Page 18 of K-9 in Pursuit

“Did you believe her?” Chloe said. “It’s okay if you didn’t.”

“I kind of thought she made that all up,” Leann said. “You know, to look good. Or she wanted to make us jealous. She could be like that. She really liked being the center of attention and that was hard sometimes. But some people are just like that, and you love them anyway.”

“What did she say about Brian Weeks?” Chloe asked.

“Oh, she was really into him. And she made sure he knew it. The rest of us couldn’t believe how bold she acted sometimes, but we kind of admired her for it. I mean, I’m always second-guessing things I say, and I worry about what people think of me. Sharee was never like that.”

“How did she react when Brian told her he didn’t want to date her?”

“She was mad at him for blowing her off,” Leann said. “She had kind of a hot temper.”

“Did she say what she planned to do to get back at him?”

“She said something about trying to get him fired. I didn’t see how she’d do that. He’s really popular. A nice guy, you know. I’ve seen him out here lots of times and he’s always smiling and polite, even to the people who act like jerks. But he must be almost thirty. Too old for an eighteen-year-old.” She shuddered. “It’s kind of creepy, you know? There were plenty of younger guys who were interested in Sharee, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with them.”

“Anyone in particular?”

“No. Just—you know, guys looked at her and flirted with her wherever we went. A few of them asked her out, but when she turned them down they didn’t get mad about it or anything.”

“Can you remember anyone in particular who paid attention to her when you guys went out together? Were you with her Saturday night?”

“No, I stayed home Saturday night. Sharee and I didn’t really hang out other than at the ski resort,” she said. “If I go out, it’s with friends from school.”

“Who did she hang out with in the evenings?” Chloe asked. “Do you know?”

“I don’t know. She never said. I mean, it wasn’t the kind of thing she would tell us. She skied with us and everything, but other times she acted like we were a bunch of kids who were beneath her. Like she was so much older than us, but she wasn’t.”

If she wasn’t going out at night with local teens, who had Sharee been seeing when she left the apartment after dinner? “If you think of any names of boys or men who were interested in her, let me know.”

“I don’t want to get anybody in trouble,” Leann said.

“I know you don’t. But any names you can give me could be really helpful to the sheriff’s investigation.”

Muffled noises, then Morganna came back on the line. “Leann has to go now,” she said. “Thank you for calling.”

The call ended. Chloe put away her phone and left the room, frustrated. Leann had revealed some new information about Sharee, nearly all of it troubling. She wasn’t going out with other teens, at least not teens that Leann knew. And Sharee had bragged about her and a teacher getting back together. Had Sharee really believed that, or had she made that up to impress the other kids?

She returned to the living room. Darinda was back and lay on the sofa with an episode of House Hunters on the television, volume low. She switched off the show when Chloe walked in. “What are your plans for dinner?” she asked. “I couldn’t eat a thing, but your father needs to keep up his blood sugar.”

Chloe glanced toward her father, at the other end of the sofa. “What would you like, Dad?”

“Whatever you have, sweetheart.”

“We’ll have to order in,” Chloe said. “With everything that’s going on, I haven’t had a chance to buy groceries.”

“We could order Chinese,” Darinda said. “Dumplings sound good. I’m assuming this town has a decent Chinese place.”

“It does,” Chloe said.

“Then I want an order of dumplings and hot and sour soup. And egg rolls. Honey, what do you want?” she asked her husband.

Chloe pulled a take-out menu from a drawer in the kitchen. “I’m not really hungry,” she said. “You can call in the order.”

“Really, the least you could do is call it in for us,” Darinda said.

Chloe knew better than to fall for this—last time she got stuck with the check. “You call them so you make sure to get exactly what you want.” She left and went to her own room and closed the door. So what if Darinda and her father were staying in this room. Right now, she needed a break from both of them. She loved them, and that made it easier for them to manipulate and wound her. She liked to think her dad only did this unknowingly, though she couldn’t believe the same about Darinda. Sharee had done it, too, wounding Chloe out of self-centeredness and an unwillingness to ever see her own behavior as wrong. And now she was dead and still hurting everyone who loved her because they couldn’t understand how such a terrible thing had happened. Dying wasn’t Sharee’s fault, but was there some way Chloe could have saved her?

Chapter Six