She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be - J.D. Barker Page 0,125

some way to tie you into this mess at the house on Milburn, they’ll lump you in with Bellino and the mess he’s been building around himself. They want you off the streets and tucked away somewhere.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“They don’t care.”

Matteo slid today’s Post-Gazette across the table to me. A before and after picture of Stella’s house covered most of the front page. “Four dead cops in this fire, twenty-one dead the day before, including a dead detective, one who specifically painted a target on your back. They all think you’re deep in this.”

And Stella was gone, my mind whispered. Missing. Taken. Dead? Gone.

“If the police don’t put you in a box somewhere, this bullshit drinking of yours surely will,” Matteo went on. “My gut says they’re building a case, waiting for you to turn eighteen in January, then they’ll pounce. They charge you with something now and they risk you being tried as a minor. Better to take the next four months and build a solid case. That’s what I would do.”

“I haven’t done anything,” I said again.

This time, he didn’t reply.

Willy spoke next. “Penn State,” he said in a low voice.

Matteo looked up at him. “What?”

“My parents want me to go to Penn State when I graduate.”

Matteo rolled his eyes. “And like I told you, the trust will cover the cost of your tuition as long as you help get Jack in there, too. You’re doing a bang-up job of that, Mr. Trudeau. Those bloodshot eyes of his scream ‘college material.’ Nothing like a solid arrest record to seal up those entrance applications, too. Bang-up job. So proud of the both of you.”

Willy continued to stare at his hands. “We don’t have to wait until next fall. We could go now. We both have enough AP credits. We could take the GED and graduate high school early. They’re offering the SAT in Harrisburg next Thursday. I confirmed this morning. It’s tight, but we could be enrolled at Penn by spring. Fall semester already started, but I’m sure we could make spring.”

Matteo settled back in his chair and mulled this over. “That could work.”

“New friends, new environment, new challenges,” Willy went on. “He stays here and this gets worse, you know it will.”

“I’m not leaving,” I said softly.

“She blew you off, Jack. She played you, and now she’s gone,” Willy said. “Have you shown him the letter?”

Matteo narrowed his eyes. “What letter?”

I glared at Willy. He had no business bringing up the letter. He didn’t understand. He couldn’t—

“Hand it over,” Matteo said, reaching across the table.

I eyeballed him for a second, then dug the letter out of my pocket.

The scent of vanilla filled the room as he unfolded it and read aloud.

Matteo frowned when he finished. “Pip? Like that book, Oliver Twist?”

“Great Expectations,” I corrected him.

“Who is Stella?”

“Just a girl.”

Willy sighed. “Not just a girl. A girl who seriously mind-fucked him for half his life. She lived in the house on Milburn.”

He went on to tell him all he knew. It wasn’t everything, not by far, but it was enough.

“All this bullshit is about a girl?” Matteo asked when Willy had finished. “Have the police seen this?” He waved the letter.

I shook my head.

He shoved the letter back at me. “Good. Put it away somewhere safe. If they try to charge you with something, we might be able to use it to muddy the water. I bet I could build an entire defense around that.”

Matteo nodded at Willy. “Take a walk. Give us a minute.”

Willy glanced at me, then rose and left the room, closing the conference room door behind him.

When he was gone, Matteo rolled his chair closer to mine. “I can’t begin to understand everything you’ve been through, so I’m not going to pretend that I do. I know you’re a good kid. Your aunt raved about you. You’re also a smart kid. That’s in your eyes. Bloodshot or not. You know you’re at a crossroads here. You stay in Pittsburgh surrounded by all these bad things, and more bad things are going to happen. You have money. You have friends who care about you. I think Willy is right. Get out of town. Put all of this in your rearview mirror. Forget the girl. Girls will mess with your head your entire life. That’s what they do. They’re fucking good at it. Get it all behind you, and start over someplace fresh. Your aunt busted her hump to make sure you had a better life.