Page 163 of The Friend Scheme
“You aren’t going to tell anyone I said that, are you?” I ask.
“Not if you don’t want me to.”
“Good. I don’t. You can’t.”
“I get it, Matt. Should we sit down?”
“Yeah.”
We both sit down on the park bench. I keep a comfortable amount of space between us.
“You know,” he says. “If you need to frisk me, you could. But I promise I’m not wearing a wire.”
I blink.
“Sorry, that sounded way more sexual than I meant it to.”
“No. I think it’s a good idea. Can you, please?”
“Sure.”
He quickly unbuttons his shirt, and then opens it. His chest is totally smooth.
“Thanks,” I say as he buttons it back up. “This is weird.”
“What, me stripping in public?”
“No. Just being here, with you. Your mom’s a cop.”
“Yeah.”
“Is your dad a cop, too?”
“Nah, he’s in software. Cops don’t make mansion money.”
“Right. So what happened with you, after…”
He lets out a puff of air. “Well, Mom lost her shit. She knew how close I was to finally cracking you. The only thing she wants to do is take down your family, and I blew it.”
“Did she take away your trust?”
“Yeah. And my college fund. I’m hoping Dad might be able to get her to change her mind about that. Maybe I’ll get a scholarship, but if not, my college plans are, well, I don’t really have college plans. I was betting on that trust, honestly.”
“You’re smart; you’ll find a way, with or without it.”
He smiles. “So what do you need?”
“Advice.”
“About what?”
“Well, some things are going down with my family and the Donovans. People’s lives are in danger. And I can’t sit by and let it happen anymore. I need to stop it. But I can’t think of anything I can do to stop them. They’re too powerful.”
“Okay.”
I wait. I’m hoping he’ll have some idea that’ll fix this whole mess.
“So what do you want to do?” he asks.
