Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2

by Laura Scott

  “I’d have to go with Chance, but what do I know?” Rhett asked. “What’s that saying about blood being thicker than water?”

  “That is the saying,” Colt returned and grinned. He and Rhett chatted up the chances nonchalantly while Scott squirmed. They had this down to an art form. They had nothing to lose if he talked or not, but he would sit here for hours and had everything to lose. Once it sank in, he’d talk—at least a little. They always did.

  “But who knows,” Rhett added. “Maybe you’re more like a son to Reggie Leeway than Chance. I wonder if you’re in the will. I imagine it’s a substantial amount of money.”

  “What, maybe a few mil?” Colt asked.

  “Oh, at least,” Rhett said. “And the house. I hear it’s a really nice house.”

  And that did the trick.

  Scott haltingly released his clenched jaw and leaned forward on the table. “Look, I didn’t have a beef with Jared. I get I was no good for his sister. Whatever. We got into it and yeah, I muscled him some, but he said he had proof of me doing something...not so legal, and if I went near her, he’d give it to the cops.”

  Colt’s gut clenched. “What did you do about that?”

  “I called in a favor from Chance. I wanted the camera and the film or SD card or whatever. Chance owed me.”

  “Why?”

  Scott shook his head. “Doesn’t matter why. He owed, and the favor was getting me that proof.” Scott wasn’t as stupid as he looked. No way Jared would let him near a camera. If Scott was telling the truth, which Colt believed he was, Chance had a better shot of lifting the evidence. He could get in closer contact.

  “So you could continue seeing Amber.”

  “The photos had nothing to do with her. I don’t need nobody having pictures of me. Holding stuff over me. No proof. No worries. I didn’t kill Jared. I can’t say what Chance did or didn’t do.”

  How did any of this connect to illegal recruiting or Georgia’s attacks? It was obvious whoever came after Georgia was steamed about the evidence that linked to illegal recruiting and that led back to Dandy’s original inquiry to what was going on in the Courage High district and Ole Magnolia University. Could two separate crimes be going on at one time?

  “I’ll be straight with you, Scott. I don’t care about your drug dealing. Everyone knows about it. That’s between you and the local police. I’m here to find out who killed Jared, and what I have is Chance’s crumbled alibi and the need to know where he was when Jared died. Now, I have him linked to you and Jared as well. Where were you that night?”

  He laughed. “I barely know where I was yesterday. But I know where Chance Leeway was the night Jared died.”

  “Where?”

  “Met Jared at the Magnolia Motel to get the evidence.”

  “Did he get it?”

  Scott leaned back in his chair. “Yeah. He broke the camera and the SD card all right there for me to see. Like a good boy.” He snorted. “Why would I kill Jared? I got what I wanted.”

  “Why did Chance tell you to keep your mouth shut?”

  Scott splayed his hands in front of him. “Guess he knew we might be right here chatting like this.”

  Colt stood. “Sit tight.” He left Rhett with Scott and met up with Mae and Georgia in the other room.

  Georgia pointed to the glass. “I believe him.”

  “He’s still hiding something and I don’t trust him,” Mae countered.

  Georgia rubbed her chin. “Let’s connect the obvious dots. Scott dealt drugs. He had a connection to Chance that neither will cough up. It’s likely drugs—possibly even performance-enhancing drugs. Chance owes him, and it’s probably over illegal substances.”

  “He might have owed Scott money for drugs,” Mae offered.

  “Exactly,” Georgia said. “Scott has Chance meet up with Jared and they choose the Magnolia, which we know Scott dealt from often. He may have even been in one of the rooms waiting on the photos. The altercation could have taken place that night at the motel. We know Jared’s body was relocated after his death. But by Scott or Chance?”

  Colt was on the same page as the women. “The phone call from Chance to Jared the night he was working out at the school was likely to get him to meet. But it had to be a bogus lure. Jared wouldn’t have met up with Chance to give him pictures willingly. How did he get him to the Magnolia?”

