The whiskey in my gut turned sour and cold. It wasn’t just the connection between the two girls—there had been something off about Chloe. She hadn’t blinked an eye when I’d come out of my flashback and nearly knocked her on her ass.
I twisted around on my bar stool and propped my elbows on the bar top, burying my hands in my hair.
Chloe leaned in to me and lowered her voice. “Lis doesn’t need to know. Nothing happened between us anyway. Remember? You went ape-shit before anything could.”
“Ape-shit.” I snorted and shifted so that I could look at her through the gap of my bent arm. “How the hell does something like this happen? You of all people! Her best friend?”
She frowned and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. “Something tells me you pick up a lot of girls. And something tells me that the likelihood of this happening is actually pretty damn high considering how cute I am.”
I scowled her way. “You are unbelievable.”
“Me?” Her free hand fluttered at her chest. “I should be the one worried here. I’m Lis’s best friend, and you are clearly, somehow, questionably important to her. And, if I had to guess, you don’t place much importance on anyone you meet.” She pulled herself upright. “Just what are your intentions with Lissy, anyway?”
I mirrored her, pulling back from the bar top. The stool creaked beneath me. “My intentions? Well, I don’t plan on courting her, if that’s what you mean.”
A hoarse laugh escaped her throat. “Despite my better judgment, I actually like you. You’re not a pussy.”
She had no idea, and I was grateful for the flashback that’d interrupted us. If it hadn’t, what else might have happened between us? What else might she have figured out about me? Elizabeth knew some of my past, but she didn’t know the scary parts. And if she did, then she’d push me away and this whole mission would turn to ash.
Chloe narrowed her eyes, as if she sensed the horrible things I was hiding.
“What did happen the other night?” she asked. “What happened to you?”
“Migraine,” I said quickly, too quickly.
“Sure.” The look on her face said she knew it was bullshit, but she didn’t press, and I wasn’t about to elaborate.
Elizabeth came up behind me, her uniform apron gone, her purse slung over her body. “Ready?”
Chloe and I shared a look. If she could keep her mouth shut about the other night, then so could I. I just wasn’t sure if I could hide the growing elephant in the room.
“Ready,” I said.
Elizabeth led the way out.
Chloe shot a look over her shoulder at me and winked as she walked away.
We followed Evan in his puny little sports car north of Trademarr.
Evan had offered to give Elizabeth a ride to the lake, but she’d said she’d ride with me. Part of me was glad (smug) that she’d turned him down. The other part didn’t know what to say to her now that we were trapped in the truck’s cab together.
We slowed for a stop sign, and the truck idled as Evan waited for a car to pass through the intersection.
“Are you sure you’re okay with going out with my friends?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yeah. It’s fine.”
More silence. Evan hit the gas, pulling away from me in just a few seconds. The truck I’d picked out earlier this spring had a V8, and I’d picked it out for that reason. I caught up to Evan fast.
Jackass.
Truth was, I didn’t really feel like hanging out with Evan for the night, but I did want to stick close to Elizabeth. If she was hiding something, I needed to find out what. If she was drinking tonight—and from the sound of it, there’d be booze—then she might let something slip. And the more time I spent with her, the more opportunity I’d have to gain her trust.
There was something she wasn’t telling me—or anyone for that matter—about what had happened during her captivity. And it was aggravating, because the more I could learn about her captivity, the more I’d know about the program and what the Branch was up to when they were here six years ago. In my experience, the Branch changed people in screwed-up ways, and if I had to guess, they’d altered Elizabeth, too.
The biggest question was—had they made her into a weapon like they had me? And if so, what was she capable of?
We left the main road, turning left down a dirt two-track that cut through the woods. The lake came into view when we rounded a thick grove of trees.
I parked the truck on the passenger side of Evan’s car and got out. We still had some daylight left, but out here, away from the city lights, it felt duskier.
It was quieter, too.