Wakefield College 01 - Where It May Lead by Janice Kay Johnson

talk to whoever is
investigating.
    So why hadn’t he?
    Hell, maybe writing the confession and knowing it would be read
someday had given him some sense of absolution.
    Everything in Troy rebelled at the idea that his father had
sighed in relief and gone on with a clean conscience.
    He found himself wondering what had happened between Guy and
Joe Troyer the last semester of their senior year, after Guy had lied about
being at McKenna Sports Center the night of the murder. Had they stayed buddies,
same as always, Dad pretending to Guy—and maybe even to himself—that he’d never
seen a thing? Had they ever had it out? Or maybe they just drifted apart? And if
so, had Guy ever wondered why Joe had changed toward him?
    All questions, Troy realized, that only Guy Laclaire could
answer.
    What Troy did know was that the two men hadn’t stayed friends
after graduation. Troy had never heard Guy’s name until Madison mentioned it.
After his mother’s complete collapse, Troy had been the one to take
responsibility for calling, emailing or writing everyone in Dad’s address book.
Some friends from college who Dad hadn’t seen in years were in there. Guy
wasn’t.
    “Shit,” Troy said, thinking about his mother. She wouldn’t like
the idea of any wrong Dad had committed being exposed to the eyes of the
world.
    Or was he misjudging her? Troy frowned. As he was growing up,
Mom had been as firm as Dad was about what was right and what was wrong. What if
he talked to her about this?
    His every instinct said, No. There
might have been a time when Mom was capable of placing an abstract concept of
justice and ethics ahead of her love for her husband, but that time wasn’t now.
It was almost a year since Dad died, and as far as Troy could tell, all she did
was cling more tenaciously to his memory. God forbid Troy criticize Dad. He was
beginning to think she regretted not climbing into the coffin with him and
holding tight to his lifeless body as the soil thudded down and buried them
together. She sure as hell had no interest in life.
    This decision is mine, he realized,
and knew it wasn’t a decision at all. He was an officer of the law. He’d loved
his father, but there was only one choice he could make.
    There was no urgency, though, and he had to talk to Madison
first.
    His belly felt hollow, and it wasn’t all because of his
conflict about his father, his disappointment in the man he’d admired above all
others. No, what scared the shit out of him was the fear that this would kill
any chance he had with Madison, who, while obviously having some ambivalent
feelings about her own father, also clearly loved him.
    Yeah, arresting her dad for murder probably wasn’t the way to
get the girl.
    He groaned and reached for the phone.
    * * *
    W E HAVE TO TALK , Troy had
said .
    Talk about what? As she waited for him to arrive, Madison
restlessly paced her living room and fretted. He’d sounded strange, and when she
wanted to know what was wrong, he only asked if he could come over.
    What could he have to say that would impact her? The visiting
alumni had all departed this morning to drive home or catch flights. And
wouldn’t he have said something at the formal dinner last night if he’d learned
anything worrisome?
    Did he think she’d been too manipulative in bringing everyone
back to the campus, with a goal of extracting money from them?
    Damn it, I was doing my job. No more and
no less.
    Everyone had fun. She knew many had written checks, but she had yet to hear the total.
    No, that was silly anyway—she’d been up front from the
beginning about her goals and Troy had seemed okay with them. He knew how
important fund-raising was for a private college.
    So what did he want to talk about?
    She growled in frustration, then stiffened at the sound of a
vehicle pulling up outside. Whirling, she raced for the bathroom. Her ponytail
was still smooth. Take it down or leave it up...? The doorbell rang, and she
jumped.
    Losing interest in