She ducked beneath the tape, glancing back at the photographer, who watched her through dark eyes, an unreadable expression on his handsomeface.
Yes, she had noticed his looks. A woman would have to be dead notto.
She followed the officer toward Andy’s front porch, where they were met by a man who introduced himself as Detective Wu. “Is it true that Andy is missing? Someone said the neighbor heard gunshots and found bullet holes in hisshower.”
“Where did you hear that?” Wuasked.
“The photographer toldme.”
Wu frowned, clearly not happy about that. “We’re not sharing information with the public at this time, but I do need to ask you somequestions.”
Mia decided to make it easy for him. “Yes, I was here tonight. Andy and I served together in Iraq. We’ve known each other for almost ten years. He was wounded during my first tour of duty and discharged. I was his company XO—executive officer—and I check on him when Ican.”
She did her best to stay in touch with everyone from Bravo Company and to visit the ones who still lived in the Denver-metroarea.
“What time did you gethere?”
“It must have been around five-thirty. I stayed for about thirty minutes. Andy was sitting on his sofa watching sports on TV when I left. He wasalone.”
Wu wrote down her answers in a notebook. “Did the two of youargue?”
“Yes.” The neighbor who’d pointed her out must have heard Andy shouting. “He wants me to help him get VA disability benefits, but there’s nothing I cando.”
It was the truth, if not the wholetruth.
Wu pressed on, asking question after question. Did anyone call or come by while she was here? Did Andy give any indication that something was wrong or that he might be in danger? Did Andy have a history of drug abuse or any criminal associations of which she was aware? Did she know of anyone who wished him harm? Had she seen anyone hanging around his apartment this afternoon? Did Andy seemsuicidal?
Mia answered “no” and “I don’t know” again andagain.
“Do you ownfirearms?”
“Yes—a SIG P320 and a twelve-gauge shotgun.” Then it hit her. “Am I asuspect?”
“You are likely the last person to have seen him, so you’re certainly a person ofinterest.”
Great.
“Do you have any firearms with you in your vehicle or on yourperson?”
“No. They’re at home, locked in a gun safe. I haven’t fired them since the last time I cleaned them—about three yearsago.”
Wu asked to see her driver’s license, calling in her info over his radio before handing it back to her. “Are you still at thisaddress?”
“Yes.”
He wrote her address down, along with her work address and phone. “You say you left at roughly six. Where did yougo?”
“I was hungry, so I drove to the taco place over on Federal—Tacos Azteca is the name, Ithink.”
The detective nodded. “I know the place. They’ve got great burritos, too. So, you grabbed a bite to eat there. Why did you comeback?”
“I was pretty sure I’d left my sunglasseshere.”
“Wouldn’t it make more sense to call and find out for sure before comingover?”
“I did call. When Andy didn’t answer, I drove over and found all ofthis.”
Wu pressed a finger to his earpiece, listening, then took his hand mic. “Seven thirty-six.Copy.”