And yet, this was a lot sticker than I'd ever envisioned.
I was still trying to come up with a decent response when Jack said, "Good idea."
I turned and gave Jack a questioning look. "It is?"
"Sure," he said. "I bet they'd love to see those vials in the bottom drawer."
I wasn't following. "What vials?"
Jack replied, "Ask your roommate."
I looked to Nicky. "What does he mean?"
Nicky gave a hard swallow. "Nothing."
With something that looked suspiciously like amusement, Jack said, "It didn't look like nothing to me. So tell me, who's Edna?"
Nicky made a sorry attempt at shaking his head. "What?"
"Edna Flake," Jack said. "The name on a prescription."
"She's, uh, my grandma."
"Nope. Try again."
"Hey!" Nicky sputtered. "I think I'd know my own grandma's name."
"Yeah?" Jack said. "And what about Marcus Jones? Or Jan Corben?"
Nicky tried – and failed – to look clueless. "What?"
"Or Maurice Brooks?" Jack said. "Is he your grandma, too?"
Nicky sucked in a ragged breath. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Oddly enough,Idid. It wasn't hard to figure out that Nicky was collecting prescriptions and plenty of them.But where on Earth was he getting them?
Jack gave Nicky a cold smile. "Right."
Nicky turned accusing eyes in my direction. "What the fuck? You went through my stuff?"
Technically, I hadn't. But that was beside the point. "Even if I did," I said, "at least I didn't steal anything."Unlike you.
But I didn’t say that last part, because even now, I couldn't be completely sure that Nicky was the one who'd robbed me. Still, hewasmy number-one suspect, which went a long way in explaining why my sympathy was running low.
I hated thieves, especially after my stepdad had robbed half the town with his shady dealings.
Jack spoke up. "Hey asshole. You're not talking toher. You're talking tome. Remember?"
As Nicky nodded, I stared stupidly from the sidelines. I wanted to say something to dial things down, but I didn't know what. For all of Jack's menace, he looked in absolute control, which only made him ten times more terrifying.
Again, I asked myself whowashe, really? At that moment, I had no idea.
I edged closer to Jack and said, "Maybe you should let go – of his throat, I mean."
With a low scoff, he replied, "Yeah? Why's that?"
Wasn't it obvious?"Because it's hard for us to talk when you're choking him."
