“If you’re leaving town, why do you need it?”

“Because I’m not leaving with empty pockets.” He stepped closer.

“And because Brenda doesn’t need to know everything.”

I kept my hand on the stair rail.

“Does she know about the sixty-five thousand?”

Dustin’s face changed, just for a second, as if a door had opened and shut behind his eyes.

“She knows what she needs to know,” he said.

Then he got in, started the engine, and backed out without looking.