Beautiful Disaster (Privilege 2)

245

"What's the matter?" Palmer asked.

"We lost!" Allison threw her hands up and let them slap down at her sides. "Blue won the fund-raiser event. We came in third!"

"What?" Palmer blurted, swinging one leg over the bench as he reached into his bag for a T-shirt. "That's not possible. The Landon thing was a lock!"

"That's what we all thought!" Allison replied, pacing along the wall. "But we didn't make half the amount we projected. It makes no sense! We were taking unofficial tallies all night long, and they were way higher than the total amount we just counted."

Ariana's palms prickled with sweat. Her throat was completely dry. Clearly, she'd stolen way too much.

"So where the hell did all that cash go?" Palmer asked, yanking a light blue T-shirt over his head and pulling it down.

"Someone must have stolen it!" Allison replied. "It's the only explanation."

Palmer glanced at Ariana as if he just remembered she was there, and she realized with a start that she should say something. An innocent person would be just as shocked as they were. An innocent person would be indignant and upset.

"Who would have done that?" Ignoring her pounding heart, she infused her voice with shock and anger. "The money was for charity."

"It could have been anyone. The place was a zoo," Palmer said, shouldering his duffel. "But I thought Brigit's guard was on the cash all night. How would someone have gotten by him?"

246

"Who knows?" Allison said, bringing her hand to her forehead. "Brigit's parents should fire that guy over this."

"This is not good," Palmer said. He pressed his hand against his forehead for a moment, thinking. "You know, between this and Christian's watch and all that other crap that was stolen ... As much as I hate to say it, maybe it was someone on campus."

"But the only students who were there were on gold. No one on our team would steal. Who needs the money?" Allison said, throwing up a hand.

Ariana felt as if she was going to faint. She forced herself to breathe.

In, one. . . two. . . three. . .Out, one . . . two . . . three . . .

And suddenly, the answer to Allison's question became clear.

"Adam," she heard herself say. "He was in charge of running the cash to the bank room all night. And he definitely needs the--"

"No." Palmer's voice was so firm and loud, it startled both Ariana and Allison. His jaw was set and his eyes were like pinpricks of anger. "No. I've known him my whole life, and he wouldn't do this."

Ariana's heart felt like it was trying to find a way out of her chest. "Okay."

"But I'm going to make sure there's an investigation," Palmer said. "There's definitely something weird going on around here." He took a deep breath and paced over to the wall, bracing his hand against it above his head as he stared down at the floor. "Shit. This means that if blue wins the crew race on Monday, they get Privilege House. That cannot happen."

247

"We need to get that money back," Allison said.

"But how?" Ariana said.

Allison looked Ariana up and down like she was dirt. "For starters, you should donate the cash you won from Tahira this morning," she said. "That'll pad the tally."

Ariana's blood stopped cold in her veins. No. No way. She could not give up that money. Please, God, don't let them actually expect me to--

"No. That would be cheating," Palmer said, shoving away from the wall. "We're not going to cheat."

Ariana felt a rush of confidence, as if Palmer had just knowingly defended her.

"Besides, there were faculty members presiding over the tallies, right?" she said. "They already have the official numbers."