Page 70 of Only Fate

“Why would they think you’re a creep?”

He sighs. “I was a custodian at the local high school. The kids, they liked to sneak around and hook up. I always ratted them out to the principal. Then, one night, I found them drinking and partying at the football field. I ran them off, called the cops, and reported it to the principal. After that, the popular kids decided I was enemy number one. They made my life a living hell, said I only found them because I was a stalker, and pulled a stupid prank on me that got me fired.”

“What kind of prank?”

“A student told me she couldn’t get her locker unlocked. I had a master key and unlocked it for her. She asked me to grab a bag from the top shelf since she couldn’t reach it. I did, and something fell out of it. On instinct, I bent down to pick it up, and before I even recognized what it was, the kids came outfrom around the corner. They took pictures of me standing next to this high school girl with her panties in my hand. I was fired the next day and investigated by the police.”

“They couldn’t check the cameras?”

“For some reason, they claimed they weren’t working that day.”

I adjust my glasses. “What does that have to do with you being set up for hitting two kids head-on and killing one?”

“I don’t know, man. All I can think of is they wanted to ruin my life. I went to work at the theater—that was my new job since I’d lost the one at the school. They messed with me there too. I have an alibi. I was picked up from the bar and taken home, and then I passed out. The next thing I know, the cops were at my home, saying I’d run some kids off the road and killed one.”

“There was damage on your truck.”

“I don’t know how that damage got there. My grandmother drove my truck home. Neither one of us drove after that. Someone must’ve taken my truck.”

“So, you think someone stole your truck, hit them, and then blamed you for it because you’d tattled on them?”

“I know it seems a little messed up, but yeah.”

“They were high school kids, Earl. The boy who died, he was friends with the kids you say could be involved.”

“I never said they were to blame. You asked why someone would want to blame me, and that’s why.”

“Anyone else?”

“There was this couple who kept trying to buy my grandmother’s property. They’ve been on my possible suspect list.”

“What was going on with the property?”

“After my grandfather died, he left the property to my grandmother and me. We struggled to afford it. This couple, they kept telling my grandmother to sell it to them, and she wouldn’t because I was able to keep us afloat. They kept offeringher money, the amount going up each time—more money than it was worth.”

“Who was this couple?”

“Pete and Agnes White.”

I nearly drop my pen.

I thought moving to Blue Beech would be calm, no crime.

Boy, was I wrong.

There are too many dots to try connecting.

But I need to do it.

Earl and I talk for an hour before a guard comes in and tells us, “Time’s up.”

I spend another thirty minutes in my car gathering my thoughts.

My mother has always said to listen to your gut, and I am. I can’t put my finger on it, but something tells me Earl is innocent.

That, or he’s a damn good liar.

If he’s being truthful, then whoever did it is out there.

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