Free Hawk Moon by Rob MacGregor

need all the help you can get."
    "There's something you don't know, Will," Marion said. She spoke calmly, in an even voice, but Will could tell she was tense and nervous.
    Just then the front door opened and Will's grandfather walked into the house. Will knew he'd just come back from the Ute City Banque where he'd probably had a drink or two with his friends. When his gaze settled on Lansa , he frowned, then a smile spread across his face. "Well, look at this. Pete Lansa . Good to see you. How come nobody told me about this?"
    "Well, I wasn't sure Pete could make it, Dad," Marion said, sounding somewhat uncomfortable. "Why don't we all go sit down at the dining room table."
    Talking in the dining room meant that whatever needed to be said was important. After they were seated, Will's mother got right to the point. "This morning at about nine o'clock I got a call from Sheriff Kirkpatrick. He told me that your urine sample tested positive for the drug that was on the knife."
    Will leaped to his feet. "But that's impossible. I've never taken it."
    "Will, please, sit down," Marion said firmly.
    "It could be a mistake," Lansa said. "You may not have been the only one tested. The samples could've gotten mixed up."
    No one said anything for a moment.
    "I want to take you to a lab where we can get a second test," Lansa said. "If it turns out negative, we'll have something to counter their evidence with."
    "I don't like any of this," Will said. "I wish it would all just go away."
    "If they're so damned sure it's Will, then why haven't they arrested him?" Connors asked.
    "That's a good point," Lansa said. "They're being cautious. They want more evidence and a body."
    "There's something that stinks about this whole thing," Connors muttered.
    "What puzzles me is why they haven't taken you in for more questioning," Lansa said.
    "I was questioned again—by Detective Olsen after school. Over at the Wharton Resort."
    "What were you doing there?" Marion asked.
    Will explained what had happened.
    "That was a mistake, Will," Lansa said before Will's mother could say anything. "You just made Olsen more suspicious. You should have told her about Wharton and let her talk to him."
    "Why didn't you tell me about it?" Connors asked. "You said you stayed late at school."
    "I didn't want you worrying or getting mad, Grandpa."
    "Well, I'm a little mad right now, boy. I believe that you're a good kid, that you're innocent, but you can't go around doing stuff behind our backs."
    "I thought you trusted me." Will's voice sounded shrill.
    "Your grandfather is right, Will," Marion said. "You're only going to get yourself in more trouble by pulling stunts like that."
    Lansa raised both hands and patted the air. "Let's go over everything, starting with your last evening with Myra."
    For the next half hour Will told his father all that he could recall. He even mentioned the misunderstanding he had with Coach Boorman about the last play of the game and Aaron Thomas's role in it. Lansa listened closely and asked a few questions.
    After Will described the search at Ashcroft, Lansa stopped him. "It's strange that your cap and knife were found there, but no body."
    "That's a large area," Tom Burke said, speaking up for the first time.
    "But you'd think a body would be easier to find than a knife."
    "Do you think she might still be alive, Pete?" Connors asked hopefully.
    "I don't know. It just seems that if a person is concerned about hiding his involvement in a crime, he doesn't toss his knife into a field that is sure to be searched or let his hat blow away. That is, unless it was someone else's hat and knife and he intentionally left them behind to be discovered."
    "But why would the body be hidden?" Marion asked.
    "Fear, guilt. Or maybe the killer was concerned that the body might provide leads that would point to him."
    "What kind of leads?" Marion asked.
    "The killer's hair or his blood," Lansa responded. "So where do you think it would be hidden, if not at