Blood on My Hands

right. I’d given up Slade to be in the IC. Now the IC was all I had.
    But to stay in the IC, I had to tell Mia she could no longer sit at our table. That meant I’d have to accept my role as Katherine’s gofer … for as long as she wanted.
    Was that who I wanted to be?

Chapter 34
    Tuesday 5:42 P.M.
    I’M HOLDING MY breath underwater. Something pokes gently at my arm, and I slowly glide up to the surface to see what it is. I splash into consciousness and blink. It’s dark. I’m lying on the backseat of a car.… Wait, now I remember.… It’s Slade’s truck. A shadowy face tilts over the front seat, looking down at me.
    “Uh, excuse me,” he begins before I turn fully toward him, “but what—” In the shock of recognition, he catches himself. “Cal!” His voice rises and I sleepily press my finger to my lips. He twists his head around as if looking through the windows to make sure no one heard him, then whispers harshly, “Are you crazy?”
    “I need your help.”
    “For God’s sake!” He looks around again, then back at me as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing.
    “Please, Slade.” I start to sit up.
    “Stay down!”
    I do as he says. I wish he were happy to see me instead of irate.
    “Slade, I know you’re still upset—”
    “You don’t know anything!”
    “Does it have something to do with this?” I lift the panty hose up to his eye level.
    He twitches with surprise, then frowns. “Where’d you find that?”
    “On the floor back here. Is this what you wanted to tell me about this morning?”
    The frown becomes a scowl. “What are you talking about?”
    “That there’s someone else?”
    His eyes leave mine. “That’s not what I wanted to tell you.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “I think I’d know,” he answers. Now his forehead bunches. “Is that Alyssa’s sweatshirt?”
    I nod.
    “How’d you …?” he begins, then realizes the answer. “You went into my house?”
    “I was hungry and dirty and needed a new disguise.”
    He shakes his head. “You are a piece of work, Cal.”
    “Please don’t be angry,” I whisper, nearly begging.
    That seems to take the anger away. Slade leans his forehead against the headrest. I stay low in the backseat and wonder what he’s thinking. I wonder what I’m thinking. Nothing, really. I’m just here for now, happy to be with him, to feel connected to him.
    Not knowing what else to say, I ask, “How’s the preparation going?”
    He raises his eyes over the headrest. “Well enough to fake it. Congresswoman Jenkins will come and make a speech. They’ll take pictures and video for the news. As soon as the crowd leaves, we’ll come back in and finish the job.”
    I forgot that Dakota’s mother is going to preside over the official opening tomorrow morning. She’ll be right here, in the town center.…
    I have a crazy, desperate idea.
    “I have to see her.”
    “Who?”
    “Dakota’s mom.”
    Slade stares at me. “You really are out of your mind.”
    “Yes. Next question?”
    “Seriously, Shrimp, it ain’t happening.”
    But the more I think about it, the more certain I am that it’s probably my last chance. If I can sow a seed of doubt in Congresswoman Jenkins’s mind … “It could happen … if you’ll help me.”
    “Sorry. No way.”
    “Why not?”
    Slade sighs with frustration and runs his fingers through his hair. He doesn’t seem to have a reason, other than, like me, he must realize how crazy and risky it is.
    “What if it’s the only way I can prove I’m innocent?” I ask.
    He turns away and gazes out the window. Why should he risk being arrested for me? True, he’s already helped me, but I’m the only person who knows that and I swore I’d never tell. And I never will. Not after what I’ve already done to him.
    But I can’t do this alone. I have to convince him to help me. “If I can get Griffen Clemment to testify that Dakota sent him death threats that mentioned killing Katherine, then all I have to do is get Congresswoman Jenkins to check the knives in her kitchen. And if she does that, she’s going to find that one of the knives is missing. Because it’s in police custody as evidence.”
    Slade looks at me and raises an eyebrow. “You think Dakota would be stupid enough to take a knife from her own kitchen and use it to kill Katherine? As if no one would think to check?”
    “I—I’m just saying it’s possible,” I stammer meekly. “I mean, I saw the knife. It was the same