“I think we have to.”

Lakshmi reached for her phone. “Let’s get Pizza Monster. I get half off. Meat okay?”

Caitlin didn’t care at that point, or remember what they’d ordered thirty minutes later when the driver knocked on the door. She caught the tail end of the exchange with the delivery girl.

“Thanks, and tell Chad I say, ‘Hi,’ ” Lakshmi said, then closed the door.

She set the box on the coffee table, grabbed a roll of paper towels.

Caitlin stared at the happy cartoon monster on the lid. A triangle slice of pizza with big eyes and tiny legs winked over the words “Scary How Good It Is.”

“Who’s Chad? You know a driver?” She opened the box, saw the disc of greasy goodness.

Lakshmi returned with forks. “Chad Branford. He gave me a stack of coupons.”

Caitlin broke a slice free. “The acting teacher?”

Lakshmi joined her, manners abandoned. “Yeah, he bought the Monster when he moved here, gave us all coupons, used to make deliveries himself. He says it paid for grad school the first year.”

Caitlin swallowed. “What a great idea.”

“Once at the beginning, when business was slow, Angela and I invited him in, and he ate with us, even got a little high. That was the first time I tried Molly.”

“Here?”

“No, Angela’s. He’s got a lot of funny acting stories.”

“Did Angela and Branford ever hook up?”

“Oh no, nothing like that. He was just bored.”

Caitlin reached for her second slice. “Plus, knowing young women never hurts when it comes to selling pizza.”

Lakshmi followed her lead. “We became Pizza Monster evangelists, told everyone. Kieran ordered twenty pizzas for a frat party. After that, word spread pretty fast.”

“And Chad rewarded you with half-price coupons?”

“I doubt I’ll get through them before graduation. Not without gaining a stone.”

Caitlin leaned back into the couch. “You don’t have class tomorrow, do you?”

“Why? What do you want to do?”

“Look for a growhouse.”

“Growhouse, like pot?”

“Kieran and Dave sell ‘organic produce’ to sororities and fraternities.”

“Another reason to hate them. It’s such a good idea.”

“Know what a better idea is? Sell weed and call it kale.”

Chapter 25

CHAPTER

25

CAITLIN WAITED UNTIL the waitress left with their breakfast orders, then pulled out her laptop and opened a browser.

Lakshmi moved to share Caitlin’s side of the booth. “Wouldn’t the police have looked into this?”

“They did two years ago but didn’t find anything they could prove. Since then, Kieran and Dave have moved on like no one’s watching. We’ll start with their farm’s web page.”

Caitlin found Mike Roman’s latest email on her laptop, clicked on the link, and turned the screen toward Lakshmi.