“Don’t think about that right now, Cass.”
“Why are you doing this for me? We haven’t known each other for very long. For all you know, I could be a terrible person.”
Leela snorts. “As if that’s remotely possible. I’m doing this because I like you and want to keep you around.”
“You might not want to have me around if my family tarnishes the reputation of this sorority you created.”
“I don’t know if you noticed, but I don’t care what anybody thinks of the people I associate with. So far, that’s worked out pretty well for me.”
Leela and I finish our meal as we move on to talk about other things less heavy, like term papers andUnsolved Mysteries. I have no idea if anything will work out in the end for my family.
But I know she’s right about one thing: Leela doesn’t give a single flying fig about anyone’s opinion of her or with whom she’s in a relationship.
And a part of me knows I should do likewise. My heart doesn’t want to keep everyone happy except for myself and Titus.
I wish I could get that message across to my head, which cares too much about everyone’s reactions to everything.
TEN
Titus
I don’t knowwhere killers hide dead bodies, but I know one thing. I wouldn’t be digging a grave in the red clay of North Carolina.
This soil is a pain in the ass.
Hiding the trunk full of cash — or tennis balls now partially-full of cash — has to be done somehow. And somehow, I chose a shovel, the backwoods, and my brute strength because I’m a dumbass.
My body is aching and dripping sweat, digging in the dirt under cover of night. For this sort of caper, I would typically need help from Herc. But neither Herc nor Cass can know about this. I’m relocating the cash for their own good. If anyone investigating the case against Dex comes snooping around or asking questions, it’s better if the twins don’t know where it is. Plausible deniability. If it gets traced back to me? Fine. Better that I go to jail than my friends.
If they ever need the rest of the money, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
And if they get upset that I moved it, they should know better than to share a storage locker with an unpredictable ape like me.
I finally finish the work of digging and take a quick break to sit down on the trunk. Just long enough to catch my breath.
I should have done this earlier, and now I’m in a hurry to get this money hidden. I’m supposed to take Cass to visit the penitentiary tomorrow.
Cass and Herc can’t tell a lie without their faces turning tomato red. Me, I’m a little too good at pretending.
* * *
Turns out,I’m so good at pretending that Cass and I are just friends that Mr. Treadway doesn’t pick up on our relationship during our short visit to jail.
And thank god he doesn’t. There’s no touching allowed between inmates and visitors at the jail, but I’m pretty confident the man is strong enough to bust through the plexiglass, which he might do if he thought I had designs on his little girl.
The man is tense under Cass’s wide-eyed gaze.
The visit had started with a tearful hello.
“Daddy! Are you okay? You’ve lost weight! Too much weight. Are you eating? What are they feeding you? Are you sleeping?”
She isn’t wrong. My best friends’ father looks about fifteen pounds thinner than the last time I saw him, and his color has turned a yellowish gray, with dark circles under his eyes.
Despite his appearance, he maintains that winning smile and trustworthy, fatherly presence. “I’m fine, sweetheart. I’m fine. Don’t worry. There’s not much to tell about me. How’s school? I want to hear everything.”
Cass tells him about her studies, her friends, Beta Beta Psi, all of it. Almost.
“Any boyfriends I need to know about? Give me their numbers because I’ll use up all my allowed phone calls next week to question every single one of them.”