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A small smile played at the edge of Ethan’s lips. “I see.
Maybe we can meet at our usual spot and bat around ideas?”
“Well, I think we have to find a new spot, given that Laurel now knows that we meet there,” Emma pointed out.
Her insides felt warm and settled. Thank God Ethan was back on her side. “Now that that’s out of the way,” she said,
“there’s more I need to fill you in on.” She scanned the track, making sure they were still alone.
Ethan’s eyebrows spiked. “More about the case?” When Emma told him that the blood on the car matched Thayer’s, not Sutton’s, Ethan stared at her incredulously.
“That’s not all,” Emma went on. “I went to pick up Sutton’s car from the evidence lot, and I found something weird.” She explained the slip of paper with Dr. Sheldon Rose’s name, and how she traced it to a psychiatric hospital in Seattle. “Dr. Rose’s nurse said Thayer checked out on September twenty-first. Against doctor’s orders.” Ethan stared at her, his face pale. “Thayer was in a mental institution?” he said, shaking his head. He pressed his palms over Emma’s. “It’s him. It has to be. He snapped and killed Sutton. What’s to stop him doing the same thing to you?” He gripped her hands with his. “How am I going to protect you?”
Emma took a breath, feeling the smallest bit safer now that she had Ethan on her side again. “You can’t,” she said, watching Ethan’s face fall at her words. She squeezed his hands and went on, “We need to find proof that he did it.
The only way I’ll ever be safe again is when Thayer is behind bars—permanently.”
A door to the school slammed loudly, and they both looked up. The bell sounded, indicating that the period was over. Emma had skipped a whole class. In her old life, she’d never even been late to school. But making up with Ethan was worth it. “We should go back in,” she said softly.
“Do we have to?” Ethan asked. “I’d rather spend the whole day together.”
“Me, too,” Emma murmured. Then she turned to Ethan, getting an idea. “Sutton’s friends are planning a secret party, and I have to be there early to help set up. Do you want to come? I know parties aren’t your thing, but maybe it’s time we did something to take our minds off of me being stalked by a psychopath.”
“Not funny,” Ethan said, pushing a hand through his hair. “But …” He looked down at his sneakers. “Are you sure? Your friends will be there. Being out with me is not something Sutton would do. And it will ruin our counter-prank.”
Emma thought for a moment. “Well, then we forget the counter-prank. The best way to call off the poetry prank is for us to show up together at the party. And even if it’s not something Sutton would do, it’s what I want to do,” Emma said bravely. Now that she had decided to go public, she didn’t want to spend any time apart.
25
SOUND THE ALARM
That night, Emma angled the Volvo into Charlotte’s circular driveway and turned off the ignition. The Chamberlains lived in a six-bedroom stone home with two balconies that protruded from the second floor. Its grandeur still took Emma’s breath away, even though she’d been there several times. She’d never known anyone with this kind of money.
Laurel unlocked her car door and slid out, not bothering to thank Emma for the ride. They’d come together because they didn’t want to bring too many cars to the party and tip off the cops. Emma had considered ditching Laurel at home to pay her back for abandoning her at tennis so many times, but she figured that wouldn’t help to repair their rift.
Before either of them could ring the bell, the door swung open and Madeline smiled back at them, dressed in a bright red ruched dress that stopped at mid-thigh. “hello, dah-lings!” she cried dramatically. “Welcome to dinner! You both look smashing!”
“Thanks,” Emma said bashfully, looking down at the emerald green one-shouldered number she’d found in Sutton’s closet. She’d agonized over choosing an outfit, trying on at least six dresses before settling on this one.
She’d wanted something especially pretty to go with her newly styled hair and carefully applied makeup. This was the first time she and Ethan would be seen together in public, and nosy gossip-hounds would no doubt be taking tons of pictures for Facebook and Twitter. It was ironic: At her old schools, Emma secretly longed to be part of the popular crowds whose personal lives were splashed across the pages of social media sites. But now that she was one of those girls, she just wanted to be left alone.
The grass is always greener, I suppose.
Laurel and Emma followed Madeline down a long hallway that led to the Chamberlains’ massive kitchen. It looked just like the display kitchens in House Beautiful that Glenda, Alex’s mom, was always tearing pages from and stuffing into a folder she marked DREAM HOUSE. The air smelled of pot roast, fresh bread, and—of course—
Charlotte’s Chanel Chance perfume. For a moment, Emma’s gaze flickered to the kitchen island where the unknown assailant had come up behind her and held Sutton’s locket to her throat.
Except that the assailant wasn’t unknown anymore. It was Thayer. Emma glanced at Madeline, feeling an awkward twinge. What would Mads do when she found out her beloved brother was a murderer? She’d be doubly shattered: Not only would she discover that her best friend was dead, but she’d lose Thayer, too.
“Sodas, girls?” Charlotte appeared from behind the refrigerator door. She was wearing a tight black dress with leather triangles that crisscrossed her slightly ample midsection. It was a dress Emma wasn’t one hundred percent sure looked good on her, but she didn’t dare say anything.
