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“Do you know how long five seconds is?”

  “Do you?”

  He saw Hoss’s cruiser pull into the street. It was the same damn car he had driven when Jeffrey was a teenager, right down to the peeling sheriff’s star on the side. Jeffrey and Robert had washed that car every weekend their junior year as penance for duct-taping a hapless freshman to the water fountain at school.

  “All right,” Jeffrey told Sara, wanting to get this the hell over with. “Five seconds. That goes with what they said—she screamed, Robert pushed him back, he fired. That could take five seconds.”

  Sara stared at him, and he did not know if she was going to call him an idiot or a liar. She surprised him by saying, “I honestly can’t remember what they said, whether she screamed first or he pushed the guy first.” Then, probably just to be a bitch, she added, “You might want to help Robert get that straight before he makes his statement.”

  Jeffrey watched Hoss talking to his deputies. He was wearing his fishing vest and a beat-up old hat with lures pinned to it. Jeffrey felt a sense of dread overwhelm him.

  He said, “We didn’t hear the second shot until I caught up with you. That’s, what, another ten seconds?”

  “I don’t know. It wasn’t immediate.”

  “Robert could have been looking for his gun.”

  She surprised him again by conceding, “True.”

  “Then the next shot was a few seconds later, right?” When she did not respond, he said, “Maybe two or three seconds later?”

  “About.”

  “It could fit,” he insisted. “The guy shoots at him, Robert goes to get his gun. It’s dark, he can’t find it at first. While he’s looking for it, he’s shot. He’s surprised that he’s shot, but he still manages to shoot back.”

  She nodded, but did not seem convinced. Jeffrey knew in his gut there was something else she was holding back, and he was running out of time.

  “What?” he said, wanting to shake it out of her. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Just forget it.”

  “I mean it, Sara. There’s something you’re not saying. What is it?”

  She stared out the window, not answering.

  Hoss was still standing at the end of the walk. The ambulance made a low beeping noise as it backed into the driveway. Each beep seemed to heighten Jeffrey’s frustration, so that when Sara started to leave the house, Jeffrey grabbed her arm and would not let her go.

  She gave a surprised “What are you—”

  “Not one word to him,” he warned, feeling like the sky was falling down and there was nothing he could do to stop it. If he could just keep Sara quiet for a few more hours, maybe he could get to the bottom of it.

  Sara tried to jerk her arm back, a look of shock on her face. “Let go of me.”

  “Just promise me.”

  “Let go,” she repeated, wrenching her arm away.

  Jeffrey felt so angry and helpless that he punched his fist into the wall behind her. Sara flinched, like she thought he meant to hit her. Fear, then sheer hatred flashed in her eyes.

  “Sara,” he said, taking a step back, holding up his hands. “I didn’t…”

  Her mouth tightened into a thin line. When she spoke, her tone was deep, like she was fighting to keep from raising her voice. He had never seen her really angry before, and there was something about her stillness that was more threatening than if she held a gun to his head.

  “You listen to me, you asshole,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “I will not be intimidated by you.”

  He tried to calm her. “I wasn’t—”

  She jerked away from him. “If you ever touch me again, I’ll rip your throat open with my bare hands.”

  Jeffrey could feel his heart stop in his chest. The way she was looking at him now made him feel dirty and mean, like a bully. No wonder his father always got loaded to the gills after punching up his mother. The hatred must have felt like it was eating him alive.

  Outside, Jeffrey could see Hoss and the deputies starting toward the house. He swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth, trying to reason with Sara.

  “All we have are questions,” he told her. “I’ll get you into the autopsy, okay? We’ll talk to Bobby and Jess tomorrow, okay? Just give me some time to figure out what the hell is going on here before you help send my best friend to the goddamn electric chair.”

  She would not even look at him, but he could feel her anger ringing in his ears clear as a bell.

  “Sara—”

  Hoss knocked on the front door and Jeffrey put his hand on the knob, as if he could keep him out. The old man gave him a look through the window that cut right into Jeffrey, and he felt like he was fifteen years old again, caught red-handed right outside the Ben Franklin with a transistor radio he had not paid for.

