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“I know you, Callie. And I love you. So I’m hoping you have a damned good reason why you didn’t come forward with this evidence.”
“I have what I thought was a good reason at the time. What Rory and I both thought was a good reason at the time. In retrospect, I can’t say I would have made a different decision. I was a high school kid, Donny.”
“I know that. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt. But Callie, you have to tell me why you didn’t go public with that information.”
“First I have to tell you what I did to get the information that’s on that thumb drive.”
“Did you break any laws?”
She shakes her head vehemently. “We did not. Rory and I were very careful about that.”
“So Rory was in on it with you, along with Jordan, Carmen, and the others.”
“Yes.” She clears her throat.
“Fuck.” I thread my fingers through my already screwed-up hair.
“We had to get him to admit what he did. So we got him into a compromising situation with Rory, and she got him to admit it.”
“Then she did—”
“Oh my God, no! He was lying, Donny. She never slept with him.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. Rory never would have done that. Besides, I witnessed the whole thing.”
My jaw drops. “You watched them?”
“No, no no no. I was listening. We recorded him.”
“So Rory seduced the information out of him?”
“Yes. It was the only way. But she didn’t do anything.”
“Not anything?”
Callie’s eyes narrow. “Just kissing and a little over the blouse action. She let him touch her boobs.”
A sick feeling of dread wells inside me. Rory Pike. The homecoming queen. “Why didn’t you just come to me? With the hearsay? We would have gotten him to admit it.”
“Donny, we didn’t even know you guys. You were the Steels. Untouchable. There was no way we were going to just come to you with this.”
I bite my lower lip. The rumors. The rumors that the Steels owned the town. Then of course there was Jesse’s and my rivalry. His assertion that he was passed over for MVP because we funded the football team. There was no love lost between the Pikes and the Steels during those years.
Of course Callie wasn’t going to come to us for help. She and Rory were going to get the evidence they needed by themselves and then collect the reward money.
I can’t resent her for that. In her mind, it made perfect sense, and I understand the logic that was driving her.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“What for?”
“I’m sorry you didn’t feel you could come to any of us. I’m sorry…”
“Donny…”
“You’ve seen the evidence. You’ve seen what the property titles show. Apparently the Steels do own this town. Of course you couldn’t come to us. Of course you had to be sure.”
