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Back The Hallows Save as PDF
Chapters (89)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. 67
  72. 68
  73. 69
  74. 70
  75. 71
  76. 72
  77. 73
  78. 74
  79. 75
  80. 76
  81. 77
  82. 78
  83. 79
  84. 80
  85. 81
  86. 82
  87. 83
  88. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  89. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“Roscoe Mallory. He’s lying about what happened to Anderson’s eye, and I don’t know why. I want everything you can find about him, and I mean everything. If he bought a porno mag at the grocery store, I want to know about it.”

“I’ve known the coach since I was in high school. Everybody in town loves that guy. You really think he did something shady?”

“He just happens to mention to me right now that Anderson groped a girl but refused to give me her name. So either it never happened, or it’s someone he doesn’t want to tell me about.”

“Someone like Patty.”

“Right. Maybe Anderson groped Patty, then got a beating after, and Roscoe might be the one that administered that little can of whoop-ass. Beating a teenager up for groping a classmate—that’s not a high school teacher reaction. That’s the reaction of a lover. Which means—”

“Which means he might be on the list of Patty’s clientele and maybe the obsessed one that was stalking her.”

“Exactamundo, kiddo. So I need to know if he was seeing Patty and how often. And last I checked, high school teachers weren’t millionaires, so let’s dig into his finances and find out how he was swinging two grand for a date.”

Will let out a long breath. “Man, Coach Mallory . . . that’s crazy. You sure about this? I mean, you could be wrong.”

“I don’t know if I’m wrong or not, but it’s too late to worry about that now. Let’s find out what skeletons he’s got lurking around.”

“All right, I’ll get on it. Oh, got the reports from the lab. No one ever found the hammer Anderson hit Patty with. The truck was cleaned with a blood cleaner. The forensics guys said it could have had blood, but the blood cleaner gets rid of all traces.”

“Well, not the end of the world, but, man, Patty’s blood on that hammer would’ve helped us.”

He sighed again. “This is scary. Never been this invested in a case before.”

I saw some young girls entering the high school, laughing and joking. Children. No older than Patty . . . or Bethany Bower. “Me neither.”

57

57

That night I had dinner with Gates at her ranch. We ate hamburgers and watched a football game on television after. She sipped from her beer and set it down to check her phone.

“I stopped in to see your dad today,” she said.

“Was he his usual pleasant self?”

“No. He couldn’t talk. He’d lost his voice. I tried to get him to eat, but he just wanted his pills. Wouldn’t eat anything.”

I shook my head. “He’s impossible to reason with.”

“What’re you going to do?”

I exhaled through my nose and stared blankly at the television. “Can we watch something else?”