Page 46 of Dirty Tricks

She rolls her eyes. “You know.”

“They’re gay,” Allen says with barely concealed delight. “And Todd’s dad’s such a dinosaur, it was leave the country or wind up buried beneath one of his vineyards.”

It’s like they’re both pranking me but the longer I stare at them, the more sincere they look.

“But he’s dating you,” I finally blurt.

“Yeah, but we never slept together,” she says. “I thought it was because I told him I wanted to go slow, but apparently,” she trails off into a shrug, her face alight with the thrill of gossip rather than showing any sign of upset at being dumped.

Then she puts a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. “Surely Finn showed some signs.”

All eyes in the common room suddenly turn to me and who am I to let the truth impede a juicy rumour?

“I’m not meant to tell…” I say, drawing even more attention, mildly enjoying the sensation, being the dispenser of gossip.

“Go on.” Jenna tosses her head and waves Vonnie over when she spies her near the entrance. “Nothing you say will go beyond these walls.”

The walls which currently have half a dozen students doing a bad job at pretending not to eavesdrop.

“Well…” I drop my voice as low as it can go. “Finn was using me as a beard, but I never guessed he was interested in Todd. He never said a thing.” I pout a little. “He should’ve at least told me they were heading away together.”

“I knew it,” Allen crows, rubbing his neck, smiling with satisfaction as he stares at the two sets of parents leaving the school, looking concerned rather than fearful.

“They probably couldn’t risk it,” Jenna says, to convince herself as much as me. “His family has so much money, they were probably scared any hint of their plans would send guards his way, ready to drag him back home.”

“Bet they don’t even report them missing,” Vonnie says. “His dad thinks it’s the nineteen hundreds rather than the twenty-twenties. If the two of them weren’t such gigantic dicks, I’d feel sorry for them.”

The talk moves on while I sit, incredulous.

They can’t really believe this, can they? Even if they do, surely their parents won’t just let it go.

And two days later, I think the game is up. My name is read over the intercom, summoning me to the head’s office. I walk through the corridors, scanning for any sign of Xander even though we’re both being careful. Neither wanting to drag the other into anything if trouble is coming our way.

Inside the office, I take a seat, hating the transparent walls that turn what should be a private space into a fishbowl.

A man stands beside her desk dressed in a suit, his expression grave, and I know instantly he’s police.

“This is Detective Sergeant Wilcomb,” the head introduces him. “I’m afraid to say, we’ve received some distressing news about your father.”

I tug my hair over my face, hiding the bruises from Saturday night because my makeup skills aren’t quite up to task. Telling my classmates that I slipped and fell when I got drunk has gone unchallenged, but I doubt a detective would let me away with the lie so easily.

But the detective is more focused on the news he’s imparting to me than my appearance. He clears his throat before saying, “There’s no easy way to say this. We believe your father has been the target of a gangland hit. We’ve discovered his… body. He’s dead.”

“Dead?” I grip the armrest of the chair. Xander told me he left the gruesome find in a rubbish bin in the central city, near the bus exchange. A place where discovery was certain. “Are you sure it’s him? He should be at home with his new wife.”

I wince a little at chucking her into the deep end, but they probably already know of her existence. They’re probably tracking her down to impart the same news as we speak.

But the detective shifts from foot to foot, looking even more uneasy.

“We believe your stepmother, Traci Montgomery, is also deceased.”

My mouth drops open, face draining of blood. My ears ring until I shake my head to clear them.

This time, my surprise is genuine.

“I thought…”

His keen eyes suddenly focus in on me, and I gulp, finding it hard to swallow.

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