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“I’m not trying to tell you what to do, I just—”
“Don’t. I’ve put Denise in a drawer with all the other shitty life experiences I’ve had, and I’ve closed it. I’m done. I know your concern comes from a good place, but leave it alone, all right?”
She nods as I take the exit to fill the tank up, again. I’m sweating, regretting what I told her as we come to a stop. Sarah says, “So, topic change, if that’s all right with you.”
“Please.”
Anything to take my mind off Denise and the fact that I’m about to drop yet another fifty or so on gas right now.
“I’m thinking maybe we go home and I’ll save the big reunion for another day.”
I check my phone. “Really? We only have twenty or thirty minutes to go.”
“I have a feeling Sienna was on the horn the second we rounded the corner. I’m picturing some weepy woman standing on her front porch waiting for us. I just can’t do it.”
I hand her my phone. “Plug in your address. You’re the captain of this adventure. I’m just driving.” When she cocks her head and raises an eyebrow, I say, “I’m serious. You want to go home, we go home.”
“That option doesn’t sound very enticing either.”
“Let me go inside and pay the guy. You mull it over for a second. And um…”
“What?”
“I’m not looking to please your parents whatsoever, but do you think maybe you should check in again? You know, proof of life so they don’t think you’ve been abducted?”
She nods. “Here, take your phone. Maybe you should check in with your family, too.”
I should definitely let Uncle Dan know I’m alive and well. I’m at the point where I only pop in and out of my mother’s house when I need to. I don’t live with her and Jeff anymore, and I never will again.
Chapter Twenty-Six
LIAM
I’m feeling chipper as I make my way outside balancing a coffee, a water, and two hot dogs that came right off the gas station’s grill. I smile when she takes the coffee from me but looks at the hot dogs as if they’re vile things.
More for me.
I pull over next to the air pump and unwrap my feast. “There’s a third option,” I say around a mouthful.
“What’s that?”
“We could check out Pittsburgh like two tourists. Tool around for the entire day and then do a stealth drive-by later on tonight.”
“What’s that grin for?” Cautiously, she asks, “Did you just hear what I heard?”
“That the club will be compensating me for lost wages?”
“With some extra to smooth over the false accusation part, too. Pretty sweet, huh?”
“I’m taking the money from those assholes, but there is no smoothing over happening here. They can cut me a check for five grand, but let’s face it, they’re not sorry, and that amount of money means nothing to them. It’s probably the annual dues for one pompous jackass’s membership.”
“My dad said it’s being upped to ten grand. I’m not trying to get you to like him or anything, but he told the board you already had an attorney, and that the guilty party had been identified and you were ready to name them to the police. Andtengrand,” she pauses to take a healthy gulp of her coffee, “is more along the lines of what we pay in annual membership dues.”
“Ten grand for one year?”
“Yes,” she answers, looking embarrassed. “And that doesn’t even count towards the stable fees.”
“Ten grand will more than cover my tuition at OCC for the year.”
