That was also true. “You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thank you for your time.”
26
Twenty-Six
Hunter was finishing up his security overhaul when I returned. He looked proud of himself, his chest puffed out, as he displayed the new wall mount.
“Well?”
My mind was busy with a million possibilities, but I nodded. “It’s pretty cool.” I stepped closer to give it a solid once-over. “It looks expensive.”
He let lose an exasperated sigh. “Don’t worry about that. I hardly went broke buying it. Check out these.” He tugged on the string to pull the blinds closed. “Now you can walk around naked and not worry about anyone watching you from outside.”
That was enough to earn a smirk. “I’m usually only naked in the bathroom and my bedroom.”
“That’s because you’re a prude.” He poked my side, his grin expanding. “Tell me how manly I look after finishing this. I’ve earned it.”
“You’re a god among men,” I reassured him, my mind drifting back to my conversation with Barry.
“Okay, you’re not praising me nearly enough.” Hunter turned serious. “What’s bothering you?”
There were so many things I wasn’t sure where to start. “I found out some things about Roy, but I’m not sure I should tell you. Someone could get hurt in the process.”
“Is that someone Tina?”
“How did you know?”
“I make it my business to keep my ear to the ground. When Tina turned up pregnant, she told a story about picking up a guy in a Gaylord bar. The thing is, anyone who has ever spent more than five minutes with her knows that Tina is the last person who would ever have sex with a random guy.”
“People get drunk,” I pointed out.
“Not Tina. She was never a partier. She was one of those kids who always worried about her future. She wouldn’t risk something like that.”
He had a point, which only served to fill my head with more questions. “If she was always so careful, how did she allow herself to get knocked up by Roy?”
He held out his hands. “I don’t know. I questioned that myself. She was always ... really careful. She wasn’t like us. You and I were probably lucky there wasn’t an accident back when we were young and dumb.”
“I was on birth control.”
“Yes, but accidents still happen ... especially when partying in a field is involved. Tina probably thought she was safe — right up until the point she wasn’t.”
“How did you figure out who the father was?” I was genuinely curious.
“It wasn’t difficult. I wondered if there would be trouble when she started working for Roy.” He sank down onto one of the dining room chairs. “We all know Roy’s reputation. It’s an open secret in this town. Everybody commented on it, but nobody did anything about it.”
“What could you do?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought about having a talk with him about the time Tina lost her job. I didn’t know she was pregnant at that point, but it was obvious she was upset. I tried to talk to her, but she refused to open up.
“I had no doubt Roy sexually harassed her, but as long as she didn’t file a complaint, my hands were tied,” he continued. “I was dealing with my father then. He was making noise about suing me because he was convinced I was the reason he’d lost his job, so I was distracted. Tina’s situation sort of fell through the cracks.”
“And you feel guilty about it.” I sat across from him and studied his rugged features. “My grandfather mentioned what happened with your father. I’m sorry that things turned out that way. I know you were always hoping you could somehow navigate a better relationship with him. I guess you’ve probably given up on that.”
“I’ve definitely given up on it. The thing is, by the time he was finally removed from his position he was like a stranger to me. I moved out of that house the second I could. There weren’t many options because I was only making minimum wage, but Ted Lansky offered me the room above his automotive shop. The rent was cheap, practically free, and all he asked in return was that I keep an eye on the place. I jumped at the chance.”
“I remember.” I nodded in understanding as my mind drifted back to those first few months of freedom. “I was still home that summer. We had a lot of fun in that apartment, but whenever my dad was in town he would always track me down there and threaten you with castration.”
Hunter chuckled. “That was funny. I think that was the happiest summer of my life. High school was over, so that was behind me, and my father was pretty much out of my life. I had you ... and work ... and sunny days down by the river. Nothing ever quite seemed that happy again.”
My heart pinged. “I’m sorry.”
He shook himself out of his reverie. “What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Maybe if I’d tried harder ... .”
He shook his head. “We were too young. It wasn’t going to work then. I needed to figure out my life and you had dreams to chase.”
“Well, one of us managed to accomplish what was necessary.” I sent him a smile. “You’ve obviously figured out your life. You seem to be thriving.”
“In some ways my life is better than I imagined. In other ways ... well, let’s just say there are things to work on.”
“That makes sense.” I focused on the security system. “I don’t think Tina killed Roy.”
“I sincerely doubt it. If things drag out too long, though, I’ll have to question her all the same.”
“She doesn’t want news getting around because of Dakota. She thinks he’ll be treated badly if people figure it out.”
“I think more people know than she realizes. If I could put it together so easily, I’m sure others have.”
“Vera?”
He shrugged. “I plan to have another talk with her this afternoon. She’s been difficult to pin down. She talked to me that first day, but she’s pulled a disappearing act since. If I’d known how much trouble she was going to be, I would’ve interrogated her in the restaurant that day.”
“Yeah, speaking of that ... .” I licked my lips and debated how I wanted to broach the next subject. “So, I think I figured out why my grandfather is dodging you. It didn’t seem normal, so I was curious. I asked him about it this morning and he owned up to part of it, but he was still hiding something from me. I’m pretty sure that something was Dakota.”
Realization dawned on his face. “He feels guilty because he suggested that Tina work for Roy, doesn’t he?”
“I think he feels really guilty. I also think he knows who Dakota’s father is. He didn’t want to tell me because he was afraid I would tell you.”
“I already knew, so you didn’t spill secrets out of turn.”
“Yeah, but it was bothering me that he was hiding from you that way. I didn’t want to believe he was capable of killing Roy, but he was acting really weird.”