“What of it?” I trace the bar’s wood grain with the tip of my finger, not wanting to see the disappointment in his face.
“Goddammit, Cole. Don’t lose your job over a, a… a cock tease.”
“Nice chatting with you.” I can’t remember the last time I punched my brother and I’d rather not get myself uninvited to Thanksgiving dinner. Even so, I turn with fists clenched.
Greg has the good sense to back away with his hands up. “Whoa. I apologize. Since when are you so damn sensitive?”
“No more talk about Danni. Understood?”
His eyes go wide. “Wait a minute. You got a thing for her, don’t you?”
I just stated my terms for drinking with him, so I glare bullets. “Do you want to explain why you summoned me here tonight? Otherwise, I got a dog waiting to be walked.”
“The whole town is talking. Is it true? The county is investigating Stacy’s death?”
“Can’t discuss it.” If he wants gossip, he should know better than to grill me.
Finishing off my beer, I point to it, and Joe puts another in front of me.
My big brother does the same. “But you’re delaying the burial and calling in a specialist from Burlington?”
“Ay-yup. What else you hear?” I sip the bitter IPA and check the time on my phone.
“My wife says Jeff slept around with his students.” Well now, that’s a bit of a surprise but the college registrar, better than anyone, should know.
“Huh.” My chair swivels and I make sure no one’s in earshot.
My brother does the same and lowers his voice to a whisper. “One girl went home all of a sudden, a couple of semesters ago. Rumor has it she was pregnant.”
“Can Selina get me a name?”
“Sure. But you can’t be serious. Jeff as a suspect? He’s such a wimp.”
I shrug. “You never know what goes on inside people’s head. What I’m about to show you remains between me and you, not even Selli, yeah?”
He nods and we fist bump, solidifying our oath. Convinced he’ll keep my secret, I pull the stained pillowcase out of my jacket and hand it to him. “I need a married man’s opinion. Danni found this in Jeff’s closet. It matched a fancy sheet set on the bed in the spare room. It looks like someone polished the floor with it.”
“If I did that, my wife would have my head.” Shuddering, he hands it back, and I quickly hide it again.
The old, bent nail comes out next. “She also took this. My guess is, the loose banister had some help.”
“Given the circumstance, it looks incriminating, but there could be a perfectly rational explanation. Maybe it broke and he was trying to fix it.” Greg frowns. “Wait. Are you telling me Danielle took evidence from the house and gave it to you?”
“Ay-yup.”
“I hope you gave her hell.”
“I did. Then, I kissed her.” I shouldn’t have confessed but perhaps, I need someone to shout some sense into me and tell me how stupid I am.
“Good for you.” My brother slaps me on the back mid-swallow.
When I finish coughing, I want to make sure I heard him correctly. “What?”
“Listen. You’ve been pining over her for years. No, don’t deny it. If she feels the same, fuck it out of your systems until you realize how bad you are for each other. She sure isn’t coming back to Middlebury and you’d just as soon kill yourself before living in an apartment in New York Shitty.”
“Mmm.” He’s probably right. That ship has sailed, been scuttled, and sunk.
Chapter 6
