Someone grabbed the now-cold mug I had been holding and gently took it from me. I looked up and saw Jimmy looking at me with concern. "You okay?" he asked, settling next to me on the couch. "You never came to hang out with Lilly. We've been waiting a while."

I nodded and swallowed around the lump in my throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. Um, Jim?"

"Hmm?"

"Last night, at any point did you leave Ben alone with our stuff?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. I went to take a shower and was gone for about twenty minutes." He took my hand in his as he sat the empty cup on the nearby table. "Why do you ask?"

I shook my head. "I was just wondering." We were quiet for a long moment while Jimmy drew shapes on the back of my hand with his finger. "Did Ben leave the room last night?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Possibly. I went to sleep kind of early."

I nodded and leaned into his side, resting my head on his shoulder. We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. "Jim?"

"Hmm?"

"How much do you like our town?"

"Red Pine?" I nodded. "Hmm." His finger stilled for a moment before resuming the pattern. "It's okay, I guess. It's a place to live. Why?"

"Because I don't want to stay there. I want to leave, but I'd like it if you would come with me."

His finger stopped moving. "Where would you go?"

"I don't know. Anywhere that's not there. I haven't given it that much thought."

"Why do you want to go?"

I swallowed, trying to force the tears welling up to not escape. I didn't want to cry, not here. As I thought this, I realized that I didn't mind crying in front of him. That was new. "Because there's nothing but bad memories for me there."

"But that's where you met me," he said quietly, gently.

"That's one of the few good ones I have," I said just as quietly but with a small smile. I felt a tear leak out and roll down my cheek. "I lost my parents there. Everyone knows what my father did. Everyone judges me for it. Now I might lose Ben, too." I sniffled and turned my face so it was pressing into his sweater. "I especially don't want to stay because of that."

He shifted until his arms were around me. My tears were coming faster now, but they were still quiet. There were no sobs for once. Just the tears. One of his hands stroked up and down my back while he held me. He didn't say anything to me, which I was glad of. When my tears were stopped, I pushed him away slightly and looked at him. Right in that moment, I knew what I'd refused to tell myself when we were in school and when he was gone: I loved him. 

He gave me a small smile and leaned forward. I closed my eyes as he gave me a quick peck on my forehead. "I'll go anywhere you want," he whispered. "Just tell me when and where and I'll meet you there."

I kept my eyes closed, soaking in his words. If I'd had any tears left, I knew they probably would have joined the rest. But those tears? They'd be from sheer happiness.

---

Dinner that night was going to be at a fancy restaurant in nearby Boulder. It was some place I'd never heard of, and it was most of an hour from where we were staying. Ben claimed he knew someone who knew the owner and was able to get reservations at the last minute as a little bit of a surprise for us. 

Lilly and I were getting ready to go in our room, doing our hair and makeup, and she kept giving me these little knowing glances. After a few minutes I sighed. "What?" I asked.

"You and Jimmy are so cute together," she said, grinning. "When I found you two on that couch earlier you both looked so happy to be there."

I blushed, thankful that, under my foundation, she couldn't really see it. When she'd found us on the sofa, Jimmy still had an arm around me and my head was on his shoulder. "We were," I said quietly. 

A short while later, we were done and adding the final touches to our outfits before meeting the guys in the lobby. I was rather pleased with my outfit, if I was honest. My dress was a deep red with a sweetheart neckline and capped sleeves. The dress fit loosely, but a gold belt showed my waistline. A few gold and black touches later and I was very nervously walking down the hallway with Lilly. 

Ben and Jimmy were sitting in a couple of chairs around the fireplace, chatting. Lilly walked up to Ben and put a hand on his shoulder. "We're ready," she said. Ben nodded, stood, and, in a rare PDA moment, gave her a brief kiss.

I barely noticed this - I only had eyes for the look on Jimmy's face. He'd only seen me in a dress a handful of times, but never dressed up. His eyebrows rose and he stood slowly. I wanted to duck my head because of his intense stare, but I settled on lowering my head slightly, looking up at him through my lashes with a small smile.

"Let's go," Ben said, drawing our attention to himself. "We don't want to be late." His gaze went back and forth between us before settling on Jimmy with an intense look that I couldn't figure out.

Jimmy offered me his arm and I put on my coat before taking it. We followed Ben and Lilly to the car and he opened my door for me, even closing it once I was in. I smiled to myself as he walked around the car.

After an hour of holding hands in the back seat, we arrived at the restaurant. When we got in and were led to our seats, the waiter handed us our menus and walked away. The whole ride here and all day since Ben had sprung it on us this morning, I'd been ignoring the nagging thought in my head about where the money for all of this had come from, but now I couldn't stop it. Not when there were no prices on the menu. Just how much would this cost?

