Shane swivels his head in my direction. “Brooke, you can’t seriously think I would kill somebody. Tim was the one in the house!”
I open my mouth, even though I’m not sure what I’m going to say. But before I say the wrong thing, a hand grips my arm. It’s Chelsea.
“You can both go to hell!” she spits at them. “Come on, Brooke.”
I allow Chelsea to drag me out of the room while Shane and Tim stare at us. She pulls me over to Shane’s bedroom, and she slams the door shut behind us. She leans her weight against it for a moment, breathing hard.
“I don’t know who killed her.” She’s blinking back tears. “But it was definitely one of them. We’ve got to stay in here until somebody comes for us. Help me barricade the door.”
I stare at the door, not sure what my next move should be. She’s right. We are the only people here, which means Tim or Shane must have killed Kayla. Which means the only way we’re safe is if we stay away from them.
But that also means one of them isn’t the killer. And we have effectively left that person alone with a murderer.
“Chelsea,” I say.
“Brooke!” Her voice is strangled. “Do you want to live through the night or not?”
I want to live through the night. Of course I do. But so did Kayla, and she also barricaded herself in a room. And now she’s dead.
Still, I go along with the plan, to humor Chelsea. Shane’s bookcase is too heavy to move, so we build a wall of books in front of the door. In reality, I’m not convinced the boys couldn’t get through it easily, but it’s better than nothing.
A hand raps against the door. “Brooke? Chelsea?”
It’s Shane’s voice.
“Go away!” Chelsea screams. “We’re not coming out until morning!”
I’m not sure about the validity of this plan. Both of our phones are downstairs, so if one of the boys is looking to kill us, they’ll still be able to do it in the morning as soon as we emerge from the bedroom.
“Come on—this is crazy!” Shane yells through the door. “Just come out. We’re safer if we stay together.”
“We’re not coming out, Shane.” Chelsea folds her arms across her chest. “You’re wasting your breath.”
Although there’s a part of me that thinks he’s right. We might be safer if the four of us stay together. After all, the killer can’t get all of us. Their only hope is to take us down one by one.
“Brooke?” It’s Tim’s voice this time. “Are you okay?”
I touch my fingers to the door. “Yes, I’m okay.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “I think you should stay in there. Both of you.”
There’s something about the way he says it—a tremor in his voice—that makes me back away from the door, my hands shaking. Tim is right. We need to stay in this room for the rest of the night.
It’s our only chance.
Chapter 32
PRESENT DAY
Marcus Hunt greets me at work in the morning with a cup of coffee.
It’s become a routine for us. Before Hunt brings me my first patient, he comes by the examining room with a hot cup of coffee for me. It’s nothing special. It’s just a coffee from the pot in the guard break room. But it’s nice of him, and a hot cup of coffee is always appreciated first thing in the morning.
My mother would say that boys don’t do anything nice for you if they’re not expecting something in return. Of course, she’s not around anymore to lecture me, but she may have a point in this case. I had been working out a way to mention offhand that I have a boyfriend.