  “And how does this possibly link to my attacks and the illegal recruiting?” Georgia asked.

  That was a great question. It was possible that Georgia’s attacks were to silence her about the illegal recruiting. Which opened up the case and led to Jared’s murder investigation—the catalyst but not a direct link.

  Gerald and Karen had denied that Jared accepted a bribe to go to Ole Magnolia. But Jared was secretive about the money and concert tickets. Could he have bribed Scott or Chance for the money and tickets? Was the photo of Scott dealing drugs to Chance?

  “Has Poppy gotten anything from Chance?”

  Mae shook her head. “Just football talk. The guy is smart. He knows how to evade incriminating questions. And his dad showed up about five minutes ago. He’s in there with him.”

  Great. “I’ll take a crack at him anyway. We have history. And I have Scott’s story. That ought to give me some leverage.”

  Poppy stood as Colt entered, and he gave her a chin nod—the signal to leave them inside alone.

  “I’m gonna get a coffee. Anyone want one?” She didn’t wait for them to respond. “Okay, just me then.”

  Reggie Leeway eyed Colt like a hawk about to strike a lone kitten. Colt was no helpless fluff ball. He was a unit chief, and he’d gone toe to toe with slimy lawyers like Reggie before.

  “I’ve talked to Scott.” No point holding back. He relayed Scott’s story, except the fact Scott refused to admit what the favor was in exchange for. “We know you were buying drugs from Scott and you owed him.”

  Reggie laid a hand on Chance’s forearm, and Chance remained silent. But to Colt, that was a clear sign indicating the favor was linked to Chance and personal drug use.

  “Are you charging him? If not, you have to let him go,” his father said.

  “I want to know your side of this story, Chance.” Technically, he could hold him up to forty-eight hours, and Reggie knew it. If it came to that, he would. Colt stared at Reggie with steel in his eyes, daring him to test him.

  Reggie nodded to Chance and gave him permission to speak.

  “Scott asked for a favor. I complied. I called Jared that Saturday night. You already know this. I asked him to meet me. I didn’t want to come to the school, because I knew his coach was in his office. He’d been talking to him when I called.”

  “Meet you for what?” What was the ploy to coax him into meeting?

  “I’d popped off the night before—you know that. I offered to buy him some fries and a drink at Rascal’s.” Right across from the Magnolia Motel. “It’d be easy to get it and then deliver it to Scott.”

  “Scott was at the motel waiting on you?”

  “He was supposed to be, but I think one of his friends didn’t show up, and when I met up with him it was at his house.”

  “What happened at Rascal’s?”

  “We ate fries at about nine thirty. We talked football, and I apologized for being a jerk. When he went to the bathroom, I checked his jacket for the camera. No go.”

  “So how did you get it?”

  “I was working on a plan B that would get me to his house so I could dig around his room. But on our way out, I saw it in his back seat along with an Aerosmith T-shirt. I’d heard he scored front-row tickets, and I told him I didn’t buy it and wanted to see for myself. When he dug around in his duffel bag for them, I lifted the camera.”

  “Did you look at the pictures?”

  Chance looked at his dad. He again nodded. “N
o. It was empty.”

  Scott said Chance broke it right in front of him. Surely he wouldn’t be dumb enough not to look first. “Scott said—”

  “I know what Scott said. I went to the 7-Eleven on the corner of his block and bought an SD card. He was high when he called, so I had a fifty-fifty shot. I broke the camera and disk, and he bought it. But the original card was never there.”

  “Where was Jared when you last saw him and what time?”

  “It was about ten when I left the parking lot at Rascal’s. Alice Parker was working the night shift and saw us. Ask her. She saw me get into my car and leave. Jared was sitting in his when I drove away. What happened after Rascal’s, I honestly don’t know.”

