Blaze (Steel Brothers Saga 21)

I shrug. “Who knows? She was fourteen or fifteen. Tall like all the Steels. We didn’t know her well. Did you see how much she drank, Rory?”

Rory shakes her head. “I wasn’t paying any attention to anyone but myself that night.”

“Here’s the thing,” Jesse says. “No one else got alcohol poisoning, and I’m willing to bet others drank as much or more than Diana.”

“Maybe,” I say. “But stuff affects people differently.”

“True.” He nods. “But what if Diana was specifically poisoned?”

I widen my eyes. “Why would anyone want to poison Diana?”

“Envy, pure and simple,” Jesse says. “And I know that emotion better than anyone.”

“Because of Donny.” I stare at my empty beer bottle. Good thing Jesse brought me two.

“That’s right. Envy is a powerful emotion. I’m still not over the rivalry between Donny and me. Sure, I’m a grown-up. It doesn’t rule my life. But even now, when I see him, I still feel it. It’s not pretty.”

“Jess,” I say, “Donny and I are serious. We’re in love.”

“I know, sis, and I’m happy for you. I’ll deal.”

“But you’re saying someone may have singled Diana out.” Rory rubs Dusty behind her ears.

“I’m saying it’s a possibility. If she didn’t drink any more than anyone else did, it’s certainly a possibility, especially considering she’s a Steel. The Steels are the envy of everyone in this town.”

My brother’s not wrong. How many times have we heard something similar? The Steels are golden. The Steels have everything.

The Steels own this town.

The Steels…

“So when I overheard Pat talking to Jimmy outside the algebra room”—I’m thinking out loud—“he didn’t say specifically that he spiked all the punch with angel dust. He asked Pat why he let her, meaning Diana, drink the stuff. Pat said he thought it was just alcohol, but Jimmy called him out and Pat admitted that some dude told him it was angel dust. But they didn’t say anything about spiking all the punch with angel dust. Maybe they just spiked Diana’s drink.”

“Oh my God,” Rory says. “Then, when I got him to confess, all he said was that he spiked the punch. He didn’t say he spiked it with angel dust.”

“Maybe he spiked the punch with Everclear,” I continue. “I mean, someone always did, but this was some seriously strong hairy buffalo, according to you and to Carmen. But did you feel drugged? High?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never used drugs, but I just felt drunk and giddy. It was a release for me. A release from everything piling up on me.”

“Any hallucinations?” Jesse asks.

“God, no!”

“Does angel dust cause hallucinations?” I ask.

“Yeah, visual and auditory.”

“And you know this…how?”

“Dragon got some for us a few years ago. Trust me, I’ll never touch that shit again.”

I swat my brother on his arm. “That’s for doing drugs. But damn, Jesse, I think we just solved an integral part of this mystery.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

DONNY

I considered booking a suite at the Carlton for the next few days but ultimately decided against it. With Darla gone, Mom and Dad may need me as Dad continues to recuperate. Mom, of course, wouldn’t be thrilled with me taking a few days off work, especially since I’m now the official city attorney…which is why I didn’t tell her.