Page 38 of Twister

Axel satbehind the table while Petty Officer Neil Lancaster stared at him, his expression neutral. He got that kind of itch, the one that told him there was more to this guy than met the eye, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Why am I here?” Neil asked.

“You were the last person to see Petty Officer Mercer alive. We have a few routine questions for you. Is that a problem?”

“No, not at all. I’ll do anything I can to help you find out who murdered Dylan.”

“Is there anything you can tell us about those last couple of days before he was allegedly attacked by Seven Demands? Anything suspicious, out of the ordinary?”

“You mean like fights between Dylan and David Burton?”

“What? What kind of fights?”

Neil looked away. “I don’t really want to talk out of turn about either one of them. We were friends.”

“I understand that, but we need all the information we can get on Dylan’s personal and professional life before he was stabbed.”

Neil sighed reluctantly. “Dylan and David had a strange relationship. They had really become close in dive school until…”

“Until?”

“Something…someone came between them, and they constantly fought about it.”

“Who was this someone?”

He closed his eyes and huffed out a hard breath. “Petty Officer Sadie Tompkins. Dylan had the hots for her from the get-go, and I think David did too, but when it all washed out, she preferred Dylan. They dated, went hot and heavy for all of dive school, then abruptly Sadie broke up with Dylan, and David was pissed about it. She broke the guy’s heart, and he wasn’t really the same afterward—moody, snappy, withdrawn. He and David made up and were friends again, but the minute they found out Sadie was going to be diving on the wreck, the fights flared again, even worse.”

“How?”

“Blows. We were drinking one night, and David said that Sadie wasn’t worth losing their friendship over again. That she was nothing but a bitch, and Dylan lost it and punched him. They tussled for a bit, and I pulled them apart. The next day,Dylan was supposed to dive with David, but he wasn’t feeling well, so I went down with Dylan instead. Then that swimmer came out of nowhere and stabbed him. I tried to stop him, but he cut me on the wrist.” He touched his right wrist.

“And the knife?”

“I wrestled it from him but lost it in the water. He swam away, and I couldn’t pursue it or him because I had to help Dylan. We were pretty deep at the time, and we had no time to decompress. I had to get him to the surface fast, even got the bends because of it. But it was too late. He bled out.”

“When you got back to the boat where was Petty Officer Burton?”

Neil bit his lip. “He was down below, and I noticed that his hair was wet, but he said he’d been sick and had to take a shower.”

“Do you have your dive knife?”

Neil stiffened and raised his chin. “Yes, but it’s with my gear.”

“We’re going to have a look at it.”

“Why?”

“Because Dylan Mercer was murdered with a Navy-issued dive knife.”

The implication hung between them as Neil’s eyes widened. “Oh, man. You think David killed Dylan?”

“We haven’t come to any conclusions as of yet, but we’re going to ask David some questions. Thank you for your time. The MP outside the door will go with you to obtain your knife. We’ll get it back to you after it’s been examined.”

Neil nodded.

After the door closed, Griffin’s mouth tightened. “Damn, it sounds like David might have gone into the water after Dylan. This might not be terrorist-related at all.”

“It’s a possibility, but after talking to David, we’ll know more. Let’s get him in here.”

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