Golden Trail (The 'Burg Series)

by Kristen Ashley

  Layne grinned at his reuben.

  “Told you this investigation shit is mostly boring,” Layne muttered back, her eyes slid to him and he took a huge bite of one of many of Frank’s Restaurant’s freaking fantastic sandwiches and watched his woman smile.

  Layne’s phone rang, her eyes dropped to it on his desk and then narrowed.

  “Cal,” she whispered as Layne pulled his feet from the desk and reached for the phone.

  He flipped it open and put it to his ear. “Yo, Cal.”

  “You at a place where you can move quick?”

  Layne’s back went straight.

  “Maybe, why?”

  “’Cause Keira just came shooting out of her bedroom. Even though she’s grounded and Vi told her no phone calls or texts for a week, she found a way to take one from Jasper. Apparently, he’s been on a mission today. He found out what happened last night and he’s meanin’ to do somethin’ about it.”

  Oh fuck.

  Layne put his lunch down and stood, reaching for his jacket. “She tell you what he found out?”

  “Yep. He heard from someone who witnessed it that Keirry took a shot from a kid named Tyler Berger. Keira says she doesn’t remember it but if she did it that was the only drink she had that Jasper himself didn’t hand her. Jasper learned she took it after usin’ the bathroom right before they were gonna leave so the timing fits. According to Keira, Jasper is not a big fan of Tyler Berger mainly because, while he was playin’ it cool and textin’ her, Tyler asked Keira out. She didn’t go but this made Tyler pretty fuckin’ unpopular to Jasper. Jasper told Keirry that he reckons this kid slipped her the drug and he’s itchin’ for payback for last night and for Tyler tryin’ to move on his territory. That said, Keira says Tyler’s a slimeball and she doesn’t put this shit passed him. She says his parents are out of town and it was his party they were at last night. Jasper is headin’ that way and so am I.”

  He had his jacket on and his eyes glued to Rocky. “Where is it?”

  “The Heritage. Don’t have the house number but Keira says it’s the second left in the development, at the end of the street. I figure I’ll see Jasper’s Charger parked out front.”

  “I’ll be there in ten,” Layne stated.

  “Good, I’ll be there in five, I’ll deal with what I find and you take it from there,” Cal replied.

  “He was pissed, Cal, and he’s protective. What you find may be messy,” Layne warned.

  “Yeah, why’d you think I went easy on him last night? He was more torn up about what happened to Keirry than Vi and I were, and, man, I gotta tell you, your girl gets slipped a date rape drug, it tears you up. But, Keira is on a mission to live her high school years to their fullest and is definitely not immune to fucking up as in taking a shot from a known slimeball and downin’ it.”

  This was not in doubt, the Layne family had learned Keira was a nut and it was further indication his son was just like his old man.

  “I hear you, brother, but I’m on duty in the office. I gotta brief Roc before I leave so she can take over. I gotta go,” Layne replied.

  “Gotcha, see you in ten,” Cal said and Layne heard the disconnect.

  His eyes were still on Rocky so he spoke. “Jasper found out who slipped Keira the drug, he’s bearin’ down on him now, Cal’s five minutes out, I gotta get to my boy.”

  “Go, baby,” she whispered.

  “You take notes you hear anything important, see the numbers on the screen?” he asked, she glanced at the screen and nodded, “Write down timings. I can scroll back and listen. You hear something big, something that freaks you, you take note of the time and call Merry then you call me. Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” she nodded, “Go.”

  He leaned in quickly to kiss her forehead that she helpfully tipped back for him and he took off.

  * * * * *

  Jasper’s Charger and Cal’s truck were in front of an enormous house that took up the entirety of a secluded cul de sac at the end of a street on The Heritage. The house was set back from the road and surrounded by trees. Its front yard was also littered with cans, bottles, chip bags and used plastic cups.

  Layne parked behind Cal’s truck and jogged to the front door which was partially ajar. He slipped through and saw the house was like the yard, except a lot worse. The place was a disaster and it smelled like vomit and stale beer. And there wasn’t one keg in the wide entryway, there were three.

  He heard the voices from upstairs, Jasper’s pissed, Cal’s a murmur, another boy’s sounding scared.

