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Kennedy and Clair both fold their arms across their chests and glare at him.
“Go, you guys,” I tell them. “Clair, you have my sister’s number. Do me a favor. Call her, just in case. I mean, it’s obviously a ridiculous mix-up, but just call her anyway.”
“I will call her immediately,” Clair promises. “Don’t bend over in the showers. When we visit you in the big house, we’ll bring you a cake with a file in it. Stay strong. Down with the fuzz.”
“Dear God. My mother wanted me to be an accountant.” Detective Ahearn groans and scrubs his face with his hand.
Reluctantly, they both stand up and stroll out, followed by the two police officers.
I see Clair talking on her cell phone, and I wonder if it was a mistake to get my sister involved. Rowan will freak, she’ll tell Mason, and Mason will have a swarm of attorneys descending on these cops so fast it will make their heads spin. I probably won’t even be here by the time the lawyers get here, because they’re going to realize that this was all a ridiculous mistake.
“I am very gracious about accepting apologies,” I tell the detective. “The sooner you show me whatever video you are talking about, the sooner we can all move on with our lives. Your mother sounds like a smart woman, by the way. I bet being an accountant is a lot less stressful.”
Detective Ahearn turns his laptop around and shoves it towards me, and I lean in to look.
A group of people are standing there in front of Professor Nass’s garage... entering a code into a security pad. And the professor’s security camera has captured every detail.
My heart sinks.
Eff.
My.
Life.
Nick is the one entering the code. His buddies Kirk, Blaine, and Teddy are with him, and so is a skinny blonde girl wearing jeans and heels. We can only see her from behind, though.
They enter the garage.
This is partly my fault. Nick must have gotten the code from my planner.
“Apparently, you are very angry at Professor Nass because he only gave you an A-minus and you felt you deserved an A-plus.”
“Well, of course I deserved an A-plus. I’ve never gotten anything less,” I say, and then realize I’m not helping my case any.
“The professor let you come to his house once, to study, and he gave you the garage code. He regrets this now, because he feels that you read more into this than he intended.” I bite back a curse word, but the detective sees the look on my face.
“Yesterday evening, while he was out, you vandalized his apartment,” Detective Ahearn says. “You broke in, you knocked over some plants, and you spray-painted obscenities on the wall. And you misspelled them.”
Well, then obviously it wasn’t me. I know how to spell a four-letter word, thank you very much. However, I don’t think that’s going to be a very compelling argument.
I shoot him a look of contempt. “I most certainly did not. Why don’t you show me the video that shows the blonde girl’s face? Because you don’t have one,” I say triumphantly.
He frowns at me. “It’s obviously you.”
“It’s actually obviously not me, since I didn’t do it. I did not go anywhere near that apartment.”
“How did Nick Ruckman get the code then?” he challenges me.
Fair question. “Ask Nick.” My stomach is churning.
Damn it. I’m supposed to meet Summer this afternoon and take her to the zoo. Things have been going really well. I’ve only had to make her return two wallets and three shoplifted jewelry items.
If I get arrested, I will have to miss this afternoon’s meeting, and it is so important to Summer that people keep their promises to her. She’s been let down so much already.
Then it hits me. If I’m arrested, I won’t be able to participate in the program at all. And I doubt they’d let me talk to Summer and explain.
Summer will think I’ve dumped her. Oh my God.
