Page 26 of Christmas in the Shadows

Tex patiently waited for Chelsea to start. Hesitation stretched over her features. From the way she kept licking her lips. To how her gaze darted all over the place. To how she kept tucking her hair behind her ear.

Finally, she let out a sigh and glanced at him as they sat on the floor together. Her legs were crossed, her fuzzy red-and-green Christmas socks looking warm and cozy. Meanwhile, Tex leaned against the couch, his arms propped on his knees.

“The truth is that I’ve suspected something is going on with Gilbert for a while,” she started. “It’s no secret I’m not the man’s biggest fan. But cars have been coming to his house late at night. I’ve seen him meeting with a man dressed in all black on his porch. Their conversations looked heated. One night I thought it was going to turn into a physical altercation.”

Tex nodded slowly, trying not to jump to any conclusions. “I know that might be suspicious, but Gilbert could have an explanation for it.”

“I know.” Chelsea raised her hand as if to stop his thoughts. “Believe me, I’ve tried to think of this from every possible angle. But a conversation I overheard the other day really confirmed to me that something was going on.”

Tex shifted back, settling in to listen. “Tell me what you heard.”

“I was cutting some evergreen branches from my trees outside so I could decorate for Christmas.” She pointed to the greenery that had once been on her fireplace but now lay like a garland corpse on her floor. “I don’t think he saw me there. In fact, I’m sure he didn’t know I was there. At least not at first. I thought about announcing my presence. But . . . well, I guess you’ll understand why I didn’t when I tell you the rest.”

She paused again and licked her lips.

Tex waited for her to continue. He could see this was hard for her.

Finally, she drew in a deep breath and started again. “I didn’t see the face of the man he was meeting with. And I didn’t necessarily recognize the voice except that maybe the guy sounded younger. When I say younger, I’m not sure if he was a teen or in his twenties. It was hard to tell.”

Did she suspect it was one of her students? He kept the question silent for now.

“What were they talking about?” Tex asked instead.

“They were arguing about something. I heard Gilbert say, ‘I don’t know what else to tell you.’ Then the man with him said, ‘I can’t keep doing this.’ Gilbert replied with, ‘You don’t have much choice.’”

“So what do you think that means?” Tex asked.

“I only have assumptions, but no proof.” She hesitated.

“You can tell me your theories.” He could see that Chelsea didn’t want to start trouble, didn’t want her guesses to be incorrect. “I’ll listen with caution.”

She nodded as if his words had appeased her. “A lot is riding on the success of the school’s football team. It’s important that they win the championships again. I know some parents arebanking on their kids getting football scholarships to pay for college. It has to place a lot of pressure on Gilbert.”

“So you think he’s doping them?” Tex cut right to the chase and filled in the blanks.

Chelsea opened her mouth. Closed it. Then she shook her head as if in an internal battle with herself. “I know the team lost the first couple of games they played this year. After that, they had a wild turnaround and won every game. The whole town was so ecstatic that they literally threw the football team a parade.”

Tex’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t know people got that excited over high school football these days. It wasn’t like that when I played on the team.”

“I didn’t know either.”

He continued to sort through what Chelsea had told him. “But football season’s over. Why would Gilbert still be doing these deals?”

“You know how it goes with drugs. You open the door to one, and people want more.”

“But if any football players are caught doing drugs, then they’ll be kicked off the team.”

She shrugged. “In theory. Unless there are people involved willing to turn a blind eye to what’s going on.”

He frowned at the thought. “That’s possible, I suppose.”

“I can only imagine that Gilbert is feeling panicked anyway,” she continued. “One of his star players got into a fight with a cop, of all people. He was kicked out of school. Everyone was in shock.”

“I bet. Too much testosterone, huh?”

“I guess.” Chelsea shrugged. “I told you it doesn’t make a lot of sense. I just have a feeling Gilbert is up to no good, and I’m afraid someone is going to get hurt. If it was only Gilbert putting himself in danger, that would be one thing. But if he’s somehowmessing up the lives of high schoolers who have their whole futures in front of them, then I feel compelled to do something.”

Her motives were righteous. But Tex still didn’t like the position she was in. “You shouldn’t sneak into his house.”

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