hands on her hips. “I was at the doctor’s, okay? Chloe had her six-month checkup. You can ask anyone there if you don’t believe me. She screamed bloody murder when she got her shots. Besides,” she continued, “if anything, I had every reason to want Courtney alive. Check it—I’m out a year’s supply of diapers because some guy offed her before I could get my due. No way I did this.”
Andi had a point. On Law & Order it was always the blackmailer not the blackmailee that ended up dead. And it didn’t seem like Andi had much of a motive to kill her.
“Now, unless you’re going to buy something, I have work to do,” Andi said, gesturing to her suitcase.
I paused. “You still have cherry lip gloss left?”
She nodded.
“I’ll take two.”
TEN
THE SECOND WE GOT BACK TO THE GREEN MACHINE, I grabbed Sam’s phone and sent an urgent message to Josh’s MySpace account.
Need to c u. 2nite. Window will b open.
Then I spent the rest of the drive back to my place slowly counting to ten, cursing Josh in the most creative way I knew how, then counting to ten again.
“Wow, you know a lot of swear words,” Sam commented at one point. “And here I thought I had a dirty mouth.”
“What can I say? Apparently candid porn starring my boyfriend brings out the best in me.”
“I always knew he was an effing jerk.”
“Thanks.” I appreciated her show of support, censored as it might be.
By the time Sam dropped me off in front of my place, I had almost gotten my roiling stomach under control.
Almost.
Then I saw Detective Raley’s car sitting at the curb.
I took two deep breaths, counted to twenty this time, then walked up to the driver’s-side window of his sedan. It rolled down to reveal the detective himself.
“Good afternoon, Miss Featherstone,” he said.
“It would be.”
He raised an eyebrow. “If?”
“If you were looking for the real killer instead of staking me out.” A ballsy statement. Apparently pervy videos also brought out my honest side.
Unfortunately Raley was way too much of a cool customer to be jarred by my honesty.
“Trust me, Miss Featherstone, our department is using every resource to locate Courtney’s killer. We will find him.” The way he stared straight at me as he said it made it sound more like a threat than a reassurance.
“Which reminds me,” he went on. “Seen Josh today?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just wait here for a bit and see if he shows up.”
“Great. Have fun with that,” I said with the most sarcasm I could muster. Which was a lot.
While I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Raley basically cop stalking me at any time, today it was especially annoying. Because as soon as Josh arrived, I planned on killing him. And I didn’t particularly want Raley as a witness.
The minute I walked in the door the aroma of homemade lasagna greeted me, signaling that instead of going to her usual water aerobics class, Mom had opted to work out her anxiety through comfort food again. I had to admit, it did smell kind of good. And I could use a little comfort. Even if it was made of gluten-free noodles and seasoned ground tofu.
Once I’d devoured two big slices, I escaped the grasp of the SMother and headed to my room. I immediately opened my window, checking outside to make sure Josh had a clear path. The last thing I wanted was for him to get hurt on his way to me killing him.
Once I was sure he could arrive for his death unharmed, I halfheartedly did my homework, then flipped on the TV and watched American Idol while keeping one eye on the window. Then watched an episode of Castle On Demand. Then the late news, where Diane showed my clip (wow, I really wish she’d let me pause for lip gloss) and told the Bay Area that while there was still no break in the case of the “Herbert Hoover High killer,” the other members of the Chastity Club were starting a Courtney Cline Memorial Fund to help spread the message of teen
Andi had a point. On Law & Order it was always the blackmailer not the blackmailee that ended up dead. And it didn’t seem like Andi had much of a motive to kill her.
“Now, unless you’re going to buy something, I have work to do,” Andi said, gesturing to her suitcase.
I paused. “You still have cherry lip gloss left?”
She nodded.
“I’ll take two.”
TEN
THE SECOND WE GOT BACK TO THE GREEN MACHINE, I grabbed Sam’s phone and sent an urgent message to Josh’s MySpace account.
Need to c u. 2nite. Window will b open.
Then I spent the rest of the drive back to my place slowly counting to ten, cursing Josh in the most creative way I knew how, then counting to ten again.
“Wow, you know a lot of swear words,” Sam commented at one point. “And here I thought I had a dirty mouth.”
“What can I say? Apparently candid porn starring my boyfriend brings out the best in me.”
“I always knew he was an effing jerk.”
“Thanks.” I appreciated her show of support, censored as it might be.
By the time Sam dropped me off in front of my place, I had almost gotten my roiling stomach under control.
Almost.
Then I saw Detective Raley’s car sitting at the curb.
I took two deep breaths, counted to twenty this time, then walked up to the driver’s-side window of his sedan. It rolled down to reveal the detective himself.
“Good afternoon, Miss Featherstone,” he said.
“It would be.”
He raised an eyebrow. “If?”
“If you were looking for the real killer instead of staking me out.” A ballsy statement. Apparently pervy videos also brought out my honest side.
Unfortunately Raley was way too much of a cool customer to be jarred by my honesty.
“Trust me, Miss Featherstone, our department is using every resource to locate Courtney’s killer. We will find him.” The way he stared straight at me as he said it made it sound more like a threat than a reassurance.
“Which reminds me,” he went on. “Seen Josh today?”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Well, I guess I’ll just wait here for a bit and see if he shows up.”
“Great. Have fun with that,” I said with the most sarcasm I could muster. Which was a lot.
While I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Raley basically cop stalking me at any time, today it was especially annoying. Because as soon as Josh arrived, I planned on killing him. And I didn’t particularly want Raley as a witness.
The minute I walked in the door the aroma of homemade lasagna greeted me, signaling that instead of going to her usual water aerobics class, Mom had opted to work out her anxiety through comfort food again. I had to admit, it did smell kind of good. And I could use a little comfort. Even if it was made of gluten-free noodles and seasoned ground tofu.
Once I’d devoured two big slices, I escaped the grasp of the SMother and headed to my room. I immediately opened my window, checking outside to make sure Josh had a clear path. The last thing I wanted was for him to get hurt on his way to me killing him.
Once I was sure he could arrive for his death unharmed, I halfheartedly did my homework, then flipped on the TV and watched American Idol while keeping one eye on the window. Then watched an episode of Castle On Demand. Then the late news, where Diane showed my clip (wow, I really wish she’d let me pause for lip gloss) and told the Bay Area that while there was still no break in the case of the “Herbert Hoover High killer,” the other members of the Chastity Club were starting a Courtney Cline Memorial Fund to help spread the message of teen
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