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Jay shrugged, seemingly done talking. He sat at the table, staring at his hands and not looking at Zack.
“Is there anything else you’re not telling me?”
Still not speaking, Jay simply shook his head. Disgusted, Zack reached for the door handle and slid it open.
“None of those girls did anything that they didn’t want to do. We didn’t force them to go. They wanted the attention and the free drinks.”
Jay’s tone was defensive and aggressive all at the same time. He’d jutted out his chin, stubbornly holding onto being in the right.
Rationalize much?
“I guess that makes it all okay then,” Zack said, stepping outside into the sunshine. “Have a nice rest of your vacation and trip back home.”
So much for that friendship. It’s over.
He didn’t look back as he strode to the car where Cooper was waiting. They’d head to the bookstore and let Lucy and Jane know what they’d learned.
Then they needed to take another look at Ed Farrow. And maybe Joel, too. Had he known what his friend was up to eighteen years ago? It was a question that needed asking.
Soon.
24
They all met at Tate’s later that day, gathered at the bar. The tavern wasn’t that busy, just a few patrons playing darts in the back. Zack and Cooper filled Lucy, Jane, Tate, and Frankie in on their meeting with Lloyd Daniels and Jay.
“Did anyone ever try to convince you to go to the bar?” Zack asked Lucy. “Were you ever pressured?”
“No, but remember that I was considered a major goody-two-shoes. My friends and I did once try and get in, but we were turned away.”
“Probably because you weren’t with one of the inside guys,” Cooper replied. “I bet Farrow probably had to be careful about who he let in. He didn’t want his dirty little secret to become common knowledge.”
“I knew he was a worm,” Frankie declared. “A real slimeball. I could see it a mile away. As for Dad, he probably knew and didn’t care. He’d just call it boys being boys or something horrific like that.”
“I’m not so sure Dad knew,” Tate observed. “Don’t get me wrong. I doubt Dad would have cared, but Zack’s friend told him explicitly that they didn’t want him to know because they thought he would tell his dad and get it all shut down.”
“They didn’t even keep it all a secret,” Jane said. “From what you all have told me, it was a well-known rumor that teenagers could get into a certain bar on campus.”
“Managing to keep it to a rumor is amazing,” Zack replied. “I wonder if there were any adults that heard the rumor, too?”
“They probably wouldn’t believe it,” Tate said. “Half the gossip in this town is just plain wrong or a lie. I’m guessing they thought that the teenagers were making it all up to sound older or something.”
“Are you going to open your envelope?” Jane asked. “I admit openly that I tried to convince Lucy to call you so she could open it earlier.”
“I am going to open it,” Zack replied. “I’m as curious as you are.”
Cooper had said that the envelope wasn’t from him or Sam, as far as he knew. He hadn’t even thought to give Zack a key to the mailbox because he never used it. The mail carrier just dropped the mail on the stairs.
Ripping open the top of the envelope, he opened it to see a folded piece of paper. When he pulled it out, a small thumb drive dropped onto the oak bar surface.
“It’s a jump drive,” Lucy said. “That’s…odd.”
“Maybe this note will tell us something,” Zack said, unfolding it and scanning the brief contents.
His stomach clenched in his abdomen as he read it several times over, still not quite believing what was written. It was a shock, but after all that had happened, it probably shouldn’t have been.
“It’s from Ethan,” he finally said. “He says that the guilt is eating him alive, and he can barely look at himself in the mirror. He’s sorry for the part he played in it. He says that he’s in danger, so he wants me to have it. He knows that if something happens to him, I’ll do what’s right.”
“Something did happen to him,” Jane said, with a visible shudder. “Spooky as hell. Now he’s pawned the danger onto you. Nice friends you have.”
