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

was really freaked out about almost hitting Ty, so if she did see someone else, she either forgot about it or didn’t think to tell me.” Phoebe suddenly groaned in pain when her son head-butted her belly. “Stop it, Blue.”

I grinned down at the boy, who couldn’t seem to stand still, but he sneered and looked away.

“What time did Betty get to your house on Friday night?” I asked.

“Um, I’d say around nine o’clock.”

“And what time did she leave?”

“I’m not sure.” Her brow furrowed. “I went to bed and she stayed up watching a movie, but she told me it was late—or, rather, early—Saturday morning.”

After asking a few more questions, I turned to Susan and asked if she had anything to add. She shook her head. I thanked Phoebe and we turned to leave. We were halfway across the yard when Blue hollered after me, “My Daddy can lift a hundred pounds!”

“Blue, shut up!” Phoebe said. “Leave that man alone.”

Susan shot a sideways glance my way, but didn’t say anything until we were seated in my Tahoe.

“What’s going on between you and Blue?” she asked with a wry grin. “I saw the way he looked at you and, based on his tone, it sounds like there’s some bad blood between y’all.”

“I beat him in a poker game and now he’s pissed,” I said with a laugh. “Seriously, I don’t know what’s up with that kid. The last time I was here he said his dad could beat me up and lift more weights than I can.”

“Oh, my God, that’s so precious!”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I drove up Orange Way. I slowed when we passed Logan’s house. I noticed his truck was parked in the driveway, but I didn’t see anyone outside.

“I wonder if he got fired because of the background investigation,” I said. “I imagine he’s supposed to be at work right now.”

Susan shrugged. “I don’t know, but if he’s guilty, I don’t care. If he’s innocent, well, we need to help him get his job back. That is, if he did get fired.”

I nodded my agreement and headed north when we reached Main Street. I turned left onto the fifth street I came to. As I proceeded down Green Grove, I couldn’t help but think how the end of this street intersected with Jezebel. I pointed out that fact to Susan and asked if she thought it meant something.

“Nearly every street on this side of town intersects with Jezebel,” she said.

“That’s true.”

  CHAPTER 43

Once we neared the end of Green Grove, I pulled to the side of the street and parked. Susan and I studied the second-to-last house on the right. It was a single-story brick home with a two-car, attached garage. Although it was winter, the grass had been recently cut and the shrubs were green and healthy. There were other flowers in a flowerbed that lined the front of the house and also in pots on the driveway blocking the garage door. It appeared to me that the garage was being used as a room of some sort.

Susan indicated the red car in the driveway. “It looks like someone’s home.”

I nodded and exited my Tahoe, wondering where this interview might take us. I had already verified that she had almost run over Ty through Phoebe, thereby corroborating Logan’s statement. Getting Betty to verify the incident wouldn’t bolster my case any. It would only serve to wrap up a loose end. However, she might remember seeing another vehicle or somebody out on the street that night.

What if someone had been chasing Ty and he had run into the road and then tripped and fell? I hadn’t considered that scenario yet, but it sounded like a plausible one. That might explain why Ty was on the ground and why Betty hadn’t seen him until almost too late. If this was how it had happened, Betty might’ve seen who was chasing him.

As Susan and I entered the yard and approached the front door, we could hear loud music sounding from inside. I rang the bell not expecting much. After waiting almost a full minute, I banged on the door with my fist and then moved toward the garage door. It sounded as though the music was coming from that room, so I banged on the window. It rattled loudly, someone yelped from inside, and then the music stopped.

I returned to where Susan stood. I had just reached her when the door flung open. A young woman wearing tight yoga pants, a form-fitting tank top, and a matching bra stood there. Her bronze-colored skin glistened with sweat and her blonde hair was wet along her scalp.

“Sorry,” she said breathlessly. “I was working out.”

“Are you Betty Watts?”

She nodded as she tried to catch her breath.

I apologized for bothering her and then asked if we could speak with her about Ty. Her eyes instantly widened.

“Oh, no, was it really him y’all found in the field?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a frown. “It was Ty.”

“I almost hit him with my car the other night,” she said, and then stopped to wipe the sweat from her face. She took a few breaths to calm her racing heart. I wasn’t sure what kind of workout she had been doing, but it seemed to be high-intensity. “He was in the middle of the road and I was just driving along in the dark minding my own business and I never saw him. Thank God he stood up, or I would’ve just plowed right over him.”

I asked her what happened when she stopped the car.

“Well, he started screaming at my car and then he banged his hands on the hood.” She raised her hands and dropped them down to replicate his actions. “It made a loud noise on my car. In fact, it even left a