  Layne took the stairs two at a time, moved down the hall and walked into a bedroom that was a mess, not from the party, but from a teenaged kid living in it. And it was enormous. It had a queen-sized bed, heavy, expensive furniture and it was stuffed full of everything a kid could want. State-of-the-art stereo, computer, TV, PS3, shelves full of DVDs, CDs and games, handheld video games, digital picture frames, expensive cell phone and an MP3 player scattering the surface of the desk and chest of drawers, tangles of clothes everywhere.

  All three pairs of eyes came to him when he entered the room and Layne saw Cal had Jasper held back with a hand in his chest, Jasper was keeping it in check but that didn’t mean he wasn’t straining. Another boy, three inches shorter and definitely slighter than his son, his hair a sandy blond mop on his head, a bedhead, Layne had no doubt when he primped it was styled passed Tripp’s best efforts, had pressed himself against a wall. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was gray because he was hungover. His lower lip was already swelling fat and a trickle of blood was seeping from his nose because Jasper had time to get a few in before Cal arrived.

  Layne’s eyes went to his son. “You cool?”

  “No,” Jasper bit out, his eyes never leaving the other kid.

  Layne looked at Cal and Cal shook his head.

  Layne looked back to Jas. “Stand down,” he said low.

  “Slipped it to her, Dad,” Jasper growled, his gaze piercing the other boy.

  “Stand down,” Layne repeated.

  “Drugged her, drugged my babe, made her pass out. I wasn’t there –”

  Layne got close to his son as Jasper spoke and demanded quietly, “Jasper, cool it.”

  Jasper scowled at Tyler Berger and he did this for awhile as everyone waited, tense. Then he took a step back from Cal’s hand and Layne watched him force his body to relax.

  Cal studied Jasper then dropped his hand.

  Then Cal looked at Tyler. “You do it?”

  Tyler’s frightened eyes went from Jasper to Cal. Then he realized, with two adults in the room, things had changed. One look at his room and Layne knew that Tyler Berger played the adults in his life and he was really good at it.

  This was proved true when he jutted out his fat lip and grunted, “No.”

  “You did it,” Jasper said softly.

  “You see me do it?” Tyler shot back.

  “Nope, but Justin did,” Jasper replied.

  “Justin’s an asswipe,” Tyler returned.

  “Justin’s got no reason to lie,” Jasper retorted.

  “Maybe he did it,” Tyler suggested.

  “Yeah, right, he did it,” Jasper said sarcastically. “He’s Keirry’s lab partner in Biology, they’re friends. And he’s dating Heather and thinks he’s gonna get in there. You think he’s gonna fuck that up by drugging Heather’s best friend?”

  Tyler shrugged.

  Layne entered the conversation. “Advise you to come clean, boy.”

  Tyler’s eyes came to his and they were belligerent. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “Then you better be a whole lot more convincing than you are right now,” Layne told him. “’Cause Cal and me, we can control what happens in this room. We cannot control what happens at school. You get me?”

  Tyler straightened and stated, “No. I don’t get you. What I get is that I’m gonna tell my parents that you and him and your kid broke into my house and he hit me and they’re gonna call their lawyers
and we’re gonna see if the Great Jasper Layne plays ball for Purdue after my parents’ lawyers get done with him.”

  Layne clenched his teeth.

  “My future doesn’t hinge on a full ride,” Cal remarked and all eyes went to him.

  “What?” Tyler asked when no one spoke.

  “Carried my girl to her bed last night. Her boy here says she had three or four beers and she was out. She’s probably a lightweight but she was out. You’re young, you don’t know how a man feels when life proves to him how vulnerable his girl is when she’s not under his watch. Not a good feelin’, boy,” Cal said.

  “I’m so sorry for you,” Tyler sneered.

  “Thinkin’ you better get smart pretty fuckin’ soon or I’ll make it so you feel a whole lot sorrier,” Cal whispered and Tyler’s eyes widened before he quickly pulled his asshole teenaged kid cloak back into place.

  “My parents will hear that too,” he snapped, “you threatening me.”