  Colt put the missing pieces together. When Jared turned up dead, Chance admitted to his dad he’d been involved with a drug dealer and told him what happened. His dad then had him use Joey and Ryan as alibis. Not only to protect him from being a murder suspect but to hide the drugs. No college would have him if either of those things were on his record. Not to mention it would tarnish Chance’s name and their family reputation. And for Scott’s silence, Mr. Leeway became his lawyer—probably pro bono.

  But Alice Parker had been interviewed fifteen years ago when she worked as the secretary for Gerald’s used auto dealership. Anyone who might have had any contact with him was spoken with, and Jared had worked a few afternoons at the dealership in the office. Colt didn’t recall her mentioning that she saw Jared the night he died.

  Colt wanted to review her statement again.

  “You’re free to go.”

  * * *

  Georgia sat across from Colt and the team at Jose’s—best tacos in town. The lunch crowd had jam-packed the place. Noise, laughter, sizzling fajitas and clanking dishes suffused the atmosphere.

  After Chance and his father left, the team had gone over old statements, more specifically Alice Parker’s. She noted Jared being a wonderful young man who worked occasionally for Gerald at the dealership and she often interacted with him, but nothing revealed she’d seen him the night of the murder.

  After ordering their meals and pouring personal dishes of salsa, Georgia couldn’t keep silent.

  “I’ve known Alice my whole life. Why didn’t she mention seeing Jared and Chance the night he died?” She dipped her chip in the salsa, and a burst of cilantro and tomato sent her in for another.

  “I don’t think Chance is lying. He knows we’ll talk to Alice for corroboration. He expects her to admit to seeing him.” Colt mixed cheese dip with his salsa and scooped a hefty bite.

  “Y’all have known this lady your whole lives, but what do you really know about her?” Rhett asked as he helped himself to more queso.

  “Basics. Married. Has a son younger than us by a year or so.” Colt sipped his sweet tea—no lemon. “Georgia, you’ve stuck around town—what do you know?”

  She wiped her hands on the black linen napkin spread across her lap. “Personally—not a lot. She works for the clerk’s office now. Has for some time. She goes to Hope Church, and she heads up the book drive every spring. Susan did a piece on her and the drive last year.”

  “We need to talk to her. Find out why she held back pertinent information.”

  “You only hide important information if you have something to hide. What is Alice hiding?” Georgia asked.

  “Maybe a drug habit. She might have been one of Scott’s clients and even in the photos Jared had on him. He could have told her about the pictures. Or maybe she owes Reggie Leeway a favor for something and kept quiet to protect Chance—but then why would Chance offer her up now?” Colt asked.

  “Because he was caught. Might as well let her admit it now.”

  Laughter interrupted their conversation.

  Coach Flanigan, Terry Helms and Sunny Wilkerson entered the establishment like old friends, cracking jokes and sporting mile-wide grins.

  Chance and his friends had already proven that buddies would lie for one another. Were these three partnering up together to hide the illegal recruiting ring? Did one of them kill Dandy? Attack Georgia? Kill Jared?

  Had one of them shot Colt? A jolt of adrenaline rushed through her, and her skin crawled as if ants were underneath it. In a flash her appetite was gone.

  They squeezed into a booth on the far side of the dining area.

  “Where are we on those three?” Colt asked as the server brought their entrées. When she left, Poppy crunched into her taco and held up a finger for him to wait. She swallowed and sipped her water. “Sunny Wilkerson appears squeaky clean, but both Tyler Burgess and Moore Thompson—the boys using the false address—work part-time at his outdoor sports equipment store. Nothing wrong with that. Unless the jobs are favors or incentive to play at Courage.”

  Harry Benard had approached Moore Thompson’s mom before he left Courage High for Southern. Same time he probably approached Tyler Burgess’s mother—but they hadn’t been able to reach her yet to confirm. Did Harry’s departure from Courage High have anything to do with the illegal recruitment and falsifying of addresses? “Did you find out how the boys slid by without showing proof of residence and a utility bill or car tag payment?”

