Chapter 44

"Listen," Derek said, "I don’t know what in the hell you were thinking, but I don't appreciate it."

I rubbed at my eyes. "Huh?"

"Yeah. Nice trick you pulled. Who was the guy?"

The more he talked, the less I understood. "What guy?"

"The tough guy you hired to do your dirty work."

Tough guy?

Dirty work?

I sat up in bed. "Derek, seriously, what are you talking about?"

"As if you don't know."

"I don't," I insisted. "So either tell me, or let me get back to sleep."

"Hey, don't get pissy with me," he said. "I'm the one who's gotta smooth this over. And just so you know, Biff wasn't happy."

My mind was too muddled to think. "Biff who?"

He gave a derisive snort. "Very funny." And with that, he ended the call.

I flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Well, that wasn't weird or anything.

Derek was definitely losing it. Or who knows, maybe I was. Giving up on any hope of sleep, I climbed out of bed and got dressed. I'd been scheduled to work at the cookie shop, but now, thanks to that broken pipe, I wasn't.

But I still had plenty to keep me busy. In just a few short weeks, we'd be having the final meeting to select the recipients for this year's art- endowment.

I had paperwork to review, letters to write, and tours to arrange. I also had to finish the cleaning, and not only to avoid grief from Derek and his dad.

If I didn't get scrubbing, the place wouldn't be in any kind of shape for visitors, even if they were just traipsing through to eyeball my parent's stuff.

Normally, this was an exciting time. But today, I wasn't excited about anything.

It was because of Joel. I missed him. And I hated him.

But most of all, I hated myself. I should've known he was too good to be true.

Stupid me.

I decided to start with the cleaning, mostly because my mind was too foggy to tackle anything else. I was just lugging the vacuum cleaner out of the broom closet room when my cell phone rang with a call from Cassie.

As soon as I answered, she burst out, "Hey, I heard what happened with Biff. What was that about? And who was the guy?"

I almost staggered under the avalanche of questions. "What guy?" I set down the vacuum cleaner. "And who's Biff?"

"Oh come on," she said. "This is me you're talking to. Just tell me. I'm dying to know."

My mind was churning. "Yeah. Me, too."

She gave a small laugh. "Good one."

"I'm not joking."

She paused. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. I'm dead serious. And you're the second person to call today." I felt like I was in the twilight zone or something. "I don't even know a Biff."

"Sure you do," she said. "Big guy, red hair, owns the garage off Maple."

"Sorry, I have no idea who you mean."

"Oh, come on. He's the guy with the snowplow. Wears a lot of flannel."

Finally, it clicked. "Ohhhhh. That Biff." I'd seen him around town, but until now, I hadn't known his name. Still, I had no idea what Cassie was talking about.

I asked, "So, what'd you hear?"

After a dramatic pause, Cassie said, "I heard that last night, you and some tattooed guy practically jacked your own car."

I almost dropped the phone. Jacked? What did that even mean? As far as the rest, I knew only one person with a tattoo – April. And yet somehow, I doubted that the butterfly on her ankle had anything to do with this fiasco, whatever it was.

"Wait a minute," I said. "Do you mean my car was stolen? You're kidding, right?"

Cassie hesitated. "You don't have it?"

"My car?" I wanted to cry. "No. I don't."

Cassie paused for a long, silent moment before saying, "Huh. That's odd."

It wasn't odd. It was a nightmare. Desperate for more information, I said, "Look, I'm totally clueless here. Can you just tell me what you know? Like start from the beginning or something?"

Her voice grew quiet. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I lied. "I'm just confused, that's all. So, will you just tell me? Please?"

"Alright," Cassie said. "This is what I heard. Late last night, Biff gets a knock on his door – not at the auto shop, but at his house. And it's some tattooed guy that Biff doesn't recognize. And this guy has a wad of cash, and he tells Biff he's there to pay the towing bill."

"What towing bill?"

"The one for your car. It was towed from some campground or something?"

I froze. The campground. Joel. Joel's brother. His other brother. A guy with tattoos. I heard myself say, "Oh, shit."

"What?"

My mind was racing. I recalled Joel standing on my doorstep. "I brought you something."

My gaze shifted toward the side of my house. There were several walls between me and what Joel had wanted to show me.

If I looked now, what would I see?

Cassie said, "Are you still there?"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. I’m listening."

"So anyway," Cassie continued, "Biff tells the guy, 'If you want the car, come by the shop at eight.' And the guy tells him, 'I've already got the car. I’m just here to settle the bill.' So Biff looks to the street, and sure enough, there's your car, idling in front of his house."

"So the car was running?

"Right," Cassie said. "And Biff sees you behind the wheel."

"But I wasn't." Walking slowly, like someone in a trance, I started moving toward the front door.

"Yeah, well, it was dark and all." Cassie paused. "Maybe he just assumed it was you. I mean, who else would be driving your car?" She perked up. "He said you waved out the window, all cheery like."

Absently, I murmured, "Uh-huh."

"So it was you?" Cassie gave a shaky laugh. "Wow, you almost had me there."

At this point, I hardly knew what to say. "But Biff was paid, right?"

"Not just paid," she said. "Double. In cash."

My front door was now within sight. I kept walking, slowly, with a mixture of anticipation and dread. I mumbled, "Double?"

"Yeah. For all the trouble. Or at least, that's what the guy told Biff."

"But he was still mad?"

"Biff? Not hardly." Cassie laughed. "He thought it was hilarious. I mean, yeah, he was surprised and all, but trust me, he wasn't complaining. I just saw him at the donut place. In fact, he was the one who told me."

"Uh-huh." Silently, I opened the front door and walked through it. I was afraid to look. And afraid to not look. Slowly, I inched toward the side of my house.

When I rounded the corner, I heard myself gasp. Sure enough, there it was – my car, parked exactly where Joel had indicated last night.

He'd called it a surprise.

Well, it was definitely that.