Page 106 of Homecoming

“You haven’t had the best impression of me so far. And I’m sure you’ve heard an earful from people in town and my own family.”

“I’ve heard that a lot of people rely on you for repairs to their homes they wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise.”

“They said that?”

“Quite a few people said that.”

“I figured they’d lead with the multiple DUIs, the bar fights, the numerous relationships that ended badly, among other things.”

“I’ve heard some of that, too, but the other thing was mentioned more often.”

Keith ran his hand roughly over the stubble on his jaw. “It’s nice to hear they had something good to say.”

“They did for sure. The eyewitness that put you and Kirby with her is Jonah Brown.”

Keith’s face lost all expression. “Are you fucking kidding me? That guy has a stick up his ass for our family.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“That’s just great.”

“The good news is that I can easily discredit him at the probable cause hearing due to his ongoing litigation against your family.”

“That’s good news?”

“It’s very good news. It goes to him having an ulterior motive in pointing the finger at you and your brother.”

“Kirby didn’t do anything other than answer my call and give me a ride. He never even talked to her.”

“How’d he end up with a black eye?”

“He was mouthing off to me in the bathroom about how this was all my fault, and it pissed me off. He knows as well as I do that I had nothing to do with any of this.”

“Punching him isn’t going to help anything. You have to keep your anger in check around here, Keith. You don’t want to be giving them anything else to hold against you.”

“I know. I feel bad about it. None of this is Kirby’s fault, that’s for sure.”

“I want you to take me through everything that happened, from the minute you first met up with Tanya until the minute you and Kirby drove away in his truck. Don’t leave out a single detail as all of it could be relevant.”

Keith sighed deeply and sat back in his seat. “I’d met her before that night.”

“What? When?”

“Over the summer. She was here working at the sailing camp and had just turned twenty-one, so she was enjoying the bar scene for the first time. I saw her around a few times, and we ended up talking one night. She told me how she’d recently gotten out of a long-term relationship and was looking to have some fun.”

“When was this?”

“Maybe June? It was early in the season.”

“What happened then?”

“We danced a little, had a few drinks, some laughs, a few kisses. Nothing major. I didn’t see her again for a couple of weeks. We ran into each other again after the Fourth of July and started to hang out more regularly after that.”

“Define ‘hang out.’”

“We’d have a few drinks in town, watch some live music and end up at my place after.”

Dan wanted to moan at the idea of the cops finding out Tanya had been at his house and getting a search warrant. Her DNA would probably be found in the house, which could complicate things.

---