Chloe felt her fear return and rapidly texted: Who is this?

She didn't put the phone back down this time. She waited, almost frozen, staring at the phone for the response.

Who is this? Came the reply a moment later.

Chloe rapidly texted back, her fingers flying over the keys on her cell phone: This is Chloe. Emma's friend. Where is she?

Chloe was left waiting again. She wondered if she should call Emma's phone. She was hoping that this was a younger brother or sister who had stolen Emma's phone for their amus.e.m.e.nt.

The reply came a moment later: I found this phone last night.

Chloe felt a chill run down her spine. Where was Emma and how had she lost her cell phone?

Chloe didn't bother texting back. She scrolled through her contacts and called Emma's cell phone.

It rang once, twice, and on the third ring a male voice answered, "h.e.l.lo?"

"Hi! My name is Chloe. I just texted you about the phone you're using. It's my friend Emma's and I'm trying to find her. I wanted to know where you found the phone and if I can come get it from you," Chloe found herself rambling.

"I found it on the street outside PV High last night. I was leaving school late and it was on the ground outside. I put it in my bag and forgot about it until it just started buzzing when you texted," he said.

"Who is this?" Chloe asked.

"Rob Lowrey," He said a moment later.

"You go to PV High then?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah," Rob said. "I'm a freshman."

"Can I meet you after school and get the phone back?" Chloe asked.

"Sure," Rob said. "Where should I meet you?"

"On the steps at the front of the school," Chloe said and glanced down at the blue striped shirt she was wearing, "I have strawberry blonde hair and I'm wearing a blue striped shirt and jeans."

"Okay," Rob said. "I'll see you then."

"Wait. And, you're sure you didn't see anyone drop it? There was nothing next to it?" Chloe asked.

"Nope. It was just the phone. I was going to turn it into lost and found today."

"Okay, see you after school then," Chloe said and hung up the phone.

How had Emma lost her phone and why hadn't she called trying to track it down? Chloe was really worried about Emma, but she wasn't sure what to do about it. She had no phone number for Emma's house and she didn't know any of Emma's other friends. She wasn't sure what to do except wait and see if Emma showed up. Maybe her cell phone would hold some clues as to her whereabouts. If anything, maybe there was a home number on it that she could call to see if Emma had stayed home sick. Chloe wondered if the main office would tell her that information. Somehow she thought it was probably confidential, but it might be worth a try. She decided she would make her second trip to the school office that day after lunch.

The school administrator at the front desk refused to tell her if Emma had called in sick. She said that if Emma had wanted her to know, she would call her. Chloe nodded and walked to her next hour cla.s.s, lost in thought about Emma. She was worried that worse things than her locker getting filled with rotting meat and maggots had happened in the last twenty-four hours.

In Biology cla.s.s, Jake was waiting for her anxiously as she entered the cla.s.sroom. He practically jumped out of his seat when he saw her.

"What happened to your locker?" he asked, as Chloe walked up to him.

"Someone played a joke," Chloe wanted to shrug it off.

"A joke with maggots?" Jake said, trying to keep his voice down. "I think I finally agree with Grey. Someone is after you."

"I know," Chloe said nonchalantly.

"And, it doesn't bother you?" Jake asked.

"I'm going to find out who it is before they get to me," Chloe said.

"They already have gotten to you! The car accident a couple days ago and the maggots in your locker today! What more do you need them to do? We need to go to the police!" Jake was adamant.

"I already talked to the police about the maggots," Chloe volunteered, "And I asked them about the car thing from Wednesday night and they had nothing to tell me. They just don't seem to be putting that much effort into it. If I want to save myself, I need to figure out who's doing this before they get to me."

"Do you still think it's Kate?" Jake asked, suddenly, too calmly.

"I don't know," Chloe said honestly. "It could be, but there are a lot of other people it could be too. If anyone knows Kate, it would be you."

Jake nodded, "I have a hard time believing she'd throw a vat of rotten meat into your locker. She can't even stand spiders. I don't know how she'd be able to stomach putting meat with maggots in anyone's locker."

