Part 8 (1/2)
Chloe s.n.a.t.c.hed the letter up and threw it into her backpack, crumpling it, ”What are you doing here?”
”I heard you'd be here,” Grey said, sitting down, glancing around the crowded coffee shop furtively.
”What do you want?” Chloe asked, unsurely. Jake was going to be mad at her, but somehow it didn't matter.
”I need to talk to you,” Grey said, leaning toward her.
Chloe nodded, moving in closer to him in return, despite herself.
”I didn't kill anyone,” Grey said, almost in a whisper.
Chloe looked into his eyes and felt that he was telling the truth, but her mind was still weary. If he wasn't telling the truth, she could be in a lot of danger. Still, she was in a crowded coffee shop with him. It's not like he could do anything to her at this very moment. She knew she was ignoring the fact that both Lora Kelly and Elizabeth Hill were killed in crowded places. Having a crush on a guy shouldn't be this confusing, she thought simultaneously. Why did he have to be a murder suspect?
”I know,” Chloe found herself saying, despite her doubts about Grey's innocence.
”I got out of jail this morning. They're saying I killed Lora and Liz. I didn't do it. I need you to help me prove it. Is there anything you can remember about that night, before you found Lora?” Grey asked anxiously.
”Liz asked me that too. I don't know anything,” Chloe said.
”Wait. Liz asked you about Lora's death?” Grey asked.
”Yes,” Chloe nodded. ”I saw her on Friday night. She came here to see me. It sounds like I might have been one of the last people to see her alive.”
”Are you serious?” Grey said, surprised. ”That's really weird.”
”I know,” Chloe nodded. ”I'm not sure how I got involved in all of this.”
Grey looked at her, ”I think you could be next.”
Chloe felt herself turn a shade paler, ”I think I could be too.”
Chloe thought for a moment and then pulled out the crumpled note from her backpack, ”This was in my locker after school today.”
Grey took the paper and read it quickly, looking back up at Chloe, ”Wow.”
”I know,” Chloe said, running her hand nervously through her hair as she felt herself shudder involuntarily.
”What would make you the next one? The next one of what?” Grey asked as a waitress deposited a cappuccino on the table next to him.
”I don't know,” Chloe said, sipping her latte, ” I haven't been here long enough to be much a part of anything. I don't know why this person would target me.”
”Let's think about this,” Grey said, putting a few packets of sugar into his foamy cappuccino. ”Who do you know at school?”
”Well,” Chloe said, thoughtfully, ”There's Jake and Kate and Emma and you and that's it. I mean, there's kids in my cla.s.ses, but you four are the only ones I've talked to more than once.”
”Okay,” Grey said, tapping his fingers absentmindedly against his cup. ”And then you add to that finding Lora Kelly's body and talking to Elizabeth Hill the night she died.”
”Wait, Liz was murdered on Friday?” Chloe asked.
”Yeah,” Grey said. ”Or early Sat.u.r.day morning.”
”Wow,” Chloe thought for a moment, ”I thought it happened on Monday during or maybe just before school. How did they not find her sooner?”
Grey shrugged, ”From what I heard, the hallway smelled and the janitor started checking lockers and found her.”
Chloe stared at him. She really had been one of the last people to see Liz alive.
”Where were you the night Elizabeth Hill was murdered?” Chloe asked suddenly.
Grey looked at her for a moment before he spoke, ”I was at home, alone. My dad had gone to San Francisco for the weekend with his new wife. He had some conference to attend. My mom lives in New York. There was n.o.body home. I read a book. It's not a good alibi if you're being accused of murder.”
Chloe nodded and heard herself say lamely, ”Oh, okay. Just curious.”
Grey looked at her and then spoke as if she hadn't asked for his alibi, ”Okay, so either the murderer thinks you know something about Lora Kelly's death or you, Lora, and Elizabeth are all connected.”
Chloe stared thoughtfully into her latte and then looked up into Grey's eyes, ”We're all sort of connected.”
”What do you mean?” Grey asked.
”Well, Jake used to date Lora and I'm friends with him. You may or may not have dated Lora and you dated Emma. And Kate is dating Jake now and Elizabeth was Lora's good friend. We're all intertwined,” Chloe said, ”But does that mean, it's one of us? Or is it someone who hated Lora and her crowd? But then why would they try to scare me? I don't belong to that crowd even remotely.”
”Well...” Grey said, thoughtfully. ”Everyone does know who you are.”
”Only because I found the dead body of the most popular girl in school! Oh, I don't know,” Chloe was frustrated. ”I have gone over and over this in my head for the last hour or so, not to mention the last week. I just don't know what to think. It's hard to believe anybody would want to kill me. I haven't done anything. I don't even know anybody.”
”And, yet two girls are dead and I've been accused of murdering them,” Grey said, frustration in his voice.
”Don't you have any sort of proof that you didn't do it?” Chloe asked hopefully.
”Nothing concrete,” Grey shrugged, ”I have no real alibis. The only hope I have is that they have no fingerprints or any other sort of evidence to prove that I actually did anything. Believe me, they're trying to find it, though. I'm scared as all h.e.l.l to think that they could plant it just to say they solved the murders.”
”What do you think I should do with the note?” Chloe asked, picking up the note, Grey had refolded and put back on the table.
”You should go to the police,” Grey said, definitively. ”At least then they can keep an eye on you, if you're in any danger.”
”It's not stupid?” Chloe asked.
”Not at all. It's safe,” Grey said, suddenly grabbing her hands and holding them on the table. ”Promise me you'll go.”
Chloe felt the warmth of his hands on hers. b.u.t.terflies suddenly pirouetted pleasantly in her stomach. They were interrupted by an unpleasant thought.
”But now your finger prints are on it,” Chloe said, horrified at the thought that she might inadvertently help the police's case against Grey.