Hush Money

  “That scenario seems to having him paying a lot of attention to how your family works…”

  Yeah, maybe so. “Then he was being nice. Which is because he’s a nice guy, not because he’s being nice to me in particular.”

  “Sure…I’ll bet he’s going around making carpool arrangements for the whole class.”

  “Oh shut up.”

  “It’s too bad he’s got such lousy taste in friends though.”

  Yeah. Really.

  Chapter 9

  Dylan

  The whole thing with Joss and Kat was weird. In a good way, though. I’d been in school with Joss since kindergarten and while I don’t really remember back that far, I don’t ever remember her being buddy-buddy with anyone. I never really thought anything bad about her for being a loner. It’s a valid lifestyle choice, I guess. But it was cool to see Kat kind of—I don’t know—taking her under her wing or whatever.

  If she started talking to Kat, maybe she’d start talking to me sometime.

  Hey, it could happen.

  If I thought I was thinking about her a lot before, man, since Marco and his damn threats at the store, Joss was pretty much all I was thinking about. I thought maybe she kind of liked me too. Especially talking to her and Kat about the party. Joss is quiet, but usually when she has to talk to people, she’s pretty direct, looks them in the eye, says what she has to say, and walks away. Not rude, just—that’s how she is. But just now she seemed kind of shy. Yeah, she didn’t take me up on my lame offer to take her to the party, but I hadn’t really expected her to.

  Maybe it was kind of stupid of me to be wandering around thinking about whether or not Joss was interested in me, or to be having all kinds of fantasies about how she would react when she somehow found out about my pact with Marco, and what I had been willing to do to protect her. This big my hero moment was building up in my head. Not like that’s why I was doing it. I just felt this need to look out for her, whether she ever knew it or not. But if she ever found out and felt the need to throw herself at me, I figured I’d catch her.

  But yeah, kind of dumb to be thinking about stuff like that when I was on my way to Crime Practice. I had gotten in way over my head, and I had to find some way to get out of this dumbass plan of Marco’s without giving him a reason to ruin Joss, and without landing my ass in jail or State School.

  Down along the river, there are a number of abandoned old buildings. Crumbling brick, some with whole walls missing, a lot of them completely obscured from view by trees and stuff, and some could only be reached on foot. There was some reason for it, something to do with the changing economy, the railroad, I don’t know, but it had left all these early 1900s factories—whatever they’d been—still standing, forgotten, along the river.

  One of these was our hangout, even though it was across town from school and a hike to get there. I’d missed my chance to get a ride with Eric, so I was stuck walking. Like I said, it should have been strategizing time, but…

  When I walked in, Jeff was smoking and kicking a wall that still had some plaster, watching it crumble. Eric was reading a car magazine, and it looked like Rob was doing his homework.

  “Hey, guys. Where’s Marco?”

  “Detention,” Jeff answered, looking at his watch. “Shouldn’t be much longer, though.”

  “You guys hear about Kat’s party?” Way to prioritize. And once I got that topic started, it went along on its own for a few minutes, while Marco’s arrival got closer. Finally I just broke in with, “What do you guys think about this plan?”

  “I think Eric ought to pick me up first instead of you,” Jeff said.

  “Not that,” you moron. “The beer thing.”

  I had everyone’s attention, though only Rob was openly showing it. They all knew I was against this, and Rob would be smart enough to really want me to get us out of it. If I could just convince Eric and Jeff to back out, Marco would have to recruit them all over again. Maybe that would be too much effort for beer.

  “What about it?” Eric asked, flipping a page.

  “Doesn’t it seem kind of…complicated to you? I mean, why are we doing this? The whole thing with Rob and me sneaking around cameras and disabling alarm systems—it’s total overkill. What if we miss something? Something that gets us all caught? What if we end up in jail over this—or worse.”

  “Hey, you freaks worry about going to State School. Not me! Just plain ol’ Jeff here. Sucks to be you.”