Chloe tried not to think about the meat in her locker. Just thinking about the smell and disgustingness of it was enough to make her feel sick. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to use her locker again. She'd be afraid that the smell would linger and stick to her things or that the maggots would somehow reappear and infest the rest of her things. It just gave her the shudders. Actually, becoming a vegetarian suddenly sounded like a good idea too.

"Well, there's nothing to do but wait and see," Chloe said.

"Are you still planning on going to the football game tonight?" Jake asked.

Chloe paused, thinking. She and Emma had planned on going to the football game together, but now she wasn't sure what she was going to do. Did she really want to go to the game alone? Jake would be playing and Chloe wasn't sure where Grey would be and without Emma, Chloe would be completely friendless at the game.

"I don't know," Chloe said.

"I'd like you to come," Jake said, earnestly. "But only if you think you'll be safe and I understand if you don't want to go to the dance with me. Maybe we should talk to my mom. Maybe you should lay low for a couple of days. I don't want anything to happen to you. Maybe they'll figure out a way to break open the case and everything will be okay."

"That's a lot of maybes," Chloe smiled. "I wish it would be that easy for me. Are you ready for the game tonight?"

"Yeah," Jake smiled. "I think we'll win actually."

"Awesome," Chloe smiled back. "You know, what? I'll definitely be there."

"Are you going with Emma?" Jake asked.

Chloe paused, wondering if she should tell Jake about Emma's mysterious disappearance. She was holding out hope that Emma was sick and had just randomly dropped her phone on the way to the car and for some reason hadn't noticed its disappearance yet, "Emma is out sick today, I think, so I'm guessing she's not going to the game tonight."

Jake paused, thinking, "Maybe you should ask Grey to go with you. Just to play things safe."

Chloe paused, almost doing a double take, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Jake said. "I think you're right. I don't think Grey murdered Lora and Elizabeth. I know he had a thing for Lora a long time before we even went out and he never struck me as violent. I mean, we used to be friends. If anything I'd say that Lora just completely screwed him over too. And, he brought you home safe last night."

Chloe bit back saying anything about Jake knowing the truth about where she was the night before, "Thanks, Jake. I really appreciate your reconsidering your opinion of Grey for me."

"No problem. And, for the record, I don't trust him a hundred percent, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for right now. Not that I want you to spend a lot of time with him. I mean, until he's cleared," Jake said.

Jake paused and then continued, "And you know that I'd do just about anything for you, Chloe. Right?"

Chloe looked into Jake's eyes and smiled, thinking how safe and comfortable and warm she felt with him. She wished she could feel that way forever.

The final bell rang and Chloe rushed out of cla.s.s, practically running to the steps at the front of the school to meet Rob Lowrey and get Emma's cell phone back. She would feel a lot better if she confirmed that Emma was all right.

Chloe bolted out the doors and managed to be one of the first people walking out of school. There was nothing to go back to in her locker anyway and she had no bus to catch, so Chloe sat down on a bench near the front of the steps, glancing around for Rob Lowrey.

Crowds of students started exiting the school in packs, talking and laughing. All of them seemed to have no other cares in the world and even if the murders had touched their lives, it had only been for a brief moment. They were already moving forward, onto bigger and better things. Chloe wished she had the option to move on, but someone was making it difficult. Someone didn't want her to move on. They'd kill her if they had to, in the end. Chloe shuddered. She needed to stop thinking about the murders. There was nothing she could have done to save Lora Kelly or Elizabeth Hill. She hoped that Emma didn't need saving and she hoped that she, herself, wouldn't need saving either.

"Chloe?" a guy with long brown hair, tied in a ponytail at the nape of his neck asked, walking up to her.

"Yeah. Are you Rob Lowrey?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah. You're the girl who found Lora Kelly, right?" Rob asked curiously.

"Yeah," Chloe sighed. "It's made me famous."

"Sorry," he smirked. "You are pretty popular. Here's the phone you wanted."

Rob pulled Emma's pink studded cell phone out of his bag and handed it to Chloe.

"Thanks," Chloe said, taking the phone from him. She restrained herself from going through it in front of him by putting it in her pocket. "She'll be so glad I got it back for her."

"You're welcome," Rob said. "Glad I could help. And, good luck with the famousness thing."

"Thanks," Chloe said, smirking back at him, as he walked away.

