Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Laura Scott (free e reader .TXT) 📕

it is! Colt McCoy. Number seventeen. Best defensive lineman in your class.” His gaze moved to Georgia, and his smile faltered but didn’t fade. “Hey, there, little lady. How are you? I heard from Deacon Tim at church that you’d been attacked and shot.” He shook his head. “Glad you’re still kicking. Come on in, y’all.”

Georgia gave a small shrug. She couldn’t tell if he wanted her dead, but he clearly held a little grudge thanks to her previous accusations against him. Georgia had always been feisty, and what Colt had chalked up to moody. Now, he realized there was Georgia the feisty go-getter, full of spunk, heart and ambition, who was hamstrung by her anxiety, which at times made her appear moody and withdrawn.

They stepped inside Coach’s foyer. The house smelled of Sunday pot roast and potpourri.

“We’re watching some recorded football.”

Coach’s wife, Earlene, sat on the couch with a glass of tea. “Can I get y’all anything?” she asked.

“No, ma’am. I’m sorry to intrude on your Sunday afternoon, and I hope we won’t be here long. I’m on official business. So is Georgia—in a consultant’s capacity. The MBI cold case unit has reopened Jared Toledo’s case.”

“Oh, really. On whose authority?” Coach asked. A stern expression only intensified his weathered face. The years had colored his dark hair silver, and his eyebrows had become more gnarled.

“Mine. I’m the unit chief. Georgia hosts a podcast called Dead Talk. Last Thursday, she revealed intimate information and her speculation about Jared’s death and illegal athletic recruiting.” He waited a beat, studied Coach’s physical reaction.

“Do you have information?” He sat beside his wife. He was in his late fifties. Could he have the stamina to attack Georgia physically? He appeared physically fit and the right size, just older.

Georgia opened her mouth, but Colt jumped in first. “I can’t reveal that and neither can she, but it’s enough to reopen the case with a new line of investigation. That’s why we’re here.”

“I see.”

Georgia leaned forward. “Are you saying you’re not illegally recruiting boys to play ball at Courage High and giving them a fake address to use so they can play in your district?”

“Excuse me?” the coach asked.

Georgia didn’t slow down. “You haven’t got some kind of deal worked out with a recruiter or the coach at Ole Magnolia to get those boys who play for you to also play for them? No monetary gifts to entice them? No kickbacks to you?”

So much for being quieter than a church mouse. Colt inhaled, exhaled and muttered, “Your pants are on fire, Georgia Jane.”

She’d riled up Coach, and the last thing he’d want to do now was cooperate.

“You think I have to resort to that kind of nonsense? Has it ever crossed your mind, Miss Thing, that I happen to be that good of a coach and I mold and make boys into athletes worth having at colleges and in the NFL? I have had fourteen players go pro. You’ve always made false accusations, Georgia Maxwell. I told you that then, and I’m telling it to you now. No wonder someone wants you dead.”

“That’s out of line, Coach.” Colt stepped in front of Georgia. Protective instinct as much as to shut her up.

Earlene scolded Coach, and that mellowed him out. “I’m sorry. But you came in asking if I was a criminal. One of my boys died. My boy. That’s how I see each and every player on my team. Like a son. Not only did my star QB die, he was put in my athletic room. My boy. My place.” His eyes held anguish, and he slumped. “I’ve beat myself over the head trying to come up with some information that might help, but I don’t know any more now than I did then.”

Colt believed him. Hopefully, it wasn’t bias. Coach had been more of a father to him than his own. “Can I go over it anyway? One more time?”

He nodded.

“Were you at the school on that night in question?” Sometimes he stayed late in his office watching game tapes, going over the playbook.

Coach rubbed his clean-shaven chin. “I was. Not too late because of church the next morning. Jared came in around eight. Said he wanted to talk to me about something. But he got a call on his mobile phone, and when he hung up, he said never mind.”

Colt hadn’t owned his own cell phone, but Jared had possessed every new piece of technology that had been available. His father had left a hefty life insurance policy, and his stepfather owned his own used-car dealership. Colt had to have a part-time job and save for anything he might want, whether it was a Friday night burger and fries or college or even a new pair of jeans.

“Did he seem upset by the call? What was his reaction? Any idea who he was talking to?”

“No idea.” He shook his head. “He seemed troubled, and maybe I should have pressed him. But I didn’t. I was watching game tapes. I regret that.”

Miss Earlene grasped Coach’s hand.

“He said he was gonna work out an hour or so—after the call. I told him not to stay too late—church on Sunday. I stayed fifteen to twenty minutes longer and then left.”

Jared came to see Coach and wanted to talk, but a phone call interrupted him and then he changed his mind. Either the call had something to do with what he wanted to talk to Coach about or after the call he lost his nerve and decided to go work out instead. Maybe to think over what had been on his mind. Colt had often done that, and even now he liked to work out and work through issues.

“I wish I’d have talked to him—that phone call...that might have been important, and I could have given him some advice. Kept him from going where he went. Kept him from...” He removed his hat and held his head in hands. “I can’t ever get that guilt to go away.”

“I