Shelby and I barely spoke all day at work. Her consistently bubbly nature was absent, and people noticed.

As she counts the register and I turn the sign around in the window after closing, she asks, “Have you heard from him yet?”

“Bobby?”

“No, Ben. Did he call or text you? Did his uncle find your brother? I would think you’d have told me if he called but since you don’t tell me important things I didn’t want to assume.”

Rolling my eyes I mutter, “He texted the search was still on.”

Shelby exhales through her nose and keeps counting.

I walk from room to room and turn the lights out.

She doesn’t even have the music playing. It’s as if we’re working in a morgue. “Did you sleep last night, Shelbs?”

“No. You?”

“Not at all.”

She glances up from the money. “You look sick.”

“I haven’t eaten.”

Her eyebrows twitch as she goes back to counting, as if to say I deserve this. “I should have told you.”

“Ya think?” she saltily mutters. “I can’t believe you kept all this from me.”

“It’s not like you and Carter have room for us. And up until last week I thought we had enough money to get by and beg the landlord for another month of patience. But then Bobby gambled the money he’d just earned on some small house painting job, so what was I going to do?”

She shoves the register closed. “You know, you’ve always said I’m family to you but you don’t treat me like that when it comes to your blood family.”

“Shelby…”

“NO! It’s true, and it makes me feel like shit. If you have problems I want to know about them. That’s what best friends are for.”

Walking to my purse I mumble, “Then it would have been both of us feeling awful. It’s not like you had the money to loan me.”

“Well I ended up giving you guys all the money I had anyway, now didn’t I!” She grabs her purse as she passes me for the door like she can’t get away fast enough. Whipping around she jams a finger in my face. “He took my debit card! He violated me, Paige. We were up on that roof laughing and acting like friends and the whole time he had everything I earned in his pocket! It’s so shitty I can’t even wrap my head around it.”

“I know, it’s a disease.”

“Fuck that!” she snaps, bursting out the door.

I follow her, “Shelby, don’t give up on me!”

Throwing her arms up she shakes her head. “I haven’t called my bank to tell them it’s gone yet, because I love you that much. I’m giving you and Ben this chance to find that fucking thief and then I really don’t know what’s going to happen with you and me. I’m just…I’m really hurt. I’m dying here.” She walks to her car and climbs in as I watch, helpless.

Locking up the studio I stare inside and see the ghost of our dance party that happened less than a week ago. And now look where we are.

My phone rings as I climb into my dented old car. I jump to answer and see Ben’s name on the screen. “Did he find my brother?”

“My uncle finally heard back from his friend in the police department. There are three illegal games happening now, but one has been going nonstop for over a week.”

“That’s probably the one he was at before. It’s gotta be how he knew where to go.”

“We’re going to check it out tonight when my uncle can get away. My Aunt Jaimie has a charity dinner at The Atlanta Women’s Foundation and he’s going to head out as soon as she leaves.”

“He doesn’t want her to worry,” I whisper, staring out my windshield. “Why is he doing this for me?”

“Because I asked him to.”

“Ben,” I groan, laying my head on the steering wheel. “Thank you.”

“I’ll call you after, tell you if we got him or not.”

“I have to be there! I’m going with you!”

“Paige, that’s not a good idea. These illegal games are dangerous.”

“That’s why I have to be there, Ben! If anything happens to Bobby…Don’t leave me out of this.”

After a moment of silence he exhales. “Fine. I’ll text you when I’m on the way to pick you up. I don’t know exactly when but it will be sometime after eight.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Thanking him and hanging up I call Shelby. She waits until the last ring to answer which means she didn’t want to. “Yeah?”

“They might have found him. We’re going tonight to see, and I didn’t want to leave you out.”

“I’m coming with!”