  “Shut the hell up,” Eric drawled, pitching a piece of crumbled brick that intentionally missed Jeff’s head and bounced off the wall.

  “But you’re fine with a criminal record,” I said.

  “We’re still minors.”

  “Oh, great attitude. Come on guys, if this is just about beer, it’s just not worth it.”

  “You’re right, Dylan.” It happened really fast. I had seen the warning look flash across Rob’s face before he ducked his head, but I processed it about the same time I heard Marco’s voice and felt his hand clamp, kind of painfully, on my shoulder. “It’s not worth it, just for beer. It’s good that you’re here, looking out for the team’s interests. And your concern has showed me that it’s time to let you all in on the rest of the plan.”

  He shook me by the shoulder before he walked away, and I was trying to find my balance in every sense as he strode into the room and climbed up to his usual perch on the deep, concrete sill of a glassless window.

  “You got me. I lied. I’m not really after beer, although, I’m sure we’ll still lift a few cases. But there’s not much difference between the plan I laid out for you the other day and what I’ve been working on. When Dylan and I were in the store yesterday, I got the information I needed to figure out the rest of it.”

  “Spit it out already,” Eric drawled, bored. “What are you after?”

  “The bank vault.”

  I leaned back against the wall, letting it hold me up. All I could think was Felony. I glanced at Rob who looked like he might vomit.

  Jeff made a show of dropping his cigarette and stomping it out, the action looking a lot like a toddler stamping his foot. “Why didn’t I know about this?” Figures Jeff’s main problem with the plan would be that Marco didn’t let him in on it before everyone else.

  Marco ignored him and looked to Eric, whose face was unreadable. Eric just said, “Go on.”

  “The plan is pretty much the same, as far as Rob and Dylan getting in and staying hidden until after closing. They take care of the alarms and the cameras. All of them. After Dylan and I finished up yesterday, I waited behind and chatted up one of the bank chicks. I got all the information we need about the bank procedures, security, and how the lock on the vault works. Rob, you shouldn’t have any trouble with it.”

  Rob opened his mouth to say something but choked on it.

  “You’re basing a fucking bank robbery on information you got flirting with a grocery store bank teller? Are you out of your fucking mind??” I never knew plain stupidity could piss me off that much.

  “No. This is the plan, Dylan,” he said calmly and like he was talking to a moron, which I was starting to realize he actually was. “It’s my plan, and you’re all in it with me. I don’t want to hear any more complaining or second-guessing. You’re the one who’s putting us all at risk by trying to divide us, undermine everyone’s confidence. This is going to be fucking great for all of us—as long as nobody fucks it up. And if they do, it’s because you’re worrying them like a fucking grandmother. So cut it out. You and I just talked about this yesterday, and yesterday you were on board. Do you remember that?”

  I gritted my teeth, knowing his emphasis on “yesterday” referred to threats against Joss.

  “Yes.”

  “And…has anything changed since yesterday?”

  “No.”

  “Then you’re still with us. Come on. I want to hear you say it.”

  “Yeah. I’m in.” Rob was looking at me like I was a total traitor.


  “Good, then before we start working with you and Rob, let’s go over the details I got from Mon-i-ca.”

  But I couldn’t really pay attention. Rob would. He’d remember it all. He was too scared not to, and I was too busy thinking about what an idiot I was.

  If I’d realized—no, that’s not even right. If I’d accepted what was right in front of my face for the last few years, if I’d just parted ways with Marco when he started acting like a total ass…I had been in total denial, thinking that he’d get over it and go back to being my cool friend I used to have fun with. I kept thinking I had to cut him some slack because his mom took off and it was just him and his dad, and his dad wasn’t so great and whatever. And that if I just stood by him and kept being his friend, he’d snap out of it. How do you snap out of being an asshole? I had been making excuses for him—for years! And that’s why I was in over my head right now.

