Page 105 of Enemies to Prom Dates
“I’ll break that date if that’s what you need. But let’s face it, the damage to be done by my arrest will happen no matter where it goes down.”
She nodded reluctantly. Then her lips tilted up at the corners. “You know, I always liked Beth.”
I smiled. This was her chance to tell meI told you so.Back when I’d been going on and on and on about how much I hated Beth, my mother apparently thought I was going on too much about her and maybe I actually liked her. I’d called her crazy.
“I know.”
“She’s smart enough to keep you on your toes.”
“So you’ve said.”
“And give you a run for your money,” my mother added.
“More clichés. Awesome. It’s a good thing someone else writes your speeches.”
She punched me on the arm. “Wiseass. Okay, go have fun. And text me immediately if anything happens.”
“I will.” I bent to kiss her on the cheek. Then added, “I am sorry about this, Mom. I can’t regret doing what I did, but I know you’re going to pay a price for it and I’m sorry for that.”
“Don’t you worry about that. It will take more than this bogus charge to bring down my political career. We’re going to beat this and that’s all that counts.”
I left the house and got in my car. My first pick-up was Chas. Then Beth and Star at their house.
A double date. I couldn’t wait.
* * *
“We’ve got a problem,”Beth whispered to me.
We’d all decided on the movie first then dinner after. Chas and I let the ladies pick what they wanted to watch, and we had all just settled down with snacks before the previews started.
The theater had been crowded enough we weren’t able to find four seats together, so Beth and I took two seats and three rows in front of us Star and Chas found two more seats on the end of the aisle.
“I don’t want to deal with anymore problems,” I told her. “I want to behave like a normal fucking couple on a normal fucking date.”
“Sure, sure,” she said, patting me on the hand. “Except you’re about to be arrested for vehicular assault and someone is setting you up to go to jail. So not exactly normal times.”
“When you put it that way,” I muttered.
“This date was actually my idea. We need to get Chas alone.”
I could feel my face scrunch up. “Why?”
“Did you know he recently sold his car?”
I thought about it. “No, that’s not right. I think he said it was in the shop. Some engine problem.”
“No, he sold it. Star confirmed it. He hasn’t bought anything new to replace it.”
“Where is this going?”
There was a delicateshooshbehind me and I sank a little lower in my seat.
Beth did, too, but she still kept whispering.
“We’re looking for someone who needs money. Someone who nobody would rat on. Someone who Wick would be afraid of. Why did Chas lie to you about the car being in the shop and why did he need to sell it?”
I didn’t respond, because I couldn’t. She was suggesting one of my friends, my teammate, was, in fact, setting me up to be arrested.
