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Les added, “He stopped by my corner and said he needed to look after some personal shit. He wouldn’t be back that day.” Les hunched his shoulders, a weary look replacing his normally sardonic expression. “He looked pissed, which happened sometimes. Anyway, I had a job to finish that morning. Besides, you know your ole man. He’d get in that souped-up GTO of his, act like a stunt-car nutcase and get a speeding ticket out on the interstate. Then return all smiley and feeling better. So… I backed off.”
Roy added sadly. “And he crashed.”
“And you never told me any of this because…?”
Les looked at Roy first and, after getting his go-ahead nod, he continued. “Because Roy figured the accident had nothing to do with the threat your dad had made on the telephone—”
Roy cut him off. “And because I forced Les to keep quiet about it. We had no proof that someone killed him. Why put you in danger?”
Sloan got that Roy was trying to protect him; hadn’t he done that all his life? So he turned to Les. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I hadn’t seen Tommy that upset since Wai left. It might have driven him to buy that son of a bitchin’ bottle they found in the car. He could have drunk the half that was missing. The coroner said that he’d had enough in his system for him to be impaired. Roy’s right, kid. We had no proof of anything. I only got suspicious when he came to pick up the car.”
“Who came?”
“Your mother’s brother… Tadeo.”
