"Chloe, we'd like to talk to you," said the taller police officer, whose name read Keller on his shirt.

"Alone," the other officer, named Gilbert said.

Kate looked at Jake and then got up and walked out of the room with him, leaving Chloe and the police officers alone together in the living room. Chloe wondered if Kate and Jake were just around the hallway, listening, but neither officer checked. They just sat down on the sofa across from her, pulling out some notes.

"You're eighteen, right?" Detective Keller said, looking up at her.

"Yeah, my birthday was a few weeks ago," Chloe nodded.

"Good. Then we don't need an adult present," Detective Keller said, clarifying.

"I'm sure you've already heard that there was a murder at the school," Detective Gilbert started.

Chloe nodded, "Everyone heard. Who was it?"

"A girl named Elizabeth Hill. Did you know her?" Detective Keller asked.

Chloe felt fear knot in her stomach. It was true. Elizabeth Hill had been murdered and she might have been one of the last few people to see her alive. Should she mention it? Chloe thought about it. People had seen Elizabeth talk to her.

"We talked once after Lora's death," Chloe admitted vaguely, "I saw her around, though."

"When was that? That you talked to her?" Detective Gilbert asked, consulting something in his notebook.

Chloe felt a film of sweat form on her forehead. She wondered if she should tell the truth. So many people had seen her at the coffee shop on Friday night that they would discover she had talked to Elizabeth Hill that night sooner or later.

"Last Friday night," Chloe said reluctantly.

"Where?" Detective Gilbert prodded.

"At The Latte. It's a coffee shop down the street from the high school. I do my homework there after school until my friend Jake gets out of football practice."

"What did you and Elizabeth talk about?" Detective Keller asked.

"Well, she wanted to know if I saw anything besides just Lora's dead body. Like maybe a clue to the killer," Chloe said softly.

"And, did you?" Detective Gilbert asked, looking at her intently.

"No. I didn't see anything. I just found the body. There was n.o.body near the steps at that time," Chloe said, voice shaking slightly, despite her attempts to steady it.

Detective Keller looked at his notes, "Do you know Grey Meyer?"

Chloe was surprised at the change of subject. Her mind flashed back to the day in the darkroom when Grey had pleaded with her to tell the police that he had been with her when Lora was murdered.

"Yes, I know Grey," Chloe admitted slowly. "Why?"

"Did you see him the night of Lora's murder?" Detective Keller was watching her carefully.

"Yes," Chloe admitted.

"Where?" Detective Gilbert asked, leaning in with interest.

Detective Keller was also listening intently. Chloe had a decision to make. Should she lie and say she was with Grey for the time period he had asked her to or should she tell the truth? She wanted to protect him, but it nagged at her that she shouldn't have to lie about it. Surely if Grey was completely innocent, there would be no reason to lie. Maybe she could just be vague.

"I met him on the steps leading down to the beach," Chloe said, running a hand through her hair.

"Do you know what time that was?" Detective Keller asked, pen poised to take down the time.

"I'm not sure," Chloe said, truthfully. "I wasn't looking at my watch."

Detective Keller looked from his notes over to Chloe, "How long after you talked to him would you say you found the body?"

"Right after," Chloe admitted.

"Did you talk to him long?" Detective Gilbert asked.

"A little while," Chloe said, noncommittally.

"Is a little while two minutes? Five? Ten? Thirty?" Detective Keller inquired.

"I don't know," Chloe said, vaguely, thinking rapidly. Maybe a little white lie wouldn't hurt. Her heart was beating fast. She felt a little sick, "Maybe fifteen? I don't know."

"Okay," Detective Keller said thoughtfully.

"Why?" Chloe asked, unable to hide the anxiety from her voice.

Detective Gilbert ignored her, "You didn't happen to see Grey on Friday night, did you? After you talked to Elizabeth?"

Chloe felt a chill creep up her spine. They were trying to connect him with Elizabeth, "No, I didn't."

"Do you know if he and Elizabeth were friends?" Detective Gilbert asked.

