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I shrugged. “You’ve been busy with the party.”
Since the first guests had started to arrive, Thea was in her element. She thrived as the host and the center of attention, and that was definitely not where I liked to be. I’d quietly faded into the background, where I belonged.
Thea reached for me, wrapping her hand around my wrist and pulling me to my feet. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Um…sure?”
“Great.” She dragged me through the living room toward the small bathroom located at the base of the staircase that led to both my and Thea’s bedrooms.
She knocked once before opening the door and led me inside. Thea locked the door behind us before turning to me. She grabbed both my hands in hers. She smelled of liquor and smoke, and I was pretty sure she was in her happy-drunk phase of the night.
“Lark.” She paused, and I thought she was going to say more, but she didn’t.
I frowned. “Thea?”
Her fingers tightened around mine. “You know I love you, right?”
“I love you, too.”
She nodded and grabbed for the half heart necklace dangling from her neck. The one that matched mine. “You’re like the sister I never had because God thinks it’s hilarious that he stuck me with nothing but annoying big brothers.”
I had no idea where she was going with this. “I think the same about you.” I was an only child, but Thea and her family had given me a place to feel at home when I needed a break from my real mother.
“Good.” Her eyes widened. She had painted fake blue scales on her face that glittered in the light. “Do you trust me?”
I didn’t trust many people, but if there was one person on this earth whom I trusted, it was her.
I nodded.
She leaned in close. “I know you don’t love parties. I respect that, I do. But Lark, we’re in college.” She shook my hands a little, as if trying to shake some sense into me. “We’re supposed to be wild and do all the fun things! You’re out of your mother’s house and you don’t have to take care of things for her anymore. Let go, Lark. Have fun with me!” She jutted her bottom lip in a ridiculous pout that made it impossible not to smile.
“I am having fun.”
She shook her head. “I refuse to let my best friend, my sister, spend this amazing Halloween party sitting on the couch with my brother.” She wrinkled her nose. “Come have a drink with me. One drink. If you’re not into it, then I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night.”
I bit my lip. “One drink?” Alcohol wasn’t my thing, either, but I wasn’t totally against the idea. And if it was going to make her happy…
Her face broke out into a huge grin. “We’ve been playing a game. One drink, and I promise to let you hang out with boring Reid for the rest of the night!” She drew an invisible cross over her heart so I knew she was serious.
I let out a breath. “Okay. We have a deal.”
She squealed with happiness and wrapped her arms around me in a hug so tight it stole my breath.
If I had only known that would be the last time I hugged my best friend, I would’ve held on a little bit longer.
2
Reid
Present Day
I tried not to let my sour mood affect my objectivity, but it was especially hard this time of year. My bones ached as I sat too stiffly in the hard seat. It had been over an hour since Xander and I had started the interview, and we might as well have been sitting here in damn silence for all the information we’d gotten so far.
“Go over your night with me again, will you? From the beginning?” Xander asked, and the man’s eyes flashed from across the table.
Owen Davis hadn’t changed much in the last nine years. A few new fine lines were carved into his forehead and his face had gotten thinner, but those dark, piercing eyes of his were something I’d never forget.
The days after my sister was brutally murdered in her bed nine years ago were a whirlwind of pain and grief. There were few things I remembered clearly about those days, but Owen was one of them. He was a suspect early on as the boyfriend of my sister’s roommate, who also lost her life that night. I’d seen him leave the house with my own eyes, but there were suspicions that he had snuck back in later.
