Page 56 of One Bad Idea
I could. I just didn't want to. "Don't tell meyouwere the private collector?"
"Alright."
"Sorry, what?"
"I won't tell you."
"But youwere?" I was staring again. "Soyouwere the one who sold him the truck?"
"It wasn't a sale. It was a trade." Jaden gave a tight shrug. "Other than that, good guess."
It hadn't beenthatgood, considering that it took me a few tries to figure it out. "But how?" I asked.
"The usual way," he said. "Draw up the papers, deliver the goods, call it a deal."
"But that's not what I meant. I'm just saying, he doesn't even live here."
"So? We handled it over the phone."
Now, this madesomesense. After all, I'd overheard part of their conversation, or rather,conversations, as in plural. And now that I thought about it, there'd surely been a few more calls that Ihadn'toverheard.
"But how did he get here?" I asked. "I mean,Ihad his old truck so…"
"So he flew."
"On such short notice? But isn't that expensive?" I tried to laugh. "I bet Stuart justlovedthat." I hesitated. "Wait, hedidpay for the flight, right?"
"In a manner of speaking."
"What doesthatmean?"
"It means, I wanted the problem to go away."
Now, I wanted to cringe. "Soyoupaid for the flight?"
"More or less." He gave another shrug. "I sent the jet to pick him up."
"The jet?" I swallowed. "As inyourjet?"
"Mine and Jax's," he clarified. "Or the company's, depending on how technical you wanna get."
Holy crap.I'd never actually flown on a private jet, but Ididknow they weren't cheap to operate.
As I tallied up everything that my little truck adventure had cost him, I was having a hard time catching my breath. And to think, he hadn't even griped about it, or demanded payment, or tried to make me feel guilty.
In fact, he hadn't mentioned the truck at all until I'd started asking.
I heard myself say, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you do that?"
"Like I said, I wanted the problem to go away."
"But surely there were cheaper ways," I said. "I mean, the truck could've been delivered, right?" Under the table, I was wringing my hands. "Or was that even more expensive?"
"Don't know, don't care."