  Sara reached for the knob and Jeffrey opened the door.

  “Hey there.” Hoss held out his hand and Jeffrey shook it, surprised by the grip. The man’s hair had gone completely gray and the lines on his face were deeper, but other than that, he looked exactly the same.

  Hoss said, “Damn shame to see you again under these circumstances, Slick.” He tipped his hat to Sara. “Ma’am.”

  Sara opened her mouth to speak but Jeffrey interrupted her, saying, “Hoss, this is Sara Linton. Sara, this is Sheriff Hollister.”

  Hoss gave her one of his rare smiles. “I hear you doctored Robert for us. Thank you for taking care of my boy.”

  Sara nodded, and Jeffrey could tell she was waiting for the right moment to have her say. She was still so angry that her whole body seemed to vibrate with it.

  Hoss told her, “We can get your statement tomorrow morning. I know it’s been a hard night for you.”

  Jeffrey held his breath, waiting for her to explode.

  Sara cleared her throat, like she had trouble finding her voice. She surprised him by saying, “Tomorrow will be fine.” With barely more than a glance at Jeffrey, she asked him, “Do you think Nell would mind if I stayed on her couch tonight?”

  Jeffrey looked at the ground, letting out a slow breath of relief. “No.”

  Hoss volunteered one of his deputies, saying, “Why don’t you drive the lady over to Possum’s?”

  Jeffrey recognized the man from church back when May Tolliver was capable of staying sober enough on Sundays to force her son to get some religion. He said, “Thanks, Paul.”

  Paul tipped his hat, giving Jeffrey a suspicious look—the same suspicious look Jeffrey had been getting since he was old enough to walk. To make matters worse, Sara gave it to him, too, walking out of the house without saying another word.

  Hoss watched her go, not bothering to hide an appreciative look. Even in a pair of faded striped pajamas, Sara was an attractive woman. “Tall drink of water.”

  Jeffrey said, “She’s upset,” knowing exactly how Hoss would take his words.

  “Not the kind of thing a woman should see,” he agreed. “Jessie okay?”

  “She’s on the couch,” Jeffrey said, then added, “Sleeping,” feeling like he was ten years old again and lying for his mother.

  Hoss nodded, and Jeffrey knew he understood that Jessie’s sleep was induced by something other than exhaustion. “I called her mama to come over and fetch her to the house. You know Faith’s the only person who can calm that girl.”

  He turned back to his other deputy, who had a camera around his neck and a bright red toolbox in his hand. The man looked about twelve years old and was probably what passed for a crime scene tech around here. Jeffrey suppressed a wince of recognition as Hoss told the deputy, “Reggie, hang out around here for Jessie’s mama. We’ll be right back.”

  Reggie put down his toolbox, giving a respectful “Yes, sir.”

  Hoss stepped into the house, glancing around the front room. There were photos on the walls, most of them of Jeffrey, Possum, and Robert back during high school. Nell and Jessie were in some, but for the most part, it was the three men. A group photo showed Jeffrey and Robert
’s high school football team with a huge banner behind it announcing “State Champs.” Sitting poolside yesterday, Possum had told Sara about their final winning game against Comer High, embellishing in a way that made Jeffrey embarrassed and sad. Possum had always been the ultimate spectator.

  Hoss asked, “What the hell happened here tonight?”

  “Let me take you back to the room,” Jeffrey told him, not exactly answering the question. “Sara and I were in the street when we heard Jessie scream.” He chewed the inside of his mouth as they walked down the hallway, lies of omission eating a hole in his stomach.

  As usual, Hoss saw right through him. “Something wrong, son?”

  “No, sir,” he answered. “It’s just been a long night.”

  Hoss slapped Jeffrey hard enough on the back to make him cough; it was his way of showing other men affection. “You’re tough. You’ll get through this.” He stopped outside the door of the bedroom. “Christ a’mighty,” he muttered. “What a mess.”

