Troy grabbed him by the shirtfront and shook the hell out of him. “Tell me who you were with that night or I swear to God I’ll kill you, man.”
Fury flashed in Keith’s eyes then. “I can’t tell you!”
They were on the ground again. Troy had his hands around Keith’s throat. The bastard was trying to push Troy off.
“You waited ten years to tell me this.” Troy squeezed harder. “You son of a bitch. You’re no better than Austin.”
“I’m sorry,” Keith cried. “I pray every night that I didn’t do it ... but I just don’t know ... dammit ... I just don’t know.”
“Then you should just kill yourself and get it over with, you coward, because I’m gonna make you wish you were dead.”
Troy left Keith on the ground and started for his truck. He was finished here. He needed something a hell of a lot stronger than beer to wash down this kind of betrayal.
36
Monday, July 22; 6:45 a.m.
Justine grabbed a cup of yogurt. She peeled off the foil top and stuck her finger into the rich, creamy strawberry blend. She sucked the yogurt from her finger and moaned.
Food always tasted better after a revitalizing run.
Three miles.
A hot-cold shower with a great new moisturizing wash that she absolutely adored, then some naked time to allow her skin to breathe.
She loved her naked time.
She padded barefoot into the living room and flipped the channel to the news. Draping herself across the sofa, she caught up on world events while she lapped up her yogurt.
The pounding on her front door, followed by, “Justine!” reversed the relaxed state she had achieved.
What in the world had happened with Misty now?
Unreasonably annoyed, Justine plopped her yogurt cup on the end table and dropped her feet to the floor. So much formetime before meeting the squad at eight for practice.
She grabbed the throw from the sofa and draped it around her body.
“Justine!”
“Coming!”Jesus, you’d think the world was coming to an end. She strode to the door and released the locks. She and Misty had been friends since they were children. Justine hated when Misty got like this.
“What’s wrong?”
Misty wore the same clothes as yesterday. Her hair had fallen from its clip and was a wild mass of windblown tangles. How could anyone so brilliant be so uncaring about her appearance?
“I ...” She shuddered. “I just heard. Keith is dead.”
The world stopped, leaving Justine stunned and unable to breathe for a time she couldn’t accurately measure. “What?”
“They found his body about an hour ago.”
“What happened?” Her voice was accusing, but she couldn’t help that just now.
Misty flared her hands. “Don’t know for sure.”
Justine drew the door open wide. “Come in.”
“I knew you’d want to know,” Misty babbled. “I’m sure Violet is devastated.”
