"Rent for what? A shoebox?"
Okay, now I wasreallyconfused. "Sorry, what?"
"Youdoknow they were fake, right?"
I blinked. "The earrings? No they weren't. I remember Mom telling us—"
"That they were real? Yeah, well, they weren't."
I didn't believe it."How do you know?"
"Because the day after Christmas, I tried to sell them."
"You did?"
"Oh, yeah." She gave a humorless laugh. "You should've seen the pawnbroker's face. The guy thought I was trying to swindle him."
My head was reeling, and I hardly knew where to start. "But why would you sell them at all? Were you that desperate for money?"
"No, I wasdesperateto get rid of them."
"But why?"
She made a sound of disbelief."That'syour question?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, here I tell you that Mom lied about the earrings being real, and allyoucan do is ask why I'd sell them?"
"Well maybe I'm confused."
"Yeah, me too," she said. "Because your story's impossible – unless you sold those earrings to some poor sap who didn't bother checking."
"Oh, my God." I felt the blood drain from my face as I considered the very real possibility that I'd swindled someone out of a thousand dollars – money I would need to pay back. Unless… "Are you sure both of us got fakes?"
The moment the words left my mouth, I knew I'd screwed up. "Sorry. Stupid question."
Delaney scoffed. "It can't bethatstupid. I asked myself the same thing... which is why I took yours in later that same day."
What the hell?"You mean…to sell them?"
Sounding insulted, she said, "I'm no thief. I was just curious, that's all."
Delaney had always been curious, maybe too curious, which went a long way in explaining why she always ended up in hot water. But now,Iwas just as curious. "And…?"
"Yours were fake, too." Her voice grew quiet. "I was so surprised, I almost fell over."
I felt like falling overnow.To think, I'd committed a crime without even knowing it. Somehow, I'd need to make it right.
Delaney was still talking. "And as far as your rent, we both know it's paid by someone else."
With a fresh wave of guilt, I suddenly realized that I still hadn't explained what happened with her bank account. "If you mean the thing with Mom—"
"Forget Mom." She sighed. "I meant Ryder Vaughn."
The name hit like a thunderclap, and I nearly dropped the phone. "Wait…who?"Yes, I knew who Ryder was.Obviously.But hearing his name tied to my rent made no sense whatsoever.
Delaney said, "So you're what? Denying you know him?"
