Pescoli guessed that she was lying, that Lara had a few ideas. She pushed, but got nowhere.
“I suppose it could have been anyone,” Lara finally admitted when Pescoli pressed her on Destiny’s possible sexual partners. “Maybe one of the guys—they’re always interested—or maybe someone else.”
Pescoli had thought about that, but her social circle seemed to radiate from the same group of kids that Bianca knew, that Lara was a part of. She tried another tack, for now. “You said she broke up with Donny. Thought it was the other way around.”
“Oh, no. She kicked him to the curb. And I don’t blame her. He was screwin’ around with some girl from college and she found out. Really pissed her off that he thought he could be with that girl in Missoula, then come back here and expect Destiny to . . .”
“Have sex with him?”
“Uh-huh. It just doesn’t work out that way, y’know?”
“What about her seeing someone else? How would Donny feel about that?”
“Bad. Really bad. He freaked out when she talked to any guy, if he wasn’t around. Real controlling, y’know. We were at a party once, and she was in a different part of the house from where the keg was, where Donny was hanging out, and she was just like talking to this guy, and Donny went crazy, started swearing at the guy, then punched him in the face.”
“Who was the guy?”
“Bryant Tophman, I think. He was at the party with Austin, but for some reason he was alone with Destiny and Donny saw them and went off, mad as hell. He punched Bryant in the nose, then tackled him, had to be pulled off him. There was blood everywhere. Bryant’s nose gushed and gushed. Anyway, I think Kywin Bell actually broke up the fight—he was always kind of Destiny’s protector because Donny has a temper. Especially when he drinks. A sweet guy who gets kind of mean when he’s had too much.”
It was on the tip of Pescoli’s tongue to remind her that the whole group had acted as if they barely knew Destiny, when they’d been asked. She decided bringing it up would be counterproductive, and said instead, “So Donny was drinking that night.”
“We all were. Everyone was pretty wasted, y’know.”
“Where did this happen? And when?”
“I dunno . . . oh, wait. Spring break, cuz Donny was back from college. So the end of March. We were all at Reece’s cabin, but after the fight, Austin made everyone leave. He was really pissed, I mean like really pissed. He kept screaming about the blood and beer all over his parents’ carpet. One of the guys actually had peed in the corner of the room, then the fight and Austin went ballistic, said he was going to sue everyone who was there, but he couldn’t, could he? Without getting into major trouble.”
“And Bryant didn’t press charges?”
She was shaking her head. “It wasn’t all that big of a deal.”
Maybe. Maybe not.
“I think he was hoping his dad wouldn’t find out. Reverend Tophman doesn’t like it when Bryant gets into trouble. Bryant wanted to keep it all quiet. And he and Donny helped pay to clean up the mess. If Austin’s parents ever found out, I never heard about it.”
“So who did Destiny leave with?”
“That night?” She thought. Worked the gum. “I dunno . . . oh, wait. I think she got a ride with Alex and Teej. They said they’d drop her off.”
“And did they?”
She paused. Thinking. No longer chewing. “I . . . I guess.” She lifted her shoulders.
“Wouldn’t Donny have been upset about her leaving with some other guys?”
“Yeah, but it was just Alex and Teej, y’know. Buddies of his.” She chewed again. “I, you know . . . I don’t know . . . I was a little wasted myself,” she said with a sheepish smile.
Pescoli changed the course of the conversation. “Donny claims he was the one who broke up with Destiny.”
She rolled her eyes, then looked more thoughtful. “Okay, I wasn’t there, but I don’t think so. She was the one who started it.”
“What do you mean?”
She worked the gum to one side of her mouth. “I heard that she texted him first, to tell him it was over. Then they met up later in the day. She coulda texted him to break up, but then they maybe hooked up later to talk. Not a hook-up, hook-up. Just talk.”
“No sex.”
“Yeah.” She chewed harder. “Maybe when they got together, they got in a big fight or something, and then he tells her he ’s breaking up with her. A pride thing, y’know.” She blinked. “Does it matter?”