"Brittney?" I glanced down at the broken window. "What's she got to do with this?"
Chloe shrugged. "I dunno."
What the hell was I missing? If Brittney had anything to do with this, she'd pay. I didn't know how, but she would. And Brittneyhadto know that. "She knows better," I said.
Chloe made a scoffing sound. "Really? Does she?"
I didn't see it. Brittney lived almost an hour away, and she sure as hell hadn't been spending any time at my place lately.
"Well, she wasn't around here last night," I said, "if that's what you're getting at."
Chloe laughed, not the sweet sound that I knew and loved, but a hard, bitter sound that sounded foreign coming from her lips. "Yeah," she said. "Tell me something I don't know." She opened the car door. "I gotta go."
"Wait," I said.
She paused, giving me a long look over the roof of the car. "For what?"
"What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing." And with that, she climbed inside.
I leaned down to study her face through the broken window. I wanted to pull her out of the car, wrap her up in my coat, and drag her back to my place, whether she wanted to come or not.
I wanted to warm her by the fire and hold her in my arms. I wanted to wipe the worry from her eyes and hear her laugh like she used to – before that stupid party and whatever else had happened.
But I wanted her to come willingly. So all I said was, "Stop by later."
"Your place?" she said. "Why?"
I shrugged. "Because."
Her brow wrinkled. "That's no kind of answer."
Time for a gamble. "It wasn't meant to be." And with that, I straightened and stepped away from the car.
A minute later, she was gone. As for me, I was already pulling out my cell phone.
Chapter 39
"It wasn't me," Amber said.
I hadn't talked to her since the party. Striding along the sidewalk, I spoke into my cell phone. "What about Brittney?"
"Brittney?" Amber gave a weak laugh. "Where are you, anyway? It sounds windy."
"Just tell me," I said. "The broken window. Did Brittney do that?"
Amber paused. "I don't think so."
"What does that mean? You see her last night?"
"Well, you know, we hang out together, so–"
"Cut the crap," I said. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing." She hesitated. "I mean, we ate at that restaurant."
I was almost afraid to ask. "Which restaurant?"
