Page 132 of Our Daughter's Bones

“No. No break.” Mackenzie looked at Nathaniel evenly. “Club 916 was started again after decades by David Falkner, Nathaniel Jones, and Bill Grayson—a member of the club during its first run. Do the smart thing and make your life easier.”

“Nathaniel,” Cromwell turned to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. “As your lawyer, I suggest you cooperate. Give an official statement.”

“No.”

“It will help you.”

“No!”

“I’m trying to protect you!”

“No!” Nathaniel slammed a hand on the table. Cromwell shrunk into his chair and looked away. “We bring jobs, money, and happiness to this town. We give them a reason to celebrate. Today, if we talk a certain way, we’re targeted, or if we conduct ourselves a certain way, we’re punished. Where isourfreedom? Where isourreward for making something out of this place? We are the reason Lakemore is not a dump. Do you have any idea how many people I employ? A few lives are a small price to pay for the livelihood and joy of thousands. You see,thatis the problem with our society. We think morality is black and white. It’s not. Club 916 is about honor and tradition. A safe space for men like us who are persecuted in today’s world. We understand each other. We protect each other. That’s something football teaches you—loyalty. So, no. I will never give any official statement about the third person.We were ateam.Do you not know what that means?”

Cromwell guzzled an entire glass of water in three gulps. There was not a tinge of guilt or remorse on Nathaniel’s hard face.

A knowing smile spread across Mackenzie’s face. “You rot in jail, Mr. Jones. No deal.”

“Come on! I’m sure we can work something out!” Cromwell pleaded, but they were already on their way out.

Seventy-Three

“I thought you were going to give him a piece of your mind,” Nick said. He fiddled with an empty pack of cigarettes. “You gave up quickly.”

“No point in appealing to his conscience. He thinks he’s in the right. Let him go to prison believing it.”

“We have to find some other way to link Bill Grayson to them. Hopefully, the crime scene investigators will find something, but Bill’s alibis have been rock-solid. And why didn’t he clean up his cabin?”

“Because I don’t think Bill is the third member.”

“What do you mean?”

Her stomach squeezed. “He saidwe were a team.”

The television outside their office played highlights of the game. Some officers were gathered around, watching intently. There was uproar. They cheered and guffawed, slapping each other’s backs. Would things change?

The arrest of Nathaniel Jones had been kept strictly under wraps. As had the discovery of Abby Correia. It was important to gather statements and evidence before the media trampled over everything. The other departments were not aware either. But this information couldn’t be contained for too long. How would Lakemore respond?

A few lives are a small price to pay for the livelihood and joy of thousands.

Nick fired up his computer and began searching for a picture from the years Nathaniel Jones was on the team.

“David was on the team with him,” Mackenzie reminded him. “Nathaniel never played much at college because of his injury, and David didn’t go to the same school anyway, so we’re looking at the time they were on the Sharks together.”

“1988.”

The picture loaded on the screen, washed-out in color and slightly faded and crimped in the corners. A scanned picture uploaded onto the internet. Her eyes flitted over the smiling faces of young men—seemingly innocent.

“I’m sure I can find a better picture if I dig through some archives.”

“It must be one of them, right?”

“Unless he didn’tliterallymean being on a team. But I’ll ask Jenna to get a list, and we can begin crossing them out.”

Mackenzie’s mind swam as she stared at the picture. A little piece of Lakemore’s glorified history built on lies and conspiracies.

David Falkner, a punter, stood in one corner. He wore a shy smile and a mullet hairstyle. Then there was the proud star quarterback, Nathaniel Jones. He looked like Quinn, a smolder marring his face.

She skimmed over the other faces and wondered about what went wrong. They all looked like normal boys. What happened to the two of them?