“And they bought it?”
“Yeah. But I also made the mistake of using Andrea’s name. Trystan and Braden never told me her name so when I said it, they got suspicious.”
“So what did you say?”
“I panicked and said Peyton told me. I said she told me at the game last night. They totally bought it but now—” I cringe.
“What?”
“They think she might be the one who came up with new evidence because of her history of lying and making up stories and creating drama.”
He sighs. “This is bad.”
“I know, but it was only a theory. Trystan brought it up to Braden, but I don’t think Braden believed it. I don’t know whathappened after that because Brock got home and told me to go to my room.”
“If the investigator shows up, try to listen in if you can.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“My lawyer’s on the other line. I need to pick up. Talk to you later.”
I’m starting to get really worried for Jackson. He has money for good lawyers, but what if that’s not enough? What if Braden lies to the police and puts the blame on Jackson? What if Trystan does too? It’d be their word against Jackson’s. Two against one. The only other person who could save Jackson from jail would be whoever provided the new evidence. If it’s Kristen, she’s not going to save him.
Unless he breaks up with me.
Chapter 11
I leave my room and head through the house to the kitchen.
“Rumor,” Brock calls out.
I turn back and see him coming toward me. “Yeah?”
“We’re going to the lawyer’s office. We’ll be back in about an hour. If anyone comes to the door, don’t answer.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“I’m sure the boys already told you this, but you need to keep this quiet. I don’t want you telling anyone what’s going on here, even your friends back home. Nobody can know about this. It’s a private matter that only family needs to know about. Understood?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
He takes off. I hear Braden saying something to his dad, then they leave out the front door.
When they’re gone, I race to my room and get the money I took from Brock. This may be my only chance to replace it.
His office door is closed but not locked. I go inside and over to his desk. Opening the drawer that had the money, I see it’s still there in a neat stack, like it hasn’t been touched. I slip the hundred-dollar bills on the bottom of the stack.
As I go to close the drawer, it catches on something. I open it a little, then try again. It won’t move. It’s jammed.
“Shit,” I whisper to myself. I can’t leave the drawer half open. Brock will notice and then accuse me of being the one who did it. Or he’ll blame Maria. Either way, it’s bad. I have to fix this.
Hunching down, I look under the drawer. I don’t see anything jamming it, and there’s nothing sticking up from the drawer underneath. I check the sides. Nothing’s stuck there either.
Sitting back in the chair, I shove the drawer in, but it barely budges. Using both hands, I yank on the handle. It moves a little,but not much. Fed up, I yank really hard, and it finally breaks free of whatever it was caught on and slides open.
I let out a sigh of relief and finally close the drawer. Looking down, I see what was jamming it. It’s a business card. It must’ve fallen from the drawer and got stuck on the rails.
Picking up the card, my heart skips when I see it’s for a rehab facility. It has to be where my dad’s staying. Why else would Brock have this card? I bet he was hiding it. I bet it didn’t fall out of the drawer but was hidden underneath. I hunch down and open the drawer. Running my fingers under it, I feel a piece of tape near the front of the drawer. He taped it there. Hewashiding it.