  “Won’t be able to do shit,” Cal returned. “You don’t play this smart, right fuckin’ now, I can guarantee you Jasper is gonna make your days a livin’ hell and I’m gonna make it my mission to make the rest of your life a livin’ hell. Now, do you get me?”

  “You can’t threaten me.” Tyler’s voice was rising.

  “Sure I can,” Cal replied casually. “Can fuck with you too and you don’t cop to what you did, I will. That’s a promise.”

  Tyler looked to the floor, muttering, “This is bullshit.”

  “I see you don’t feel like gettin’ smart so we’re done here,” Cal stated, moving to Jasper, putting his hand on his back and starting the both of them toward the door, he finished with, “It’s on.”

  Cal and Jasper kept moving but Layne kept his eyes on Tyler as Tyler’s narrowed on Cal. He was scrambling, he knew he was fucked, he just couldn’t find a way out.

  So he took the only way out he knew.

  “He can’t come in here and hit me and you can’t come in here and threaten me!” Tyler was beginning to shout. “And you can’t fuck with me! My Dad’s CEO of Wyler Pharmaceuticals.”

  Cal stopped, turned and looked at him, brows up. “He is? Well, fuck me, that’s impressive.” Cal put his hands to his hips and went on. “It’s impressive but what it isn’t is frightening. What’s he gonna do, come to my house and throw pills at me?”

  “Shut up,” Tyler whispered.

  “Still not bein’ smart,” Cal muttered, shaking his head.

  “Tyler,” Layne called and Tyler’s angry eyes came to Layne. “Do you know what I do?”

  Tyler glared at him a beat then jerked his chin up in an affirmative.

  “Then you know I’ll follow the trail and I’ll find evidence you had the drug,” Layne stated and Tyler’s face started to pale. “So, you can spend the rest of the day cleanin’ this house but you’re gonna miss somethin’ or, what I saw downstairs, somethin’ was likely damaged or missin’ and my guess is what’s missin’ is the contents of your parents’ liquor cabinet. Your parents are gonna know you threw a party and it’s likely they’re not gonna be happy about it but they’ll probably let it slide because I reckon they let a lot slide with you, considering you’re a punk and a boy isn’t born a punk, he’s made that way.”

  “Go to hell,” Tyler whispered, his cheeks getting red.

  Layne kept talking. “What I also would guess is, they’re not gonna let it slide when I prove you drugged Keira Winters. They’re not gonna let it slide because Cal isn’t gonna let it slide. I get the evidence, they’ll press charges, and trust me, a punk like you, juvvie isn’t gonna be a whole helluva lot of fun.”

  The red bleached out of Tyler’s face, it went white and his mouth dropped slightly open.

  Layne kept at him. “They can have a lot of money, hire great lawyers but I’ll tie you so tight to that shit you can’t get loose. And Keira Winters is famous in this ‘burg, I don’t reckon you’ll find a judge who’ll look kindly on you druggin’ a girl whose father and uncle were murdered and whose mother was stalked and kidnapped. I reckon a judge will think Keira Winters has suffered enough in her short life, her mother has too, and I reckon a judge will look at your parents’ expensive attorneys and take in your punk attitude and know you need a lesson. I also reckon he’ll smile when he gets to be the one to give it to you.”

  Tyler swallowed.

  Layne continued. “So, right now, you got a choice to keep bein’ a punk or man, the fuck, up. Admit what you did, explain why you did it, apologize to Cal and Jasper and we’ll all move on. That’s your choice. You got one second to make it before we move out.”

  “I –” Tyler started.

  “No joke, Tyler, one second,” Layne warned.

  “Coach Cosgrove gave it to me!” Tyler blurted and the entire room went wired.

  Everyone was silent for long, tense moments until Layne broke it by asking, “Come again?”

  “He gave me a hundred bucks, told me to slip it to Keira and keep her from Jasper,” Tyler told them, his eyes darting between the three males in the room and Layne knew he was giving it to them straight but there was something missing. “It wasn’t even me, really, I just put it in the shot and gave it to her. It was Coach Cosgrove.”

  Layne was frozen so when Jasper moved, Layne couldn’t do a thing about it but Cal got hold of him and shoved him back.

