But Not For Lust by BJ Bourg (comprehension books .txt) 📕

murder anyone. Without your statement, I’ve got to go with the evidence—and the evidence says you were the only one at a murder scene, so, in my book, you’re the killer.”

“No, wait a minute, I—”

“You what?” I asked folding my arms across my chest. “Are you going to try and say you didn’t black out now? And do you expect me to believe that shit?”

He blinked several times before answering. “I didn’t…um…I didn’t black out. I swear it—but not on my daughters,” he added hastily. “I just plain swear it. I didn’t black out.”

“Then why’d you say you blacked out?”

He lowered his head. “I guess I was scared.”

“What did I tell you about lying to me?” I asked. “I won’t sit here and listen to lies. I’ve got too much to do. Now, tell me again what you did when you went across the street.”

“I was angry and I wanted to walk over there and tell Ty to keep it down.” He shifted in his chair. “Well, first I was gonna ask his mom to control him, but she didn’t answer the door.”

“Did you open it?”

“No, it was already open.”

“Continue,” I said, reclaiming my seat.

“I went to Ty’s camper next. The door was open and—like you mentioned—there was a mess on the ground near the door.” He sniffed and took a swipe at his left eye. “I think there were pieces of food scattered around. There was a box on the ground, but I couldn’t make out what it was because it was dark.”

“Go on,” I pressed. “What happened next?”

“Ty wasn’t in his camper and I didn’t hear any more noise, so I thought about going back to my trailer.” He shivered. “Now I wish I would have.”

“You didn’t,” I said. “So what did you do instead?”

“I saw a light on at the back of the house, so I made my way to the shed.” He stopped talking and whimpered before dabbing at his eyes with the tissue. “That’s when I found her. Mrs. Carol was on the floor on her back. Her eyes were closed and it looked like she was sleeping. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.”

“Why didn’t you call 9-1-1?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I’ve never had any interactions with the police or anything, so I didn’t know what to do.”

“Did you touch her?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded.

“Where was Ty?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a shake of the head. “I didn’t see him.”

“What kind of weapon did you bring with you?” I asked, taking a gamble. I knew this man was a coward, which meant he would never cross that street empty-handed.

He gasped. “What?”

“You heard me,” I said. “I’m not repeating the question.”

“Um, I would never hurt anyone.”

“Wrong answer.” I started to rise again, but he threw out both hands.

“No, please, I’m telling the truth.” He swallowed hard. “I took a hammer with me, but just for protection. I was afraid that Ty was dangerous. I thought he might attack me and I only brought the hammer in case I would need to defend myself.”

“Right.” I shook my head. “What in the hell am I gonna do with you? You’ve spilt more lies than tears in here today. I can’t believe a damn thing you say.”

“I’m being honest about this.” He clasped his hands together in front of his face. “Please, you’ve got to believe me. I went to check on Ty and I couldn’t find him. I found his mom instead and it freaked me out. I thought Ty must’ve hurt her, so I closed the door and left.”

I thought back to the only two times I’d encountered this man, and something suddenly occurred to me.

“Did you find the door to the shed open?” I asked.

He nodded.

“And you closed it when you left?”

Again, he nodded.

“Did you do anything else?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“When you closed the door, did you do anything else?”

His shoulders slumped. “I probably locked it.”

“Why do you say that?”

“It’s a habit of mine,” he explained. “Every time I close a door, I have to lock it. It drives my wife crazy. I’ve locked us out of our house at least a dozen times, which is why we have a key hidden in the flower pot hanging on the porch.”

“Don’t tell people where you hide your key,” I scolded. “You never reveal that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

That was probably the only thing he’d said all day that I believed—not that he was sorry, but that he had locked the door. I’d seen him do it twice in the two times I’d encountered him.

“Where’s Ty?” I asked again.

“I don’t know.” His eyes grew wide at the thought of me not believing him. “I swear I don’t know where he is. The last time I saw him was Friday night when that car almost hit him.”

I was thoughtful. “Have you seen that car again?”

He shook his head from side to side.

“When I find Ty, will I find him dead with a hammer mark in his skull?” I asked.

Logan recoiled against the back of his chair. “I hope not!”

“You hope I don’t find him or you hope he doesn’t have a hammer hole in his head?”

“The last one.” He licked his lips. “I do hope you find him, because he can help prove that I didn’t hurt his mom.”

“How can he do that?”

“By telling the truth about what happened,” he said naively. “Once he does that, you’ll know I had nothing to do with hurting his mom.”

“Where’s the hammer you used to bash in Ty’s skull?” I asked quickly.

“It’s in the red toolbox in my—wait a minute!” His mouth opened in shock. “You tried to trick