Shine - Lauren Myracle [62]
“Think about it this way,” Jason said. “We know Patrick was upset that Beef was involved with meth. What if Beef hasn’t gotten out of the business? Maybe Patrick was trying to enlist Tommy and Dupree’s help, you know?”
“No,” I said. If Jason knew Tommy and Dupree, he’d understand that enlisting their help was a scenario that would never play out.
“Try it this way,” Jason said. “Maybe Patrick suggested to Tommy and Dupree that it would be a good idea for all of them to quit working for Wally. Patrick would have brought up Dupree’s mama, which would have made Dupree wet his pants. And from what you’ve told me about Tommy, I’m guessing he would have been shitting at the thought of his family finding out their golden boy was committing a felony. Am I right?”
If Tommy’s father found out that Tommy was tarnishing the family name, he’d kill Tommy. So yeah, I’d say Tommy would do almost anything to keep his reputation clean.
As for Patrick being a blackmailer . . . It sounded low described like that, but in theory, having a long talk with Tommy and Dupree would be the right thing to do. Patrick might well have convinced himself that he’d be sinning if he didn’t help his friends get out of a sinful situation.
After going over everything we knew, the one missing piece of the puzzle was Patrick’s boyfriend. Who was he? Was he a good guy? A jerk? Was he involved in Patrick’s attack? Did he know anything about Patrick’s attack? So many questions would be answered if only we could talk to him.
“But you’re positive he has one,” I said.
“According to Patrick, yeah. He talked about him a lot, but he never used his name.”
“That’s weird,” I mused. “And why hasn’t he visited Patrick at the hospital? The boyfriend?”
“How do we know he hasn’t?” Jason countered. “Plus he’d be turned away the same as us.”
“What if it was Patrick’s boyfriend who tried to break into his hospital room? Not for a bad reason. What if he just, you know, wanted to see Patrick’s face for a minute?”
Jason shrugged. With no name, we had nothing to go on.
“You see what you can find out from Robert,” he finally said. “I’ll . . . I don’t know what I’ll do.” His jaw tensed. “What should I do? What can I do? God, I hate this. I hate being so fucking helpless.”
But you are helping, I thought.
“You really don’t have a cell phone?” he said.
“I really don’t have a cell phone,” I replied.
“You can call me from your landline, then. Or a pay phone.” He snagged a Sharpie from his desk and grabbed my arm, turning it so that the top of my forearm faced up. My heart beat faster.
“Call me any time,” he said as he wrote his number. “All right?”
I nodded. He’d given me his number already, the day at the hospital, but I didn’t remind him. His fingers easily circled my wrist, and I liked that he was bigger than me. I liked the fine hairs between his knuckles.
He lifted his head, and we gazed at each other. It was a gaze that lasted for a long while, but I felt safe within it and didn’t look away. It was strange, but wonderful.
“Um, hey,” he said seriously. “There’s something I want to tell you.”
My stomach tightened. “Okay. What?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
“No way,” I said, knowing that if he left me hanging, I’d worry about it forever. “Whatever it is, just tell me.”
He half-smiled. Then he gave a quick and decisive nod, as if committing to do something scary, like jumping off a rock into water far below.
“You have pretty eyes,” he said.
They widened, my pretty eyes, and I knew I was blushing. “Oh,” I said, flustered. “Um, you too. And thanks. And . . . yeah.”
I wasn’t any closer to finding out who hurt Patrick, but I felt like I was. I wasn’t just me anymore. I was half of a we . . . I was no longer alone.
HERE’S TO JASON AND HIS BRIBE MONEY, BECAUSE a double scoop of mint chocolate chip—combined with my complete attention—was just the encouragement Robert needed to tell me everything I wanted to know. It made me ache for him, something I didn’t see coming.