And sooner rather than later.
It was time to dial it up a notch. I told her, "You can't quit."
"Why not?"
"Because if you do, I'll give you a shitty evaluation."
Her jaw dropped. "What?"
"The college credit," I said. "Your grade depends on what I say."
She looked at me like I was the biggest piece of shit on the planet. "Are you seriously threatening me?"
I put on my best poker face. "It's not a threat if it's true."
"What?" she sputtered.
"Look, if you quit with no notice, what am I supposed to say? Am I supposed to tell your professor that you finished the gig when you didn't?"
She frowned. "But the summer semester's already over."
"Yeah so?"
"So you gave me a glowing review. I earned that. And you know it."
"Yeah, but like you said, the summer's over."
"So?"
"New semester, new grade, which means, if you wantanothergood review, you'll get on that plane."
"You can't be serious." She looked like she wanted to slap me. And I couldn't say I blamed her. But sometimes things needed doing. And this was one of those times.
When I said nothing in response, she gave a slow shake of her head. "I swear, I don't even know you right now."
Good.And if things went South, she could tell everyone what a dick I was –withoutneeding to lie.
With a tight shrug, I replied, "Yeah, well, things happen. But I'm still not gonna lie to your professor."
"Oh, sonowyou care about ethics?"
I cared.
I never stopped caring.
But some ethics were murkier than others. And right now, I'd do just about anything to get her on that jet.
We were wasting time.
I said, "You've got a passport, right?" I knew the answer, but I wanted to get her thinking in the right direction – to the future, not to the past.
She slumped deeper in the booth. "I guess."
There was no guessing involved. A few months ago, Flynn had made sure that both sisters had passports at the ready, just in case.
He'd been thinking of family vacations. But me, I was in a different mode. It was time to seal the deal and be done with it –beforeI changed my mind.
Across from me, she was saying, "But I don't even have it on me – the passport, I mean."
