AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then who?”
Back to square one. I stare at a mound of cooling spaghetti. “Her brothers maybe?”
“Tell me about them. Do they live at home?”
I nod. “Alex and Andy. They’re twins. They graduated last year.” Another headshake. “Even that’s difficult to imagine. I mean, I don’t know them personally, only that Andy was valedictorian of his class.”
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t exclude him from the world of drugs. Not much does these days.” John smooths a finger along the table edge. “What about the twin?”
“Well…” I sigh. “The Boswells are a good family. I don’t like to talk bad about people.”
“Admirable, Hollie, but this is Jacob’s life, his future, on the line. What do you know?”
I rub at an already snagged cuticle. “Like I said, I don’t know either boy personally and Jacob doesn’t talk about them, but word travels amongst parents.”
“And?”
“Apparently Alex was arrested last spring for doing a hundred on the freeway.”
“Idiot thing to do.”
“Kids don’t realize, do they?”
John shakes his head. “Nope. What else?”
“Well—this is common knowledge—last year, a few days before graduation, he got in trouble for drinking on campus.”
John sort of steeples his fingers, wiggle-tapping them together as he processes. “Pretty typical teen stuff.”
My thoughts exactly.
“However, it certainly could demonstrate a willingness to push boundaries. Would Jacob have reason to protect him?”
“I can’t imagine he would. Again, I don’t know that they’re even friends.”
“But if he’s been hanging out over there a lot lately…”
“I suppose.”
“Well.” John sits forward. He’s a big man. An intense man.
I’ve been leaning forward, but instead of retreating as I normally would, some aura about him holds me in place. Suddenly, we’re close enough I catch a whiff of cologne.
Seriousness crinkles lines at his eyes. “It’s a starting point, at least.”
“Alex and Andy?”
He nods, the light above the table catching a shimmer in his dark hair. He scoots from the table, unfolding to his full height. “I’ll make some phone calls. See what I can learn.”
Standing too, I smooth my clammy palms down the front of my jeans. “You’re helping me?”
He almost looks surprised. At the question—or at his answer? “Looks that way.”
“Why?” He strikes me as a man who doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to.
His expression is inscrutable. “I guess…because you asked. But.” He wags a finger. “Don’t get your hopes up, mom. And keep in mind that the best thing he can do is come clean. Work on that, alright?”
I nod, then follow his lead to the front door, flipping on the outside light when we get there.
