Page 42 of Gin & Jewels

Was that true? I had no idea, but it scared me. I was quiet for a long time as he drove several miles. If my boss—or anyone—found out that it was my brother and his friends who robbed the place, itwouldlook like an inside job. I hated the situation, and I wanted to go home. I wanted to call Brad and ask him straight up what his motives were.

I wanted all of this to go away.

Since I had nothing to do, and my head was still pounding, I laid back down and slept, hoping that when I woke again, I would have a clearer head.

The car came to a stop, waking me. When I sat up, we were at a pawnshop. “What are we doing here?”

“The less you know, the better. Lay down so they don’t see you.”

My heart started to race. “What?”

“Just do it, Cass.” Keith slammed the car door.

I hated this. I hated feeling as though he was running my life, and like I had no say in what was going to happen. I still didn’t remember anything after the milkshake. And where was Micky? Did he skip town too?

It seemed as though I waited forever for Keith to finally come back. I was hungry, I had to pee, and I was pissed. “What took you so long?” I questioned as he got into the car.

“I was doing business.”

“What kind of business?”

He glared at me through the rearview mirror. “You don’t need to worry about it.”

But Iwasworried. I was worried about whereIwas and where Keith and I were going.

We checked into a motel for the night after grabbing McDonald’s. I wasn’t able to call my work because I didn’t know the number and had no computer or phone to look it up. I wondered if Brad had tried to call me and if he was worried at all about where I was. “I need clothes,” I stated, sticking a fry into my mouth.

“Fine. After we eat, we’ll find a Walmart or something.”

I dunked a chicken nugget into my sweet and sour sauce. Around a mouthful, I said, “Are we going to talk about last night?”

“What do you mean?” he asked with his own mouth full.

“Micky choking me.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course, I remember that!” I huffed.

He sighed. “He’ll never touch you again. I’m sorry.”

“Why? Did you do something to him?”

“No, he left the house before we did, and he doesn’t know we left town.”

“Oh.” I ate another fry. “I’ve never seen him so angry.”

“He’s been on edge since the whole ordeal.”

“What did you guys expect? You robbed a jewelry store,andhe shot a guy.”

“No one was supposed to get hurt. We were supposed to go in, get a lot of jewels, and make a lot of cash.”

“Butyougot shot,andan innocent man got shot,” I countered.

“Innocent?” He laughed. “I don’t fucking think he’s innocent.”

“You think he knew you were going to rob the place? That he came in and waited for it to happen?”