One minute, Auggie had been enjoying the weight of Theo’s hand on his leg, surprised—always surprised, again and again—by the calluses there. Theo smelled the way he always smelled: something he put in his hair and beard, something that made Auggie think of blue cedar needles and moss. When Auggie had been thirteen, spending the night at Logan’s house, Logan’s dad had taken out a Buck knife and sharpened the blade with a whetstone. That was what part of Auggie’s brain recalled as he lay on the sofa, Theo’s hand on his leg: the rasp of steel against stone.
Then the door opened, and Theo shot to his feet, red darkening his face. Orlando stepped into the apartment, and the dumbass immediately started lying.
“Check his bag,” Auggie said when Orlando tried to lie again.
“You can’t,” Orlando said, stepping back and spreading his arms like he meant to block Theo.
“Why not?” Theo said. “What’s in the bag?”
“Nothing.”
“Great. I love nothing. Let me see nothing.”
“Augs,” Orlando pled.
“Quit lying and tell us what’s going on,” Auggie said. “You’ve got zero constitutional rights inside this apartment. You hired us to find out what happened to Cal; no secrets.”
The indecision in Orlando’s face was painful. “Fine,” he said. “Fine. I wasn’t coming to talk to Wayne.”
“Why were you coming?”
“I can’t tell you. I promised somebody I wouldn’t.”
“Who?”
Orlando shook his head. His thick eyebrows drew together; he looked close to crying. “Please, Augs. I swear it’s nothing bad.”
“Backpack,” Auggie said.
Sighing, Orlando slung it from his back and passed it to Theo. Theo opened it, shook his head, and took out a bottle of charcoal lighter fluid and a lighter.
“Start talking,” Theo said.
Orlando shook his head.
“Were you trying to burn down their apartment?”
“No!”
“Were you going to destroy evidence?”
“Of course not.”
“Were you going to kill someone and cremate them?” Auggie said.
“Augs! That’s not funny.”
“I wasn’t joking. I mean, not entirely. This is really sketchy, Orlando. What’s going on?”
He folded his arms and shook his head again.
“Fine,” Auggie said. “But we’re not leaving you alone here.”
“Wait,” Orlando said, “what are you guys doing here? And where’s Wayne?”
“Wayne’s at work,” Theo said, “and you’re going to forget you saw us. Otherwise we’re going to tell Mommy and Daddy Reese and all your siblings that we caught you sneaking in here.”
“Why are you so mean to me? Why can’t you be nice like Auggie?”
“I used up all my patience last year,” Theo said. Glancing at Auggie, he said, “Anything else?”
“Just the cleanup.”
“Right. Take care of that, would you? I’m going to keep an eye on balls-for-brains here.”
Auggie saluted as he rolled off the couch. He grabbed the stack of papers he’d brought from Cal’s room and returned them. Following Theo’s directions, he returned the stack of Wayne’s papers to the top of the dresser. By the time he returned to the living room, Orlando’s face was white, and he was clutching the backpack to his chest and refusing to look at Theo.
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” Theo said, but he looked way too self-satisfied.
“Orlando?”
“Nothing,” Orlando mumbled.
Auggie looked at Theo, but Theo just shrugged again.
“Let’s go,” Theo said.
They moved outside, and Orlando watched as they locked up, shifting from foot to foot. When Theo turned to the stairs, Orlando said, “Aren’t you going to put the spare back?”
“No, because if I do, you’re going to sneak back here and use it.”
“But Wayne will know!”
“Not immediately. It’s a spare, right?”
“Augs, tell him to put it back.”
“Come on,” Auggie said gently, guiding Orlando toward the stairs. “If you’d just tell us what you need in there—and why you’re going to destroy it—this would be a lot easier.”
Orlando let himself be herded, but he shook his head. “I promised. And it doesn’t have anything to do with Cal’s death. I swear.”
“That sounds exactly like what someone would say in a novel when something was secretly the key to the whole mystery.”
“You’ve read a novel?” Theo murmured.
Auggie looked around for something to throw.
“So, um, what are you going to do now?” Orlando said when they got to the parking lot.
“Drive around the block,” Theo said, “and wait for you to do something stupid like try to break into the apartment.”
The shock on Orlando’s face almost made Auggie lose it; he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from slipping. After a moment, Orlando managed to say, “I’m not even going to do that.”
“Ok,” Theo said. “But we’ll stick around just in case anybody else has any crazy ideas.”
“Augs.” Orlando paused as though not sure how to finish, and he settled for repeating in a slightly more pathetic voice, “Augs.”
“Go back to the house,” Auggie said, patting his shoulder. “Relax. Take your mind off things.”
Orlando took a few steps toward his slate-gray BMW. Then he looked over his shoulder.
Theo held up his flip phone and waved it. “Just so you know, the tracker I planted on you pings me every time you come near this place. I like to get a full eight hours, so don’t wake me up in the middle of the night.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Oh my God,” Auggie muttered. “Go home, Orlando.”
Orlando marched to the BMW with wounded dignity. He refused to look at them as he pulled out and drove away. When the sound of the car had faded, Auggie shook his head.
“How long before he decides to risk it?” Theo asked.
“A day or two.” Auggie shook his head. “You decided to pretend you have a GPS tracker synced to your flip phone?”
“He didn’t even blink.”
“Yeah, but Theo, that’s not the point.”
“What’s the point?”
“It’s so lame.”
Theo blinked. “Sometimes I honestly forget you’re eighteen.”
“Nineteen.”
“Right. Nineteen.”
“Come here. Let me see that other arm.”
Theo grinned and angled his body away from Auggie. “What’s that dumbass up to?”
“Orlando? God, who knows? Whatever it is, he wouldn’t be doing it if he thought it would hurt his family. Or—or us.”
“Or you. Orlando would push me into a thresher if he thought he could get away with it.”
“No, he wouldn’t.” Auggie cocked his head. “Ok, he might.”
“Did you believe him when he said it had nothing to do with the murder?”
“I believed him. I’m not sure that’s the same thing as it being true, though. I think the right person could convince him to do something, make him believe it was totally unconnected to Cal’s death, even if it was actually very important.”
“Yeah,” Theo said, “that’s what I was afraid of. Come on. Maybe Orlando’s ex can help us figure out what goes on inside his head.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Auggie muttered.