Spooky Business (The Spectral Files #3) - S.E. Harmon Page 0,92
on this already fucked up day. “Facedown. Arms and hands out.”
When he did his best impression of a starfish and it looked like he wouldn’t put up any more resistance, I holstered my gun and pulled out the cuffs. I hooked him up then, still trying to catch my breath. After a thorough search of his person for weapons, I hauled him up, and we started the long journey back.
We attracted a lot of attention on the sidewalk that I pretended not to notice. By the second block of random people whispering and looking and taking photos, Dillon’s face was beet red.
“If Bondo told you I stole those cars, he’s a fucking liar,” he snarled as I frog marched him down the sidewalk. “The whole thing was his idea!”
Anything he wanted to confess to, I wanted to hear. “Was it?” I asked noncommittally.
“Of course it was. I mean, yeah, I might’ve helped him with the Lexus, but that’s it. I told him the Audi was a bad risk.” He swore. “Bondo is such a fucking idiot.”
If Dillon was the mental giant between the two friends, I really wanted to meet this Bondo guy. “I’m going to have you write a statement to that effect. What can you tell me about Joseph Carr?”
“Joseph Carr?” He muttered the name to himself a few times before something clicked. “Wait, my social worker? The one who got capped in his car?”
He glanced back at me, his expression a study in genuine confusion, and I gestured for him to turn around and keep walking. He did, shoulders hunched as someone else took a photo. Honestly, I didn’t know what all the rubbernecking was about, but he deserved every bit of the humiliation.
“That would be the one.”
“You think I killed him?” He twisted around to give me another confused look, and I turned him around again. “You couldn’t be further off base.”
“Then set me straight.”
“He was a nice guy, you know? He really tried to help me.” He shook his head. “He gave my mom money when she came up short for rent a few times. And he was always trying to give me odd jobs to pick up the slack. I never left his place hungry.”
“What else?”
Dillon continued to shuffle along. “He was the first person who believed I could be somebody else… go somewhere else other than this neighborhood.”
“So in return for his kindness, you accused him of sexually assaulting you?”
His ears turned a little red as he shot a look over his shoulder. I gestured for him to turn back around before he tripped us both. “How did you know about that?”
Welp, your dead social worker showed it to me in a ghost vision. “Answer the question.”
“I never officially accused him of anything. I never intended to, either, because it wasn’t true. He never touched me. I was just a stupid kid with a crush, upset because my crush had someone else.” His ears got redder still. “He was too old for me, anyway. I got over it.”
I tried to hide my disappointment. I should be happy that my victim wasn’t a horrible person who’d taken advantage of a young, impressionable kid. But Christ above, if someone didn’t tell me something bad about Joey soon, I was going to go stark raving mad.
“So what brought on this miraculous light bulb moment?” I asked.
“His love life was hella messy. He was involved with three dudes. What the fuck, right?”
“Three?” I looked at him skeptically. I’d spoken with everyone Joseph had a history with. The list had been surprisingly small—Alex, of course, a guy he’d known in college, two former coworkers, and Milo. “I assume you’re talking about Alex and Milo. So who’s on third?”
“I don’t know his name,” Dillon huffed. “I came over earlier than expected one day, and I saw him with arguing with some dude on the porch. They were so into it, they didn’t even see me standing there.”
“What were they arguing about?”
“The guy was telling Joey that he was opening a can of worms and that some things are better left buried.”
“How long was this before Joey was killed?”
“I don’t know. A month? Two months?” He shot me a defensive look. “It was a long time ago. I have a life, you know.”
I sighed. “Anything else you remember from that day?”
“Just that the guy was hot. Looked like he had his shit together. I figured if Joey didn’t want him, what chance did I have?” Dillon shrugged uncomfortably. “You want