Shadow Tag (The Ray Schiller Series - Book 2) by Marjorie Doering

Todd Gaines.”
    “Mr. Gaines.” Ray caught Waverly’s eye, summoning him from across the room with a subtle jerk of his head.
    Waverly cut a conversation short and joined him. “What’s up?”
    Ray shorthanded the introduction. “Detective Waverly…Todd Gaines.”
    “Finally,” Waverly said, shaking Gaines’s hand. The phones were ringing off their hooks, and people were milling around the desks; it was as chaotic as downtown at rush hour. “What d’ya say we talk where we can actually hear each other.”
    Closing the door of an interview room behind them, Ray said, “We were at your place when you drove off earlier. You knew, right?”
    Gaines sat down, head bowed. “Yeah. I figured as much from the looks of your car; it stands out in a neighborhood like mine.”
    Waverly loosened his tie. “Gotta tell ya, Todd, that really pissed me off. In fact, that you’ve been giving me the slip for a while more than pisses me off; it makes me downright suspicious. You have something to hide, Todd?” When Gaines didn’t answer, Waverly took a deep breath and dropped into the chair opposite him, his voice suddenly low and sympathetic. “Tell us what happened between you and Paul Davis that night. Maybe we can help.”
    “Hey, man, save the psychological bullshit. I had nothing to do with what happened to Paul Davis.”
    “Then why were you dodging us?” Ray asked.
    “I’ve been watching the papers, waiting to see if it was a suicide or not.”
    “Waiting why?” Ray asked. “What’s going on, Todd?”
    He hunched a shoulder. “When I found out about Mr. Davis being found dead the next day, it got me to thinking about stuff I heard that night.”
    “What kind of stuff?”
    “You know, stuff. Things like footsteps…voices. It got me wondering if any of it was connected to what happened. If it was suicide, there’d be no point in bringing it up, so I decided to wait. What’s been taking you so damn long, man?” They stared at him without a word. He shook his head as seconds passed in silence. “There’s a problem, isn’t there?” He leaned against the chair’s backrest and crossed his arms. “Hell, what I heard was probably nothing, anyway.”
    “Let us decide that,” Ray said. “These noises… Tell us about them.”
    Gaines sucked in a deep breath. “I started my rounds that night at eleven. Sort of surprised me to see Mr. Costales at his desk; it was the first time I’d seen him there after hours.”
    “Did you talk to him?”
    Gaines shook his head. “He glanced at me and went back to whatever it was he was doing. I made my rounds again about an hour later. Sometime in between, Mr. Davis had shown up. I found him banging around in a file cabinet in his office, mad as hell. I asked if everything was all right. He gave me a look that made me sorry I asked. He kind of snarled an answer—said he was fine, and I moved along.”
    “So Davis and Costales were both in the building at the same time.”
    “For a while I guess, but after I left Mr. Davis, I walked back past Costales’s office again and he’d already cleared out.”
    “Did you see either of them again that night?” Ray asked.
    “Uh-uh. I told you Mr. Costales left; his office was dark.”
    “And you didn’t see Paul Davis again during any of your other security checks?”
    Gaines bowed his head. “I didn’t make any more.”
    “What?” Waverly looked at him from beneath his untamed eyebrows.
    “I had final exams the next day; I had to do some heavy-duty studying.”
    Ray’s eyes narrowed. “You’re telling us you never took another look around?”
    “Damn it,” Gaines said, “I wasn’t even supposed to be working that night. I told them I couldn’t do it.”
    “Who?” Ray asked.
    “Kingsley Security. I told them, but they said they’d fire my ass if I didn’t get over there. I didn’t have much choice. I went, but after the first couple rounds, I shut myself in one of the offices and spent the rest of my