My response makes a direct hit as Candace’s smile fades. “I’m real sorry about what happened to those girls.” She reaches for a small pad of paper from the front pocket of a black apron. “What can I get you?”
“Nothing, I’m not staying.”
Theo lifts his chin, not so discreetly telling Candace to leave.
Once we’re alone, our conversation resumes. “Jillian, I’m sorry if you thought that comment was directed at you. As I said, it wasn’t. Just be careful of Keith Gilbert. I don’t want anyone else hurt.”
“She likes you,” I say with a grin.
“Who?” He looks around. “Candace?”
My lips come together as I nod.
“She works for me and...” He shrugs his shoulder. “As I was saying, just be careful.”
We’re back to the topic of Keith Gilbert. “You know he’s a policeman?”
“I do. I also know that Coach’s wife told people that he’s trouble—black sheep of the family. He had some issues in the merchant marine before becoming a cop. Sounds like he’s dirty. He wanted to stay at her house, and she refused. Word is that she doesn’t want him around Joey.”
“She said that to you?”
“No, but I hear things. You should have seen him at the funeral. He couldn’t wait to get away from Coach’s family.”
Liv said something to that same effect.
“And why is he still here?” Theo asks.
“I think he wants answers.”
“To what? He’s digging around where nothing is buried. And word is that he was at the party Saturday night. A cop partying with kids, drinking and using, should be reported to his commanding officer. Jillian” —Theo leans forward— “it makes sense that he could be the one who hurt Julie and killed Marty.”
Some whoops and hollers ring above the music, coming from the pool table. With my back to them, I’m unsure and uninterested in the uproar.
I stare at Theo. Everything inside me says that he’s wrong about Keith, and whoever else is saying these things is also wrong. “Why are people saying that?”
“Everyone thinks the sick dude who hurt the girls is an outsider.” Theo lowers his voice. “No one from Blue Gil would do anything that terrible.”
“You serve these people alcohol,” I remind him. “You really think that no one is capable?”
“Did you know that there was a woman murdered last year in Marquette?”
Goose bumps prickle my arms and legs. “I didn’t, but crime happens everywhere.”
“Look it up. Isn’t that what you do?”
“Fine, I will. Keith is a detective in Marquette.”
“Yeah, he worked the case. The woman was found strangled and sexually assaulted.”
“Our world is a terrible place.”
“With an object.”
The words twist my stomach. To my knowledge, that information hadn’t been shared. “Really?”
“The case is still open,” Theo says matter-of-factly. “Like I said, Gilbert was one of the detectives on the case. I mean, he wouldn’t arrest himself, would he?”
I shake my head. “Fine, I’ll look into it. I’ll also be careful, but why would Keith come to his brother’s funeral and kill one girl and hurt another one?”
