Page 113 of The Lincoln Lawyer

“So did those two cops ask whereyouwere on that Saturday?”

It hit Valenzuela like a punch.

“What did you say, Mick?”

My eyes lowered to the plasma TV box and then back up to his.

“Somehow, some way, he killed Raul, Val. Now my ass is on the line and I want to know how he did it.”

“Mick, listen to me, he’s clear. I’m telling you, that bracelet didn’t come off his ankle. The machine doesn’t lie.”

“Yeah, I know, the machine doesn’t lie…”

After a moment he got it.

“What are you saying, Mick?”

He stepped in front of me, his body posture stiffening aggressively. I stopped leaning on the truck and dropped my hands to my sides.

“I’m asking, Val. Where were you on that Tuesday morning?”

“You son of a bitch, how could you ask me that?”

He had moved into a fight stance. I was momentarily taken off guard as I thought about him calling me what I had called Roulet earlier in the day.

Valenzuela suddenly lunged at me and shoved me hard against his truck. I shoved him back harder and he went backwards into the TV box. It tipped over and hit the floor with a loud, heavywhumpand then he came down on it in a seated position. There was a sharp snap sound from inside the box.

“Oh, fuck!” he cried. “Oh, fuck! You broke the screen!”

“You pushed me, Val. I pushed back.”

“Oh, fuck!”

He scrambled to the side of the box and tried to lift it back up but it was too heavy and unwieldy. I walked over to the other side and helped him right it. As the box came upright we heard small bits of material inside it slide down. It sounded like glass.

“Motherfuck!” Valenzuela yelled.

The door leading into the house opened and his wife, Maria, looked out.

“Hi, Mickey. Val, what is all the noise?”

“Just go inside,” her husband ordered.

“Well, what is—”

“Shut the fuck up and go inside!”

She paused for a moment, staring at us, then closed the door. I heard her lock it. It looked like Valenzuela was sleeping with the broken TV tonight. I looked back at him. His mouth was spread in shock.

“That was eight thousand dollars,” he whispered.

“They make TVs that cost eight thousand dollars?”

I was shocked. What was the world coming to?

“That was with a discount.”

“Val, where’d you get the money for an eight-thousand-dollar TV?”