Page 74 of Counter Attack

“Sure. Just give me a call.” He glanced out his window, surprised at how dark it was. What time was it, anyway? Seven? His stomach growled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten lunch. He needed to eat before he set up surveillance at the high school. Not that he expected anyone to show up tonight, but he wanted to be there in case they did.

“Hey, you want to grab a burger at Pete’s? And then drop by the Kennedy house and see if we can talk to Ethan? Of the three, I figure he’s the ringleader.”

There was a hesitation on the line. “I don’t think so. Gram is saving spaghetti for me, but you’re welcome to join me. We can stop by the Kennedys’ on the way.”

“I thought you’d never ask. Are you leaving now?”

“Yep.”

“Meet you at their house.”

Nathan stopped by Kayla’s desk on his way out to let her know he was leaving for the day. “How late will you be here?” Kayla and Peggy had worked out her schedule, and he didn’t remember what it was for today.

“Another hour, then Kelsey is relieving me until midnight. Not sure who takes over after that.”

“Call me if you need anything. I’ll either be at Jonathan Kennedy’s over on Oak Street or at the Stones’.”

She grinned. “Tell Alex hi for me.”

Nathan quickly drove to Jonathan Kennedy’s house and waited for Alexis to arrive before he followed her into thecircle drive lined with topiary hedges. He climbed out of his truck to find her staring at the two-story antique brick house that Nathan would call a mansion.

“I didn’t know attorneys in Pearl Springs made the kind of money to afford a house like this.”

“There are a few,” he said. “And this is probably the most expensive one in town.”

They walked to the front door and rang the bell. “Jonathan,” he said, when the attorney opened the door. “Is Ethan here? We’d like to speak with him.”

The attorney’s lips tightened. “He’s here, but you’re not talking to him. I filed a motion with the judge to dismiss the drug charges due to unlawful search—you didn’t have a search warrant.”

Alexis stepped forward. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Alex Stone, Russell County’s chief deputy, and there was nothing illegal about the search. Our drug dog alerted to drugs in a public area where your son and his friends had no expectancy of privacy.”

Jonathan’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll see about that.”

“We didn’t come to discuss the drugs,” Nathan said. “We’re here to interview Ethan about Trevor Martin’s murder.”

“You should have called first.”

Alexis lifted her chin. “Would you have agreed for us to come if we had?” When he didn’t respond right away, she added, “I thought not. Look, we can do this in the privacy of your home or down at the jail. It’s up to you. Unless you want to be charged with obstructing justice.”

Jonathan Kennedy seemed to be weighing her words. After a minute, he gave them a curt nod and opened the door wider. “Come in, but understand I’ll be overseeing the interview.”

“Understood,” she replied.

Nathan waited until Alexis stepped into the entry hall, andthen he fell in behind her. He’d never been to the attorney’s home before and couldn’t help but be impressed. The place looked like a spread right out ofArchitectural Digest.Not one thing was out of place. Did anyone even live here?

“Follow me to the den. And the other two boys are here. Their parents have hired me to represent them.”

Good, on the one hand—now they wouldn’t have to track them down. But bad on the other—the boys wouldn’t feel as free to talk, and he’d wanted to interview them separately.

The den looked slightly more homey, with three teenage boys eating pizza and swigging Dr Pepper. While Ethan’s plate was almost empty, Cole and Mason had barely touched their slices. Ethan almost choked on the bite he’d just taken when he saw them. His two friends exchanged nervous glances.

Ethan dropped the half-eaten slice of pizza on the plate. “W-what are they doing here?”

“They want to ask you questions about the murder.”

“We don’t know nothing about that.”

His father shot him a sharp glance. “The word is ‘anything.’ You sound as though you were educated in a barn.” He turned to Nathan and Alexis. “Proceed.”

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