Home to Whiskey Creek (Whiskey Creek #4)(83)
Author: Brenda Novak

“It’s not fair,” she railed. “If he only knew!”

Kevin moved toward her so she’d lower her voice. “Whatever you do, you can’t tell him.”

“Why not? She deserves for everyone to hear what she’s really like, especially Noah!”

“Think about how she might react. What she might do.”

She kicked a pebble and sent it skittering across the broken pavement. “What could she do?”

“She could claim we raped her! She put that in a letter to Cody’s parents the summer Cody died, remember?”

She studied him for a second. “You told me that letter was anonymous.”

“Who else would have written it?” Kevin responded. It had to have come from Tom, but he didn’t want her to know that. “Who else would lie about grad night?”

“It won’t matter. It’s her word against yours. And Tom’s. And Derek’s. And Stephen’s. You’re all well-known and well-liked. She hasn’t even been in town for…years.”

“We can’t rely on being well-liked. For all we know, she’s kept DNA evidence. Her panties or something. They can test for se**n years after a crime. I’ve seen it on TV.”

“So your se**n’s on her underpants. What does that mean? Consensual sex isn’t rape. Everyone was drunk at that party. How will she prove she wasn’t a willing participant?”

This was the tricky part. But Shania wanted to believe him, so he had that going for him. “You and I know she had a thing for baseball players. She came to every single game and hung around the team as much as possible. She wanted to do us all that night, even though most people would say she was too shy to be so sexually aggressive.”

“A lot of people aren’t shy once they get some alcohol in them,” she pointed out. “And why would she keep her panties?”

“As a trophy. What else? Or…” He hesitated, purposely being dramatic to pique her interest.

“What? Say it.”

“In case anyone ever tried to hold her responsible for Cody’s death.”

There. He’d dropped the bomb. And he saw that she was reacting with the appropriate shock when her face went pale.

“The last thing Cody said to me was that he was going back to make sure she was okay,” he added.

“Why wouldn’t she be?”

“We were in a different part of the mine when we were…you know, fooling around. He wasn’t sure she’d be able to find her way out. And she didn’t have a ride. She’d come with Sophia, but Sophia went home with someone else.”

“It wasn’t his coat he went after? You’re saying Cody wouldn’t have died if he hadn’t gone back for her?”

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Kevin lowered his voice to give his next remark the proper emphasis. “He was fine when he turned around to go back.”

She clutched his arm. “But it was an accident, right?”

“Who knows what it was? She might’ve gotten angry, regretted what she’d done and tried to blame him. Or he wanted to do her again, she refused and that caused a fight—”

“Ick! No!” Shania wrinkled her nose. “What would he want with her when he could have me?”

Kevin held up his hands. “Maybe it was the other way around. It’s just a little strange that she walked out of that mine and he didn’t. I’ve always wondered if…if she had something to do with his death. And if she did, she might’ve kept her panties in case she ever faced that accusation. Then she could twist everything, make herself the victim.”

Shania leaned against the cinder-block wall of the liquor store. “That’s unforgivable….”

“For all we know, she hit him over the head with a rock and buried him in all the rubble that was lying around. Stranger things have happened.”

“Noah should be told what type of person he’s getting involved with,” she whispered.

The commitment in those words made Kevin fear he’d gone too far. He couldn’t have her flapping her mouth. “He won’t believe you, even if you tell him. And if you speak up, my wife will know I was with someone else after she left that party. She’ll never forgive me.”

“That was before you were married.”

“Doesn’t matter. It’ll be a betrayal all the same. You and Cody weren’t married, either, but do you really want everyone to know he cheated on you the night he was killed?”

He was banking on the fact that she wouldn’t. She’d always been so proud of her status as Cody Rackham’s girlfriend. If word got out that he’d been with someone else, it would suggest he didn’t care that much about her, after all. She’d lose the image of a perfect love tragically ended, the image she still used to garner sympathy.

“No, I don’t want anyone to know,” she admitted. “I still can’t believe he did it. He wouldn’t have if she hadn’t initiated it.”

“We all took a turn with her. It was just sex. It didn’t mean anything.”

“Just sex?” she snapped. “He wouldn’t have liked it if I was spreading my legs for anyone else.”

Kevin knew she was struggling with jealousy but this reversal almost made him want to strangle her. He’d been under so much pressure since Addy returned to town. For his sake, Shania couldn’t give in to those emotions. “How can you even be worried about that now that he’s gone?”

She gaped at him. “He was the love of my life! And Noah’s his twin brother. I don’t want her walking off into the sunset with Noah if it was her fault Cody was killed.”

Kevin could believe that. After Cody’s death, she’d made play after play for Noah but wound up empty-handed. He’d never been interested. “Noah will move on soon enough. The last thing you want is to force him to choose sides.”

Her sullen expression reminded him of a child. “He wouldn’t choose her, not if he knew what happened on grad night.”

“But he won’t know! We could tell him, but he wasn’t there, and she’ll plead her case, too. Trust me, you’ve got to keep your mouth shut.”

With a grunt of exasperation, she stomped off but pivoted after a few steps. “It’s not fair that she gets exactly what she wants when she cost me everything.”

“Their relationship won’t last,” Kevin promised her. “You’ll see.” He bent his head to catch her eye. “So…are you with me?”