Page 33 of Lead Me On
Until now.
Chase watched her patiently. She didn’t want to tell him. But even dressed as she was, he didn’t seem to recognize the truth about her. He didn’t point and call her a slut. To him,thisperson was the disguise.
She took a deep breath and blurted out, “My brother Jessie’s in trouble.”
“Jessie,” he said, frowning, as if he’d never heard of her brother. Thank God.
“He’s in trouble and I’m trying to help him out of it.”
“What’s going on, Jane?”
She bit her lip, thinking. “You can’t tell anyone.”
“I’m the soul of discretion.”
Jane glanced nervously around. Jessie’s two best friends were still there, living it up, totally unconcerned with their friend’s incarceration. What jackasses. They were a little blurry to her, but she could clearly see the way they laughed and pushed each other and hooted at every girl who strolled past. Within thirty seconds of approaching them, Jane had been propositioned in the least appealing way.Hey, you ever taken it from both ends at once?
Good God. There wasn’t an ounce of subtlety between them. They didn’t seem capable of stealing car stereos, much less dealing drugs.
“My brother Jessie’s been arrested. I think the police are trying to set him up for something he didn’t do.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. I was hoping his friends might know something. Or I thought they might give something away. They’re obviously Dumb and Dumber.”
Chase craned his neck to see where she was looking. “Those two guys you were dancing with?”
“Yes.”
“You want me to see if I can strike up a conversation?”
Did she? Jane considered his offer carefully, but the further she moved down this insane path, the more ridiculous it seemed. She’d clearly come here tonight out of a crazed need to do something. Anything. Even if it meant dressing up like a floozy and flirting with losers and pissing off her stepdad.
A distracted waitress slapped two plates on the table and hurried away.
Jane sighed. “No, thanks. Mac was right. This was a stupid idea and I don’t know what I’m doing here. I’m tilting at windmills.”
“You’re what?”
“Flailing. Uselessly.”
Chase ignored his burger and reached for her hand. “This is why you were so upset yesterday, right? I wish you’d told me. I’ll help if I can. You seem a little out of your element.”
Did she? Well, that was really nice of him to say. “Thank you.”
He let go of her hand and reached for the greasy burger. “So why do you suspect the police are setting him up for something?”
“They found him with stolen goods, but they’re asking him questions about a woman he doesn’t know.”
“That’s it?”
She shrugged and pushed a French fry around on her plate. “Innocent people get convicted all the time.”
“You think so?”
Yeah, she sure did.
Jane finally took a bite of her burger. Salt and fat flooded her tongue, an abrupt reminder that she’d skipped lunch today. Her body went limp with relief. Maybe she hadn’t been thinking clearly. She hadn’t slept well since Saturday. She’d been skipping meals to make phone calls and do research. Now she was trying to help her brother by starring in a bad movie about the good girl who goes undercover.
