Golden Trail (The 'Burg #3)(197)

“Shut up,” Tyler whispered.

“Still not bein’ smart,” Cal muttered, shaking his head.

“Tyler,” Layne called and Tyler’s angry eyes came to Layne. “Do you know what I do?”

Tyler glared at him a beat then jerked his chin up in an affirmative.

“Then you know I’ll follow the trail and I’ll find evidence you had the drug,” Layne stated and Tyler’s face started to pale. “So, you can spend the rest of the day cleanin’ this house but you’re gonna miss somethin’ or, what I saw downstairs, somethin’ was likely damaged or missin’ and my guess is what’s missin’ is the contents of your parents’ liquor cabinet. Your parents are gonna know you threw a party and it’s likely they’re not gonna be happy about it but they’ll probably let it slide because I reckon they let a lot slide with you, considering you’re a punk and a boy isn’t born a punk, he’s made that way.”

“Go to hell,” Tyler whispered, his cheeks getting red.

Layne kept talking. “What I also would guess is, they’re not gonna let it slide when I prove you drugged Keira Winters. They’re not gonna let it slide because Cal isn’t gonna let it slide. I get the evidence, they’ll press charges, and trust me, a punk like you, juvvie isn’t gonna be a whole helluva lot of fun.”

The red bleached out of Tyler’s face, it went white and his mouth dropped slightly open.

Layne kept at him. “They can have a lot of money, hire great lawyers but I’ll tie you so tight to that shit you can’t get loose. And Keira Winters is famous in this ‘burg, I don’t reckon you’ll find a judge who’ll look kindly on you druggin’ a girl whose father and uncle were murdered and whose mother was stalked and kidnapped. I reckon a judge will think Keira Winters has suffered enough in her short life, her mother has too, and I reckon a judge will look at your parents’ expensive attorneys and take in your punk attitude and know you need a lesson. I also reckon he’ll smile when he gets to be the one to give it to you.”

Tyler swallowed.

Layne continued. “So, right now, you got a choice to keep bein’ a punk or man, the f**k, up. Admit what you did, explain why you did it, apologize to Cal and Jasper and we’ll all move on. That’s your choice. You got one second to make it before we move out.”

“I –” Tyler started.

“No joke, Tyler, one second,” Layne warned.

“Coach Cosgrove gave it to me!” Tyler blurted and the entire room went wired.

Everyone was silent for long, tense moments until Layne broke it by asking, “Come again?”

“He gave me a hundred bucks, told me to slip it to Keira and keep her from Jasper,” Tyler told them, his eyes darting between the three males in the room and Layne knew he was giving it to them straight but there was something missing. “It wasn’t even me, really, I just put it in the shot and gave it to her. It was Coach Cosgrove.”

Layne was frozen so when Jasper moved, Layne couldn’t do a thing about it but Cal got hold of him and shoved him back.

“Stay cool,” Cal growled at Jasper and Jasper must have gotten himself under control because Cal turned back to Tyler. “No shit?”

“No shit, freaked me out, he showed at the party about five minutes after they showed,” he pointed at Jasper.

“Tell me exactly what he said,” Layne demanded and Tyler looked at him, his body alert, his mind still scrambling.

“He didn’t say much of anything. He just said give her the drug, keep her away from Jasper and let it play out however it played out. Problem was, she was with Jasper all night and I couldn’t get to her. I didn’t know they were leaving when I gave it to her. No one has a midnight curfew, that’s crazy,” Tyler replied.

Layne felt Cal’s eyes on him but he didn’t take his from Tyler. “So, you’re tellin’ me the coach of the football team was settin’ Keira Winters up to get hurt.”

“I don’t know what he wanted. Just know what he said,” Tyler answered then continued. “She sticks to him like glue,” his eyes slid to Jasper, he couldn’t hide the jealousy, it was stark on his face, then they slid back to Layne, “couldn’t keep her from him after she took the shot so she went funny when she was with him.” That jealousy took hold and his voice took on the thread of a whine when he went on. “Then he picks her up like he’s in some stupid, romance movie, carries her to his car while all the girls watch like he’s some kind of f**kin’ movie star and then they were gone, there was nothing I could do.”

“Cosgrove come back?” Layne asked.

“No,” Tyler answered.

“You didn’t see him at all?” Layne pressed.

“No, not at all,” Tyler replied.

“Has he called you?” Layne pushed.

“No, nothing, haven’t seen or heard from him at all,” Tyler said.

“That doesn’t make sense, Tyler,” Layne noted, the kid was hiding something.

Tyler jutted up his chin, digging in. “Well that’s what happened.”

Layne studied him a beat then asked, “How old are you?”

“Seventeen,” Tyler answered.

Shit, as Layne suspected, he was underage.