s a clear one of you wearing the same jacket you’ve got on now. Here’s another that they digitally enhanced to see your face. They can even calculate height.” I showed him the report that stated the suspect was five foot ten inches.

Scott’s fingers trembled over each photo.

“Scott, look at me.” I needed to restore our connection. “I’m going to give you the opportunity to tell me what’s going on as I’m sure you haven’t been truthful with me. You said you hadn’t been to any places in New Jersey and yet these photos put you at an auto scrap yard with solid ties to our case over ninety miles away.”

He resigned back, distancing himself, knowing he’d been busted.

“I’m not asking you to confirm you were there because I already know you were. I don’t even need to prove that. I have the video evidence that places you there. That’s enough to hold up in court. Even without it, your eyes tell me you were there.”

“My eyes?” He sounded skeptical.

“Yeah. So what I want to know is why you were there. You know, we all make mistakes. It’s okay. It’s in the past. But here and now, it’s time to be honest with yourself, Scott. It’s okay to say ‘hey I messed up,’ and be man enough to make amends and do what’s right.”

I was wearing him down.

“I thought we were friends. Are you hoping that harm comes to me? To Marcus?”

“No, it’s not like that,” he muttered.

“Why don’t you tell me how it is then? How did it start? Did they contact you?”

His head nodded ever so slightly.

“Who contacted you? It’s okay. It’s just you and me here. I know you’re a good guy, Scott. You’re going to film school. Working a full-time job. That’s all very respectable stuff, man. I know how tough it is. That’s how I know you don’t want this burden. Just lay it out. Let me help you.”

Scott’s resolve was wavering.

“I’ve got to tell you—the evidence doesn’t look good. I’m being straight up with you. Conspiracy, aiding and abetting, all make you an accessory to robbery, Scott. Doesn’t matter if you didn’t commit the actual theft; you can still be charged with the crime. These are all felony charges you’re facing. It’s just going to get worse if you don’t start explaining things.”

I gave him dead silence—just a stare. Waiting. First one to speak loses.

“I didn’t go looking for trouble, Adam. All right? They came after me.” Scott dropped his head into his hand.

“It’s okay, dude. I get that you’re scared. I’m right here. Talk to me. Just you or did they go after any of the other crew that you know of? You can tell me. They try to get Ritchie, too?”

He pegged me with an obvious glare. “Ritchie’s uncle is a state cop. They knew that.”

“Who are they, Scott?”

He started wringing his hands together.

“They said they’d make me disappear if I didn’t give them what they wanted,” he whispered. “No one would ever find my body.”

“Why do you think they chose you?”

Scott shrugged. “They know we’re filming you. Wherever you are, pretty safe to say the rest of the ATTF are too.”

I tamped back my rising anger. “What were your orders?”

He started to withdraw, shutting me out.

“Scott.”

His head shook more adamantly.

I rolled my chair closer to him.

Eyes filled with fear met mine. “They are going to kill me. You get that? I’m dead.”