Long Shadows

Chapter 65

A​round four thirty that day Decker and White stood near the football field and watched Tyler run his routes and catch balls thrown to him by what looked to be a coach.

“Funny time to be doing that,” opined White.

“Actually, it makes perfect sense. This is his comfort zone.”

“You think he knows about his dad?” she asked.

“Oh yeah. That’s why he’s here.”

As they stood there another young man walked over to them. He was about six-two and weighed around two thirty, beefy in the legs, core, and shoulders. He was wearing Under Armour gear and was sweating profusely.

“You guys waiting to talk to Tyler?” he said.

“Yeah,” replied Decker. “We’re with the FBI. Who are you?”

“Drew James. I’m on the team with Tyler. Left tackle.”

“You got the blindside then, unless your QB’s left-handed.”

“He’s not. I am the blindside tackle. Just finished up in the weight room.”

“Never stops, does it?” said Decker.

“Not if you want to play in college.” He stared out at the field where Tyler was running hard. “Tyler’s got a chance at the big time, D1 Top Ten. I’m not nearly big enough for the O-line at a D1 college, and I can’t play another position. And I don’t have the frame to grow much more. I’m shooting for a decent D2 scholarship.”

“You make it sound like a business,” noted White.

“I just want my business degree,” said James. “No way I can go pro. I’d have to grow three more inches and put on a hundred pounds and be a lot more athletic than I am.”

“Tyler doesn’t think he can make the jump to the NFL, either,” said Decker.

James leaned on the fence and watched Tyler run routes. “I think he has a shot. Or did.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Decker.

“Tyler is super focused with discipline like nothing I’ve seen. His mom was a big part of that. She really believed in him. Now? He’s out here, but I think he’s just burning off some shit in his head. He usually does two hours in the weight room five days a week. He hasn’t been in at all lately. And he didn’t run with us the morning she died and hasn’t since. And we used to all go surfing a couple times a week. But he hasn’t done that in more than a month.”

“Why do you think that was?” asked White.

“I think he’s worried about his dad.”

“Why?”

James looked at them. “Look, I don’t want to get anybody in trouble.”

“Just tell us what you know,” prompted White. “It goes no further.”

James looked back out at the field, his elbows resting on the fence top. “His dad never got over his mom. Tyler said his dad would sneak over there just to watch her.”

“Is that right?” said White, shooting a glance at Decker.

“And he was seeing all these young girls, but Tyler said his dad really had no interest in them. Tyler thinks he was just trying to make his mom jealous. He’d get drunk at night and cry about the divorce. I think it took a lot out of Tyler. I mean, a lot. He’d have to sit with his dad and listen to that. He’s only seventeen; he’s not going to know how to handle stuff like that.”

Decker studied him. “It’s rough what he’s going through, for sure.”

“Kid shouldn’t have to be a parent, too,” chimed in White.

“You ever been over to Tyler’s condo?” Decker asked him.

“Sure, lots of times.” He grinned. “The girls his dad dates? I don’t mind hanging out with them.”

“His dad conducts his business from there.”

“Yeah, even before COVID, he did that. He has clients all over the place, and he can’t travel to see them all so he does it online. I listened to him practice what he would say to clients sometimes. Tyler said his dad would record it, play it back, and then, you know, improve on it. Get it just right before he did it for real. He told me that’s what separates the winners from the losers.” He looked out at the field. “Sort of what Tyler is doing right now. So maybe his dad was teaching him some good stuff, too. Practice makes perfect.”

“Right,” said Decker.

“Yeah. Well, see ya. I gotta go do my protein shakes.” James walked off.

Tyler glanced over and saw them watching, White impatiently and Decker with interest. But he kept running his routes for another half hour.

He finished up and jogged over to them, toweled off, and guzzled down a bottle of water.

Decker said, “You’ve already made improvements on the dominant leg issue. Your cuts are more balanced, sharper, and cleaner.”

Breathing hard, Tyler stared at them in anger. “You arrested my dad. That’s bullshit.”

“Evidence says otherwise.”

“Fuck evidence. My dad never left the condo.”

“It looks like at least his gun did,” observed White.

“I’m telling you, I heard him there pretty much all night.”

“Talk to me about the gun,” said Decker.

“He’s had it forever. I doubt he’s ever even fired it.”

“When was the last time you saw it?”

“It’s probably been years. He used to keep it locked in a box when I was a kid.”

“Your dad said no one had been over to the condo for a while.”

“Why does that matter?”

“It matters because if your dad didn’t use that gun to kill two people, then someone took it, used it, and then returned it. There were four rounds fired from it, Tyler. Those four bullets killed two people.”

“Do you think that’s what happened? Someone’s trying to frame him?”

“It’s possible. In fact, the way I see it, it’s the only way your dad gets out of this.”

Tyler looked down at the grass. “I can’t lose him.”

“I understand that,” said Decker.

“Can I see him?”

“That can be arranged.”

“What do I tell him?”

“That you love him. That you’ll always be there to support him.”

Tyler nodded, wiped his face off with the towel, and trudged from the field.

“That kid is right on the edge,” noted White.

“Hopefully we can bring him back.”

“Is that our job, Decker?”

He looked at her. “Maybe it should be.”

“You earlier gave Barry Davidson some good legal advice. I didn’t think that was our job, either. So why was that?”

“Everyone deserves a fair shake. And something about this whole thing is off. I mean, someone who kills someone else with a gun rarely offers up the murder weapon so freely to the cops. If he did kill with it, there’s a big body of water right around here he could have dumped it in.”

“So someone really might be framing him? Who?” asked White.

“Who stands to benefit if he goes down for this?”

“Tyler already gets his mother’s money, so he’s out. Maybe Langley framed Davidson.”

“Motive?” said Decker.

“Just to screw over Davidson. I think both men were still in love with Cummins.”

“If so, he would have had to kill Cummins, too.”

“Lots of men kill the women they supposedly love,” noted White.

“Let’s talk to Gloria Chase then, and see how much she loves Langley.”

“Apparently enough to marry him,” said White.