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"I needed to talk to you," Wilder answers, his voice steady. "You haven't answered my phone calls. I guess you've been... busy."
Cash's eyes dart to me for a split second. "This isn't what you think, Wild. We're, uh, can you... it's not what it looks like."
Grateful Cash is trying to tell the truth, I reach over and turn the monitor back on. The files are still saving to the flash drive.
"Come here," Cash says as he motions to the computer screen.
"I thought you were Fanny," I whisper to Wilder. "I wouldn't have—"
"Don't worry about it, Blondie."
Blondie. We're back to that. Good to know.
"I just need to finish saving these files," Cash tells Wilder, "then we can head over to the police department."
Wilder scrunches his face. "Why?"
"I'll explain in the car," Cash answers before looking at me. "Ingrid, can you keep watch?"
I nod and scurry around Wilder, happy to put distance between me and the boys. The hall remains empty as Cash keeps the conversation going.
"How did you know we were in here?" he asks Wilder.
"Your mom said you were up here," Wilder answers. "When you weren't in your room, I started looking around."
"Oh," I hear Cash inhale sharply.
"Why?"
"Just wondering if my mom planned this whole thing."
"What thing?"
"The you-seeing-me-with-Ingrid thing," Cash replies.
"She didn't mention Blondie when she answered the door," Wilder explains.
No one speaks after that, but I can feel the tension oozing from every corner of the room. Tension so thick that I feel like I'm suffocating.
"It's done," Cash finally speaks after an excruciatingly long five minutes. "Let's go."
The hallway is still clear when we leave the office behind, turning off the light and shutting the door quietly behind us. Cash and Wilder walk ahead of me, and I feel like the third wheel.
Sometimes, I wonder if that's all I ever was. The third wheel in Cash and Wilder's friendship.
As we're descending the stairs, Fanny's livid face halts us in our tracks. "Where have you been?"
Cash peers over his shoulder at me. "Ingrid isn't feeling well. We're going to take her home."
"Wilder can take her," Fanny flashes her eyebrows up at her son. Even though she's a whole foot shorter, she seems to stand taller than Cash. "If you want to stay in this house, we will be a united front. And you will march in there and enjoy dinner with all our guests."
The back of Cash's neck visibly tenses. He fishes his truck keys out of his pocket before handing them over to Wilder. "Drop her off then come back? We still need to have that talk."
Wilder nods before grabbing my elbow and leading me to the front door. I can feel Fanny's searing gaze on my back as we step over the threshold.
The warm August night is a nice change from the Allred mansion chill.
I open the passenger door to Cash's truck when we reach it and climb inside. I watch out of the corner of my eye as Wilder runs a hand over his face before he gets in.
