School of Fish (Fish Out of Water #6) - Amy Lane Page 0,11

been the one who’d brought the X and he certainly hadn’t been the one to sell it—or use it.

They’d get to that if and only if they could save this kid’s future first.

“Look,” Ellery said, making sure Ty’s eyes were locked on his. “I can’t make promises because some of this is out of my control. But I will tell you this. We will talk to the police involved, we will talk to the other kids at the party, and I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve. I can’t guarantee that this will disappear, and I can’t guarantee that you won’t lose your scholarship, but I will do my damnedest to make sure you don’t see jail time. But I need some things from you first.”

Ty looked like he was going to get angry again, but his mother—a comfortable woman wearing what looked to be her Sunday-best dress in muted shades of gold and brown—put her hand on his arm and gave him a pleading glance.

“Tyson, please,” she said softly. “I… I can’t have you in jail.”

Ty grimaced and nodded. “Okay, Mama.”

A mama’s boy. Ellery was one himself, and he approved of the breed in general.

“So,” Ellery said with a deep breath, “I need to know who gave you the drugs.”

Ty looked at his mother and then sighed. “Look, this could be really bad if it gets out who told you.”

“Was it a secret?” Ellery asked. “Your statement here says all the students had them.”

“They did! We walked into No Neck’s house—”

“James Cosgrove?”

“No Neck,” Ty confirmed, and then he frowned. “Man, something was going around text about him this morning. Nate was losing his mind, but I had my own shit to sort. Anyway, he shook everyone’s hand and told us that Ziggy would hook us up.”

“And Ziggy would be Sergio Ivanov,” Ellery said, making the note there.

“Yeah. Ziggy’s this little squirrely guy—eyeballs always vibrating. He’s not in high school. He pretends he is, but I could swear he’s a couple years older. Anyway, I went to the kitchen for—” He looked at his mother. “—water.”

“You gathered around the keg with all the other high school students. Don’t bullshit me, Tyson. I can’t help you if I get busted in one of your lies.”

Tyson’s broad, football player’s shoulders slumped, and he gave his mother that look that only teenagers could have. The one that said their world was over, and they would take it all back if they could.

“So, yeah. I gathered around the keg, and Ziggy came up. He was always getting super familiar with us when we weren’t, you know, loving him. But he came up and gave me this handclasp bullshit, and when he pulled back I had a dime bag with three pills in it.”

Ellery frowned and looked at his police report again. “Three pills?”

“Yeah. And I was like, ‘No, man, I’m already training. I leave next week,’ and he smiles this really slimy smile and goes, ‘Just a little party favor, yeah?’ And I don’t want to piss him off or hurt his feelings or anything.”

“Why not?” Ellery asked, curious.

Tyson shifted as he sat. “I… I just get this really bad vibe off Ziggy. Like, this one time last year, at a football game, one of the guys got this real bad break. It was sort of scary, right? And I look up into the stands to see if Jaden’s mom is up there, and I see Ziggy, and he’s got this look on his face. This really shitty look. Like it was worth the price of admission to watch Jaden’s leg snap backward like that. So I don’t like Ziggy, but I don’t piss him off either.”

Ellery nodded. “Fair enough,” he said thoughtfully. “So he hands you a bag with three pills in it, and you…?”

“I put it in my pocket and tell him it’s for later. And I’m planning to throw it away.” Tyson had a man’s body: broad shoulders, arms like cannons, and a notable absence of neck. He was one of the best offensive tackles in the state. But the look that crossed his face then was even younger than the teenaged one. This one was a child, full-on vulnerable, and it broke Ellery’s heart.

“I swear, Mama,” he said softly. “I was going to throw them away.”

Ralene Townsend wiped her eyes with her palm. “I know, sweetheart. You’re a good boy. I’ve never doubted it.”

Tyson let out a shuddering breath. “So I put them in my pocket, and I swear to