Page 73 of The Drummer

“The castles are amazing,” Molly says. “You should use your trillions to buy one.”

“I’ve told you a hundred times. It’s billions not trillions.”

She snorts again. That’s not true either, but my millions could probably scoop up a decent estate somewhere.

I resist the urge to convince Callie to move into a castle with me.

“Seriously, though. I’m telling you, Luke was home. Maybe he was just visiting and is now wherever you are, butJill saw him. You’re going to tell me Jill wouldn’t recognize Luke?”

Yeah, okay. She has me.

“When was this?”

“Um… I don’t know. Nate didn’t say. He thought he texted you. How has no one told you?”

Because very few of them even talk to me anymore.

“Did Nate say what Luke was doing?”

“Jill wasn’t sure. He was super shady when she tried to talk to him, but apparently Mr. Tomlinson told her he was leaving the office of a law firm.”

My skin feels like ice.

“A law firm? Which law firm?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yeah, actually. A lot.”

Law firms tend to specialize in very different things. If this is true, it could be a huge clue into what’s happening here.

“Well, sorry. I’m not sure. You can see if Nate knows. Or get a hold of Jill.”

I almost drop my phone when a horrific thought seeps in.

No.

There’s no way it’s that.

“Casey?”

I rub at my scalp as I try to pull myself together.

“You okay?”

“What? Yeah.” I clear my throat when my voice comes out hoarse.

“Because you’re sounding kind of… off. You sure everything’s good with you? If you’re with Luke, that’s great news, right? I would have expected you to be more… you.”

More me. I don’t even know what that is anymore.

“Everything’s good. Just a lot of pressure from the Label.” I inject more brightness into my tone. “Hey, thanks for the information. I’ll ask him about it, but I have to run.”

“Sure, yeah. It’s great to hear your voice. I miss you, big bro.”

“Miss you too. We’ll catch up when you’re back in the states.”

“Or you’re in Europe.”

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