“This better not be another joke about killing people,” Sydney warned.
Emma shook her head. “It’s not. I promise. Here’s what we do, Syd. We cut Jason in on the money!”
“You mean offer to give him some of it?”
“Not just some—a third of it,” Emma said. “We make him a partner, see? Then we’ll all be on the same side.”
She stared hard at Sydney. “Is that a great idea or what?”
“Yes!” Sydney agreed. “It’s a fantastic idea!”
Now Emma’s mom will have her operation, she thought.
We’ll all have some money.
* * *
They returned to Emma’s house. Emma insisted that Sydney call Jason and have him come over so they could tell him about their offer.
“I want him to know now, before anything else happens,” she explained. “Then I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”
Jason drove over quickly. He climbed out of his car with a curious expression on his face. “What’s up?” he asked, gazing back and forth between Sydney and Emma.
Sydney stared at him for a moment. If only I could read his mind, she thought.
Did he try to kill Emma? Did he really do that?
“What’s up?” Jason repeated. “Why are you two staring at me like that?”
“Emma’s brakes—they were cut,” Sydney blurted out. She narrowed her eyes at Jason. “You fixed her car. But her brakes were cut. We—we almost …” The words caught in her throat.
Jason’s mouth dropped open. “I tested the brakes!” he declared. “They worked fine. Really!”
“But, Jason—” Emma started. “You—”
“After I finished working on the car, I drove it for blocks,” Jason told them. “There was nothing wrong with the brakes. Nothing. I swear!”
Sydney studied Jason’s face. He’s telling the truth, she decided. He’s so upset. He has to be telling the truth.
“Are you two okay?” he asked. “Did the brakes totally go out? That’s so scary.”
“We were lucky,” Emma replied softly.
They talked about the brake lines for a while. Jason said that sometimes in old cars the brake lines get brittle and snap.
Emma pulled Sydney aside. “I don’t know whether to believe him or not,” she whispered. “Now I’m totally confused. Could someone else have cut those lines? Did they just snap?”
“I believe him,” Sydney replied. “Did you see how upset he got?”
“I guess we should tell him about sharing the money,” Emma whispered.
Sydney nodded.
“What’s the big secret?” Jason demanded impatiently. “Why all the whispering?”
“Go ahead, Sydney,” Emma urged. “Tell him.”
“It was your idea,” Sydney said. “You tell him.”
Jason groaned. “Well, somebody tell me!”
“Okay.” Emma tossed her hair back. “It’s about the money Sydney and I found. We thought maybe you’d like to have some of it. Say, about thirty-three thousand dollars.”
Jason’s blue eyes grew wide. Then he narrowed them skeptically. “Is this a joke?”
Sydney shook her head. “No joke. We want to share it with you.”
Jason stared at them a few seconds longer. Then his face broke into a wide grin.
“Man, this is unbelievable!” he cried. “Whoa!”
With a whoop, he lifted Sydney off the ground and spun her in a circle. He set her down and kissed her, then gave Emma a hug.
“Unbelievable!” Jason repeated. He did a little shuffle-dance in the driveway. “I’m too excited to stand still!” he exclaimed.
“That’s how we felt when we found it,” Emma told him. “You can’t believe what it feels like to stare at a hundred thousand dollars.”
“Hey!” Jason grinned. “Great idea! Let’s do it. Let’s go stare at it!”
“Now?” Sydney asked. She really didn’t feel like digging up the money. Trying to think of a good excuse, she glanced around and saw clouds gathering in the sky.
“It’s going to rain,” she said.
“Yeah. Besides, we can’t touch that money for a while,” Emma added. “We have to wait and make sure nobody’s looking for it.”
“I don’t mean we should take it out and start spending it,” Jason told her. “But come on. Let me at least get a peek at it. Please?”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt just to look at it.” She turned to Sydney. “What do you think?”
Sydney hesitated, then shrugged. “Okay. Let’s go.” After all, she thought, as long as no one sees us there, what can happen?