Part 13 (1/2)

Chloe laughed back at him, ”Ooooo, forty degrees. Try snow. Try below zero.”

”Well, that's why I live in California. I can go skiing, see snow, hate the cold, and leave, all within about a two hour drive,” Grey was grinning.

”Who knew you were such a sissy,” Chloe teased.

”Hey,” Grey said, suddenly taking her hand.

The car became quiet as Chloe let Grey hold her hand. What an odd date this was going to be, if it even was one a talking about a murdered girl's twin brother and how he fit into the big picture.

Grey let go of Chloe's hand and drove forward. Chloe watched him drive down the rich suburban streets, silently. He pulled up to a large house, much like Lora Kelly's, and also on the ocean.

”Wow,” Chloe said, unable to control her awe at his home.

Grey looked at her, ”It's not that great. My parents are divorced and that really sucks. Money is great for some things and really awful for others. It tore my parents apart.”

”Wow. I'm sorry,” Chloe said, feeling bad for Grey.

”Nah, don't be. It happens a lot, rich or poor nowadays anyway,” Grey ran a hand through his hair.

”Still, it's no fun,” Chloe amended.

Grey stopped the car in front of the brick entryway and turned to her, ”Here we are. I hope you're okay with being here. I know I've been accused of murder and all...”

Chloe stopped him, ”No, it's okay. I don't think you did it and that's why I want to talk to you about Ted. I think it's important that I find out who the murderer is because I think I'm next on their list. I don't want to give them the satisfaction of actually killing me, though. I don't plan to let them get the chance.”

”Okay,” Grey was relieved and then seemed tentative about going on. ”One more thing. We're going to be alone here. My dad is out of town. He's taking the new wife on a trip to Europe. Even if his son is a murder suspect.”

Chloe nodded, not knowing what to say about the situation or to the sound of frustration and anger at his father that was layered into Grey's voice. She didn't say anything and watched as Grey fumbled with his house keys, finally finding the one to open the front door. They walked into a large ornate foyer. Grey didn't even bother turning on the lights. He just motioned for her to follow him up the stairs. They walked down a long hallway, which Chloe was sure contained numerous bedrooms, even though the doors were all closed. They reached an open door at the end of the hallway and Grey beckoned her to follow him inside, switching on the lamp as he went in.

The lamp illuminated a relatively large room. Chloe found herself immediately gazing at the walls. Grey had framed numerous photos and around the frames, the walls were littered with hundreds of snapshots all plastered to the walls around them.

”Wow,” Chloe breathed, ”Look at all the pictures.”

Chloe moved to take a closer look at one wall. Most of the pictures were of scenery or animals or inanimate objects. There were some of people, obviously taken at school or on the beach. There had to be over fifty framed photographs in the room. It was awesome.

”These are great,” Chloe said, coming to sit next to Grey on the bed.

”Thanks,” Grey said, ”Photography is the greatest thing in my life at the moment.”

”Very cool,” Chloe nodded and she meant it. He had a real talent for photography.

”Let me take a picture of you,” Grey smiled, reaching for the camera on his bedside table.

Chloe laughed nervously, ”Okay. What do I do?”

”Just be yourself,” Grey said simply.

”Okay,” Chloe said, wondering what that meant. She tried smiling.

Grey started snapping photos, ”Loosen up. I'm just taking your picture.”

Chloe made a goofy face and then another and another.

Grey laughed, ”Exactly. It's nice to finally see the real you.”

Chloe laughed back at his joke. After everything that had happened, she felt like she hadn't genuinely laughed in years. It was really nice.

”That's it, perfect,” Grey snapped one last photo. ”Take a look.”

Grey showed Chloe the viewfinder. He was right. He had gotten at least one good picture of her from the bunch he had taken - caught mid laugh, looking totally carefree. Chloe wished she could feel that way for more than a fleeting moment.

”It's great,” Chloe said, feeling like she should say something about the photo even though her mind was now elsewhere. The murders were back in the forefront of her thoughts. She felt suddenly very serious.

”I'll print it for you,” Grey said, setting down the camera, noticing her change in mood.

”Thanks,” Chloe said and then paused for a moment, not sure where to start, ”You said that you would tell me about Ted?”

”Yes,” Grey became serious too. ”I've known Ted and Lora Kelly since kindergarten. There's about eighty of us, who were in the same cla.s.ses ever since then, so it's not all that small of a group, but there was a small group of us who became good friends at that point in our lives. We were childhood best friends. It was: Ted, Lora, Liz, Mike, Emma, Kate, and me. There were other people who added onto the group at some point, like your friend Jake, when he got to our school. And, there were plenty of people who wanted to be in on our crowd more than anything else in the entire universe, but who we'd never let in.”

Chloe was listening intently, ”Emma was in the popular crowd?”

Grey nodded, ”Yeah, she and Lora were best friends until they had a falling out freshman year. They've hated each other ever since, so it's not super surprising Lora would try and mess with her and me.”

”Emma never said anything,” Chloe said.

”Maybe there was nothing to say. It happened a long time ago, but it's no secret that they didn't like each other,” Grey shrugged.

”That's true,” Chloe said.

Grey continued, ”Anyway, I sort of fell out of that whole in and out crowd mentality when my parents divorced. What does the in and out crowd really matter in the whole scheme of things, you know? So, I sort of drifted away from the original crowd too. I'm just telling you this, so you can understand where I was when everything happened. I was on the outer edge of the circle, so it's possible that I didn't get all the details.”

”Okay,” Chloe said nodding, ”So, who is Ted Kelly and why is he such a mysterious person?”

”Well,” Grey paused for effect, ”It's because he's dead.”

Chloe's jaw dropped. She didn't quite know what to say. She hadn't expected that response, although it made sense why n.o.body had mentioned Lora's grieving brother, Ted. He wasn't grieving because he was already dead.

”What happened to him?” Chloe asked.

”He committed suicide,” Grey began, ”Like I said, I was good friends with the whole group when we were kids. Then soph.o.m.ore year things started changing between all of us. Ted killed himself at the beginning of our junior year.”

”Why?” Chloe asked. ”Did something happen?”

She was remembering the amused picture of Ted on the first day of school their junior year. He hadn't looked depressed in that picture at all. He hadn't struck her as the type to take his own life. Still, a third death in a small group of people, who were all young and healthy, was way beyond coincidence.

”That's what I'm not exactly sure about,” Grey started. ”There were rumors that he and Kate were having problems. They had been dating since junior high and possibly even before that if you looked at how they were with one another as kids. They were soul mates. I think their parents had them married in their minds by the time they were in high school.”

”Wow, I mean I've seen the pictures, but I never would have guessed that Kate had a long term boyfriend before Jake. She's been so crazily jealous about him. She's so afraid of losing him,” Chloe started.

”I guess that makes sense, with losing Ted so unexpectedly,” Grey said.