“Was,” Parker corrected. “The money was so she could get an abortion.”
“What does the boyfriend have to do—Oh.” Realization dawned. “It was his and he wanted her to get rid of it.”
“Shewanted to get rid of it. He doesn’t even know she was pregnant. If he did, he probably would’ve found some way to make her keep it just so he could keep his hooks in her.”
“Fucking teenagers,” I muttered.
This whole situation was messy as fuck, but none of it helped me figure out who committed the rest of the break-ins. If it wasn’t Parker or Sadie, and itdefinitelywasn’t Sutton—then who the hell was it?
“I’m sure you weren’t a peach in your day either,” Parker shot back.
Touche, kiddo.Hell, I was probably worse.
Then again, I hadn’t killed anyone until my twenties, so maybe not.
“What’s the boyfriend like?”
“He’s a fucking loser,” Parker said with a snort. “Your classic ‘bad boy.’” He hooked finger quotes around the term. “Sadie met him at a party during winter break last year. He was here dealing drugs—not that she knew that at the time. They’ve been together for over a year now.”
“And he’s the kind of guy who would break into people’s houses? Even destroy their property?”
“Absolutely. I do my best to steer clear of him because I can’t stand him—and trust me, the feeling is mutual—but from the way Sadie talks about him, he gets his kicks in doing shit like this. Stealing cars, dealing drugs. I wouldn’t put it past him to add breaking and entering to his resume.”
I clicked a pen open and poised it over my notebook. “What’s his name?”
“No clue what his first name is,” Parker admitted. “He just goes by his last.” I snapped my fingers in the kid’s face, and he rolled his eyes as he said, “Boyd. His last name is Boyd.”
My blood ran cold in an instant, and I caught Trey’s eyes, which were as wide as mine surely were.
“You don’t think…?”
Shaking my head, I said, “I have no fucking clue. But I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“What’s going on?” Parker asked.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” I said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry we came at you guns blazing. Just…take care of your friend, okay?”
“Is she going to get in trouble?”
“No,” I promised. “But do me a favor, Parker?”
“Anything.”
“Convince her not to pawn anymore of her parents’ things.”
He chuckled. “Sure thing, Sheriff.”
Trey ruffled Parker’s hair and sent him on his way with instructions to keep up on his off-season training program. When he was gone, Trey blinked slowly at me.
“This is like the plot of a fucking soap opera.”
“I can’t figure outwhysomeone would accuse Sutton of this when it’s obvious it has nothing to do with her.”
“AndBoyd? Think there’s any connection to the family?”
I shook my head, not only because I had no idea, but because my brain was running a thousand miles a minute with all of the unanswered questions swirling around up there.
But at the very least, wemightbe a step closer to finding out who was really responsible for the break-ins and clearing my girl’s name.
