Page 75 of A Scandal in Homeroom
Then he turned, left the room and quietly closed the door behind him.
“Accents are soooo my jam.”
17
The Bleachers
Later that Afternoon
Locke
“That’s what he’s caught up in,” Fitz muttered.
He turned to Beth, and they shared a look, which had been a frequent occurrence throughout this afternoon’s meeting. The two apparently had been mind-melded at some point over the weekend, because now it seemed they shared one brain.
Then Fitz turned to the group.
“Chas had to sell his car. He said it was a gambling debt.”
Chas, the former QB One before he was injured, and one of Fitz’s closest friends I knew.
“That makes sense,” Irene said. “Sorry, he’s not that good of a poker player.”
The six of us were huddled together in my normal meeting area, under the visiting team bleachers. Fitz and Ed had finished practice. Irene had gotten out of cheerleading practice because of her injuries, which Star had reported to the school vice-principal as a bad fall. Landing on the side of her face. He, in turn, had forewarned her guardians, so now her bruises were officially covered.
Beth, Janie, Irene and I filled in Ed and Fitz about the poker game, what had happened to Irene and our current predicament of how to get her out of the predicament.
“We need to lean on Coyle,” I suggested. “What he knows about Moriarty, how he contacts him. Everything. Fitz, that’s where I need you. He might take your threats more seriously than mine.”
Irene shook her head. “Coyle’s a weasel but he’s not stupid. He’ll know if he snitches, Moriarty will do to him what he did to me.”
I held up my hands. “I’m open to suggestions.”
“I think we should talk to someone inside the game,” Fitz said. “Get a different perspective. Maybe he’s seen something that Reen wouldn’t have been looking for.”
“Doubtful,” she said, snorting. “You mean Chas? I don’t think he was focused on anything other than not losing all his money.”
“It’s a start,” Fitz said. “Let’s just see if he knows anything that might help. We do this before we lean on Coyle.”
Given this was my plan and my rescue of Irene, I was about to take exception to Fitz’s recommendation. Except, it wasn’t a bad idea. I needed all the data I could gather before I acted.
“What are you going to do, Reen?” Beth asked her. “About Friday.”
Reen shrugged. “Go back. Make it look like I’m complying until we can find a way out.”
“The good news is you’re not going back alone,” I said. “I’ve always had a yen to play poker. So very American, that Texas Hold ’Em.”
“Do you even know how to play?” Ed asked me, clearly doubting my skills.
Ed was still not my biggest fan after I’d cracked the security code on his mobile. But really all one had to do was learn what motivated a person. For Ed that was simple.
“I’ll learn,” I said.
“By Saturday?” he laughed. “Yeah, good luck with that.”
“No, by Friday,” I corrected him, then I looked at Irene. “You need to get me into the adult game.”
“Why?” she asked.
