the moment. “Okay. But make that call. Don’t stand me up. Whatever you do, Jordan, please don’t stand me up.”
She closed the cell phone and glanced at her watch. If she left now, she might be able to meet Riley without arousing Caesar’s suspicions.
She headed for the door then remembered the excuse she’d given for coming here today. She couldn’t show up at Caesar’s place without Jeremy’s clothes.
Facing Jeremy’s empty bedroom was hard to do. For the first, she noticed what must have been there all along, right before her eyes. She’d been too caught up in her own worries to notice.
Jeremy’s closet was filled with expensive, designer shirts, shoes. Jeans that she knew cost several hundred dollars each. Stuffed in one corner, hidden under a pile of discarded sweaters and pullovers, most of which still contained their price tags, was a fifty inch 3-D TV, DVD player, IPad, and a very state-of-the-art laptop still in its box.
A s far as she knew, Jeremy was getting by on the small allowance she provided him and yet there was no way he’d been able to afford those types of luxuries on such a small amount of money. A quick search through Jeremy’s desk didn’t turn up any receipts for the items in question or any further insight into the last days of Jeremy’s life.
Slowly, Jordan sank onto the bed. “What had you gotten yourself involved in, Jer?” she whispered as if he could still hear her. She had to believe that somewhere in this room there would be some clue as to what Jeremy had gotten mixed up in that had ultimately cost him his life. She needed some explanation for her brother’s death because she still didn’t want to accept that Caesar was capable of such brutality.
Jeremy’s college books lay stacked haphazardly on the edge of the bed as if he’d dumped them there in haste. She picked the top one up and flipped through the pages. There were no notes. No turned down pages. It was almost as if Jeremy had never touched the book. She looked through the rest of them and found the same.
On an impulse, Jordan went back to his desk and booted up the inexpensive laptop she’d bought Jeremy his first year of high school. She searched through all the files and yet not a single homework assignment could be found. No class notes. Nothing. Jeremy had barely made it through high school. His grades had been marginal at best. He studied endless hours each night after school as well as most weekends just to pass. Without Jordan’s help, he’d never have gotten into NYU.
She dug through the papers on the desk until she found the number for NYU’s administration and ended up on hold. Once she’d gotten a live person and told her she needed to check on Jeremy’s schedule, the harried assistant put Jordan back on hold to look up Jeremy’s name.
Several minutes past while Jordan listened to MUZAC before the assistant came back on the line. “I’m sorry, but our records indicate Jeremy Scott dropped out last year.“
Jordan couldn’t believe what she ’d heard. “That can’t be. Are you sure? Could you check it again, please? Jeremy Scott, S-C-O-T-T. He’s enrolled this fall. There must be some mistake.” She could hear the sound of the assistant’s fingernails clacking against the keyboard.
“ No ma’am, there’s no mistake. I’m sorry. In fact, the tuition money was refunded over three months earlier. You should have received it by now.”
Jordan’s thoughts reeled. Why hadn’t Jeremy told her he’d dropped out? And where had the money gone that she’d given him just recently for fall tuition.
After rummaging t hrough Jeremy’s desk drawers, she found what she was looking for. An envelope from NYU’s accounting department. A letter explaining that the sum of money represented a refund for two classes canceled last spring.
The check she’d written at the beginning of the school year was stuffed inside the envelope as well.
Jordan’s gaze went to the designer labels
She closed the cell phone and glanced at her watch. If she left now, she might be able to meet Riley without arousing Caesar’s suspicions.
She headed for the door then remembered the excuse she’d given for coming here today. She couldn’t show up at Caesar’s place without Jeremy’s clothes.
Facing Jeremy’s empty bedroom was hard to do. For the first, she noticed what must have been there all along, right before her eyes. She’d been too caught up in her own worries to notice.
Jeremy’s closet was filled with expensive, designer shirts, shoes. Jeans that she knew cost several hundred dollars each. Stuffed in one corner, hidden under a pile of discarded sweaters and pullovers, most of which still contained their price tags, was a fifty inch 3-D TV, DVD player, IPad, and a very state-of-the-art laptop still in its box.
A s far as she knew, Jeremy was getting by on the small allowance she provided him and yet there was no way he’d been able to afford those types of luxuries on such a small amount of money. A quick search through Jeremy’s desk didn’t turn up any receipts for the items in question or any further insight into the last days of Jeremy’s life.
Slowly, Jordan sank onto the bed. “What had you gotten yourself involved in, Jer?” she whispered as if he could still hear her. She had to believe that somewhere in this room there would be some clue as to what Jeremy had gotten mixed up in that had ultimately cost him his life. She needed some explanation for her brother’s death because she still didn’t want to accept that Caesar was capable of such brutality.
Jeremy’s college books lay stacked haphazardly on the edge of the bed as if he’d dumped them there in haste. She picked the top one up and flipped through the pages. There were no notes. No turned down pages. It was almost as if Jeremy had never touched the book. She looked through the rest of them and found the same.
On an impulse, Jordan went back to his desk and booted up the inexpensive laptop she’d bought Jeremy his first year of high school. She searched through all the files and yet not a single homework assignment could be found. No class notes. Nothing. Jeremy had barely made it through high school. His grades had been marginal at best. He studied endless hours each night after school as well as most weekends just to pass. Without Jordan’s help, he’d never have gotten into NYU.
She dug through the papers on the desk until she found the number for NYU’s administration and ended up on hold. Once she’d gotten a live person and told her she needed to check on Jeremy’s schedule, the harried assistant put Jordan back on hold to look up Jeremy’s name.
Several minutes past while Jordan listened to MUZAC before the assistant came back on the line. “I’m sorry, but our records indicate Jeremy Scott dropped out last year.“
Jordan couldn’t believe what she ’d heard. “That can’t be. Are you sure? Could you check it again, please? Jeremy Scott, S-C-O-T-T. He’s enrolled this fall. There must be some mistake.” She could hear the sound of the assistant’s fingernails clacking against the keyboard.
“ No ma’am, there’s no mistake. I’m sorry. In fact, the tuition money was refunded over three months earlier. You should have received it by now.”
Jordan’s thoughts reeled. Why hadn’t Jeremy told her he’d dropped out? And where had the money gone that she’d given him just recently for fall tuition.
After rummaging t hrough Jeremy’s desk drawers, she found what she was looking for. An envelope from NYU’s accounting department. A letter explaining that the sum of money represented a refund for two classes canceled last spring.
The check she’d written at the beginning of the school year was stuffed inside the envelope as well.
Jordan’s gaze went to the designer labels
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