Mary Lou’s eyes widened. “My baby at the police station? She didn’t do anything wrong.” She lost her grip on the doorframe and nearly fell.
Ethan caught and steadied her. “There are questions that have to be answered. You may sit in on the conversation, but I need to have it.”
“You’re just being mean because I chose Bradley over you in high school.”
“Are you able to go upstairs and get Kelly, or do I need to?”
She straightened herself, lifted her chin, and turned slowly. “I am very capable of getting my daughter.”
Ethan stayed in the foyer at the bottom of the staircase, concerned that Mary Lou might not make it back down without falling. He’d heard rumors she drank a lot but hadn’t seen it until now. Having only been reassigned to the Summerton area recently, he hadn’t gotten a chance to get reacquainted with everyone from the old days yet. Coming home had been more difficult than he’d thought. Cord Thompson had made it easier. But when he had known them as a child, it was harder to hold himself apart from others.
A pale Kelly descended the stairs next to her mom with her arm around Mary Lou as though the girl was used to helping her mother cope when she drank too much. At the bottom, Mary Lou waved her hand toward the living room and charged across the foyer ahead of him and Kelly. The teen kept her gaze lowered and trailed after her mother.
Ethan sat across from Kelly and Mary Lou, relaxing against the back cushion of the chair. He hoped his relaxed stance would calm the frightened look in Kelly’s eyes when she glanced up for a second. “Are you feeling any better? I think everyone in town was at the Montgomery ranch. That can be a bit overwhelming.”
Eyes dilated, Kelly nodded, but her hands shook. She clenched them into fists and hid them at her side—not quite sitting on them, but close.
“That’s why I decided not to go.” Mary Lou collapsed back against the couch and slid her eyes closed.
“Kelly, I need to go over Saturday night again. When I talked with you before, I didn’t have the autopsy report yet. Did he tell you he was going to the Red River City Park?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t even know he was going out after dropping me off. He didn’t say anything to me.”
“What did he say to you when he dropped you off?”
She shrugged. “The usual. Good night. See you tomorrow.”
“So he wasn’t mad at anyone? No one was upset with him?”
“Not that I know.” Her eyelids drooped closed, then snapped open.
“No one saw you at Lone Star Park at the amusement area. You weren’t there, were you?”
A sheen in her eyes, she whispered, “No.”
“Why did you lie about going to the park? What are you hiding? Where were you really?”
Kelly blinked rapidly, pressing herself into the couch as though trying to disappear.
Mary Lou perked up. “Kelly, where were you?”
“On a date,” Kelly said slowly as though trying to figure out what to say.
“Then tell him where so he’ll leave. I’m getting a killer headache.” Mary Lou massaged her temples.
“Kelly, we can talk down at the police station if you want.”
Her eyes huge, Kelly bit into her lower lip and slid a glance toward her mother. “We wanted to be by ourselves. We loved each other.” She emphasized that last sentence as if she was convincing herself as well as him.
“Where?”
“At Lone Star Park in the recreation part. After it closes, the guards don’t come around until after the amusement rides close down later.”
Everything about her posture, slouched over, now sitting on her hands, screamed the teen was still lying. He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his thighs and loosely clasping his hands. “If you loved Jared as you said, then I know you want to help me figure out how he ended up in his car in the lake across town from where you two went that evening. If it hadn’t caught on an underwater boulder, it would have disappeared completely, and we might not have found it for a long time. We wouldn’t have known about Jared’s death. His parents and friends would be in limbo with no closure.”
Finally Kelly looked at him. “You think he was murdered? He couldn’t . . .” Her voice faded into the silence.
“Yes, we’re looking at it as a murder until we discover otherwise. He had a lot of drugs in his system, ones he wasn’t prescribed. Do you know where he got them? Was he aware of taking them? Did he take them with you? Why did he take them? Did you take some with him?”
