looked like she might protest and demand to sit in on his interview with TJ. Mac said, “It’s better this way, Savannah. Trust me.”
Well, that won’t get him anywhere, Zach thought.
He was surprised and slightly irked when she nodded and took a seat at Gabi’s desk. Sure, trust Mac.
Get hold of yourself, Turner. Do the job.
Zach shut the door to the interview room, took a seat, and went to work. He attempted to establish the boy’s whereabouts during the period during which the sign went missing until its discovery earlier this evening. Mac had prepared the boy well, because he gave quick, clear, concise answers.
Nothing the boy said surprised him. The probability that he was being framed had occurred to Zach from the moment he received the phone call. It wasn’t until he asked whom TJ suspected of framing him and the boy hesitated a long moment that Zach sensed he was about to be surprised.
TJ dragged his hands up and down his face. Zach darted a look at Mac, who shrugged. TJ sighed loud and long. “I’m in such deep shit. I haven’t told my aunt about this yet. I was going to, but then she yelled about the peanut butter and … I don’t know, I was still working up the nerve. I just found out today. That’s why I went to church. I had to pray. I needed answers. Oh, man, my life is ruined.”
Zach leaned forward. “What happened, TJ?”
“Wait a minute,” Mac said. “If this involves a criminal act—”
“No,” TJ said. “Just stupid. Really, really stupid.” He looked at Zach, a world of misery in eyes wet with tears. “She’s pregnant.”
Zach and Mac both sat back. Quietly Zach asked, “Who?”
“Linda Treemont.”
Aiden Marshall’s girlfriend, Zach knew.
Once he got started, the story poured out. Mandy had a crush on Aiden, and everybody knew it. He’d been mean to her about it, but Mandy was too innocent to realize he was making fun of her instead of giving her real compliments. On the first day of camp, Aiden and Linda had had a fight, and to retaliate, Aiden took Mandy off into the woods and started making out with her. Linda saw it. TJ missed the whole thing because he’d gone hiking with Jack and the rest of the group.
“He was just using her,” TJ said. “Mandy didn’t know. She …” He winced. “You know how she is. She wants to fit in so badly that she … well, he took advantage.
“Linda was pissed. That night, she got me to leave camp with her and … well …” TJ had his eyes closed as he confessed, “We had sex.”
Mac looked at Zach. “How old is this girl?”
“Seventeen,” he replied flatly. “Maybe eighteen.”
“That’s statutory rape.”
“I didn’t rape her!” TJ cried.
“Not you, son. Look, was that the only time you had sex with her?”
“Yes, sir. She told Aiden about it first thing the next morning. That’s why he and I fought. I haven’t talked to her since then … except for when she told me she was pregnant.” He paused, then added, “She just used me to get back at him and I knew it and I let it happen anyway. Stupid. So stupid.”
“How do you think that might tie in with the stop sign?”
“Well, I don’t know who else she told. Maybe one of Aiden’s friends thought he’d get me in more trouble. Who knows. His friends are all jerks.”
Zach asked a couple more questions, then wrapped up the interview. Gabi had finished with Savannah, and the moment TJ was free to go, she ushered him out of the sheriff’s office. She never once spoke directly to Zach, a fact that stuck in his craw more than just a little.
“What a mess,” Mac observed once his clients had departed and Gabi left to make her eleven o’clock foot patrol. Giving Zach a sidelong glance, he asked, “You don’t think TJ stole that sign, do you?”
“No. I don’t think he’s the father of Linda Treemont’s kid, either. If she’s even pregnant. That girl has been a schemer and a game player for as long as I’ve been in Eternity Springs. I know that she’s been sleeping with the Marshall boy for months. I chased them off Reflection Point one night.”
“I told Savannah you wouldn’t be fooled. She was a basket case earlier. She thought for sure that history was going to repeat itself and TJ would get convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. She even talked about running off.”
Zach went