"I don't know," Chloe said, lamely. She didn't want Grey to be guilty.

"Okay, thank you. We'll be back to see you if we have any more questions," Detective Keller said, standing up.

Detective Gilbert stood up as well and nodded a goodbye in Chloe's direction.

"Hey, wait," Chloe said walking after them as they walked toward the door, "Do you think Grey had something to do with the murders?"

Detective Gilbert looked back at Chloe, "We're looking into all possible suspects, but if I were you, I would walk the other way if I saw him."

Chloe watched the detectives leave in mute horror. She shut the door in silence, her mind in a whirl.

"Are you okay?" Jake asked, rounding the corner of the hallway, with Kate following right behind him.

Chloe nodded.

"I can't believe Liz is dead," Jake said, collapsing on the couch.

Kate smirked, "She was kind of a b.i.t.c.h too."

Jake looked appalled. "Kate!"

Kate sat down next to Jake, "Oh come on, she was! So was Lora Kelly. Look at what she did to you."

Jake frowned, "No matter what, neither of them deserved to be murdered."

Kate frowned, changing the subject and looking at Chloe, "How do you feel about Grey being the police's prime suspect?"

Chloe walked over to the couch across from them and sat down, "A little shocked, I guess."

"You seemed kind of into him on the beach the other day," Kate said and then added, "And he was pretty protective of you."

"I should have told them about that!" Chloe exclaimed, "Then maybe they'd see he couldn't have done it. He saved my life. A murderer wouldn't do that."

"Well, he could have saved you to cover his tracks. I mean, what person is both a hero and a murderer, right?" Kate said.

Chloe frowned, "It's just that, well, I've gotten to know him and I don't see how he could have done it."

Jake snapped out of his mental reverie, "But that's the thing. Someone we all know did it. Someone we know killed Lora Kelly and Liz Hill. They were best friends. This person purposefully targeted them. It's someone we know. It has to be. Why else kill two friends? If you had asked me two weeks ago if I knew anyone that could murder someone else, I would have said no, but now, it's totally possible that we know a murderer. How can you tell anymore?"

Chloe looked at Kate and Jake in silence and felt fear rise in her throat. She didn't know who to trust. She didn't know what she would do the next time Grey showed up waiting for her at her locker. Jake and Kate were right, how could she tell if he was really guilty or innocent? How could she tell if anyone was? Chloe was beyond frightened.

Chapter 10: The Stalked Girl.

The school opened its doors the next day, although most of the school seemed to have taken the day off. Chloe walked through the main hallway to her locker and there was a definite lack of students in the hallways. Jeanette had tried to keep her and Jake at home again, but they had refused. Chloe wondered if she should have stayed home after the last insane week, but she didn't like the idea of hiding in her bedroom.

Chloe expected to find Grey waiting for her, but he wasn't in his usual spot. Chloe opened her locker and wondered about Grey's interrogation by the police. She was sure that they had been to his house since he seemed to have been the topic the police were most interested in. A sliver of anxiety coursed through her body. Maybe the police had arrested him. Chloe felt a wave of sadness roll over her. Grey had saved her two days before, from the grasp of death in the ocean. How could he be a murderer? She pushed the thought away. Hopefully Grey had taken a ditch day like everyone else. If not, Chloe thought uneasily, she'd hear all about it by lunchtime.

By lunchtime the gossip had indeed invaded the school. Chloe's worst fears had come true. Grey Meyer had been arrested for the murders of Elizabeth Hill and Lora Kelly. Chloe was horrified at the news. She had heard it in her second hour Calculus cla.s.s and everything the teacher said the hour after that had completely gone unnoticed by her. She was going to have to copy the math notes from someone else because she hadn't been able to think about anything but Grey since she heard.

"Did you hear about Grey?" Emma asked, eyes wide with horror and curiosity as Chloe sat down to eat lunch with her.

"Yeah," Chloe nodded, "But I'm having a hard time believing he did it. It just doesn't seem like him."

Emma raised her eyebrows, "Wait a minute. How do you know him so well all of a sudden? Do you like him after all?"