  Yeah, some hero I was, waiting around while Marco droned on with details so I could practice for my new career as a felon. And the thing was, it never crossed my mind to walk away knowing that Joss would be hurt. Because that was my fault too. I never should have forgotten what Marco knew about her dad, and I never should have let him know that I was interested in her. The thing with her dad—that was probably why she tried so hard not to let anyone notice her. And after all those years of her walking on eggshells, I decide I just have to start talking to her, and manage to shove her right in front of the wolf.

  All I could do now was stand up and stay between them.

  Chapter 10

  Joss

  I figured Kat’s party to be at about two-third’s swing. This was a completely arbitrary judgment as this was my first party since I was five. I was going by the fact that everyone seemed to be there, music was pumping out of the speakers out on the deck, people were talking in small groups, and it was mostly girls inside, in the family room, pretending they weren’t watching most of the guys, who were outside, on the deck that opened off of it.

  Then Marco came in with his crew and headed for the buffet of snacks Kat and I had spent the afternoon working on. Kat and I had been standing at the table for a bit, while Kat displayed some rabid perfectionist tendencies I wasn’t aware she had. But of course I should have guessed. After she and her friends had strong-armed me into a mini-makeover and ridiculous clothes, she had kept me in her hip-pocket so far this evening, making sure I didn’t revert to form, she said. She was fussing over neatly folded napkins that were obviously destined to go unused when Heather nudged her and inclined her head toward the door. The girls immediately went on alert, and so did I. They turned as one, preparing to strike, while I casually began to back away from them, heading for the corner I’d been longing for.

  As if my heart weren’t pounding hard enough, from the people, the noise, from knowing something was about to happen, Dylan’s glance caught mine, and he smiled at me. I tried not to glance down at myself, at the scoop-neck top they’d made me wear that hugged me all over, and the sparkly little pendant that said hey, we got some cleavage over here! Most people probably wouldn’t consider it low cut at all, but this was probably the most clavicle I had ever displayed. I crossed my arms over my chest, realized that probably made the cleavage thing worse, uncrossed them, and shifted uncomfortably in Kat’s girl-shoes.

  “Marco,” Kat said, grabbing a cup of soda from the table behind her. “I’m really glad you could come to my party.”

  He looked suspicious as she exchanged his empty cup for the full one. This was further proof, in my opinion, that Marco wasn’t as stupid as Kat thought he was. “Know your enemy.” My dad’s words went through my head. I had tried one last time to talk Kat out of whatever it was they had planned, but she wasn’t hearing it. She was convinced that a Psych 101 textbook put everyone into their neat little boxes. But how could it? I wondered what Psych 101 had to say about minds that could cause temporary blindness, move objects, start fires.

  “Well thanks. That’s really nice of you. Although I hope you’re not thinking that this changes anything between us. If you know what I’m saying.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” Jeff asked.

  “About how Kat wants me, but I told her it wouldn’t work between us. Isn’t that right, Kat?”

  “You’re hilarious.” To give her credit, Kat seemed perfectly comfortable sparring with Marco, even though more of the other kids were sensing something was going on that was worth paying attention to. “I think you and I got off on the wrong foot. I mean, there’s so much we don’t know about each other. Like, for example, I didn’t know that it’s just you and your dad at home.”

  All conversation stopped. Outside, the music was as loud as ever, but all eyes were on the two groups facing off in Kat’s family room. Kat, Maddy, Heather, and Elizabeth vs. Marco, Dylan, Jeff, and Eric.

  “So? What of it?”

  “I’m just saying that I didn’t know it. I’m sure it’s been hard on you.”

  “So, what’s this? You’re going to pretend to feel all sorry for me because my mom ran off and we don’t know where she is? Don’t bother. We don’t care.”

  “Ran off? You mean ‘was taken away,’ right? ’cause your mom’s at Hellermann’s, right?”

  “Shut up, Kat,” Jeff snapped. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. His mom’s no mental—”

  Marco jabbed Jeff in the ribs. “Who told you that?”

