Page 103 of Holmes, Margaret and Poe

Coach Leclerc said firmly, “I still can’t believe that Steve Hawley was —”

“He admitted to it,” Creighton said, cutting him off. “He was being blackmailed as well. He’s cooperating.”

Leclerc stepped back. “I’m shocked.”

“I am too,” Coach Neely said. “But what does this have to do with us?”

CHAPTER 86

DETECTIVE CREIGHTON LOOKED FROMthe women’s cross-country coach to the men’s track coach to Tina Dawson.

“What was Iliana studying?” she asked. “Her major, I mean?”

Tina frowned. “I don’t think she declared a major yet.”

Coach Neely said, “Students have until the spring of their sophomore year to declare their major.”

Bree said, “But you decided before classes even started, right, Tina?”

She nodded. “Computer science. I want a job eventually.”

“Smart move,” Bree said. “Closest thing to a sure bet these days. Growing field. Interesting work. A steady, reliable paycheck. Am I right?”

“Something wrong with that?”

“Nothing is wrong with that,” Creighton said. “Especially for someone with your background.”

Coach Leclerc said, “What the hell does that mean?”

Bree said, “Someone on scholarship. Academic and athletic.”

“I’m proud of those scholarships,” Tina said defensively.

“You should be. You needed them, and you got them.”

“That’s right, I did.”

Creighton said, “Because you came from poverty in West Virginia and a broken home, and scholarships were your only way out.”

“Yeah, we have nothing,” Tina said in a soft snarl. “But my home isn’t broken.”

“Weakened, then. Your father died when you were ten. Mine accident, right?”

“Tunnel collapse.”

“The mining company declared bankruptcy soon afterward, so you and your mother got very little.”

“Enough for a year,” she said. “Like I said, nothing. But we made do.”

Bree said, “And you made do, and now you’re here. But it must have stuck in your craw when you found out that Iliana Meadows’s father also died in an industrial accident but she got millions.”

Tina stared at her in bewilderment. “I did not know that.”

“I think you did. No, I believe you did,” Bree went on. “And it just ate you up inside. You barely scraping by, and Iliana able to rent a two-bedroom Airbnb because she didn’t like the dump of a hotel the team was staying in.”

Tina shook her head. “I don’t know where you think you’re going with this. But I have no idea how much money she had, nor do I care.”

Creighton laughed a little. “Oh, you care. You care a lot, Tina.”

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