“Ah, right. I had no idea Norwalk was such a thrilling place.”
“Watch it.” She chuckled. “I grew up there.”
“Fun,” I mumbled, looking out the window.
“I’m sure it’s not as fun as whatever high-income enclave you come from, but it has its charms.”
“How do you know where I come from?”
“I don’t. You just scream trust fund.”
I glanced over and caught her eye. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Whoa, geez, relax. I was kidding. I assumed you came from a family of prominence because Alan Forrester said as much.”
“So naturally I’m dripping in wealth?”
She held my eye, not backing down. “Aren’t you?”
I hesitated. How to answer that? The wealth in our family was tied to one person—Jake—and he had a lot of it. Jake was our pot of gold. And, yes, I’d grown up in one of the richest areas of Los Angeles, but my parents were working class people and I’d been raised with that mentality. Jake’s generosity had given us all an easier life, but I’d never considered his money mine… and it bothered me when other people made assumptions that I did.
“I’m not rich, if that’s what you’re asking. Up until I got the spot onNext in Line, I was waiting tables and playing a zombie for Horror Nights at Universal Studios.”
“A zombie?”
“Yeah, you know—shuffling around, eating brains, terrorizing the most freaked-out person in every group?”
“How do you know which one is the most freaked out?”
“Easy. It’s the person in the middle. They wedge themselves in, thinking they’re safe. Their whole mentality is to let the end pieces die first. Selfish. So those are the ones I target.”
She laughed. “You’re a very interesting person, Quinn. I’ve never met a real-life zombie rock star before.”
Still trying to shake off the trust fund comment, I grumbled, “Well, now you have.”
“Are you mad?”
“Nope.”
She eyed me.
“What?”
“You seem mad.”
“Well, I’m not. I’m just anxious to get to Norwalk and all that fun.”
“Oh, okay.” She side-eyed me. “Well, you’ve got the right guide. I know every inch of the area. You know, back in the day, I was known as something of a rebel. Me and my friends, we roamed these parts like a pack of coyotes.”
Jess’s mention of her feral past was all it took to erase my sour mood.
“That’s all you did?” I asked suggestively. “Roam?”
“Hmm…” Jess smiled; her fingers danced atop the steering wheel. “Well, we might have dabbled in a bit more than that.”
“Uh-huh. Tell me.”
“I would, but… well… there were some narcotics involved… and copious amounts of a hard liquor… so I can’t really remember most of it.”
