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

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,