Page 118 of Lethal Danger

Hawthorne stepped closer to the back of a short armchair and braced his hands on it. “Tell me what happened later in the evening. You said Sam wasn’t with you the whole night. Was he away from you several times?”

“Nah. We were pretty tight. And the other guys were our ticket to a good time, so we stuck with them.”

Remembering Christy’s account of the young men at the Logboat Adventure ride, Hawthorne ventured one of the big questions. “Did Sam go on the Logboat Adventure ride with you and the others at around eleven?”

“We went on it. Don’t know what time it was.”

“I thought Sam was afraid of water.”

Zeke smiled. “Oh, yeah. I forgot. After that many drinks, trust me—he was a whole new Sam.”

So Sam had gotten over his fears temporarily thanks to alcohol. Did that mean an accidental death was possible?

Zeke pushed up from the sofa and shuffled past Hawthorne to the kitchen. He paused by the island. “He begged me not to say anything. Didn’t want the older dudes to know he was scared, you know?” He gave a single laugh. “Funny. I’m nearly their age now.”

Hawthorne closed some of the distance between him and Zeke, stopping at the edge of the tile that bordered the small kitchen. “So when did Sam leave? When wasn’t he with you and the others?”

Zeke flipped open a pizza box and pulled out a slice that had probably sat there overnight or longer. At least the piece didn’t appear to have mold on it yet. “Just at the end, I think.”

“The end? Do you remember what time?”

“Nah.” He took a large bite of the pizza.

“But it was when you were leaving?”

“No.” He mumbled the word around the pizza. “The rest of us stayed after. Like until the fair closed down.”

Hawthorne’s pulse picked up speed. “Sam wasn’t with you then?”

“Nah.” He stuffed more of the slice into his mouth, as if he had no idea he’d dropped another bombshell.

Hawthorne battled to keep his tone calm. “Where did he go?”

“He went to get a smoke.” Zeke waved the remainder of the pizza slice through the air as he talked with his hands. “They don’t let you smoke anywhere but at these marked areas.”

“Sam had brought cigarettes?” He certainly wouldn’t have gotten those at Best Life.

“He bought ’em at the grocery store at the fair. You know, the one behind the beer gardens?” Zeke shoved the crust end of the piece into his mouth.

“Do you remember which designated smoking area Sam went to?”

“Uh…” Zeke reached in the box for another slice. “I remember we were in line for the SkyPlunge ride, so the spot at the midway, I guess.”

A witness to a location where Sam had been. This was incredible. “Okay, so Sam went to smoke and then what happened.”

Zeke paused with the pizza by his lips. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged and bit off a chunk. “I never saw him again.” The garbled words were still clear enough to hit Hawthorne deep in the gut.

“You didn’t think that was strange? Didn’t you look for him?”

“No. The guys didn’t want to wait in line with things about to close, so we went to a different ride farther up the midway. Then a couple of the older dudes found some chicks, and my friend and I hit a few more rides. Then it was closing time. I figured Sam found something better to do. I saw a hot chick headed to the smoking spot when Sam said he was going to get a smoke. I figured he was chasing her, and he must’ve gotten what he wanted, you know?” Zeke grinned around the piece of pizza as he shoved the rest in his mouth.

Rebekah wouldn’t like the sound of that. And Hawthorne didn’t buy it. Because sometime after that, Sam had ended up dead.

“Did you see anyone else in that area?”

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