The Bad Daughter(104)

“That’s what I thought, but then Robin said—”

“I don’t give a shit what Robin said. You’re not going.”

“I am going. I’ve always wanted to live in L.A. You know that. This is my big chance. I’m gonna be a famous model, like Kate Upton.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I am, and you can’t stop me.”

Next she heard the sound of a chair crashing to the floor. “Wanna bet?”

“Sit down. You’re drunk.”

“What’s going on in here?” Robin asked, taking a deep breath as she straightened her shoulders and pushed herself into the room.

“Nothing,” Cassidy said, her voice heavy with disgust. “Kenny’s just being weird.”

Kenny was standing beside the kitchen table, an upturned chair at his feet, a freshly opened bottle of beer in his hand. He quickly righted the chair and plopped down across from where Cassidy was sitting. Robin thought he looked even worse than when she’d seen him earlier, the cocktail of drugs and alcohol in his system wreaking havoc with his focus, his eyes seeming to dart in all directions at once. Cassidy, on the other hand, looked cool and unfazed.

What’s wrong with this picture? Robin found herself thinking.

“Cassidy tells me it’s a done deal,” Kenny said. “That she’s going to L.A. with you.” He sniffed and scratched the side of his nose. “When exactly are you planning to take off?”

“That will depend,” Robin said, wondering what other drugs he’d taken in the last hour.

“On what?”

“On what happens with Daddy and Landon,” Cassidy told him, filling Kenny in on the search of Landon’s room and his arrest.

Kenny made a sound halfway between a scoff and a laugh. “No kidding. Landon was one of the shooters?” He took a long sip of his beer. “To be honest, I have to say I’m not all that surprised.”

Robin waited for him to elaborate. “What do you mean, you’re not surprised?” she asked when he didn’t. “I thought you two were friends.”

“We are. But, well, he’s got a temper. And you gotta admit, he’s not exactly operating with a full deck.”

“Just because he’s autistic doesn’t mean he’s stupid,” Robin said, hearing echoes of her sister in her voice.

Kenny shrugged and took another swig of his beer.

What am I missing?

“A little early to be drinking, isn’t it?”

Kenny laughed. “Not where I come from. My daddy used to start drinking before he even got out of bed in the morning. My mama wasn’t far behind.” He took another long swallow, as if to underline his point.

“Where are they now?”

“My parents?” Kenny looked toward the mudroom, as if they might be standing just outside the back door. “Around somewhere, I guess. They got divorced when I was nine. Both been married a bunch of times since. My father has an apartment somewhere in town. Lost track of my mom and stepdad after they kicked me out of the house. Been on my own since I was sixteen.”

“That can’t have been easy for you,” Robin said, stealing a look at her watch.

“I manage.”

“How?”

“What?” Kenny asked.

“How do you manage? It doesn’t seem that you have a job…”

He smiled. “Let’s just say I’m in supply and demand.”

“What does that mean?”

“Simple. If there’s a demand, I supply.”

“You’re a drug dealer,” Robin stated.

The smile widened. “We do what we gotta do.” He raised his beer bottle in a mock toast.

“Don’t say stuff like that,” Cassidy admonished. “He’s drunk and he’s just being silly,” she said to Robin. “He doesn’t mean it.”

“Yeah,” Kenny said, “I don’t mean it.” He took another swig from the bottle. “Anything else you want to know? Like, do I have any brothers or sisters or anything?”

“Do you?” Robin wasn’t sure if she was genuinely interested or just stalling until Blake and the sheriff could get there.

“Had a sister. She died when I was seven. Menin…menin…something.”

“Meningitis?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Why’re you so interested all of a sudden?”

“Robin’s a therapist,” Cassidy told him.

“That like a shrink?”

“Sort of,” Robin said.

“You trying to get inside my head? Find out my deep, dark secrets?”

“Do you have any?”

“Oh, we all got some of those,” Kenny said, a note of pride in his voice.

“Maybe I’m just trying to get to know you.”

“What’s the point? You’re leaving soon.”

Robin said nothing. Where are you, Blake? Please pick up my message.

“What about you?” Kenny asked.

“Me?”

“What are your deep, dark secrets?”

Robin shrugged. “I’m pretty much an open book.”

Kenny sneered. “What you are is full of shit.”