“So, you’re a bigger fish in all this than Lucas,” Jane said, like she needed clarification.
I honestly didn’t give a shit. I just wanted to get my stuff and get to Lucas’s apartment. I couldn’t stand the thought of him in jail, and I wanted to be closer to him. I also wanted to be there for Andy.
“Just let me pack a few things,” I said. I started to rise, but Jane’s firm hand pushed me back into the chair.
“Hang on, let’s just think about this for a second.”
“What’s to think about?” Stick said to Jane.
“You may not be the only person in this room who can make a deal.”
Stick looked from Jane to me, then back to Jane. “Do you know who Lily’s father is?” Jane asked.
A tiny glimmer of hope flickered within me. And then it was quickly extinguished when I thought of what I would have to do.
“Who’s your father?” Stick asked me suspiciously.
“Someone who that DA of yours would probably love to do a favor for. Isn’t that right, Lily?”
I nodded, my body going numb.
“Okay, fine. Wait until I turn myself in, and then make the pity call to Daddy. I’m not too proud to take some help from a bigwig.”
Jane shook her head as she stepped from behind me, and handed me my phone. “That won’t work. Grayson Spaulding might stick his neck out and ask a small favor for his daughter of getting a pettyfirst-timeoffender…?” She raised a brow at Stick, wanting confirmation that Lucas was indeed a first-time offender. Stick nodded. “But there’s no way he’s going to go so far out on a limb as to get somebody the DA is ‘interested in’ off. He’s too smart to owe that big of a favor. It’s better that it’s Lucas.”
My phone was slippery in my sweaty hands. I ran my thumb along the long edge, up and down. Knowing I would do anything for Lucas and heartbroken—and pissed—that it had come to this.
But it wasn’t just for Lucas. It was for Andy too.
“You, asshole,” Jane said, patting Stick on his shoulder as she passed him, “are our Plan B. But let’s see if we can’t keep the both of you out of prison, shall we?” She went to my closet and pulled out a duffle bag.
“Make the call, Lily, while I pack your bag.”
Chapter24
Lily
I calledup my home landline from my contacts and connected. “Do you want to be alone?” Stick asked. I shook my head. I wanted some reinforcements in case my courage failed me. I would be brave in front of Jane.
She seemed to sense it, because she slowly walked around the room, picking up a couple of things and putting them in the bag.
“Lily?” my father answered. “It’s after midnight. What the hell—”
“Lily, honey, are you all right?” my mother said from the extension. That was why I’d called the landline; they each had a phone on their bedside table and I knew my mom would get on the phone as soon as she heard my dad say my name. And I might need her as a buffer.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry to call so late, but I need some help.”
“Jesus Christ,” my dad muttered. I could hear the rustle of sheets and knew he was sitting up, his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing his face, turning on the bedside lamp.
It was not the first crisis call he’d gotten late at night. It wasn’t even the first one from a daughter. It was just the first one from his do-no-wrong middle child.
“Lily, baby, are you sure you’re okay?” my mom asked.
“She said she was fine, Susan.” I knew that my father was looking over his shoulder at her and they were staring across the bed at each other, both of them with a phone to their ear.
“A friend of mine did something stupid tonight and I was hoping you could, I don’t know, maybe call someone here in Schoolport and see if there is anything you can do?”
“Is it Jane?” my father asked. Jane must have heard, because she stilled for just a moment, then continued on, this time going into our bathroom. Grabbing my damn toothbrush, I assumed.
