Down Home and Deadly

stared out the window at the lake. “Just realizing how quickly things can change.”
    I frowned but concentrated on pulling onto the highway. Was Travis about to come barreling back into our lives? I wanted to ask. But I’d promised myself I’d wait until she got ready to tell me. And I would.
    *****
    The parking area behind the newspaper office was empty when Carly and I pulled in.
    “I’m glad no one is here. I’d rather not have to explain what we’re looking for to anyone.” I unlocked the door. “Even Tiffany.”
    I flipped the light switch on in the archive room , and Carly gasped. “Just find the paper with the article in it? I think this may be harder than I thought.”
    I explained that they were in order by date and that Marge had given me the month and year. So after narrowing our search to that one small area , we began to read.
    After about fifteen minutes, I slapped the table. “Pay dirt!” I read the headline aloud to Carly. “L ocal T een K illed in D rag R acing A ccident .”
    “Drag racing? No one mentioned that , did they?”
    I shook my head and continued reading. “ ‘ Fifteen-year old Sara Coleman , daughter of Harvey and Alice Coleman , was the victim of a fatal automobile accident. Coleman was a passenger in the car driven by Jimmy Finley, age seventeen, of Lake View . Witnesses said Finley lost control of the car when it hit a bump in the road while traveling at a high rate of speed. It then went airborne and flipped several times before landing in a ditch. Finley reported only minor injuries. Police have not yet determined whether alcohol or drugs were involved. The accident occurred off County Road 44. ’ ”
    “Wow,” Carly said. “I’d envisioned something like a hit - and - run or maybe he was drunk and hit her car.”
    I laid the newspaper to the side. “So she chose to be there.” I mulled that over for a few minutes.
    “That probably makes it worse for her parents , ” Carly pointed out. “If she were a totally innocent victim , it may have been easier on them.”
    “I wonder if he was her boyfriend.” I set the newspaper in its place. “Or if she did it on a dare . ”
    “Maybe she just loved to go fast,” Carly said.
    We found another article dated two weeks later. The headline read, Local Teen Pleads Guilty in Fatal Accident . I read the article aloud. “ ‘ Jimmy Dean Finley pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in Lake View District Court on Thursday. According to police, Finley and passenger, Sara Coleman , were involved in a high - speed drag race , when Finley lost control of his car , which went airborne. Miss Coleman was thrown from the car and killed instantly. Alcohol was a factor. ’ ”
    “Do you think there are any other articles about this?” I glanced at Carly.
    “We’re almost finished with the month. Let’s go on and look through the rest of these.”
    A few minutes later, Carly said, “Oh, here’s one!” She started reading. “ Parents of Dead Teen Sue Property Owners Where Accident Occurred . Harvey and Alice Coleman filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bob and Wilma Pryor after the death of their daughter , Sara Coleman . ’ ”
    She stopped. “Bob and Wilma? What in the world?”
    “Keep reading,” I urged.
    “The lawsuit alleges that the Pryors knowingly provided alcohol to minors while on their property.”
    I gasped. “I don’t believe it.”
    She glanced back at the article. “Believe it. Listen to this : ‘According to unnamed sources, there have been numerous complaints from other parents about underage drinking and drag racing on the Pryors’ property.’ ”
    We looked at each other. “There has to be more. At least the trials of J.D. and of Bob and Wilma,” Carly said.
    I nodded. “And I have to see how they came out.”
    We began looking through the newspapers for the next month. But it wasn’t until December that we scored.
    “ ‘ J.D. Finley has been sentenced to a year in Juvenile Detention, ’ ” Carly read aloud.
    A minute later, I found the rest of the story. “ ‘ Local residents Harvey and Alice Coleman have dropped their wrongful death suit against Bob and Wilma Pryor. ’ ”
    “Hank kept those last two uncharacteristically short, didn’t he?” Carly said.
    I nodded. “Marge said she begged him not to print anything at all. I suppose he just put what he felt his journalistic ethics required.”
    “So that’s why Bob gave up the hippie life . . . . ” Carly carefully put