"No," Chloe said quickly, her heart thudding, "I just don't think he did it."

"I don't think he did it either," Emma nodded conspiratoriously, "He may have cheated on me, but he was never violent or crazy when I went out with him. He doesn't seem like the murdering type at all."

"Yeah," Chloe said, thoughtfully. "He saved me from drowning on Sat.u.r.day."

"What?" Emma said, mouth dropping open. "Really? How did that happen?"

"I got caught in an undertow and he saved my life," Chloe said, feeling her eyes well up with tears at the now horrific memory. She was still having nightmares about the ocean, that, and dead bodies.

"Wow," Emma said. "No wonder you have the hots for him."

"Shut up," Chloe said, swiping at Emma with her notebook.

"Stop," Emma laughed. "Well, I did hear Grey's getting out on bail. So, that's good news right?"

"They're letting him out?" Chloe asked, hopefully.

"Yeah. His parents are super loaded and have major connections. Totally the guy you'd want to date if you want to be on the up and up of the social crowd..." Emma paused for a moment, watching Chloe. "Anyway, I heard he'd be out this afternoon."

Chloe nodded and took a bite of her sandwich. She felt better all of a sudden.

Jake was already in Biology cla.s.s when Chloe arrived. He was anxiously awaiting her as she walked up to their lab table.

"Hey, Chloe, did you hear about Grey?" Jake asked, as soon as she had set her books down.

"Yeah," Chloe nodded.

Jake looked uncomfortable, "Good because I've been thinking. You need to stay away from him. I know you kinda know him and all, but two girls are dead. I don't want you to be the next one."

Chloe frowned at Jake, not sure what to say, "Well, I don't plan on running into Grey. I mean, we're not friends or anything exactly. But, I mean, I don't think he did it either. I'm not scared of him."

"Still. You should stay away from him just in case," Jake said adamantly. "For now. Just to be safe."

"Well, I'll try," Chloe said, thinking that the odds that she'd run into Grey were slim anyway. Besides, Grey might have decided he was too busy with being a murder suspect to take the time to search her out.

Chloe walked to her locker, glad another school day was over. After a little over a week at her new school, Chloe felt like she had been there for eons and none of them pleasant. She was ready to go relax at the coffee shop and work on her homework. Chloe turned the combination on her lock and opened her locker, a slip of paper falling out of it, as it swung open.

Chloe bent down and picked it up, thinking that one of her homework a.s.signments had fallen out of its folder. The page was folded in half and Chloe opened it, looking for the subject so she could put it in its rightful place. It wasn't a homework a.s.signment, she realized quickly.

It was a letter, scrawled in choppy red writing that she didn't recognize, reading: Watch your step. Two gone. Another one ready to go. Chloe felt the blood rush to her head and she leaned against her locker for support.

Chloe was having problems focusing on her homework. She took another sip of her latte, hoping to relax, but her mind kept going over and over the letter in her locker. The letter was sitting in front of her now. She had been staring at it for the last hour. It was on a torn out sheet of notebook paper, with a simple crease to make it easy to throw into her locker. Her name wasn't on it, but Chloe felt that it had been definitely intended for her. It was the second time someone had sent her a warning message in her locker. She didn't feel like it was a joke or a prank anymore and she was terrified.

What did she and the other two girls have in common? Chloe racked her brain. She didn't know what they had in common. She had only just moved here. She only knew a handful of people. Why was the killer targeting her? Did this person think she knew something too? Chloe knew she should take the note to the police, but she was afraid. She was afraid she was making a big deal out of nothing and even more than that she was afraid she was making a big deal about something huge, something that really was a matter of life and death. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to overreact, but she didn't want to end up dead either. What if it was a joke? What if the police didn't take her seriously? What if Jake never let her leave the house? What if her parents forced her to go back to Illinois? On the other hand, what if the note was real and she was the next intended victim? Chloe felt so indecisive. What was the right thing to do?

Chloe was still staring at the letter in contemplative silence when she felt someone standing above her. She looked up, startled. It was Grey.