Courtney pulled her hand away from her purse and pressed something against my forearms. I fumbled to collect it and immediately found a wad of several hundred dollars in my hands.

It was a fat fold of bills. "What is this?" I asked.

"It's money, stupid," she said.

Of course. Courtney snapped her purse closed and put it on the ground at her feet. She kicked off her shoes. Then she laid her fingers over her bare knees and finally looked up at me. Clearly the girl was pissed, but she wanted me to see her anger, not the fear behind it. I saw both and was curious, not to...