BooksBarbecue
Back The House Party
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. April 2008
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. Author’s Note
  55. Acknowledgments
  56. About the Author
  57. About the Publisher

“Sure. You’re under eighteen—still a minor. The courts usually go easy on juveniles.”

The mention of the courts was the last straw. A few tears slipped through his dark lashes, and he turned and quickly wiped them away.

“Of course, there are other options,” Murray went on, as if he hadn’t noticed. “We could use some help figuring out who was responsible. I mean, you didn’t plan this party, did you? It wasn’t your idea, right?” Brendan shook his head furiously, and Murray kept going: “You seem like a good kid, Brendan. If you can help us figure out what happened, maybe we can forget all about this.”

Brendan winced, but he repeated Murray’s words—“forget all about this”—and he seemed to be thinking. He was about to speak when the instructor stuck his head out of the classroom door.

“Brendan,” he said. “I need you back in the classroom. It’s your team’s turn with the blowtorch.” He frowned at Murray and Tillman. “If you need to speak to this student further, I suggest that you contact his parents. I’m happy to give them a call right now if it would help.”

All of the color drained out of Brendan’s face. Murray knew that if the parents were called at this moment, the kid would deny everything.

“I think we’re finished,” Murray said.

Brendan started to follow his teacher back into the lab, but he turned at the last minute, one hand gently testing the swollen flesh under his eye. “You should ask Will O’Connor what happened to those big glass windows,” he said. “And his friend. Some rich kid. He was handing out ecstasy like it was candy. A lot of the girls were real messed up thanks to him.”

Murray perked up. “You know that kid’s name?” he asked, but Brendan just shrugged and disappeared back into the classroom.

“Will O’Connor,” Jake said as they walked back out to the parking lot. “Now, there’s a name that just keeps coming up. Think this was his shindig?”

“That certainly would be convenient, since we’ve basically got him at the scene with that underage-drinking ticket,” Murray agreed. “But the fact is, we still haven’t heard much more than rumors. We need something solid if we’re going to make any of the charges stick.”

“The kids are protecting one another,” Tillman said. “Think they can keep it up?”

“All we need is one kid to come forward,” Murray said. “Let’s keep the pressure on. Someone will break.”

19

On Monday morning, Jake printed out his notes on the house party case and slipped them into a manila folder, along with the pictures from the scene and photocopies of the underage-drinking tickets.