I looked at Ben. The force of my stare seemed to draw his attention, but the moment his eyes met mine he looked away. I knew he knew what I was thinking, but I don't think he realized how terrified I was of being right. 

When the waiter came around, Ben ordered food for all of us. Appetizers, entrees, wine for him and his wife, and desserts. It was a lot of food and by the time the dessert plates were taken to the kitchen, I was practically stuffed with delicious food and my eyelids were beginning to get heavy. 

Until the check came, that is. 

Ben didn't let any of us see how much he spent, not even Lilly. It was quite a lot, though. Even if I didn't suspect it already, his expression when he took one look at the bill told me everything I needed to know. I wanted to get mad at him, but I was too hurt to summon any anger. Thinking my brother was a thief hurt me, almost as much as thinking he tried to get me to crash hurt. It's all that was going through my mind from that moment until I went to bed that night, and then it kept me up for hours. 

When Lilly and I got up at seven the next morning, it was still weighing on me. I hurriedly put all my stuff in my suitcase, changed, and told her, "I'm going for a quick run before breakfast."

She frowned, but told me, "Okay, then. Be careful and don't fall again."

"I won't," I said as I left the room. 

---

The ride home was a long one for me. Jimmy was a help, as holding his hand while he ran his thumb across the back of mine and occasionally kissing the back of it was a decent distraction from my thoughts. 

Once we'd reached Red Pine I could breathe a little easier. I knew I'd be seeing Kev soon, and he would be able to tell me which officers I'd need to watch out for. Not to mention that I'd have to sneak back into Rob's office eventually and get the rest of the footage I needed. Or that I'd be able to get away from my brother for a little while. 

I also had my new job to look forward to, though that would hinder my objectives slightly.  But at least I'll be working towards another goal of mine.

I stayed home all the rest of the day once we got back, just relaxing, thinking, and working on my skateboard. The next morning, I showed up at the music store at eight sharp and Mr. Buckley was waiting for me behind the counter. 

The morning was spent showing me how to sell to customers, a rundown of the regulars and what they'll likely need, who to not sell to, and how to run the register. By lunchtime I was kind of mentally fatigued since it was a lot of information, so I was glad when he told me to go home for the rest of the day. 

As I was walking home I saw Rob heading back to his office. I'd missed my chance today, but not tomorrow. I wouldn't have to be back until after lunch, so I was going to get that video. I had to.

---

Kev was hanging his scarf up as Lilly was offering to make some coffee, even though I told her he was coming by.

"Lil, it's fine," he said with a smile. "You don't have to do that."

"But if you want some, I want to make some," she said. With a glance out the door, she added, "It's cold out there."

"Lil, make some coffee," I told her, knowing that if I let this go on I'd never show Kev the video and we'd never have coffee. "We're going to be in my room." 

She raised an eyebrow at me but went into the kitchen. I led Kev to my room and pulled out my desk chair for him. "You just need to hit play," I told him as he sat. "I can't watch, so just let me know what you know." I flopped onto my bed as he started the video.

There was a low level of sound to the video, I'd discovered. I listened to it and turned it up but I couldn't hear anything except a phone ringing not long after Ben had left his desk. 

I closed my eyes and listened to myself breathe while I waited for Kev to say something. It felt like it was going on forever, even though I knew it couldn't have been that long. At some point I heard Lilly come down the hallway. I cracked one eye open in time to see her poke her head in through my open door. She eyed Kev for a moment, but he was angled so she couldn't see my laptop screen.

"There's coffee in the kitchen," she said.

Kev nodded, obviously distracted. "Thanks, Lil," he said absently.

She looked at me and I nodded, too, closing my eye. "I'll get some when we're done," I told her.

"Don't take too long," she said before disappearing. 

As her footsteps retreated I heard Kev shift in my office chair. "I know them," he said.

My eyes popped open and in a second I was standing next to him. The video was paused where the faces of the officers could be seen the best. He pointed at the one on the left. "Jerry Cook." He pointed at the one on the right. "Mac O'Shay." He turned to me. "They're actually the ones assigned to investigate the case."

Our eyes met. This was huge. "So the officers that know what's up are investigating it," I said.

He nodded slowly. "They are." He glanced at the screen. "I don't know how that happened. It's usually someone else that gets assigned." He frowned and turned to me. "I'll look into it, but I can't promise you anything."

"Just do your best," I told him as I walked to my door. "It's what I'm doing."