“This isn’t your usual time.”
He shrugged. “I heard you were working tonight. Thought I’d see how you were holding up.”
“Well, I’m standing.” She spread her hands, silver bracelets clanging together. “I needed to come back to work. Can’t let the business fail. Jemma would have hated that. How about a decaf?”
“What do you recommend?”
“Ladies’ choice.”
She shook her head when he dug out his wallet. “No, it’s on the house today.”
“Why?”
“For small kindnesses.”
He put the money away as she brewed his coffee. When she presented it with flourish, he bowed at the waist.
“Kenya’s finest.”
He traced the rim. “I’ve always liked Kenyan coffee, so you chose well. I’ll see you around, Jill.”
“Tanner?”
“Yes?”
“Mere told me about your friend…in high school.”
No one was behind him so he set his coffee down.
“How do you get over it?” She put a hand to the vulnerable line of her neck.
He tilted his head back and studied the neon green ceiling before meeting her gaze. “It takes a long time, and it never fully goes away.” Hadn’t he thought about it when he was speeding on Halloween? “Try not to beat yourself up. Things just happen.” He rubbed the scar near his mouth. “I still don’t know why. Try to stop asking why. It helps.”
“Thanks.”
“Take care of yourself, Jill.”
“You too, Tanner.”
He didn’t speed on the drive home. Shane wouldn’t have approved. He’d been speeding that fateful day in his new car. He’d barreled through a stop sign, dare-deviling his way across the highway. How they could have missed that pick-up truck was something he’d wonder for the rest of his life.
His driveway was quiet as a cemetery when he left the car. He was halfway to the door when he heard the unmistakable sound of branches snapping underfoot and leaves rustling. He froze, instantly alert.
It was too dark to see, so he strode to the porch, straining to hear. Perhaps it was that lone dog he kept seeing around his house. He refused to feed it, because then it would stay.
And Tanner wasn’t staying in Dare.
“Professor McBride?” a male voice called out from his left.
He narrowed his eyes in the darkness. More branches broke, leaves crunching as the man approached him. When he stepped on the driveway, the gravel ground under his feet with a sound like marbles rubbing together.
“Who is it?” He edged behind one of the beams on the porch. He didn’t expect problems, but he’d learned to be cautious.
The man came closer, his gait discernable in the darkness. “It’s Ray Pollack.”
A student? “Long way to come for a conference, son.”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t approach you in public.”
Tanner’s muscles tightened. There was danger in that statement. He could almost smell the cold sweat on the kid.
“Why not?”
Ray cleared his throat. “Because I know how Jemma died.”
“That’s old news. She had a heart murmur.”
The face lifted, stark white under the crescent moon emerging from behind a cloud. “No, sir. That’s not the cause.”
Adrenaline spiked. “Then what was?”
“I think I killed her.”
Chapter 21
Why don’t you tell me about it while I make us some coffee?” Tanner said after he’d convinced the kid to come inside.
Ray shifted on his feet like a rabbit ready to run, his boots squeaking on the floor.
“You’re safe here.” He set the coffee to brew. “Let’s sit down.”
“I need you to promise you’ll treat me like a confidential source.”
Tanner folded his arms across his chest. So the kid had listened in class. “Sit down, Ray.” When he complied, Tanner continued. “You know how this works. You need to give me something first.”
“You don’t understand. These are really bad dudes.” Ray’s breath grew choppy. “And I can’t go to jail. I just can’t.”
“Ray, listen to me. You need to calm down.”
When the coffee maker coughed its last breath, he stood, poured a cup for each of them, and sat down again. Of all the things he’d imagined happening in Dare, this wasn’t one of them.
“Talk to me, son.”
The kid’s hands shook when he gripped the cup. He winced when he took a sip—the coffee must have scalded him—but he kept drinking it. Tanner waited him out, studying the dark circles under his blood-shot hazel eyes. Ray’s skin had a light gray pallor to it, and his face was a bit hollower around the cheekbones than normal. His clothes—a brown sweater and jeans—looked like they’d been slept in. He’d missed a few classes since Jemma’s death.