Yet a Stranger (The First Quarto #2) - Gregory Ashe Page 0,134

the killer.”

“The last time things looked bad for you, Wayne stepped up. I thought he’d do it again if he knew how seriously in trouble you were. We made sure he got a front row seat to the accusation. Was I wrong, Wayne?”

“I knew it,” Orlando crowed. “I knew you didn’t really think I was a murderer!”

Wayne’s silence sent goosebumps crawling up Auggie’s arms.

“I’m going to handle this,” Wayne said in a dead voice. “Pee—Orlando, I’m not going to let anything happen to you. But I need you to help me. This is a family problem. We can solve it as a family.”

“Things would have been different if Deja had lived,” Auggie said. “Isn’t that right, Wayne?”

“Orlando, do what I told you.”

“She was coming to tell you the good news: she was signing with a big university. She was walking here from her house, carrying the letter of intent, to tell you, when she was shot and killed. She knew you and Cal would be happy; the university had been courting her, and there was big money in it for all of you. That’s what you and Cal had been fighting about for weeks, isn’t it? Whether Deja would stay local and play for Wroxall or go big and earn you both a lot of money.”

Wayne let out a broken breath.

“You loved her,” Auggie said.

“I didn’t care about the money,” Wayne said. His eyes were fixed somewhere past Auggie. “I didn’t care where she played. I wanted her to do what was best for her, for her career. She was the one who was talking about staying here so we could build a life together. Cal—Cal couldn’t see anything except the money. He was always broke. He was always hitting me up for a loan so he could score. He thought I was putting her up to it, thought I was forcing her to choose Wroxall and stay local, but I wasn’t. I just wanted her to do what was best for her.”

“Cal never touched Genesis, did he?”

Wayne shook his head. He was still staring at something invisible to Auggie. His throat moved reflexively. “I thought it was her. Deja. We did that sometimes, after a tournament. Messed around at SportsPeak. We didn’t have a lot of places we could be alone, and it was fun and hot. The lights were off. By the time I realized it was Genesis and not Deja, it was too late.”

“You did that to her?” Orlando said, his voice rising.

“I didn’t mean to! But it would have worked out. We would have figured out a way to handle it.”

“No,” Auggie said. “Cal was running your business into the ground. He couldn’t keep his head straight. He couldn’t clean up his act. His dealer was coming around, selling to your athletes. He was going to ruin everything.”

“We were going to—I was going to buy him out. It was the only way to save the business.” Wayne laughed suddenly and covered his mouth. “What the hell am I talking about? Let’s get this over with.”

“What happened that night?” Orlando said. “Don’t take one fucking step until you tell me what the fuck you did to Cal.”

Wayne’s shoulders dropped. “Deja called. She was upset because she’d had another argument with Nia. Nia was using. PED shit. Deja said that was the last straw; she wasn’t going to stay in Wahredua, couldn’t stand to stay here. She said she had good news. She’d changed her mind about Wroxall. She knew how badly Cal and I had been fighting, and she knew he’d want to know right away. I told Cal she was coming over to talk about it, that she was bringing the letter. Then she—” His voice broke, and for a moment, the grief in his face was infinitely deep. “She never came. And Cal thought I was lying. Or hell, who knows what he thought? He picked a fight again. I only hit him once, and he went down. For this one, awful moment, I thought it was a gag. I looked it up later; they’re called one-punch kills. They’re not even that uncommon.”

“And then you went to the basketball expo,” Auggie said.

“I had to. I didn’t know Deja was—I didn’t know what had happened to her. Then those girls came and knocked on the door. First Sadie, then Nia. Sadie went away, but Nia wouldn’t leave. She wanted to talk to Cal. Wanted to fight. And I was standing in the kitchen, with Cal on