Page 68 of Cornered

“Please.” Stu scoffed. “Everyone knows Cassie Quinn has a lead foot. If she’d been flying through there the way she usually does, she’d never have had time to stop. If she’d slammed into it at her normal speed, she could have flipped that Jeep. She’s lucky she’s in one piece.”

ELEVEN

CASSIE COULDN’T STOPthe tremor that shook her body at Stu’s words. She’d been embarrassed and more than a little annoyed about his comments on her driving.

Not that he was wrong. But still ... She’d been about to chime in and remind him that she knew what he’d done during the Homecoming game their senior year. A spectacular stunt that still reigned as the best Homecoming prank ever pulled off at Gossamer Falls High.

Now? She sat frozen in her seat as he continued talking.

“No kidding, Donovan. If we have some fool doing this as a prank, they’re going to get somebody killed.”

“I agree.”

A screeching sound came through the phone. “I’m back at the station. What do you want me to do with the deer?”

Donovan looked like he wanted to throw something through a wall. “You can’t eat it, Stu.”

“I may not have a fancy college degree, but I’m not an idiot. I’m asking if you’re gonna do some kind of forensics on it.”

“Can you hang on to it for a few hours? I’ll have to let you know what we’re going to do with it.”

“Sure thing. No problem. I’m on a twenty-four so I’m here all night.”

“Thanks, Stu.”

Donovan disconnected the call.

Cassie couldn’t stand the look on Donovan’s face. “Is it too soon for me to make a joke that if you’d done what your family wanted and gone to medical school, you never would have had to figure out what forensics to do on a deer in the middle of the night?”

Donovan met her gaze. “Too soon.”

“But is it? Really?”

The tiniest twitch at the corner of his lips was the only hint she had that he didn’t think she was an idiot.

She stood and walked to where he was standing by his kitchen counter. “No kidding. What do you have to do now?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Instead of going to bed, I have to go get a dead deer and take it I have no idea where and do I have no idea what with it.” He punched the screen on his phone with enough force that she wondered how often he broke them.

She shamelessly looked at the screen to see the text he was sending to Gray asking for guidance. When he hit send, he set the phone on the counter and looked at her. “I think it should go without saying that I’m very uncomfortable with the idea of you being alone tonight.”

“I won’t be alone. You haven’t seen the setup I have now. I’m surrounded by family.”

Donovan didn’t look convinced.

“If it will make you feel better, we can call Mo and make sure he’s home. But he’s always home. Unless he’s at his mom and dad’s. But he doesn’t spend the night there.”

“It would make me feel better.”

“Fine.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled to Mo’s number. She put it on speaker while she waited for him to answer. He picked up after three rings.

“Cassie? Why aren’t you home, sweetheart?”

She leaned against the counter. “I’ve got you on speaker. I’m at Donovan’s.”

There was a pause. “Lots to unpack there. How about we start with why you’ve put me on speaker?”

“I almost hit a deer on the way home from work.”

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