Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
“Where do I start?” she grumbled. “First off, I had a boatload of student loans. Going to UT isn’t cheap, and my parents were middle-class. They couldn’t afford to pay for my college, so I took out a ton of student loans. But back then, I was just thinking about getting through college. Didn’t work. Used my loans to pay for things I didn’t need. But as soon as I was graduated and getting my first real job, my brother, Romeo, was accused of attempted murder. Long story short, lawyer fees are astronomical, and Mom, Dad, and I all borrowed a lot of money to help pay his lawyer fees, and that didn’t go well. I stopped paying my student loans to start paying the other loans, and now I’m just so far over my head with loans and interest that I’m having a hard time keeping up.”
“Student loans are a scam,” I admitted.
Plus, she didn’t know it yet, but all her student loan debt was going to be wiped soon.
I’d make sure to do it in a way that it appeared they were paid off in full, however.
I’d already planned on fixing her credit.
Why not wipe away the loans, too?
As for her personal loans…well, those could be taken care of in other ways.
Lawyers were fucking sharks, and they took advantage of those in need sometimes when they shouldn’t.
I’d have to go back into the lawyer’s notes to see if he was worthy of being paid back. I knew the loans were through the law firm itself—what a racket they had going on.
“Don’t businesses sometimes pay back student loans?” I asked.
“I tried that,” she admitted. “They normally would, but my interest is over the top.”
Well, that was a good way to cover the story up on how her debts got paid.
“Try again,” I urged. “Maybe they’ll at least help.”
She nodded. “I could at least try.”
I thought about the day I had ahead of me and said, “What would it take to persuade you to take the day off?”
She hesitated. “What are you doing exactly that you think you need me to stay?”
I swallowed hard and then said, “Planning the funeral of two of my best friends…and identifying a body.”
Her breath hitched. “They don’t have any family?”
“I was their family.” I cleared my throat. “I was all they have. And they were all I had.”
Just thinking about them no longer being here felt like I couldn’t draw a complete breath.
“Oh, Finnian,” she murmured as she leaned up. “I’ll stay. I didn’t know.”
I cleared my throat. “I feel weak for even asking but…”
She sat up and pointed at the shower. “My shower’s the size of a postage stamp, but I think we can still fit in there together. I’ll get ready, then we can go to your place to change. And then we can go. I just have to call and say I won’t be picking up that shift after all.”
“Do that now, and I’ll get the shower turned on.”
So she did, and we enjoyed a shower where I pretended that today wasn’t going to be one of the worst days of my life.
Thirteen
I’m not proud of being crazy, but I’m not ashamed of it either.
—Dru’s secret thoughts
DRU
I’d never been to a morgue before.
I’d seen plenty of dead bodies, of course. But I’d never gone to a morgue specifically to identify a body.
Or, a body that was torn in two.
I stopped Finnian from going back because I wanted to get a good look at Elaine before he did, so I could prepare him.
But once I did, I knew that I couldn’t let him go back.
The woman was traumatized.
There was no way I was letting him see her like this.
I caught a look at the report that was on the chart, and I gritted my teeth.
Fifteen weeks pregnant.
Fucking, god.
That was something he didn’t need to know.
I moved the chart, shoving it on another table in the corner of the room, then covered Elaine up with a sheet, pulling it all the way up to her chin.
He didn’t need to see any more than that.
I was horrified that we’d come in the middle of the autopsy.
If we’d been a little bit later, they might’ve been done and we wouldn’t have had to identify the body in the middle of the worst possible time.
The doctor was outside talking to Finnian about what he would see, but I chose to push everything he was using out of the way and cover her up completely.
Then I started to fix her hair.
That was what I was doing when she came in with him.
The doctor cleared her throat, and I smiled sheepishly at her before giving her a look.
She understood and stepped out for us to have some time with Elaine.
Because it was most definitely Elaine.
“It’s her?” he croaked from all the way across the room.