Kelly bolted to her feet. “I can’t help you. Don’t ya think I would if I could? I loved Jared, and he’s gone. What am I going to do with him gone? I was here after midnight Saturday.” Sobs tore from her.
The sound of her crying rallied her mother who pushed to her feet, glaring at Ethan. “She’s told you what she knows. Nothing. She was here Saturday night when Jared died. I can vouch for that.”
“But you told my sister she hadn’t come home.” Ethan rose.
“That was Sunday morning. At the time I was surprised she wasn’t in her room Sunday morning. I’d forgotten about her coming in earlier. I may have drunk some after that and your sister woke me up. I’m not a morning person, and it takes me a long time to get up and function fully.”
“Then she could have gone back out after midnight, and you wouldn’t know it.”
“But I didn’t.” Kelly locked gazes with him. “Not until Lexie came and picked me up Sunday morning.” Her carefully applied makeup ran down her face in streaks.
“Where did you and Lexie go?”
Her face bleached of all color, Kelly swallowed hard. “Riding around.”
“Why?”
“We were just talking. The usual.” She collapsed back onto the couch.
“What?”
“School, teachers, clothes.”
“No boyfriends?”
Kelly shook her head.
Ethan studied Kelly for a long moment. The girl squirmed on the couch and covered her eyes. “I’m not feeling well.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow. This won’t go away, Kelly.”
“Don’t you understand? I’ve told you what I can.”
Her shout blasted him. In the middle of the interview, there had been a few truths. That last sentence Kelly said was one of them. He started for the front door, turned back, and asked, “What were the names of the two girls who brought you home from the Montgomery ranch?”
“Why?”
“One was Carrie. What is her last name?”
“Bannister,” Kelly said with a glare, all tears gone.
“And the other one?”
“Missy Collins.”
“Does her daddy own the bank on Sage Avenue?”
“Yes.”
“Interesting.”
“What do you mean by that?”
He continued his trek toward the door. “They just don’t seem your type.”
Kelly left her mother in the living room and ran upstairs, slamming her door so hard a picture of a horse on her wall shifted, hanging at an angle. She paced from her bed to her closet, her heart racing, her chest hurting as she tried to drag in enough air.
When her cell sounded again, she didn’t even look at it. The ring tone was Lexie’s. She couldn’t talk to her. Her uncle knew she was lying. He would come back until he got the truth. What was she going to do?
Something hit her window. She stared at it. Again, a pebble dinged against the glass. What if it was Lexie? She wished she’d never called her Sunday morning. She knew part of the truth. What if she told her uncle, even though she’d promised her she wouldn’t say anything to anyone?
Her phone rang, but this time it wasn’t Lexie’s special ring tone. She crossed to her dresser and looked at the screen. Carrie. If she didn’t answer, Carrie would think she had something to hide. Slowly, not really wanting to talk to Carrie either, Kelly reached for her cell, her hands shaking so badly she nearly let it slip from her fingers as she brought it to he
r ear.
“Yes.”
“What did you tell him?” a male voice—Brendan’s—demanded.
“Nothing. I promise.”
“Come to the window.”
She walked to it and peered into her backyard, the dim light of dusk throwing two figures in the shadows, but Kelly could tell it was Carrie and Brendan.
“We’re going out with some of the group to mourn Jared’s death in our own way. We want you to come with us.”
“I’m not—”
“It’s not a request.”
6
Why had Luke lied to him? Ethan drove to Luke’s house after leaving Kelly’s. What did Luke have to hide? He intended to bring the young man down to the police station for questioning. The analysis of the handwriting on the note passed to Jared indicated Luke wrote it.
If he had to rattle all Jared’s friends to get to the truth, he would.
When he rang the doorbell, Luke’s dad, a high-powered Realtor in the area, answered it almost right away. “I need to speak with Luke.”
“He isn’t here.” Mr. Adams filled the doorway as though to block Ethan from entering.
