“What? What did you see?” she asks impatiently, cupping her mug with both hands.
“Do you think it could have been meant for you? The explosion?” he asks. She leans back and takes in his question.
“What would make you say that?” She feels like the wind was knocked out of her with the question, so out of left field.
“You both drive white BMWs, and were at the same place. I mean, did it even cross your mind? You’re the one with the criminal history. Not Ally or Regan Hoffman. You never even thought that once?”
Sasha holds her heart with one hand and has to remind herself to breathe. How does he know this? She spent her whole life making absolute certain he never found out—never knew about Raffy in prison or their arrest. How the hell has he unpicked all of this?
“Criminal record?” she says, thinking, for a fleeting moment, that maybe he’s just being dramatic and doesn’t really know.
“Jesus, Mom. You’re the one who’s caught. It’s all out on the table. I’m not the one hiding from something and lying. You smuggled drugs on a plane in Mexico—both of you—and Dad went to prison.”
“How do you know this?”
“I found the records, and then I visited Dad because I didn’t think I’d get the truth from you. He told me everything.”
“Well,” she says, feeling the red blotches bloom across her chest, “that was a long time ago... and your dad pays for it every single day.”
“But did you pay for it?”
“What?” she snaps. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. I know you didn’t do it on purpose, but from the perspective of those drug dealers, it sounds like they think you owe them. Maybe someone ismaking you pay. I’ve been trying to protect you—both of you. Some shit’s just not adding up, though.”
Sasha feels pricks of heat climb her back, and her throat closes up. She doesn’t know how to respond.
Drew continues. “Dad told me that he was threatened by someone—an anonymous person—when he got out of prison. They were gonna get rid of both of you unless you paid back the money they lost on the confiscated cocaine—like almost three hundred thousand dollars.”
“No. No, that’s not true. He paid his debt in prison time. That’s...”
“Why would these people care if he went to prison? He lost their money. Prison does them no good, does it?” She knows this is probably true, but she’s just so shocked at the words coming out of his mouth she can’t quite make all the pieces fit—she can’t understand how he knows this much, more than her, and now she’s wondering if she was a target. Drew was supposed to be the one in trouble. How has this flipped so incredibly?
“He said he’s been paying this anonymous person for years. Wired money every month to some untraceable account. Then, a few years back, he stopped. He expected someone to come for him, but he said he didn’t care if he died anymore so it was fine. But nobody ever came.” Drew runs his hands through his hair and pours another cup of coffee from the pot on the table.
“Nobody came because he lives in a fantasy world. He’s delusional sometimes. He probably got things mixed up in his head—it was over a long time ago.”
“He showed me all of the outgoing transfers. Years’ worth.” At this, Sasha feels like she can’t breathe. She takes a deliberatedeep breath and looks up at the ceiling, trying to absorb what all this means.
“He would have told me that—he would have asked for help and I could have helped him,” she says. “No.”
“How would you have explained to Tom that you needed a few hundred grand? How could you help Dad?”
“Goddammit. What does this have to do with anything—with you being suspended, the school bomb threat? I don’t...”
“I think all of it ties together. What I’m telling you isn’t even really the point. It’s just how all of this started. Once I found out about your arrests and all that, I started doing more digging. One thing kept leading to another. Tia, the car explosion, Dad... It’s all linked. I just can’t prove it yet. But I have a pretty good idea.”
“Tia? I just—I don’t understand what you’re telling me. How is that possible?”
“I have to show you. Me and Rox keep all of it in her desk in her room. Her mom never goes in there, and since you come in mine all the time, we thought it was the safest thing. We have most of the evidence—a lot of proof that there is one person behind it all—but we’re still missing something. And it would make things worse if I started making accusations before we had all the proof. You think anyone would listen when the weird new kid starts saying something about some crazy conspiracy? I’m trying to protect you. Us. But the only way I know how is to figure out how it’s all linked. I’m close.”
“Show me,” Sasha says firmly.
“I have to text Rox. I messaged her this morning to fake sick and get out of school and meet me at Dad’s, so she might already be on the way.”
“Why? What were you going there for?”
“I told you. I have to show you. I’ll have to message her and tell her to meet me at her house instead.”