  I fell back against the wall, so grateful that I wasn’t a part of this, and that no one was paying attention to me right now. And at the same time, I felt guilty because I could have been in the loop. Maybe I could have stopped this. Because this was wrong. Even to Marco, it was just wrong. My dad had spent time at The R.K. Hellermann Center for Mental Health. I wasn’t ashamed of it, but…damn.

  “After our…conversation the other day, I just wanted to find out as much about you as I could. So I did.”

  “Who. Told you that. About my mother?”

  Dylan stepped up, “I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, but making stuff up like this? It’s messed up, Kat.”

  When you spend your time watching life, you read a lot of people, and here’s what I was pretty sure about: what Kat just said was true, it was news to Jeff and Eric, and Dylan was pissed off.

  “But I’m not making it up, am I, Marco?”

  “Kat,” Dylan’s voice was more forceful this time. “You need to back off. This isn’t you.”

  “No, hey, it’s fine.” Marco stepped forward. I think Kat wanted to step back, but didn’t. “I mean, what does it really matter what people think? So either my mom’s a dead-beat ho or she’s a freakin’ lunatic. What’s the difference, right?”

  Kat shrugged. “I guess the difference is something like: are you so obnoxious that you made your mom run away, or did you drive her insane?”

  Dylan clapped a hand on Marco’s shoulder. “Come on, man, let’s go.”

  “Oh no, we’re not leaving. Not when Kat and I are really getting to know each other.”

  * * *

  Joss

  “Are you okay?”

  I glanced up at Dylan and then immediately found a focus point on his shoulder. It was lame that I could never seem to look this boy in the eye. Kat’s mom had called her, which was nice for her, since it gave her an excuse to quit while she was sort of ahead. She’d breezed out of the room, her entourage in her wake. Dylan had led Marco outside for some air, and the rest of his crew had followed. I was surprised that I hadn’t seen him come back. I was way too much in my head.

  “Shouldn’t you be asking your friend that question?”

  “I am,” he replied, completely throwing me. After he let that sink in for a beat, he kept going. “If you mean Marco, he’s Marco. He’s either ok or he’s not, and he’s not going to talk about it here, if anywhere.”

  I nodded.

  “So I was thinking that maybe…I mean, I noticed that you looked…”

  “What?” Between the gu
ilt and the shoes I was damned uncomfortable and it came out defensive.

  “Upset, I guess.”

  Why are you noticing how I look, or anything about me? You are seriously toying with the Laws of the Universe, you know that, right?

  “Yeah, well, it was an upsetting scene. And one I didn’t know anything about,” I added quickly.

  “I’m sure you didn’t.”

  Maybe that’s part of what I liked about Dylan, beyond the shoulders and the blue eyes. He was always trying to smooth things over, make people feel better, and he usually seemed sincere about it.

  Still, I found myself babbling, “I mean it. I mean, I knew there was some bad blood or whatever between Marco and Kat, and I knew she had some kind of plan to get back at him, but I swear, I did not know what it—”

  “Joss,” he reached out and touched my shoulder. I jumped—I couldn’t help it—and he dropped his hand quickly. “I know you didn’t know. You wouldn’t be a part of something like that. It’s not your style.”

  I almost said something biting, like “How would you know?” Something to push him back because I was feeling very literally cornered. But I didn’t. Instead I went with, “I didn’t think it was hers either. Now I don’t know what to think.”

  “I didn’t realize there was anything going on between the two of them, and I’m not pretending to know what’s going on. But I can say that Marco’s not an easy person to get along with, especially lately. Sometimes he…makes people do things. Things they know are wrong, things they never would have believed they’d do.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  I looked up again and he wasn’t really focused on me at all, but my question brought his eyes back to mine.

  “Nothing really.” He smiled, but I wasn’t thrown by it this time.

  “I thought Marco was your friend.”

  “A lot of people think that. I did too. Never mind,” he said, shrugging it off and turning to go, “I was just—”