Page 40 of I Will Ruin You

He shrugged. “A few thousand.”

“Jesus. So pay them.”

“I don’t have it, Luce. I’ve spent everything they’ve paid me so far. I put it all into the car.”

She closed her eyes. “My mother was right.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lucy turned away, not wanting to get into it. “So where you going to get the money?”

Billy said, “I’ll come up with something.”

When he went back into the house, the first thing he did was look for a loose cupboard door that was held on with Phillips screws. He found it. Lucy was telling the truth.

Stuart. It had to be Stuart.

Eighteen

Richard

Bonnie and I went into the weekend pretending everything was fine.

She tried to put the death of Allison’s mother out of mind. I made no mention of the lawsuit. And I continued to keep Bonnie in the dark about the blackmailer.

Rachel, however, did not pretend to be anything other than what she was, and that teacher had it right: sullen.

I couldn’t count on Jack buying the boat so I posted the photos, a detailed description, and an asking price of eleven thousand dollars, on Craigslist. I was finishing up the process on the laptop in the kitchen when Bonnie, wrapped up in a bathrobe after her soak, walked in. Before she could see what was on my screen I hit the yellow dot in the upper left corner and minimized the page.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Just a dumb video.”

My phone, which was sitting on the table next to the computer, dinged. A text. I read it quickly. Bonnie wore a who-is-it expression.

“Trent,” I said. “Inviting us for dinner tomorrow. Burgers and beer.”

While I’d known Trent for several years, we’d socialized little out of school. A few weekday lunches, but we’d never gotten together with our spouses. Bonnie had met Trent a few times through work, what with both of them being principals for the same school board.

“What do you think?” Bonnie asked.

“He’s saying it’s been a long week for all of us and maybe we need to kick back.”

“What’s his wife’s name again?”

“Melanie. I’ve met her a couple of times. She’s kind of a nervous flibbertigibbet.”

“Boy, there’s a word I haven’t heard since God’s bike had training wheels. Might do us some good to go.”

I took a moment. I wasn’t thinking so much that this was a chance to unwind, as it was an opportunity to pull Trent to one side and tell him about my situation. I had to tell somebody, and he might be my best option.

“But only if Rachel can come,” Bonnie added. “I want to keep her close right now.”

I got that. I tapped out a few quick words in reply and waited while the dancing dots did their thing. “He says sure. They’ve got a daughter, couple years older.”

So it was settled. We were invited to come at five.

When Bonnie went back upstairs, I finished posting the ad. Then I went hunting online for anything I could find on Billy Finster.