Chapter
Twenty-Two
We head up Courtney’s long, winding driveway and Cass whistles low, shaking his head. “I know all the houses in my neighborhood are big, but Courtney’s house is—huge.”
That’s an understatement. The Jenkins house is beyond impressive. Twenty thousand square feet, so many rooms you can get lost inside trying to find your way around. They have a full-time staff that will attend to your every need, including a chef. There are two pools, a tennis court, an indoor basketball court, and a massive garden where her mother grows her grand prize–winning roses. Her mother is obsessed with roses.
Courtney says that’s because her mom is such a prickly bitch.
There are parking attendants working the party, so Cass reluctantly hands over my keys to the valet, giving me a look as he does so. “You okay with this?”
I shrug. “Do we have a choice?”
We watch my car drive away before we slowly start to approach the house, me busy Snapchatting Dani in the hopes she’ll get us in through the back door while Cass openly gawks at the beautiful landscaping.
“This place looks like a park,” he says.
“You act like you’ve never been to one of these houses up here before,” I tell him, my gaze glued to my phone.
“I haven’t,” he says. I look up at him with a frown. “What? It’s true. I don’t get out much.”
“Why?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. Most people who live around here consider my grandma and me outcasts. They don’t always treat us that great.”
“Really? So like, your neighbors are mean to you?” I know a bunch of rich snobs live up here, but I figured they embraced everyone in the neighborhood.
“They’re not mean. They just…ignore us. It hurts Gram’s feelings.” His expression turns sad. “That’s why she doesn’t go out much.”
“That’s awful,” I murmur just as my phone buzzes with a Snapchat from Dani. I open it up to see a photo of her and Brogan Pearson, their cheeks pressed against each other’s and a giant smile on her face.
It’s captioned, Look who’s mine tonight!
Ha. Wonder if Courtney knows about this.
I send Dani a quick reply.
Me: I’m here with Cass. Will you let us in through the backyard?
She answers me immediately.
Dani: Casssss???? Wowowowowow.
I send her another message.
Me: Will you let us in?
Dani: Yeah but hurry up! I don’t want to lose Brogan.
“Let’s go.” I take Cass’s hand and lead him up the walkway until we reach the house. I avoid the front porch, which is packed with people from school, and dart around the side of the house, my fingers clutched tight around Cass’s. His hand is warm and his fingers and palm are calloused. People pass by us and I catch them looking at our linked hands. I’m sure they’ll be talking about us come Monday morning.
Great.
I see Dani bouncing around near the back door that leads to the kitchen. She’s got on a tiny floral print dress with a flouncy skirt, and every time she hops, her skirt rises higher. Brogan is right behind her, clutching a beer in his hand and tilting his head to the side. I know he’s just waiting to catch a glimpse of her panties.
Ugh. Perv.
“There you are!” Dani exclaims as she runs toward us. Her eyes are bright, her pupils huge, and I can tell she’s already a few cups in. “Who’s your date?” she asks as she eyes Cass up and down. “Wait! That’s right! It’s Cass Vincenti! What are you doing with my Penny?”
“We came together,” he says, holding up our intertwined hands.
“Oh! My God!” She grabs hold of me and I have no choice but to let go of Cass’s hand as she pulls me into a hug. “You bad girl you, totally going against type,” she whispers in my ear.
“Stop.” I shove her away from me and we’re both laughing. “Where’s Courtney?” I want to avoid her as much as possible, which means I need to keep tabs on her whereabouts at all times.
“She’s in the rec room. Don’t worry about her.” Dani trips over her own feet, and Brogan magically appears by her side, cupping her elbow so she doesn’t fall on her face. “She’s too busy talking to all of her subjects.”
I frown. “Her subjects?”
“You know, she’s now the queen and we’re all her subjects or servants or whatever? Yeah, that.” Dani grabs the beer out of Brogan’s hand and drains it.
“Hey,” he protests, sounding truly irritated.
“Go get another for us!” She turns and grabs Brogan, giving him a loud, smacking kiss on his cheek. “Please?”
“I’ll be right back.” He looks at Cass and flicks his chin. “Want anything, dude?”
“No thanks, Bro.” The worst thing about Brogan’s name is everyone can call him Bro and it works because he really is a Bro. It’s kind of lame in that macho, bromance/dude way. “Want me to come with and help out?”
I send him a look, one that I hope says, what about us sticking together?
“Nah, I got this. Want a drink, Penny?” Brogan asks me.
“I’ll take a beer, please.” I wonder if Cass refused a drink because he’s a recovering alcoholic. Or maybe he did drugs and now he’s completely sober? I wish I could ask him, but when is there ever a right time to ask that type of question?
Oh hey man, just wondering when exactly you fell apart and became an addict? Curious minds want to know.
“Be right back,” Brogan tells us before he lays a sloppy kiss on Dani’s lips and then walks away.
“He is sooooo great,” she says dreamily as she turns and watches him saunter into the house. “And he has the best butt.”
Cass clears his throat, and I can tell he’s trying not to laugh.