When he had disappeared among the crowds of students heading toward the buses, Chloe took out Emma's phone.

Chloe flipped through the contacts. There weren't many numbers in the cell phone, but Chloe didn't really pay attention to them, she was looking for the words: dad, mom, parents, or home.

Emma had labeled it "home" and Chloe pressed send from Emma's cell phone, hoping there would be someone home on the other end to answer the call. The phone rang six times, but n.o.body answered.

The voicemail kicked in, "Hi you've reached the Kelman residence, please leave your name and number after the tone."

Chloe debated whether to leave a message, but took a chance, "Hi, this is Chloe. I'm a friend of Emma's. I found her cell phone and she wasn't in school today. I was hoping to talk to her. If you can have her call me back, that would be really great. Thanks."

Chloe left her number, just in case Emma didn't have it and hung up the phone. She hoped Emma's parents would call her back if they got the message first. Where was Emma? If Chloe had known where Emma lived, she would have even made the trip to her house, but she had no idea where to get that information.

Chloe looked at her watch. It was only three thirty. She had a little over three hours to kill before the big football game that night. Jake was staying at the school. The football team was having some sort of pre-practice to hype themselves up for the game, so Chloe didn't have a ride home. She walked toward her usual coffee shop, hoping that she would be able to concentrate on doing some of her homework so that she could enjoy part of her weekend and maybe stop worrying about Emma's whereabouts for a little while.

The coffee shop was crowded when Chloe walked in a few minutes later. It seemed like a lot of students were sticking around school, waiting for the football game that night. Chloe walked over to her usual table and sat down to work on her homework.

Two hours later and at least three coffees, Chloe felt her cell phone vibrate. A call was coming in. Chloe fumbled for it, dropping it on the coffee shop floor with a clang as she tried to get it out of her jeans' pocket in time. It stopped vibrating by the time she picked it up. She hoped that she hadn't broken it. She looked at the phone. It said she had missed a call. She clicked a b.u.t.ton and a number she didn't recognize appeared. She hoped it was Emma's house. Chloe hit redial and waited as the phone rang once, twice, and on third ring someone picked up.

"h.e.l.lo?" A gruff, older male voice said into the phone. "Anybody there?"

"Yeah, hi, someone just called me from this number. I was looking for Emma..." Chloe started.

"Oh, yeah. Emma's out sick from school today. She hasn't been feeling well since the car accident," her father said, coughing into the phone.

"Okay, thanks. Can I talk to her?" Chloe asked.

"She actually went out for a bit. Said she needed some air," her father said a moment later.

"Okay. Have her call me when she gets back and let her know I found her cell phone, okay?" Chloe said, relief flooding through her.

"Okay," her father said gruffly and hung up the phone.

Chloe put down her phone, feeling immensely relieved. Emma was okay. She had been worried over nothing. Chloe got started on her homework, finally able to concentrate, although the question of where exactly Emma was still kept running through her mind. She wouldn't feel a hundred percent worry free until she actually talked to her.

Chapter 19: The Popular Girl.

The football stands were packed with students all fired up for the first big game of the season. Chloe looked into the stands, searching for someone she knew. She didn't spot anyone and took a seat half way up the bleachers, a little off to the side of the fifty-yard line. She sat there for a moment, looking around at the excited crowd and then decided that she needed a hot chocolate.

She walked over to the concession stand, keeping a lookout for Emma if she decided to make an appearance or even for Grey. Chloe thought about calling him. She hadn't really seen Grey around school much since his arrest. Maybe he was ditching or trying to keep a really low profile. Would he even want to make an appearance at the big game where all the students were congregated?

Chloe pulled out her cell phone and dialed. It rang and she was getting ready to talk to Grey's voicemail when he answered, "h.e.l.lo?"

"Hey, Grey?" Chloe asked into the phone.

"Hey, Chloe," Grey said, suddenly suave and s.e.xy.

Chloe almost giggled at his change in tone. "You wouldn't want to come to the football game, would you?"

"That's what I hear in the background a school spirit. I thought I recognized it," Grey said sarcastically.

"Is that a no?" Chloe asked as she moved up in the concession line.

"Actually for you, I would come down there..." Grey said.