Page 84 of A Week Away

“If things go well, no one will ever ask to see the missing video. Nobody’s going to get hurt. I’m trying to catch a killer, that’s all.”

“That’s all,” he said again.

I felt myself blushing. I didn’t do that much anymore so it was a bit embarrassing. The way I was talking about all this was much more casual than I felt. I was having trouble resisting the temptation to beg.

“What if it doesn’t go well?” he asked.

“That’s up to you. You can make up a plausible story or you can tell the truth. Some guy gave you money to turn the cameras off.”

He thought about it. I thought about it too. I was asking him to take a chance I wasn’t willing to take myself. If everything went to plan it wouldn’t matter if the cameras were on or off. I stood there anxiously hoping he wouldn’t figure that out, promising myself I’d make it up to him if things went wrong.

“Five-forty-five to six-fifteen?”

“Yes.”

“Will I see you later?”

“Hopefully not.”

When I got to Cass’s house he came out and got into the Thunderbird. His aunt’s van was in the driveway.

“What’s your aunt doing?” I asked.

“Cleaning up. The cops left a mess.”

“That’s nice of her. Did you help?”

“I didn’t ask her to do it.”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help.”

He ignored me, and asked, “Where’s the shoebox with the money?”

“In the trunk. I’ve had to use a couple thousand for expenses.”

“What expenses?”

“Bribing people isn’t cheap.”

“Where’s the gun?”

“In my pocket. Where it’s going to stay.”

“And the credit cards?”

“I’m not giving those back to you.”

“What? They’re mine!”

“Technically, they’re not.”

“What am I going to live on?”

“The papers the cops wanted to take, did you look at them?”

“No.”

“Why not?”