Murder on the Half Shell (A Red Carpet Catering Mystery Book 2) by Shawn Reilly Simmons Page B

as he spoke.
    Penelope’s heart sank and she took a breath. “What happened after that? Did you drive him home?”
    “Yeah, I did,” Regan said quietly.
    “And the girls? Did you give them a ride too?” Penelope prodded. Outside, the band had started playing their version of the old Beach Boys song “I Get Around.”
    “That’s the part that I feel really bad about, but, yeah, they came along for the ride to that dude’s house. He was pretty drunk and kept trying to give me a beer while I was driving. I can’t do anything like that. My parents are cool about me having a drink or two, but they’d flip out and take my car away if I got caught drinking and driving.”
    Penelope nodded. “Were Rebekkah and Sabena drinking?”
    Regan nodded and leaned against the counter behind him. He pulled his plastic gloves off and folded his arms at his chest. “That’s the messed-up part,” he said. “I was hanging out with them before we left and they seemed fine, just drinking water. And then suddenly they’re wasted. Rebekkah said something like ‘that vodka we drank,’ and I got the feeling they’d spiked their water bottles. Sabena said she swiped some pharms from her mom too.”
    “Pharms?” Penelope said.
    “Yeah, you know. Pills,” Regan said. “Swiping a pill or two from your parents’ medicine cabinet is the safest way to catch a buzz. They never miss them.”
    Penelope paused as the kitchen door swung open again. Jen rushed in. “We just sat three new tables. We got enough picked through for a few hours?”
    “Yeah, Mom,” Regan said.
    “Good. Hey, go listen to your dad play for a while. Put that shrimp in the walk-in and take a break. I’ll let you know if I need you again. Go have some fun.” She squeezed him on the arm and went back out the door.
    “Did you end up taking the girls home after you dropped Emilio at his house?” Penelope asked when they were alone again.
    “No,” Regan said, shaking his head. “They shared a beer in the car on the way out there, but when we got to the other side of the island I had to pull over because Sabena got sick. She was really upset, thought she was going to get into trouble with her mom for being drunk. I get the feeling she isn’t a very experienced partier. She was upset about something…something about her boyfriend. Honestly they were drunk so I tried to tune them out. I offered to take them somewhere else, but they just both kept saying that they were going to get killed when they got home.”
    Penelope closed her eyes. “What happened after that?”
    “I didn’t want to leave them with that guy, but he said he knew you, like, for a long time. He was your teacher or something? And that his wife was cool with the girls coming in and sobering up for a while. He said Rebekkah and Sabena could stay at his place until they all felt better and then he would drive them home. I saw a big white pickup truck parked at the house. He said they only needed an hour or two and some water. Rebekkah said they’d text their moms saying they were staying at each other’s houses for the night, and then they’d slip back into her bedroom after her parents fell asleep.”
    Penelope felt sick to her stomach and put a hand on the steel table, focusing on the cool metal.
    “So the last time you saw them they were at Emilio’s house?”
    “Well, they were heading inside. I watched him unlock the door, to make sure they weren’t locked out, and then I took off.”
    “They didn’t invite you in?” Penelope asked.
    “They did, but I had to get home. And I’d had enough teenage drama at that point,” Regan said.
    “Did you tell all of that to Detective Torres?”
    “Yeah. She made a call after that and left in a hurry,” Regan said. “I didn’t want to rat anybody out, but I didn’t want them thinking I was messing around with those girls either. I’m an adult now. Messing around with a sixteen-year-old, even if she’s your girlfriend, can get you in