"Thank God you sound okay," she said. "So, have you thought more about taking that rich hottie's thank you money?"
"It was tempting, but I'm going to do this for myself," I said.
"Now that is what I wanted to hear," she said. "Every time you say something like that, you sound better than you have in months."
"I feel better, too, about that at least." My phone buzzed. "Of course, right when I say that, I get a text from Trent."
"Well, call me later if you need. Wake me up, I don't care. Miss you!" Darla said.
She hung up and I checked the message from Trent.
"Back at party, more people here. Asking around and no one in computers, tech, or web design. O is sobering up," he wrote.
"Did you confront him?" I wrote back.
"Yes. He had no idea what happened. Someone slip him shots?" Trent texted.
"Don't care." I wrote.
"Sorry, babe, here for you."
"Sure you are," I said out loud. "You're at a party for me."
I tried to ignore what Trent had said. Asking people what they did for a living was easy party talk, so I was not surprised Trent had talked to people about it. The fact that none of Jasper's friends were in computers or IT was surprising. And it bothered me that Owen had gotten so drunk he did not remember the scene in the bedroom with Anya. Had someone slipped shots of alcohol into his beer to get him drunk faster?
Another text from Trent buzzed my phone. "Anya left with Jasper. Got weird vibe. Am coming over to see you."
"No thanks," I wrote back.
Trent did not respond, and I was not surprised when I heard the doorbell 10 minutes later. I sprinted up the stairs, but my father's office was closer to the front door, and he beat me to it.
"Hello, Mr. Thomas, may I come in?" Trent asked in his best well-mannered voice.
"I don't think so," my father said. He turned to glare at me. "Did you invite him over?"
"No, actually I told him not to come," I said.
Trent stood on his tiptoes to see me over my father's shoulder. "Know how I told you that Anya left with Jasper and it felt a little weird? Well, I got in my car and had only made it to the end of the block before I passed a police cruiser," he said.
There was a noise upstairs. My father left the front door and went up the staircase to check on my mother. I took up his position blocking the entryway.
Trent fidgeted on the front steps. "I know it was stupid, but I circled around and I saw the cops busting the party."
"I really don't want this to be my problem," I said. "I tried to warn Owen and he did not want to listen to me."
"I know, and I think you're right," Trent said. "I just wanted you to know I think your theory was right. Anya and Jasper left just before the cops arrived. I saw the cops taking Owen out to a squad car. They arrested him."
My heart sank. So much for staying out of it. "The police would not have done that unless they found something on him. Either Anya or Jasper planted something on Owen."
Chapter Twenty-Two
Quinn
I hung on to the front door and wondered what I should do. If someone had slipped marijuana into his pocket, then the police had finally found what they were looking for. It would not matter if he had tested clean for drugs. The searches and the possession were against him. It was a thin case, but the police would have something on him now.
"I just thought you should know," Trent said. "Owen's a big boy, he can take care of himself. It's really just a misdemeanor. He probably resisted and that's why he was taken in."
"That makes it worse, don't you think?"