Gun Games - Faye Kellerman [112]
Decker nodded. “Your parents don’t know.”
“No, they do not know. My older sister died ten years ago in a car crash. I’m an only child.” He looked up at the ceiling. “It’s like all their hopes and dreams . . . have been put on my shoulders. It’s bad enough they won’t get anything like kids outta me. If I go to jail, my mother’s going to commit suicide. She’s not a stable woman.”
“You still haven’t answered why you hang with Dylan,” Oliver said.
Kyle looked down. “We had a thing going for a while in eleventh grade. He filmed it. We both thought it was funny, you know.” He hit his head. “God, I was an idiot!”
More silence. Kyle continued to gnash his teeth. Decker could hear the enamel against enamel—like fingers on a chalkboard.
The teen said, “When he threatened to expose me, I asked him what he wanted. He said guns.” He looked up. “My father’s a huge weapons collector. I gave him a gun—a single gun. I know it was stupid, but I didn’t want to be outted.”
Oliver nodded. “Obviously Dylan wasn’t afraid of being exposed.”
“I dunno,” Kyle said. “I never called his bluff. We both fuck girls, so . . . I dunno if he likes girls or if he swings both ways or if he just uses his cock as a weapon. Frankly, I wasn’t looking to analyze him. I was trying to protect myself. So I capitulated with the one gun and told him if he got greedy that I could make him just as miserable as he could make me.”
“How’s that?” Oliver asked.
“I’ve been part of the Maf— . . . his gang for a while. I know things.” Decker nodded encouragement. “So we had this . . . tacit understanding.” Furtive eyes. “Everyone just assumed we were close buds and that was okay. Dylan’s a BMOC. At B and W, he was a good person to be associated with.” Pleading eyes. “Are you going to help me?”
Oliver said, “So just like that, you and Dylan broke it off?”
Kyle whispered. “To the world, we kinda had a bromance thing going on, but it wasn’t sexual anymore.” An evasive glance. “After I gave him the gun, it was over.”
Decker’s brain suddenly started sparking. “Nah, I don’t believe you.”
Kyle became defensive. “I swear it’s true.”
Decker said, “When you and Dylan had your affair, he turned over a rock, Kyle. Once a guy is sexually active, it’s impossible to go back.”
“You’re wrong,” Kyle said. “It was over.”
“Over between Dylan and you, but not over with the sex. You found someone to take Dylan’s place.”
Kyle turned away and didn’t answer, the leg bouncing up and down. Decker mouthed Gregory Hesse to Oliver when the boy wasn’t looking.
Scott raised an eyebrow, regarding the Loo with admiration. He kept his voice even. “You know we’re pulling search warrants, Kyle. How long do you think it will take before we find Gregory Hesse’s stolen computer or his missing camcorder?”
The teen turned ashen. He threw back his head and moaned. “It was an accident.”
Oliver put his hand on Kyle’s knee. “Accidents happen. Tell us about it.”
“I don’t know, man.” Kyle had tears in his eyes. “We were like . . . stoned.”
“Tell us what you remember. We’re here to listen, not to judge.”
“He told us the gun was empty,” Kyle pleaded. “It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“Yeah, that’s a raw deal when accidents happen, man. We all know that.” Oliver leaned in closer. “Who told you the gun was empty?”
“Dylan!” The boy shouted out. “He was filming it on Greg’s camcorder.” Water poured from his eyes. “We were just fooling around. You’ve got to believe me.”
“I believe you, man,” Oliver said. “I totally believe you.”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen. When the gun went off, I was shocked . . . I was . . . petrified. It was horrible!”
“I’m sure it was,” Oliver said.
Kyle’s wet eyes went from Oliver to Decker. “Do you know what Dylan did when it happened?”
“What did he do?” Decker said.
“He laughed!” Kyle shook his head. “Brains and shit . . . all over the fucking place and Dylan . . .