“I want him brought down to the police station at eight tomorrow morning. If he isn’t there, two officers will be dispatched to bring him in.”
“Why? What’s this all about?”
“When I talked with him last, he lied to me. I want to know why.” Ethan tipped his hat, then swung around and stalked from the front porch.
Not long after that, Ethan pulled up to his sister’s house and noticed the blazing lights. The way this investigation was going, he’d half-expected Beth and Lexie to be gone. When Beth opened the door, he entered. “I need to see Lexie.”
“She went to the library to study. It seems two big tests were postponed and now she has to take both tomorrow.”
“The city or the school library?”
“The one at the high school.”
He turned to leave.
Beth caught his arm and stopped him. “Why do you want to see her? What’s going on? When she came back from the funeral, she was so upset. She went to her room and only came out when she told me she needed to study at the library.”
“Does she usually study there?”
“Sometimes. She says there aren’t any distractions like her computer or TV.”
“Then I’ll talk with her there.”
His sister frowned. “Why?”
“She lied to me, and I intend to find out the truth.” Anger festered in the pit of his stomach. He should be used to people lying to him, but his own family?
“What?”
“She’s protecting Kelly. Her friend knows something about Jared’s death.”
“If you see her, bring her home. If you don’t see her, let me know.”
“Will do.” He strode to his SUV and headed for the high school. Halfway there, his cell phone rang. “Stone here.”
“Ethan, this is Sadie. Lexie is here and wants you to come over to my house. She has something to tell you.”
“Why is she there? She’s supposed to be at the library.”
“She needed some advice.”
“Be there in ten minutes.” Ethan clicked off and tossed his phone onto the passenger seat, the anger still churning his gut.
Lexie paced about Sadie’s kitchen, rubbing her thumb into her palm. “Uncle Ethan is gonna be so mad at me. But something is wrong, and I won’t let Kelly get hurt. She’s acting so funny. I think she took something today and Saturday night.”
Sadie’s nerves tautened. It wasn’t too many more years before her two kids would be in high school. She couldn’t be more thankful they were upstairs studying and not out getting into trouble like Lexie told her about Kelly. “If she is, she’ll get the help she needs. The point is these pill parties need to be stopped. They’re like playing Russian roulette with a loaded gun. Someone is going to overdose and die.”
“I should have said something from the beginning. I was trying to protect my friend. I do know Kelly didn’t have anything to do with Jared’s death. She was bad off and was left alone at that warehouse, passed out. She’s jumped into the deep end and doesn’t know how to swim with the big fish.”
“The kids Jared hung out with?”
“Yes, Carrie, Missy, Brendan, and Luke. There are a few others, but those four are the core group. Carrie is a junior, and the other three are seniors. I’m sure they’re involved somehow.”
“Do you have any evidence?”
“Only what Kelly has told me.”
“We need Kelly to tell Mr. Howard what happened. Those two boys, at least, should be kicked off the football team. They signed a contract about drugs at the beginning of the season.”
When the doorbell chimed, Lexie gasped. “He’s here.” She clutched her stomach. “I’m gonna be sick.”
“I’ll bring him in here while you compose yourself in the bathroom.” She pointed in its direction. “Remember I’m here to help. You’re doing the right thing by saying something. Kelly will thank you later.”
Sadie hurried to the front door and let Ethan in. His scowl carved deep lines into his face. “Please go easy on Lexie. She came to see me because she didn’t know what to do, but she didn’t like what she saw this afternoon with Kelly at the Montgomery’s.”
“Her friend’s on something, or lying? There seems to be a lot of that going around lately. Kelly. Lexie. Luke.”
“About the note?”
“Luke denied he wrote it, but it was his handwriting. If he was innocent, why would he lie to me?” Frustration poured from Ethan. “Now I know why I’m not married with children. They can drive you crazy.”
“But they can bring joy, too.” Unless they’re demanding to see their father when you don’t want them to.
