The Truth About Us

His father nodded toward her, then turned his gaze back to his son, making it clear he wasn’t there for formalities. Abby realized this was the second introduction of the day for the pair, but Mr. Oliver’s demeanor was far different than Cammie’s.

If Kaden was nervous, he was also a master in disguise because he leaned back in his chair, flopping an arm behind his head, the picture of comfort. With everything he had shared about their relationship, his composure surprised her. Then again, despite their similarities, he was so different than Abby. While she would’ve been intimidated, he seemed comfortable.

“We were hoping you could give us a little information,” Kaden said.

“About what?” The hint of incredulity in Mr. Oliver’s tone wasn’t lost on her.

“There was a private investigator murdered a while back. Greg Lawson,” Kaden said. “We wanted to see if you could give us some details on the case.”

“Why?”

“It’s for a school project,” Kaden said, deadpan.

Well, someone else didn’t have trouble lying. Wonder what Cammie would make of that?

His father sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “You know I probably can’t give you anything. Especially if it’s an open case. I can’t disclose information we’re looking into because it could affect the investigation. Even if it’s closed, technically, you’d need to file a FOYA before I could give you any documents.”

Kaden’s smile fell the tiniest bit, but he carried on. “Come on. You’re my dad. And I’m eighteen. Who am I gonna tell?”

His father glanced pointedly at Abby. She shrunk down in her chair as Kaden continued.

“What do you think I’m going to do with it? Go to the press? There has to be something you can give us.”

Although his father shook his head no, he asked, “Who was it? And I need more details on this school project first.” He crossed his arms over his chest, his expression a closed book, which Abigail figured didn’t bode well for them.

“It’s for criminal justice. We have to find an unsolved case and create a couple of suspects from the information. We’re supposed to use public police records and whatever we can dig up on our own, but since we couldn’t find much online, I figured I’d see if there was anything you could give us.”

He sighed. “Isn’t that a bit of an unfair advantage?”

“No. What’s unfair is that we were given a case with like zero information.” Kaden leaned forward in his chair, his expression dejected. He ran a hand over his face, looking so exhausted he almost had Abigail convinced of the lie.

“One of the groups was given the OJ Simpson case. I mean, seriously?”

His father’s tight expression faltered, and Abby glanced over at Kaden in wide-eyed amusement.

“Really?” His dad dropped his arms. “Wow. Yeah, that doesn’t seem right, does it?” he asked, pursing his lips.

Abby took a chance and piped in. “Um, no. And on top of that, someone else got the JonBenét Ramsey case. Like the creepy brother didn’t do it. I mean, really.” She rolled her eyes.

“And you guys got stuck with a local case?”

“Yep,” Kaden said, smacking his lips on the word.

“Okay.” His father tapped the table in front of him. “Let me go get the files. There may be some things that have already been released you don’t know about, so we’ll look into that. Beyond that, I don’t know...” His father scratched his jaw. “Well, we’ll see if there’s anything I can give you. But don’t expect much. There will probably be a lot I c

an’t disclose. Fair warning,” he said pointing at them, as he backed toward the door.

Kaden raised his hands and leaned back in his seat. “Understood.”

When his father left, she whipped in Kaden’s direction and smacked him. “That was genius!”

“Ow.” He rubbed the spot on his arm and chuckled. “Well, my dad’s all about school, and he doesn’t like things that are unfair, so I played on his weaknesses, that’s all. I knew if he thought the other kids in the class had the unfair advantage of a highly publicized case, then he’d be more open to helping us. Good job on the JonBenét Ramsey thing. Very legit,” he said, holding out a fist for her to bump.

Her knuckles tapped his, and an immediate flush crept over her skin, coinciding with a burst of fireworks in her chest.

“Thanks, but you get all the credit with this one.”

Searching her face, Kaden swallowed hard, his gaze falling to her mouth. “Abby...” he started, then trailed off. Leaning forward, he licked his lips. “The thing is, I—"