Finn swallowed hard before responding. It was clear that he was a little out of breath. His left hand, clutching the cane, was shaking slightly. She could understand why. The walk from his apartment building to hers was only about five minutes under normal circumstances. But it did include an uphill stretch and several sets of stairs. For someone with mobility issues, it would be exhausting.
“Sorry,” he said. “I guess that was a bit of overkill on the knocking. I was frustrated that I might have come all this way for nothing.”
“Whydidyou come all this way?” she asked, unable to keep a little edge out of her tone. “I’m not too old to remember a conversation in which you said we wouldn’t be chatting much anymore.”
“I know this seems weird considering what I said,” Finn acknowledged. “I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important.”
“If what wasn’t important?”
Finn glanced up and down the empty hallway. “Can I please come in?”
She opened the door and stepped aside to let him pass. He shuffled in, putting more weight on the cane than Hannah would have liked to see at this point in his recovery. By now, she hoped it would just be there in case, but he clearly still needed it to get around. On a sprawling campus like this, that was going to get old real quick.
Once he was inside, she closed the door and motioned for him to take a seat on the couch. Instead he made his way to the breakfast table and settled into one of those chairs.
“It’s easier to get up from this than a deep couch cushion,” he explained.
Hannah took a seat in a chair across the table.
“So, to what do I owe the honor of your presence?” she asked. “It must be pretty huge if you’re willing to risk your tuition.”
She regretted the words as soon as she said them. This situation wasn’t Finn’s fault and making him feel guilty was petty. And yet, she didn’t apologize.
“Do you know Jennings Casterly?” he asked, clearly pretending not to pick up on her barb.
“Is that the name of a law firm or of a member of the royal family?” she quipped.
“Both, kind of,” he answered. “He’s a student here and he’s in my fraternity. His father is actually a partner at a Costa Mesa firm and as he’s told me on more than one occasion, his family’s heritage can be traced back to the Mayflower.”
Hannah scowled. “I have to say, Finn, if your goal is to make me take an interest in this guy, you’re off to a terrible start.”
“Well, I’m afraid it’s not going to get much better, because I’m about to ask you to do him a favor.”
“I already hate the sound of this.”
“Jennings is a year ahead of us,” Finn said, ignoring her comment. “I’ll admit that he’s not the most self-effacing guy you’re ever going to meet, but he’s a brother. I know that doesn’t mean anything to you, but it does to me. And since I think thatImean something to you, I’m hoping that we can use the transitive step to make you give a crap about his problem.”
“Maybe cut to the chase, Finn,” she said, unamused.
“He got a threatening note,” Finn said flatly. “It basically said that he should watch his back—that his days of treating people like crap are about to come to an end.”
“Doeshe treat people like crap?” Hannah asked, having trouble mustering up much sympathy for the guy.
“Depends on who you are,” Finn admitted. “He’s nice to me. But I’ve seen him be a real jerk to other folks.”
“Okay,” Hannah said, starting to lose patience. “So why are you telling me about this? Have him take the note to campus police.”
“He’s afraid to,” Finn explained. “He’s worried that if he goes through official channels, it will get back to his dad, who will make a huge thing of it. He’s also afraid of looking like a wuss.”
“A wuss?” Hannah repeated incredulously. “Based on what you said, that note could be considered a death threat. Taking it seriously is hardly wussy.”
“That’s what I said when he told me about it,” Finn said. “But he was adamant that he wanted this handled quietly. That’s why he came to me in the first place.”
“What do you mean?” Hannah asked, getting a sinking feeling.
“Because he knows that you and I are friends. And he also knows about what you did to help out Reggie Calderone. He’s hoping you can do the same for him, on the down low.”
Reggie was another of Finn’s frat brothers and also a star player on the basketball team. Last year someone anonymouslyaccused him of cheating on a test, putting his athletic eligibility at risk. Hannah managed to discern that a fellow student in Reggie’s class had made the allegation so that he would get kicked off the team and her friend, another player on the team, would get more playing time.
