The Thrashers(85)

Lucy let the curtain close behind her, and Zack took her chair. “You okay?”

“Dandy. And Kiera?” She was proud of herself for controlling her voice.

He ran a hand through his hair. “She’s physically fine. But she’s … she’s really freaked out about thinking she saw Emily on that bridge.”

Jodi nodded, scrunching the sheets between her fingers.

Zack sat with her while the doctor checked in and discussed discharging her. When they were gone, he pulled out his phone.

“I’ll text Julian, let him know you’re alright.”

Jodi’s eye twitched. “Yeah, okay.”

Zack shook his head as his thumbs moved. “I’ve never seen anyone move that fast. He had to stop the truck, put it in park, and he still made it down to the riverbank before I did. I’m glad you two are finally getting along.”

“Who said we’re getting along?” There was an edge to her voice she didn’t like. “He probably just went into lifeguard mode.”

Zack dropped it with a shrug.

Jodi felt irritation swirling in her chest, bubbling next to her broken rib. She blamed the painkillers for opening her mouth.

“Why was Kiera even there today, Zack?”

He glanced up at her with unguarded, curious eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, why did you invite her to hang out while I was in my deposition?” She leveled a hard stare at him. “Why did she have to be a part of that today? Did you really think I’d sit down at dinner and tell all of you what happened at the courthouse while Kiera was sitting there?”

Zack’s gaze flickered over her. He seemed to struggle for words, opening and closing his mouth. “I don’t … I guess I don’t see what the problem is?”

Jodi’s brows jumped to her hairline. “You don’t?”

“No?” He rubbed the back of his neck. “She’s cool, Jodi. Like, she’s not going to tell anyone anything we talk about.”

“For how long?”

“What?”

“For how long will she keep all our secrets, Zack?” Jodi’s voice was hard-edged. “As long as you’re flirting with her? As long as she gets to hang out with the Thrashers? At least until prom, I’m sure, as long as you’re taking her.” She felt her face heat. Zack frowned at her. “What do you think happens when you’re done with her? Does she still keep these confidential, legal secrets then?”

Zack sat back in his chair, his mouth pressed in a thin line. “You’re starting to sound like the rest of them. Julian, and Lucy, and Paige. You used to be the only one who didn’t think the worst of people.”

“Oh, I always thought it. I just was too afraid to tell you the truth,” Jodi said. She felt the words pouring out of her like water. “Too afraid I’d get Thrashed if I said something you didn’t like.”

He stared at her, confusion and mild disgust warring on his face. Sighing in the back of his throat, he lifted his hands to rub his eyes. “What are you even talking about? Why would you use that word?”

“Because you do call the shots, Zack,” she said. Her heart was in her throat. “You wanted Julian to come on our Six Flags trip in eighth grade, so he did. You wanted Paige and Lucy to start doing everything with us, so now they do. I didn’t ask for any of these people to be my closest friends, but now I have them. I don’t have anything in common with them except that we all want to be around you.”

“And so, what?” he said sharply. “You all get jealous when I try to introduce someone new? Is that it?” He sat forward, his eyes pleading with her almost. “I don’t decide when someone gets Thrashed. That’s all of you. You’re the ones telling me when someone is no good or when they annoy you or when you don’t want them at your parties.”

Jodi shook her head in frustration, looking away from him. “Okay. Fine, if you think that’s the truth. Just please stop treating Kiera like someone who will be here for the long haul. You have no idea if she will be. And you’re an idiot if you think we can talk about the cases with someone you’ve known for five minutes.”

Jodi felt heat in her cheeks and lips, hot anger and embarrassment rising.

Zack took a deep breath and sounded resigned when he said, “Yeah. Okay. I don’t think it will be a problem. She said she didn’t really want to spend time with us anymore after what happened today. And after the rose garden.”

Pressing her lips together, Jodi bit out, “Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”

A puff of air burst from Zack’s mouth, and she looked over to see him laughing. “No, you’re not.”

She smiled. “No, I’m not.” He laughed again. “Zack, she had no discernible personality. I mean, what the hell?”

“Yes, she did!”

“‘Rich, pretty, and obsessed with you’ is not a personality,” Jodi said, laughing, too.

“Are you kidding? It’s my favorite type of person,” Zack joked, and Jodi hit him with her limp hospital pillow.



* * *



The thing about driving your car off a bridge is that you’re grateful to be alive, but everything else is one hundred times more difficult.

Jodi’s phone was gone. It was at the bottom of the American River, along with her wallet. They would send a team to get the car out, but the first priority wasn’t recovering possessions.