  “Yeah,” Jeffrey answered, trying to see the scene the way Hoss was, for the first time. The ceiling fan overhead was still whirring, but he could tell it had been off when the man was shot; the blades had interrupted the blood spray pattern on the ceiling. There was a streak of blood where the switch for the fan had been turned on, probably by Robert. That made sense. He would have turned on the lights to see how badly he was wounded after the gunplay. It also made sense that there would be a lag between the last two shots. Robert had been handling guns since he was eight. He knew better than to fire into the dark. He had probably let his eyes adjust, tried to tell where Jessie was. Knowing her, she was standing helpless in the corner. It would be just like Robert to take his time.

  Hoss looked out the window, saying, “Screen’s been knocked out.” Jeffrey didn’t know if he meant from the inside or the outside, but Jesus Himself could not drag him back into the room. Jeffrey would look around outside when Hoss was gone.

  Hoss asked, “What’d Robert say?”

  Jeffrey tried to think of how to answer, but Hoss waved him off. “I’ll get it from the horse.” Jeffrey’s expression must have registered his surprise, because he added, “You can give your statement tomorrow when you bring your girl in.”

  From the way Sara was looking at Jeffrey when she left the house, he was not sure whether or not he would have a girl tomorrow, but he did not volunteer that information. Instead, he watched Hoss walk around the room, felt his gut constricting every time he thought about what he was keeping back. This was the main reason Jeffrey had never seriously pursued a life of crime. Unlike Jimmy Tolliver, guilt could and did keep Jeffrey up at night. He hated lying—maybe because his childhood had been riddled with lies. His mother would not admit his father was ever guilty of the crimes that put him in jail, and his father denied his mother had a problem with her drinking. Meanwhile, Jeffrey had told some whoppers of his own to anybody who would listen. He had left Sylacauga so he could stop being that person. The minute he got back, he had returned to his old ways. It was like slipping back into a pair of familiar shoes.

  “Son?” Hoss said. He was still by the window. Jeffrey noticed he was standing on one of Jessie’s bloody footprints. A few of her little white pills had been crushed under his heel.

  “Sir?” Jeffrey said, thinking Hoss must have been as distraught as he was. Everybody showed it in different ways.

  “I said it looks pretty straightforward to me,” Hoss said. He nudged the dead man’s foot with the toe of his boot, and Jeffrey felt like he had been kicked in the gut seeing the casual way Hoss was dealing with this man’s death. That was how it had always been for Hoss, though. There were good guys and bad guys, and to protect one, you did what you had to do to the other. He had always been hard on Robert and Jeffrey, but he was the only man in town allowed to say anything bad about them.

  Hoss squatted down, looking at the corpse. Greasy blond shoulder-length hair covered most of the face. Still, Hoss asked, “Recognize him?”

  “No, sir,” Jeffrey said, kneeling down for a better look. He was still in the doorway, and down close to the carpet, he could see backsplatter fanning from the body. The edges of the fan led to where Jeffrey knelt. Robert must have been trying to find the light when he was shot.

  “Luke Swan.” Hoss stood, looping his thumb in his belt.

  The name was familiar to Jeffrey if not the face. “We went to school with him.”

  “He dropped out before y’all graduated,” Hoss said. “Remember?”

  Jeffrey nodded, though he didn’t. His high school life had been spent in an insulated clique of football players and cheerleaders. Luke Swan was hardly the athletic type. He looked like he weighed ninety pounds wet.

  “Been in and out of trouble ever since,” Hoss said, a sad note to his voice. “Drugs, alcohol. He’s slept off more than a couple of good times at the station.”

  “Did Robert ever arrest him?”

  Hoss shrugged off the question. “Hell, Slick, we only got eight deputies on the street any given shift. All of us have seen the boy one time or another.”

  “He ever do anything like this before?” Jeffrey asked. When Hoss shook his head, he added, “Armed B&E is a big step up from just getting in and out of trouble.”

  He crossed his arms. “You saying something? Should I be concerned?”

  Jeffrey looked at the body. He still could not see all of the man’s face, but the thin blue lips and small build gave him a youthful quality. “No, sir.”

  Hoss came toward him, not bothering to look where he was walking. He told Jeffrey, “That lady of yours seemed like she had something to say.”

