“Well, here’s the thing. You’re about to care.”
Khaz explains everything to me, including what Crypto means by the “what’s coming to you” comment.
And when I learn what’s coming to me, I don’t want anything to do with it.
“Think about it, kid. You have access to all that power. All that money. If you walk away and do nothing, everything continues to devolve into chaos, and sooner or later, things are gonna get so sloppy that the feds will finally make something stick. And then, it all goes away. If you leave Crypto in charge? Same thing. Half of Whitman’s people are terrified of him, and the other half don’t respect him. So, what do you want to do, kiddo?”
The two of us are silent for many miles while I think.
It’s not until I notice the car heading down the Blue Ridge Parkway that I speak again. “Where are we going?”
“We’re going to a cabin. One of my safe houses in the woods.”
“Oh no, you don’t. You turn this car around and take me straight back to Beta Beta Psi.”
He laughs. “No.”
All the men in my life are ridiculous. “I’m not going to a safe house, Khaz. Ozzie is going to be out of his mind.”
“You text him right now, then turn off your location services.”
I swivel in my seat to face him again, even though he’s currently focused on navigating the mountain roads. “Excuse me. Do you think I forgot everything you taught me? I never turn on location services in the first place.”
“Good girl.”
“So why aren’t we turning around yet?”
“Sweet Pea, you gotta trust me.”
“Khaz. I do trust you. But you also gotta trust me now. A few days ago, yes. I would have picked up and left. But I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to run anymore. I’m tired of lying to people about who I am. I’m in a relationship with a good man. I have friends. I have decent people looking out for me. Besides that, I am an adult who is capable of making adult decisions. I’m not going to hide from everybody and everything that’s trying to kill me or bring me back to Jersey. So you may as well take me back to school right now. And if you want to stay with me, then you, Ozzie, and the rest of the sorority can duke it out over who gets to stand in my doorway and look the meanest.”
Khaz scoffs.
“If I tell you I made a decision, will you help me clean up this mess before I have to deal with Crypto?”
“You know I will.”
“And then, will you take me back to school?”
Khaz shoots me a hairy eyeball, then grunts angrily and mutters to himself as if he’s debating.
“Fine.” He brakes at a roadside overlook and pulls the car into the small dirt lot. “Here’s as good a place as any to carry out your next diabolical plan.”