One of the guys shifted uncomfortably. Garrett shot him some look before turning back to me. “I wish. Some crazy news is spreading through campus like wildfire.” His voice and body language felt weird. “Apparently, some students’ parents are caught up in some scandals. Money laundering, embezzlement, organized crime. You name it. Some people are losing it.”

Kelly and I exchanged a knowing glance. Her eyebrows shot up when she read my mind. “For real? That sounds like an insane movie plot!”

She overshot it with her terrible acting skills.

He shrugged and his eyes couldn’t quite meet mine for a moment. “Yep. Pretty crazy. No names have dropped yet, but the gossip train has a way of getting information out. Legal teams be damned when you have a large number of young adults running around together. You two should be careful since people might be on edge.”

I nodded along with him as if I was absorbing the information. “Thanks for the heads up. We’ll try to stay out of trouble.”

“Maybe we should head back home?” Kelly nudged me with her elbow. It was a sign that said she wanted to gossip about everything.

“Probably a good idea,” he agreed. My chest tightened with nervousness at the sound of his voice. The words were weighted in a different way.

I gave his hand a small squeeze. “We’ll be fine. I’ll shoot you a text later and we can plan a real movie night this time.”

He smiled, but it never made it past his lips. “Sounds like a plan, beautiful.”

“Start blanket shopping now,” I called out as Kelly all but dragged me away.

He never replied, going back to low conversations with his friends.

Kelly and I sighed in unison once we were safely locked in the car. Our shared look said everything.

“One,” she started. “Garrett was definitely off. Two, he knew way more than what that message told us. Three, Brent suddenly acting like a bestie is also not normal.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the last part while backing out of the parking space. “Agreed. Garrett’s hiding something or, at the very least, withholding insider info. He mentioned crimes that makes me wonder what his sources are and how connected he may be to the wealthy web of shit these families get into. As for Brent, I don’t know what to say about that man. He does as he wishes, and I don’t even know what to do with him.”

Kelly clicked her tongue and pulled out her phone. “This year is turning out to be wild. We need to keep an eye on this.”

While playing Nancy Drew to solve the mystery sounded fun, she could do that on her own and report back to me safely tucked away at home. “I just have this weird sinking feeling in my stomach.”