Small Town Justice(45)
“It must have been. Dad had set up careful procedures for processing a crime scene.”
“Except, at the time, they didn’t consider it more than a drunk teenager behind the wheel,” Jamie Lynn argued. “Suppose there was a conspiracy?”
“Or worse,” Shane said. “What if one of your brother’s so-called friends was driving and they’d planned to blame him all along? That would fit.”
“Why R.J.? He never hurt anybody.”
“Maybe not, but his mind was impaired, either by drugs or alcohol or both. He’d make the perfect scapegoat, particularly if some of his buddies were on the wrong side of the law.”
Jamie Lynn rolled her eyes at him. “Some of them? Try all of them. I can’t believe any of those guys ended up as good citizens.”
“Don’t be too quick to condemn them. Everybody deserves a second chance.”
“That is exactly what I keep trying to tell you,” she stated flatly. “And my brother is at the top of my list.”
* * *
Little Steve was “the size of a log truck,” according to colloquial descriptions. He was every bit as hefty as the Lamont brothers, but Shane didn’t suspect him of being involved in any of the previous harassment. He was too normal and too smart.
They stood back while members of the choir hung up their robes and filed out of the room. Shane stepped forward to stop Steve before he had a chance to leave.
“Hey, Steve.”
“Hey, yourself, Colton. What’s up?”
“We just want a word with you. It won’t take long.”
“My wife and kids will miss me. Can’t this wait?”
Shane was shaking his head. “Afraid not.” He gestured. “This is Jamie Lynn Henderson. You used to hang with her brother, Ray.”
“That’s ancient history.”
“Not anymore. What do you know about the accident?”
“What accident?” His words were directed at Shane but his gaze never left Jamie.
“Let’s not waste time,” Shane said firmly. “You know more about the hit-and-run than you admitted. It’s time you came clean.”
“Hey, I wasn’t there, okay?” Backing away, he raised his hands in front of him as if warding off a threat.
“But you know what happened, don’t you?” Shane paused to give the other man time to reason. “All we want to do is find out the truth. If Ray Jr. was driving, fine. If not, we’d like to know who was.”
Little Steve led the way back into the empty choir room and closed the door behind them before he said, “Look. I have to live here. I have a business and a family. If I tell you anything, you have to promise you won’t reveal where you heard it.”
“If you weren’t involved, then you have my promise,” Shane said. “Somebody has been harassing Ms. Henderson ever since she got here. She’s even been shot at. All I want right now is enough information to stop whoever is trying to scare her off.”
Steve pressed his lips into a thin line. He clenched his fists. “It might be more than that,” he said, speaking so quietly his words were raspy. “You don’t know what you’ve gotten into.”
“Tell us.” Shane felt Jamie Lynn grasp his arm and inch closer.
“Back then, a few of the guys belonged to that private club we used to hear about in high school. You know the one. If your family wasn’t rich you weren’t welcome.”
“Probably why they never asked me to join.”
“Me, either,” Steve said. “But once in a while they’d befriend outsiders if it suited them. That’s how Ray and I ended up keeping company with the regulars sometimes.”
“Go on.”
“I was never in on any plans for real crime. You have to believe that. If I had been, I’d have tried to stop it.” He swallowed hard. “At least I hope I would have. We were all dumb kids back then.”
“Why did they involve my brother in the accident and not you?” Jamie asked.
“Maybe because I didn’t like to drink as much as he did. At any rate, I knew something was up when the whole crowd ditched me and drove off, laughing. There was one other car besides Ray’s. I didn’t think anything of it until the next morning when I heard what had happened.”
It took supreme effort for Shane to stifle his anger. “So, Ray could very easily have been driving? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No, no.” Steve eyed the closed door and further lowered his voice. “Ray was already too shot down. He had to be carried to his car. Somebody else drove it while Ray bounced around in the backseat.”