Page 96 of Sex Coach

"Yes, Senator McCrane's son ."

"Shit. " She mouthed it, the word making no sound as it escaped her lips. A split second later, she came up off the bed to pace, dragging the blanket with her. I rearranged the other ones around me, watching as her long legs scissored back and forth, one fist clutching the heavy quilt between her breasts. "What..." She finally stopped and turned to look at me. "What did you do, follow him to New York ?"

"No." Shaking my head, I took the letter and folded it into quarters, neatly following the lines that were all but embedded into it at this point. "I had no idea he was a senator in Maryland, or that he spent so much time in New York. Not until I'd been here a couple of years. I only knew him from when he'd come to Texas to visit his son. He could win the absentee father of the year award, showing up on birthdays and holidays, presents all but falling out of his pockets, but beyond that, Marlon might as well not exist ."

"Were you two friends?" she asked .

"Maybe." Jerking a shoulder in a shrug, I answered, "The two of us had what you might call an uneasy friendship. Marlon moved there when he was pretty young, after his parents divorced. His mama spoiled him rotten. Washington, when he came around, seemed to think the only way to parent was to give Marlon whatever he wanted. Sometimes I wonder if his parents had ever told him no in his life ."

Rubbing my temple, I put the letter down on the table in front of me, the memories a tangle inside my head. I'd been the popular kid. Marlon had always just been there. There had been a rivalry between us, but I hadn't realized it at the time. It had taken a period of years, looking back over them to realize just how volatile things had been between us .

How many times had my folks asked me not to hang out with him? How many times ?

I couldn't remember .

They told me he was trouble .

I wouldn't even have gone to the party if he hadn't nagged me into it. I sure as hell wouldn't have been driving a car because my parents had never bought me one .

But he wasn't the one who made me take the first drink, or even the second .

And that was what I told myself over the years. If I'd ended things when my parents told me to, if I hadn't gone to the party, if I hadn't taken that first drink ...

Then the letter came .

"I never could understand what he said he was sorry for." Staring down at the simple rectangle of paper, so simple in appearance, I finally looked up at her. "There was only one thing that made sense ."

She didn't need me to paint her more of a picture .

"Could he have called his dad to...hell, I don't know. Make it go away ?"

"My mother was dead ," I bit off. "There was no making that go away ."

"I know." She caught her lower lip between her teeth. "That didn't come out how I meant it. I just...all of this seems crazy. And scary ."

"Yeah. To you and me both. But in a way, it makes sense." I remembered taking those keys from Marlon. Telling him ...

We ain't driving, man .

I rememberedthat .

Those were things I hadn't told people. What would it have mattered, with my mother being dead ?

"He wanted to drive," I said gruffly. "I took his keys and told him...I told him neither of us were driving. We weren't in the shape for it. He mouthed off. Took a swing at me. After that, I don't remember anything until I woke up in the hospital ."

My face had been bruised, but I'd been in a wreck. Anything could have caused that .

"Do you think it's possible Senator Washington McCrane helped cover up his son's part in your mother's death?" Michelle asked, coming to kneel in front of me, her eyes earnest .

"I don't know." My gaze flicked to the letter. "And I can't ask Marlon about it, either. He OD'd a few days after that letter arrived at the prison. So whatever secrets he had, he took them with him to the grave ."

She huffed out a breath and sat back on her heels. "Son of a bitch. That's a mess." Slanting a look up at me, she asked, "And there's nobody you can ask now ?"

"No. Save for the senator," I said mockingly. Jerking a shoulder up in a shrug, I added, "There was a kid who was supposed to be in the car with me, but he was killed in a hit-and-run a year later ."

"What a coincidence," she murmured. "Was the driver caught ?"

I met her eyes. "No ."

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