“Hey.” Dani points at Cass, her eyes narrowed. “Don’t laugh. You’ve got a great butt, too.”
Oh. My. God.
“Thanks,” he says amusedly, his gaze meeting mine. “Maybe you should lay off the beer, Danielle.”
“No thanks, Dad. I’m perfectly happy getting my drink on.” Her eyes go wide when she sees the crazy look on my face, and I swear, she’s about to cry. “Oh wow, I am so, so sorry for calling you Dad, because like, you don’t have a dad, since your mom killed him. And that’s just terrible! I had no business calling you that. Do you forgive me, Cass? Do you?” She walks over to him and drapes herself all over his front, her arms going around his neck as she presses her face against his chest. “Forgive me, Cass? Please?” Her voice is muffled against his sweatshirt.
He slowly disentangles her from him and hands her over to me. “I forgive you, Dani. I swear.”
“Thank goodness.” She slips her arm around my shoulders and gives me a side squeeze before she points with her free hand around the backyard. “So many people! I wonder how much money Courtney has raised for the charity tonight?”
“What charity? Come on. You know she’s going to pocket it all,” I say with a catty smile.
“Noooo.” Dani shakes her head. “She wouldn’t do that. That’s sooo messed up.”
“Well…” I let my voice drift and then the both of us start laughing.
“Yeah, she’s totally messed up,” Dani agrees, smiling in Cass’s direction. “Hey Cass.”
“Yeah?”
“Why is your name Cass?”
Dani gets even sillier than normal when she’s drunk.
“It’s the name my parents gave me,” he answers.
“Like your dead dad gave you that name?”
I could slap my hand over her mouth but it wouldn’t be a good enough muzzle.
“Yeah, like my dead dad.” At least he has a sense of humor. And plenty of tolerance for drunk girls.
“Is Cass short for something?” Dani asks.
“Nope, I’m just Cass,” he says with a smile, his gaze briefly meeting mine. I smile back, giving him a helpless look. I can’t defend her. She’s flat-out silly when she’s drunk, saying whatever first comes to her mind. As in, there’s no real filter.
“I’m going to call you Just Cass from now on, okay?” Dani laughs. “Okay, Just Cass?”
“Sure.”
“Maybe we should go into the house,” I suggest. The backyard is crammed full with people and it’s getting cold out here. There are giant heat lamps scattered throughout the large back patio, but they’re still not giving off enough warmth. A wind has kicked up, and it’s going to bring the fog toward the mountain soon, I’m sure of it. And once that happens, the temperature will drop fast.
“Let’s wait for Brogan to come back first with our beers. Then we’ll go inside.” Dani frowns at Cass. “You really didn’t want a beer?”
“I don’t drink,” he tells her easily.
“Right, because you’re a former addict or whatever.” Dani waves a careless hand, waving her equally careless statement away. “Look! There’s Brogan! Broooooogan!” She pushes away from me and makes her way toward Brogan, greeting him with a big hug and almost making him drop his beers.
I turn to look at Cass, noting how pale his face is. His gaze meets mine, his expression solemn, his mouth a straight, thin line. He says nothing for a moment, and neither do I.
“You want to go inside?” I ask.
“Do you? Or do you want to get your beer from Brogan?” He nods toward where Brogan and Dani are standing.
“Maybe it’s best if I’m sober tonight,” I tell him, my voice low, my gaze on his. I wish he knew that I understood, that I wouldn’t pressure him or ask about the addiction problem. Though I am curious. I wish I could just ask him what’s going on and that he would be honest with me.
But we don’t know each other well enough. Not yet. I don’t feel right in asking him such invasive questions.
“It probably is best,” he murmurs, reaching out to brush a stray strand of hair away from my face. I suck in a breath when his fingers lightly skim my cheek and then he’s smiling at me, a soft, intimate smile that I’ve never seen from him before. “I know you’re dying to ask me like a million questions after what Dani said, but we’ll talk later, okay?”
I nod, unable to speak. My throat is too thick with some foreign emotion I can’t identify.
Cass leans in so close, his mouth is by my ear. “I want to go inside and find Courtney’s room,” he whispers. “Will you take me?”
I nod again. “What are you looking for in there?”
“I think she’s hiding something.” His mouth brushes against my ear, making me shiver. “I think she’s more involved in this whole thing than she’s letting on.”
Could that be true? I have never truly suspected Courtney. I know she hated Gretchen and most likely Lex, too. But did she hate them enough to actually kill them?
I don’t think so.
“What exactly do you mean?” I pull away so I can look him in the eyes. “Do you think Courtney is…the murderer? You told me earlier you thought she was too obvious to be the killer.”
He glances around to make sure no one is paying us any attention before his gaze returns to mine. “Maybe she’s too obvious on purpose. I don’t know. But I want to search her room. See if I can find anything.”
“What are you hoping to find?”
“Evidence. Clues.” He grins and looks excited, a little reckless. “Whatever.” Taking my hand, he pulls me toward the back door. “Come on, Pen. Live on the edge with me.”