Page 35 of Take Your Breath Away

Greg: It wasn’t that big a deal. Didn’t last long, and it ended some time ago. Months, in fact.

Detective Hardy: And you know this woman Mr. Mason was seeing?

Greg: No. I never met her. I mean, Andy told me about seeing her, about how he felt he’d made a big mistake, but I never knew her at all.

Detective Hardy: Do you know what prompted Mr. Mason to cheat on his wife?

Greg: I think they were in a bad place. I got the impression maybe Brie had kind of strayed, too.

Detective Hardy: Do you know with who?

Greg: Nope. Andy didn’t say and I didn’t ask. Thing is, they really love each other, but there was some friction about how they’ve been living. Getting a house, fixing it up, selling it, moving to another, doing it all over again. The lack of a permanent home base was getting to her. She talked about it in the office sometimes.

Detective Hardy: The office?

Greg: Our construction office. A trailer, actually. Brie comes in sometimes to help with the books and stuff. But I think Andy was saying this was the last time, that they’d probably stay in this house, the one on Mulberry.

Detective Hardy: You’ve known Mr. Mason a long time?

Greg: Since UConn. College. And then we eventually went into business together. Which we are now.

Detective Hardy: How’s that going?

Greg: A bit like a marriage. Ups and downs.

Detective Hardy: Your friendship, or the business?

Greg: Business is a little shaky right now. I guess you’d call it cash flow issues. Lost some jobs we thought we’d get. To be honest, I think we may be going our separate ways before long. I’m gonna do my thing, Andy’s gonna do his.

Detective Hardy: Do you know whether there’s an insurance policy on Brie Mason’s life?

Greg: Huh? Beats me. Christ, what are you suggesting? You think Andy did something to Brie to collect some insurance to help with the company? That’s totally insane. And if that was his plan, well, you’d want to know she was dead so they’d pay up, right? I mean, where is she?

Detective Hardy: That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? What did you do to your leg?

Greg: It’s fine, hardly giving me any trouble at all now.

Detective Hardy: You’re using a cane.

Greg: Probably going to retire it this week. I’ll be limping for a while, but that’s okay.

Detective Hardy: What happened?

Greg: I was on a job site, working alone, and the ladder somehow fell over and I was up about ten feet on some scaffolding and figured I could make the jump. Could have done it, too, but there was a short length of angle iron I hadn’t noticed and I hit that and broke a bone. Stupid, you know. I shoulda known better.

Detective Hardy: Glad you’re on the mend. Do you have any idea where Brie might be? Would she have run away? Disappeared without saying anything to anyone?

Greg: You know, I suppose it could be something like that. That she just needed to get away and think things through. But she’ll probably show up anytime now.

Detective Hardy: If that’s what she did, you’d think she’d have taken her purse and credit cards and her car wouldn’t still be in the driveway.

Greg: Yeah, well, there’s that. But she still might have gone someplace to clear her head.

Detective Hardy: About what? You said two seconds ago you think their marriage is fine.

Greg: I don’t know. Maybe I’m not ready to think something bad has happened to her. I don’t want my mind to go there. I love Brie. She’s terrific. And if something’s happened to her, it’ll destroy Andy.

Detective Hardy: Your cabin, and Mr. Mason’s, are they pretty close together?