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At the mention of lessons, Kerry rolled her eyes. “Oh, those. They were rough. But you learned to swim, right?” She turned to Tommy.
“I sank to the bottom of the pool once, but I lived.” Tommy’s voice was flat.
“But I saved you. It’s not my fault you sank right when I was talking to the teacher.”
Tommy shrugged and started coloring again.
“Either way,” Kerry continued as she turned back to me, “that is a weird coincidence, I’ll admit. I heard a few rumblings about the grant going quiet. I couldn’t comment on Facebook posts because I was in the water all the time, but it was concerning.”
“As far as I can tell, it’s back online now.”
“Even weirder,” she said. “But it really isn’t me, Jade. Would I save the town if I could? Yes. But I would buy a new car first.”
I huffed out a breath. “Of course.”
“What ideas do you have?”
“So you can take my investigation from me?”
“So I can help. I won’t take it.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not!” The color on her cheeks gave her away. “Seriously, do you have any leads?”
“I thought I did.” I crossed my arms and leaned back. “They covered their tracks really well.”
“I’ve thought a lot about this too.”
“You have?”
“Money coming from nowhere? We all have. It’s too good to be true.”
“Did you find anything?”
“It’s all been made in the last seven years. It’s all been hidden behind a website with no information.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“We might just be lucky. And we should use every second of it to get back on our feet.”
“Just luck?” I sigh. “That’s not a very good ending.”
“We don’t always get exciting endings, Jade.”
“I know,” I muttered, looking out the window in the direction of Gabriel’s apartment.
“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”
“If I say no, will you believe me?”
“I’ll pretend to.” Kerry gave me a smile. “You should get some rest. You look tired.”
“It’s only six.”
“Yeah. But it’s been a tough few weeks for you.”
I knew that Kerry would tell everyone this, but it was nice to hear her be kind to me. I nodded and stood, numbly going to my apartment.
