Page 45 of Sworn to Silence
I give the girl a pointed look. “Can you excuse us?”
“ ’Kay.” She grabs her Coke and leaves the room.
Closing the door behind her, I face Donny Beck.
He swallows hard. “I guess you want to talk to me about Amanda.”
I nod. “I’m Kate Burkholder, Chief of Police.”
“I know who you are. You gave my dad a speeding ticket once.” Rising, he leans over the table and extends his hand. “I’m Donny Beck. You already know that, though.”
I shake his hand. His grip is firm, but his palm is slick with sweat. He seems like a decent young man. A farm boy. Probably uses the money he earns here to fix up his muscle car and raise hell on Saturday night. “When’s the last time you saw Amanda?” I begin.
“The night we broke up. About six weeks ago.”
“How long had you two been seeing each other?”
“Seven months.”
“Was it serious?”
“I thought so.”
“Who broke up with whom?”
“She broke up with me.”
“Why’d she do that?”
“She was going back to college. She didn’t want to be tied down.” He grimaces. “She said she didn’t love me.”
“You get pissed off when she dumped you?”
“No. I mean, I was upset, but I didn’t get mad.”
“Really? Why not?”
He chokes out a sound of denial. “I’m not like that.”
“Did you love her?”
Emotion flashes in his eyes, and he looks down at his half-eaten breakfast sandwich. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
“Were you sleeping with her?”
To my surprise, his face reddens. He gives me a nod.
“She sleep around with anyone else?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Did you two fight?”
“No.” As if catching himself, his gaze snaps to mine. “I mean we did. Sometimes. But not often. She was pretty easygoing.” He shrugs. “I was crazy about her.”
“Did she have any enemies?”
He shakes his head. “Everyone liked Amanda. She was sweet. Fun to be with.”
