Evan dreaded questioning Lily again, mostly because he knew that it wasn’t just one person that his questions would trigger, but rather two. And one of those two he now had strong, protective feelings for—seeing Mckenna this morning, he knew for sure. When this case was over, he wanted to be with her. He wanted to know her in a way that only he could.
Mocha strode past him, seeing Lily on the couch. The sweet Lab went over and climbed up next to Lily and then rested his head on her lap.
“Is that okay?” Mckenna asked Lily’s mother. “He doesn’t need to be on the couch.”
“It’s fine. If it makes her happy then I’d let ten Labs sit on the couch.”
Ten Labs might eat the couch, Evan mused, his mind going back to the dogs his dad had when he was growing up. Of course, those were high-energy dogs meant for tracking and odor detection. Mocha was the opposite and the epitome of a couch potato. But he was still a Lab, Evan thought, recalling the stolen, snarfed-down sandwich.
Mckenna took a seat not far from Mocha. Evan pulled up a chair in the living room.
“Do you mind if I record this?” he asked.
Lily shook her head no. Evan was relieved. If allowed, a recording of the interview would help in court. Especially if Lily didn’t want to testify. Some victims did, some didn’t. He knewMckenna had turned down testifying, but she had given a victim impact statement at Toby’s sentencing.
Evan said the time and date for the recording. “Lily, some of my questions may be difficult. Take your time answering and let me know if at any time you need a break. Okay?”
Lily nodded and he caught Mckenna giving him an appreciative look. He gave her a quick smile, trying to let Mckenna know that he was going to be as gentle as he could, but this was going to be difficult. For everyone. Even him.
“Tell me about this party again,” Evan started. “How did you find out about it?”
Lily stroked Mocha’s head and the dog gave a content sigh, reached up and gave the girl a lick on her cheek and then rested his head back in her lap. Mocha’s encouragement helped Lily.
“Some of us had kept in touch with Ms. Gardner. She had a fake profile on Facebook that we all knew about, and she’d send out messages. There was never any pressure or anything. I don’t want to get her into trouble,” Lily said, a worried expression crossing her face.
“You won’t get her into trouble.” Evan knew he was lying, but he needed to keep Lily talking. He ignored the stare Mckenna gave him. She’d have something to say about it later because Mckenna knew Penny Gardner should be in trouble, but right now Evan needed information to close this case and keep Mckenna safe. Did he really know she was in danger? He’d be less worried if he didn’t think that Rex Hanson was following her.
He wanted to talk to him again later. Right now, he needed to gather more evidence to help with an arrest. If he took what he had to a prosecutor, they’d laugh at him and tell him to come back when he had more.
Lily had quit talking and was peering out the big window that framed Mount Blue Sky.
“Lily?” Evan gently said. “What else can you tell me about these parties? Are there ever drugs there?”
“Mostly we just drank. I guess occasionally Ms. Gardner would have a marijuana vape, but it seemed like it was more for her and none of us ever took a hit off it or anything.”
Evan nodded. He needed to know how the girls ingested the GHB. If they were doing drugs along with drinking, he hoped Lily would tell him the truth, but his guess was that somehow their drinks were spiked. “You ever hear of a drug called GHB? Some of the street names you might know it by are ‘Liquid E,’ ‘Georgia Home Boy,’ or ‘Grievous Bodily Harm.’”
“No, I haven’t heard of that,” Lily said continuing to snuggle with Mocha. “Why?”
“I received the tox screen reports for you and Autumn. You had alcohol in your system as we know, but you also tested positive for GHB.”
Lily’s mother, Brenda, gasped behind them. Evan gave her a look and she backed away. Her husband took her to the kitchen, which relieved Evan. If he was going to get the truth out of Lily, he needed her to feel comfortable.
“But we didn’t do any drugs,” Lily said. “I swear.”
“I believe you.” Evan took a quick peek at Mckenna. She appeared calm. No hand clasping. He was glad she was doing okay with all this questioning. “I’m wondering, though, did you drink from unopened containers or was someone serving the alcohol?”
“There was someone serving the alcohol. He made margaritas. Said they were his specialty.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. “Do you remember what he looked like?”
“Not really. Older. About Ms. Gardner’s age. Your age.”
Evan didn’t know how he felt about being called older, but he figured he was about the same age as Penny Gardner and all her “friends.” Maybe the “cool” teacher was knowingly providing a spot where a predator could pick his prey. Evan took two pictures out of a folder he’d brought. One was Toby’s mugshot; the other was a picture of Rex that he’d obtained from the DMV. “Was it either of these guys?”
Lily stared at the pictures and then quickly pointed to Rex’s picture. “I think it was him.”
Excitement and adrenaline started coursing through Evan’s body. Maybe Toby had covered for his brother all those years. “Did he serve you two the entire night?”