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“Maybe.” Eloise hadn’t been able to think of anything she’d rather do less than talk about finding Kim’s dead body, but Sarah was making an effort and she didn’t want to shut down the fragile truce between them. “I was just on my way out, but you can call or send a text when you want to meet up.”
“Oh?” Sarah had seemed to realize for the first time that she’d found Eloise on the wrong floor of the building. “Dropping something off?”
“Picking something up,” Eloise had said with a guilty lurch in her stomach. She hated lying to anyone, especially the people she cared about, and she wanted to keep as close to the truth as possible.
“Oh.” Something curious passed over Sarah’s face, quickly repressed and Eloise wondered again if her friends really suspected her of being involved in Kim’s death. “Well, I won’t keep you but I’m glad we had the chance to talk.”
After that, it shouldn’t have surprised Eloise for Sarah to get in touch with her, but she hadn’t expected it to be later the same day. There was a moment of panic when she remembered the last time one of them had reached out to her. Maybe something had happened to Sarah.
“Hello?”
“You’re not going to believe this,” Sarah said, breathless and without preamble.
“What? Did something happen? Are you okay?” Eloise’s heart squeezed hard in her chest, this long moment of painful fear stacking onto so many others. So many times now one of them had been in danger, how long would it be before someone else was ripped away from her?
“I’m fine.” Eloise could imagine her waving the question away as she spoke. “Someone broke into Kim’s office.”
Eloise nearly dropped the phone. “What?”
“No one knows who did it, but her office was trashed when security did their evening rounds.”
“Was anyone hurt?” Eloise was still trying to process the fact that someone else had broken into Kim’s office the same day she had. Okay, her little adventure hadn’t technically been a break in, but the sentiment was the same.
“No, but they destroyed her office. Took off with her computer and everything. Chloe started seeing one of the security guards and he told her that apparently they called the cops but there was some kind of glitch with the security footage in that part of the building. It didn’t record anything all day.”
“When did Chloe start dating … You know what, nevermind, that’s not the important thing right now ...” Eloise’s head was spinning. No footage meant no chance of catching the person that had taken Kim’s computer but it also meant there was no record of her going into Kim’s office, either. “Does everybody know about this? Or just you and Chloe?”
“You know how fast office gossip spreads.” Eloise couldn’t argue with that, and Sarah didn’t give her time to anyway. “Do you think it’s related to her murder?”
“Yeah.” It was right there on her tongue to tell Sarah everything, but she didn’t want to get them any more involved in this than they already were. “I don’t know how exactly but it sure seems like something weird was going on.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Listen, Sarah, do you have somewhere you can go for now? Someplace safe? I think Chloe’s been staying with her mom since the incident at her place …”
“I mean, I have family I could stay with, but you don’t think that’s necessary, do you?” Sarah sounded skeptical and Eloise could see Ethan watching her with a worried expression that told her he’d heard enough to know something else had happened.
No sense in trying to hide it from him.
“I think it might be.” She hated to worry Sarah, but scared was better than dead. “Just until we know more and can be sure you’re safe.”
“If you knew something, you’d tell me, right?”
“Of course.” She was a liar and a thief now, but she wouldn’t risk Sarah’s life by telling her the truth. “You know I would.”
“Who are you staying with? Are you going to be safe?”
“Ethan’s with me,” Eloise assured her. “He’ll keep me safe.”
“Lucky you.”
There was an awkward pause and Eloise shifted uncomfortably, the conversation she’d had with Jackson about Sarah being jealous of her relationship screaming through her mind.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Just a little worked up right now.”
“I think we all are.” She’d been snappish herself lately, so she understood the urge to lash out even when it didn’t make sense. “Just stay safe.”
“You too, okay?”
