40: Beans

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Olivia doesn't say a word

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Olivia doesn't say a word. Well, not to us at least. She mutters to herself as she paces back and forth in my room, her hands linked behind her back. Suddenly, she huffs and throws her hands in the air.

"My parents are criminals," she says, nodding to herself.

I tilt my head to the side. "How did you go from I know why Jason texted me to this?"

"That's your question?" Kal asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

"It's a good question," Eliza agrees. "But please enlighten us, Olivia. Why are your parents criminals?"

Olivia rushes to my door, cracks it open and pokes her head out at the corridor. "Okay, coast is clear," she mumbles before she closes the door again and sits down, her back against it. "Apparently, my parents are the reason why all those drug dealers aren't in jail."

Eliza's eyes widen. "Your parents' clients are drug dealers? That's why you're rich?"

I shoot my sister a glare. She gives me a quick apologetic smile before turning back to Olivia.

"Are you sure?"

Olivia shrugs. "My parents have been arguing all summer. I assumed one of them was cheating, but I never heard anything about another man or a woman and none of them threw vases at the other."

Kal lifts his index finger. "Wait, what do the vases have to do with-" he shakes his head. "Never mind. So, your parents were arguing about their clients?"

Olivia nods. "My dad didn't want to work with someone, and my mum made a huge deal about it. She was shouting that he didn't care about his family, so I thought she was being cheap." Her gaze drops to the floor. "It didn't cross my mind they were trying to protect us, each with their own way."

I open my mouth to say something, but my head is empty of things to say. Olivia's relationship with her parents has been balancing on a tight rope ever since I can remember.

"Yeah, right," Olivia mutters. "They aren't the only lawyers in town. If they didn't want the money, they never would have worked with them and they would have bothered someone else."

Eliza cracks her knuckles. "How would Jason know about it, though? And how can your parents help him get out of wherever he is?"

Kals nods towards Eliza. "Right. Maybe he has no idea about your parents. Maybe he just tapped at random and it happened to be you."

Olivia shakes her head. "No. Jason and I hadn't talked in days. I was nowhere near the top of his contacts."

A memory flashes in my mind, making a figurative lightbulb turn on above my head. Jason has mentioned there are far too many people involved in the circuit. People I wouldn't want want to know are in it. He could be talking about Olivia's parents.

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