“Too busy how?” Lyons rested his hands on his hips and lifted his chin as if assessing him.
“Working.” Colt met his gaze. “I held down two jobs but since I’ve gotten a scholarship I have more free time.”
“When you two have finished passing the time of day, I want to try a few plays with him and see if he fits.” Coach stared at him. “How fast can you learn plays?” He handed him a playbook.
Colt grinned. “Pretty fast.”
“Good. We’ll go with the first two in the book.” Coach walked away and left him with Lyons.
“They’re pretty simple.” Lyons went through the moves. “Got it?”
Colt nodded. “Yeah.”
After spending a great deal of time setting and resetting the plays, Colt had his head firmly back in the game. It had been as easy as riding a bike and he figured age had given him more strength and speed. When Coach called practice to a halt and sent the players to the showers, he figured even without Wolfe’s intervention, he would’ve made the team.
“Webber, and you too, Lyons.” Coach waved them over and stared at Webber as if assessing him. “Okay, I’m giving you a shot, but you’ll need to learn the plays.”
“Alex’s playbook is in my room. I’ll give it to him. It will save time and it’s not like Alex is going to need it any longer.” Lyons glanced at him. “We’ll need to study this together. I don’t like mistakes during a game.”
“I want him up to speed by the weekend.” Coach walked away without a backward glance.
“Where are you staying?” Lyons narrowed his gaze. “On campus?”
“Nah, I’ve got a room at my aunt’s house in town.” Colt fell back on the cover story Kane had created.
“Your aunt’s house?” Lyons cringed. “Are you a monk or something?”
Colt chuckled. He needed to convince Lyons he was as sleazy as he was. “Nah, the opposite, but my scholarship doesn’t cover accommodation. Not that I take girls home; having any visitors causes her a problem.” He winked. “It doesn’t slow me down though. I’ve got a nice ride and Black Rock Falls has old abandoned ranches all over so I don’t go hungry.”
“I figure we’re gonna get along just fine.” Lyons slapped him on the back. “We, ah, me and some of the guys live in our own house. It’s a big old ranch house out on Pine at the first bend. Living in the dorms was way too restrictive and the dean kept sticking his nose in our business.”
Colt indicated with his chin toward the college. “I figure the dean believes he’s a prison warden the way he keeps tabs on everyone’s movements with those damn swipe cards. There are far too many rules. We’re adults not kids.”
“I’m liking you more by the minute.” Lyons chuckled. “Exactly. And as far as I’m concerned football has the only rules I intend to live by.”
“That’s me, hard and fast.” Colt grinned. “And never drop the ball.”
“We’re having a wake to send off Alex on Thursday night, why don’t you come along?” A serious expression crossed Lyons’ face. “You’ll have heard about Alex Jacobs’ accident? We want to say goodbye in our own way.”
As Pete Devon’s death would be all over campus by the time they arrived at class, Colt wondered how it would affect Lyons. He plastered a grim expression on his face and nodded. “Sure, I’ll be there.”
“I’ll supply the entertainment and beer.” Lyons gave him a long, considering stare and then seemed to make up his mind. “Why don’t you drop by tonight? I’ll give you the book and we’ll go over the plays.”
Not believing his luck, Colt nodded. “Sure.”
“Around nine would be good.” Lyons turned to go. “I’m hitting the showers.”
Colt stood for a few seconds watching Lyons strut toward the tunnel. Stage one had gone better than expected but he needed to be living in the house and that would take some doing. What will I need to do to gain his trust?
Twenty-Four
He strolled from the football field, puzzled by the morning’s events. He’d seen Webber around the college and hadn’t realized he’d played football. He must have used som
eone’s influence to get himself on the football team so fast. Who is this guy? He opened his laptop and in seconds had hacked the college’s student database. After scanning the files, he found Webber’s details. The man was on a scholarship and interned at the ME’s office. Webber had already completed his first year’s internship at the ME’s office and wasn’t one of the usual brain-dead jocks. A guy like Webber would ask questions, and from his direct stare and confident walk, he was nobody’s fool. Yet if he was a player when it came to girls, a player would be useful.
He allowed ideas to percolate through his mind and then snapped his fingers. Of course, Webber would have access to a variety of drugs. Who better than someone working in the ME’s office? Surely, samples of different drugs would be available for testing. In any case, everyone in town was aware Shane Wolfe had been a medic in the military before taking over as ME. As a deputy, he’d often been at the scene of an accident, patching people up before the paramedics arrived. Oh yeah, working alongside him, Webber would have access to drugs.
He figured Webber would make the team. It didn’t take a fool to see how enthusiastic Coach had been toward him, and he wasn’t nice to anyone. Webber was an unknown quantity and he’d have to tread easy, but over the last couple of days things had worked out just fine. He’d taken out two of the team without breaking a sweat. In truth, when it came to dying, they’d became weak momma’s boys.