Page 205 of The Forbidden Note

“Who’s Cassandra Harris?” Grey purses her lips. “Her name is on all these statements.”

“Thatis Principal Harris’s ex-wife. She changed her last name back to her maiden name after their divorce, so this is basically a dud account. Except it’s been getting some giant deposits.” Cadey taps her finger against the file. The diamond ring on her hand nearly blinds me. “Guess from who?”

“The Grateful Project’s donors?” Grey asks earnestly.

Cadey’s smile sinks. “Not exactly…”

“We called around,” Sol explains. “And asked a few questions. Turns out those deposits are from the parents of some of the richest bastards at Redwood.”

“I cross-referenced with Jinx’s app.” Finn arches a brow. “The dates coincide with a bunch of major scandals that she wrote about.”

“You’re saying Harris was taking money from parents to quiet scandals?”

“Not just that. He was also taking money from the building funds account and from a bunch of scholarship programs,” Cadey adds. “Which explains why they’re so strict with the number of scholarship students that can attend.” She exchanges a knowing glance with Sol. “Because someone has to get the money. And it’s not a student in need.”

Grey closes her eyes and a slow, almost maniacal smile crawls over her face. “It’s not what I was hoping for, but…”

“But?” Cadey presses.

Grey smirks at me. “I can work with this.”

CHAPTERFIFTY-ONE

ZANE

Vi comes home from the sleepover at her best friend’s house, so we clear up the boxes and try to act as normal as possible for her.

Thankfully, normal for us is leaving the girls to their own devices.

Vi is harassing Grey to feature in her makeup channel again.

I’m glad when I hear Grey agree.

One thing that became clear to me when we were sorting through the boxes is how much this investigation has taken over her life. She needs a break.

I retreat to the kitchen and try to open a bottle of beer. With one arm, it’s damn near impossible to unscrew the cap. I’m thinking of getting a knife and hacking a hole into the cover when someone roughly jerks the bottle from me. I meet Dutch’s angry eyes and watch as he tosses the beer and replaces it with water.

“You shouldn’t be drinking with your meds.”

“Whatever,” I murmur.

Finn and Sol enter the kitchen next.

Finn is without a book for once and he’s not reading on his phone either. Sol stares at me in that unhinged way he started doing after breaking out of the psych ward. It’s like he’s one traumatic event away from setting the world on fire.

“This is a planned meeting?” I glance from one stern face to the next. “You’re not kicking me out of the band, are you?”

No one laughs.

They rarely do.

Well, Sol used to.

Before he went full Joker on me.

“What’s up?” I ask nervously, taking a sip.

“Did you notice anything weird about those invoices we found today?” Dutch starts.