“I’m not sure what my sister is going to do. First, Emma gave her problems, and now it seems Lexie is, too.”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Ethan.”
He swiveled around to stare at Lexie in the hallway. “What do you have to tell me?”
Sadie glanced up the stairs where her children were doing their homework. “Let’s go into the kitchen. It’s more private in there.”
Lexie whirled around and hastened down the short hall into the kitchen with Sadie and Ethan trailing behind her. She stood in the middle of the spacious room, cradling a hand while her thumb kneaded its palm so hard her skin turned red.
Sadie passed her. “Let’s all sit at the table. This can be worked out.”
Ethan sent his niece a piercing look while Lexie trudged to the chair and eased onto it, staring at her lap.
Sadie sat at the head of the table with Ethan to her right and Lexie on her left. “Lexie went to the library but couldn’t study because Kelly has her worried.”
“She should be. Kelly is in a lot of trouble. Withholding information from the police in an investigation is serious.”
“Ethan, if this is going to work, you’ll have to give her a chance to tell her story.” She fixed her teacher’s stare on him that conveyed he’d better behave. When the hard lines of his face evened out some, she continued. “Lexie, tell your uncle what happened Sunday morning.”
“After throwing up again, I told Mom to go to church. I was going to try and get some sleep since I hadn’t the night before. I wasn’t feeling great, and when the phone rang, I wasn’t going to answer it until I saw it was Kelly. I know she’d been nervous about going out with Jared and his friends to some party, so I answered it. She was frantic. She’d passed out at the party she attended Saturday night and woke up alone Sunday morning. She needed a ride home. No one else was there.”
“Where?” Ethan interrupted.
“Give her a chance,” Sadie said, half expecting him to glare at her.
Instead, his stiff posture relaxed some, and he leaned back, resting his clasped hands on the table.
“A warehouse on Sixth Street. Abandoned and creepy.”
“You went there—”
Sadie placed her hand over his but didn’t say anything.
“Kelly sounded in bad shape. She was scared and upset. I did what any friend would do. I went to pick her up. When I walked into the place, it was clear something went on there. Beer bottles and cans were everywhere. An empty plastic green bowl sat on a crate off to the side. A couple of ice chests were nearby. The smells were awful—vomit and other things.” Lexie shuddered and hugged herself. “All I wanted to do was get her and get out of there. I saw her curled up on the floor. At first I thought she was—” she dropped her arms to her side and mumbled “—dead.”
After half a minute of silence, Ethan bent forward, threw a glance at Sadie, then said, “But she wasn’t. Did she take something?”
Lexie lifted her head, with tears streaking down her cheeks, and nodded. “And she didn’t know what she took. She promised me she wouldn’t do it again, if I didn’t tell anyone. I told her yes. I didn’t know about Jared then. She thought he’d left her and was upset about that, but . . .” She stared off into space, her brow furrowed.
“What?” Sadie asked because Lexie hadn’t told her this part.
“She said something about Jared being dead, but when I asked her about that, she couldn’t remember anything about that night after the pills she took. She said it was a blur. I thought he had probably passed out like she had. I was mad at him for leaving her. Now I realize that doesn’t sound like Jared. He was good to Kelly.”
“Yeah, so good he took her to a pill party. That kind of loving a gal can do without.” Ethan unclasped his hands and stood.
Lexie directed her full attention at her uncle. “Kelly did not kill Jared. I know that.”
“Kelly knows more than she’s saying. I need you to show me where this warehouse is.”
Lexie scrubbed the tears from her cheeks. “It’s nighttime. That part of town isn’t the best . . .” She looked at her uncle, cleared her throat, and pushed to her feet. “O—kay.”
“You need to call your mother and let her know what you’re doing and where you’ve been.” Ethan gave his niece his phone.
“Can’t I wait until I get home?”
“No.”
Severed Trust: The Men of the Texas Rangers | Book 4 Page 10