  “Stay cool,” Cal growled at Jasper and Jasper must have gotten himself under control because Cal turned back to Tyler. “No shit?”

  “No shit, freaked me out, he showed at the party about five minutes after they showed,” he pointed at Jasper.

  “Tell me exactly what he said,” Layne demanded and Tyler looked at him, his body alert, his mind still scrambling.

  “He didn’t say much of anything. He just said give her the drug, keep her away from Jasper and let it play out however it played out. Problem was, she was with Jasper all night and I couldn’t get to her. I didn’t know they were leaving when I gave it to her. No one has a midnight curfew, that’s crazy,” Tyler replied.

  Layne felt Cal’s eyes on him but he didn’t take his from Tyler. “So, you’re tellin’ me the coach of the football team was settin’ Keira Winters up to get hurt.”

  “I don’t know what he wanted. Just know what he said,” Tyler answered then continued. “She sticks to him like glue,” his eyes slid to Jasper, he couldn’t hide the jealousy, it was stark on his face, then they slid back to Layne, “couldn’t keep her from him after she took the shot so she went funny when she was with him.” That jealousy took hold and his voice took on the thread of a whine when he went on. “Then he picks her up like he’s in some stupid, romance movie, carries her to his car while all the girls watch like he’s some kind of fuckin’ movie star and then they were gone, there was nothing I could do.”

  “Cosgrove come back?” Layne asked.

  “No,” Tyler answered.

  “You didn’t see him at all?” Layne pressed.

  “No, not at all,” Tyler replied.

  “Has he called you?” Layne pushed.

  “No, nothing, haven’t seen or heard from him at all,” Tyler said.

  “That doesn’t make sense, Tyler,” Layne noted, the kid was hiding something.

  Tyler jutted up his chin, digging in. “Well that’s what happened.”

  Layne studied him a beat then asked, “How old are you?”

  “Seventeen,” Tyler answered.

  Shit, as Layne suspected, he was underage.

  “When do your parents get home?” Layne went on.

  “Tonight,” Tyler replied.

  “Where are they?”

  “Chicago, Mom’s shoppin’, Dad’s got some conference,” Tyler told him.

  “On the phone,” Layne ordered, walking to the kid’s desk and tagging his cell phone. “Tell them they’re coming home now.” He turned and tossed the phone to Tyler who fumbled and dropped it.

  Tyler squatted to the phone but his head was tipped back to stare a
t Layne. “What? Why?” His voice was shrill.

  “Because I’m callin’ the cops and they can’t talk to you unless a parent or guardian is present,” Layne explained. “And I reckon it’ll be better for you to call them now than wait and have the cops call them and tell them they’ve got you at the Station.”

  Tyler nabbed his phone and straightened like a shot. “But you said –”

  “I thought you were fuckin’ around. I didn’t know Cosgrove was involved.”

  “But I can’t –” Tyler tried.

  “You can and you will,” Layne demanded.

  “I can’t! Everyone will know! Coach Cosgrove will be pissed!” He was freaked right the fuck out.

  Definitely hiding something.

  “All right, this has escaped you but this is not about you anymore. This is about Cosgrove. You owned up to it, got smart and you were honest. You fucked up. You took a coupla hits and manned up. Now, if you keep your shit together and cooperate, it’ll look good for you. You go back to bein’ a punk, this time a sissy punk, it won’t look so good and you’re in that hole you were in five minutes ago with Jas and Cal both happy to ride your ass until you beg for mercy and me workin’ with all I got to make you pay for what you did to Keira. Again, kid, you got a choice. Make it but make it now,” Layne ordered.

  Tyler stared at him.

  Then he asked, “I won’t get in trouble?”

  “Can’t tell the future,” Layne replied. “Your folks’ll probably be pissed. Girls and their parents know you aren’t afraid of usin’ a date rape drug, you won’t get a date until you go to college. As for the cops, you cooperate, they might feel generous.”

  Tyler hesitated so Cal entered the conversation.

  “Best deal you’re gonna get, boy,” he growled.

  “God!” Tyler, backed into a corner, for once in his life without his Daddy’s money or hotshot CEO bluster to hide behind to keep him safe, exclaimed, “This is jacked up!”