There was…
There was more than a thousand here.
Quite a lot more than a thousand.
I stared at the money, wondering just who the hell had slipped it to me. Surely it wasn’t Archer, and no way it could’ve been Vaughn, not with how I basically confessed that I wanted his family investigated.
The truth was I probably shouldn’t use it. Whoever had put it in my locker somehow knew I’d needed the cash, and I bet it didn’t come free. Whoever it was would demand a price when I least expected it, so really I should…what? Turn the money in? Then I wouldn’t be able to hire Jacob Hall, nor would I be able to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my mom and I were safe here.
Or if we weren’t, because the more strange shit happened around here, the more I wondered if safety was nothing but a luxury in Midpark.
How would I even convince my mom to leave Midpark if it turned out we weren’t safe under this roof? I had no idea, but that would be a problem for future Jaz, not current life Jaz. Right now, I needed to send an email to Jacob and tell him that I would see him tomorrow.
Once that was done, I counted out ten of the hundred dollar bills, stuffing the rest under my mattress. I’d have to move it eventually; didn’t want Mom finding it when she washed the sheets. For now, it’d work just fine.
I showered and then tried to sleep. Sleep took a while to come, but once it did, I was out like a light, and the next thing I knew, my alarm was going off, its sound grating on my ears. I had to roll over to turn it off, and once I did, I buried my face in my pillow.
Somehow, I knew today was going to be a long day.
Mom made pancakes for breakfast while simultaneously making Ollie his morning coffee. Ollie actually made his presence known in the morning, and I was finishing up my last bite of pancake as I said, “I’ve been meaning to ask, how was your fundraiser last weekend?”
Both Ollie and my mom paused to look at me, though they wore different looks. My mom looked annoyed, while Ollie just looked shocked. While it was true I didn’t like talking in the mornings, it was also true that Ollie was into something shady. Shady shit tended to get people in trouble, and I didn’t want my mom caught up in it just because she worked for him.
The things you did for the people you loved.
“It was good.” Ollie gave me a smile, but I sensed something hidden behind it. A fakeness someone wouldn’t see unless they paid attention, unless they were looking for it. Along with that fakeness came something else, though. A sadness? He did seem rather glum most of the time, though I assumed that was because, again, he was into some shady things.
He said nothing else, leaving the house after grabbing his coffee and his briefcase. Both Mom and I watched him go, and it was only when we heard him leave the house through the side door that led to the garage, where he parked his car—one among many—that my mom turned to look at me.
“You’re oddly chatty this morning,” she commented.
I just shrugged, not wanting to talk about it.
My golden silence lasted until I reached homeroom, where Archer sat, waiting for me with a grin on his face. Those dimples could seriously kill you if you weren’t careful and didn’t take the right precautions. What were those precautions? I’d have to let you know once I figured out what they were.
He wore a slimming dark blue shirt, although on him the fabric hugged his muscles and made his biceps appear even thicker. His blonde hair was combed to the side, styled with just the barest hints of gel. The way his blue eyes watched me enter the room, following me as I went to my seat beside him, made my stomach harden in memory of what else his body could do to mine.
Hooking up with him so fast had probably been a mistake, but it’d been fun. I wouldn’t mind doing it again.
Not that I wanted to, you know, date him.
Not that I would be opposed to it, either—but of course if I dated him, I’d have to figure out whatever mixed feelings I had about Vaughn, first. I couldn’t go out with Archer while secretly pining for Vaughn. That just wasn’t right.
“Hey,” he said, grinning as I sat down.
“Hi,” I responded. Morning time was not my best conversational time, but I’d make an exception when it came to Archer. I’d always make an exception for him. He was too cute to resist, really. And those muscles…oh, his muscles went on for days. They’d lead any girl astray, even a girl on a mission, like me.
I should be thinking about my meeting with Jacob later, but instead I was meeting Archer’s grin with a grin of my own. I probably looked like an idiot, but oh, well.
He leaned over his desk, asking, “Have you thought about the party tomorrow? I’m not saying I won’t go alone, but…I really want you to come.” Even though the dimples still sat on his cheeks, his eyes held a seriousness, almost pleading with me to go to this party with him.
I hadn’t spoken to my mom about it, but I knew she wouldn’t want me to go. “I still have to ask my mom,” I said, mentally wincing when I realized how stupid I sounded. I was eighteen years old; I shouldn’t have to ask. Yes, I still lived under her roof…
Wait a moment. No, I didn’t. I lived under Ollie’s roof, so technically my mom couldn’t use that card against me.
“Here.” Archer said nothing for a while as he flipped to a blank page in his notebook, scribbling something down before tearing it out and handing it to me. On the page, all that was written was a ten-digit number…his number. “Text me. Maybe I can think up some pointers.” He grinned. “Parents always love me.”
My heart thudded in my chest, and I hurriedly folded the paper and shoved it under the cover of my textbook, as if not wanting anyone to see what he’d given me. We were in the back of the class, so it wasn’t like anyone was staring, and the announcements hadn’t started yet, so everyone else was caught up in their own conversations, too.
“Why does that not surprise me?” I asked, unable to keep a straight face. He made me feel giddy. Vaughn…Vaughn made me confused, conflicted. Or maybe that was just because I knew his family had to be in some shady business.
“I’m a lovable fool,” Archer mused, reclining in his seat as if it were a couch or something more comfortable than a hard chair attached to a desk top.
“The jury’s still out on that.”
“Are you saying I’m not a fool?”
I shrugged. “I’m saying I don’t know what you are yet.”
His dimpled smile was slow to fade, and he sounded utterly serious when he said, “I hope to prove myself to you, then. Show you how much of a fool I can be.” For whatever reason, his words caused my heart to skip a beat. Or two.
Tapping the side of my desk with my fingertips, I decided to ask, “You didn’t put anything in my locker, did you?”
Archer looked almost alarmed at that, caught totally off-guard. He blinked, asking, “What? No. What was in your locker?”
He genuinely seemed curious, not wearing the face a man caught would wear, so it wasn’t like I could tell him the truth. Oh, you know, a few grand. Nothing huge. Yeah, I was going to keep it to myself for now.
“Nothing,” I shrugged it off, wishing I could tell him to forget I asked. If it wasn’t Archer, who was it? It wasn’t like I spoke of me needing money to anyone else, and I hardly had any friends here, let alone acquaintances. My mystery donor would have to remain a mystery for now.