Chapter 45: A Fight

Jake unclenched his jaw. “No. I swear.”

“Yes and I’m not going to stand for it.” Brad took another swing.

Jake’s head snapped back. He put up his arms to deflect the next blow. Taking hold of Brad’s arm, he swung him around and put him in a chokehold. “I didn’t do it, Brad. What would my motive be?”

Brad struggled, but couldn’t move. “I can’t figure that out except that you hate me. That’s why you set my go cart on fire when we were kids. That’s why you tried to burn the barn down years ago.”

Startled, Jake let go. Brad shook as if he wanted to rid himself of the memory of his ex-best friend’s touch. He rubbed his throat.

“I don’t hate you.” Jake looked at Brad puzzled. “I never set fire to your go-cart. I wasn’t even around when that happened.”

“Oh, sure. Tim told me the whole story.”

Disgusted, Jake grimaced. “And you believed Tim over me. Thanks a lot.”

Without a word, Brad backed away, climbed into his truck and drove out of the parking lot.