  “I met with Principal Wiggins. He had no idea, but then, it’s the secretaries and administration who handle scanning that info and filing it. He had their files pulled. No proof of residence or any utility bills for these past two years. He’s doing a formal inquiry. The boys will be allowed to finish out the year, but without a legit residence, next year they’ll have to go back to their rightful district.” Poppy scooped her chip in a heap of guacamole. “I figure it’ll end up under the rug. Pinned on Coach Harry Benard. It’s not enough reason to kill someone.”

  Georgia agreed. More was at play here. Had to be. “Both boys worked for Sunny Wilkerson. Played for Coach Flanigan. Did they have a connection to Terry Helms, too?”

  “We’re looking,” Mae said. “We’ve been tracing Pine Road further back than Dandy’s list. Looks like she was still working on it when she was murdered.”

  “And?”

  “The land was purchased by the obscure James Kreger sixteen years ago. We pulled school records of athletes seventeen years ago—nothing. All legit addresses. No Pine Road. But the year—” she used air quotes “—‘James Kreger’ purchased the land, we found two boys who lived in other districts that used the address to play at Courage. Both of them went on to Ole Magnolia with full rides and played ball for Joe Jackson. We contacted the men, but they acted like they didn’t know anything about a fake address or illegal recruiting. And we can’t squeeze them, because it’s possible they didn’t know anything about it. They were minors at the time, and those decisions might have been made without their knowledge by a parent.”

  “Did you contact the parents?” Colt asked.

  Mae sighed. “John Rells’s father has dementia and his mom has passed on. Carter Wagoner’s parents had no comment.” Mae rolled her eyes. “We’ve contacted six more players and families who used that address over the past ten years. ‘I have no comment’ is the running theme. It’s not like we can bring any heat on them to talk. They’re not facing any major charges, and I imagine Reggie Leeway is their lawyer and he’s let them know not to comment.”

  “Who did the elusive James Kreger purchase the land from?” Colt asked.

  Mae wiped her mouth. “Willard Blake. Owned it for over thirty years. Probably used it as hunting land. But when he got sick, he sold it. Talked to his niece, but she can’t say much about the sale other than it happened. He passed not long after.”

  “Loyalty goes a long way,” Colt said. “Coaches are kings, and these players and families will feel as though they owe them. Who knows how big this thing truly is?”

  Georgia wondered the same thing. Big enough that people were dying for it. Families may have been threatened to keep their mouths shut, and if they had g
otten wind of Dandy’s death and Georgia’s attacks, they’d believe whoever threatened them would make good on it.

  “Any word from the NCAA on Coach Jackson?”

  “They’re investigating but haven’t made a ruling.” Rhett finished his sweet tea and tapped his fingers on the table. “I’m going to follow up again. Don’t want them getting lax.”

  Halfway through their meal, Colt leaned in. “I’m going to go rattle a few cages.”

  What was one more rattle when Georgia had already shaken the cage and gotten it rocking? “Wait.” She was scared, intimidated and terrified, but these guys were not going to know it. Even if she was bluffing, they needed to know she wasn’t backing down. Jared and Dandy would receive justice. Time to fake being brave. “I’ll go with you.”

  United front.

  Colt frowned. “I don’t know. If one of them is your attacker, fueling the fire probably isn’t wise.”

  “One of them shot you, and you’re not backing down.”

  “It’s my job.”

  “Well, I don’t want them to think they’ve succeeded in scaring me—even if they have.”

  Colt held her stare, then conceded. “Understood. Put on a brave face, but leave the rattling of cages to me.”

  “Fine.”

  “I mean it, Georgia. No ruffling feathers. You’ve already got someone molting.” He smirked, but his eyes meant business.

  What’s the worst that could happen? She could make them even madder and they could attack her again. Can I live with that? She was living with it now and she trusted Colt to do his job, though she feared he’d get hurt again. God is my source of strength and my shield. He’s my strong tower, and He’s my safe place. She repeated the good thoughts to replace the negative ones all the way to the men’s table.