  “She’s a coroner in our town.”

  He gave a low whistle, impressed, but not for the obvious reason. “Y’all can afford a full-time coroner?”

  “She’s part-time,” Jeffrey told him.

  “She charge much?”

  Jeffrey shook his head, though he had no idea what Sara made. Judging by her house and her car, she made a hell of a lot more money than he did. Of course, it was a lot easier to make money when you came from it. Jeffrey had seen the truth of that his entire life.

  Hoss tilted his head toward the body. “Think she’d do this one for us?”

  Jeffrey felt his chest tighten again. “I’ll ask her.”

  “Good.” He turned back around, looking at the room. He said, “I want to get this mess cleared up and Robert back on the street as soon as possible.”

  Then, as if to put an end to any further discussion, he reached over and turned off the light.

  Chapter Nine

  Sara woke in a sweat, her head spinning as she sat up too fast. She looked frantically around the room, trying to remember where she was. The Auburn memorabilia was almost comforting. Even the orange and blue blanket Nell had given her last night was a welcome sight. She sat back on the couch, tucking the blanket up around her neck as she adjusted to the quiet sounds of the neighborhood. Coffee was brewing in the kitchen, and somewhere, a car horn beeped.

  Sara pulled her legs up, resting her chin on the top of her knees. She had not dreamed about Atlanta in a long time, but seconds ago, she had been back there—back in that bathroom at Grady Hospital where she had been raped. Her attacker had handcuffed her arms behind her and defiled Sara in ways she could still feel if she let her mind stay there long enough. Then he had stabbed her in the side and left her to bleed to death.

  At the memory, her throat constricted again, and Sara closed her eyes, trying to breathe through her emotions.

  “You okay?” Nell asked. She stood in the doorway with a cup of coffee in her hand.

  Sara nodded, trying to find her voice.

  “Possum’s gone to open the store. Jeffrey went to check on Jessie. He’s a fool if he thinks she’ll be out of bed before noon.” She paused when Sara did not respond. “He said to tell you to be ready to go at eight-thirty.”

  Sara looked at the clock on the mantel. It was half past seven.

&n
bsp; Nell said, “Coffee’s ready when you are,” and left Sara alone in the room.

  Sara sat up, hitting her toe on her suitcase. Jeffrey had put it there a few hours ago while she pretended to sleep. He had sneaked in like a thief, and she had watched him go, wondering exactly what she had gotten herself into. Jeffrey Tolliver was not the man she thought he was. Even Cathy Linton would have been surprised by his behavior last night. Sara had felt threatened, and at one point she had been frightened enough to think that he would actually hit her. She could not let herself get involved with someone like that. There was no denying that she had feelings for Jeffrey, maybe she was even in love with him, but that did not mean she had to put herself in a situation where she was afraid of what might happen next.

  Sara pressed her lips together, looking at the framed magazine cover of Jeffrey on the wall. Maybe being back home had altered him in some way. The man Sara had seen last night was nothing like the Jeffrey Tolliver she had grown to know over the last few months.

  She found herself trying to reason out his behavior. Prior to this, there had been nothing in his personality that would have pointed to last night’s outburst. He was frustrated. He had punched the wall, not her. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe the circumstances had brought him to the edge, and she had done nothing but help push him over. He had grabbed her arm, but he had also let it go. He had warned her not to talk, but when the sheriff came, he had done nothing to stop her. In the light of day, Sara could understand his anger and frustration. Jeffrey was right about one thing: Alabama was a death-penalty state, and not just a death-penalty state, but almost as gung-ho about it as Texas and Florida. If Robert was found guilty, he could be looking at the electric chair.

  Though she was punch-drunk from lack of sleep, Sara tried to go over in her mind again what she had seen in Robert’s bedroom last night. She was no longer certain about what she had heard in the street, nor was she sure about the sear pattern she had seen when Robert had removed his hand. He had been fast about it, and had done a very good job of smearing blood around the wound. What it came down to was that Sara had to ask herself why he had gone to such great lengths to cover the entrance wound if there was nothing to hide.