There was an awkward pause and Sawyer waited, muscles stiff, eyes wide and slowly adjusting to the dim coat closet.

“Okay. Please, have her contact me right away.”

“Will do.”

Sawyer listened to the front door slam and waited until she heard Stephen’s engine roar to life before she opened the closet door a half inch. “Is he gone?” she mouthed.

Chloe nodded, opening the door wide.

Sawyer stepped out tentatively, then slunk to the front window. She held her breath until she spotted Stephen’s taillights sailing through the scrolling iron gates.

“Thank God.”

Chloe licked her lips, smiling. “See?”

“See what?”

She turned on her heel, blond ponytail swaying. “Didn’t I tell you’d I’d always take care of you?”

Someone sucked all the air out of the room, and Sawyer’s stocking feet were rooted to the carpet. “What did you say?”

Chloe stopped abruptly but didn’t turn around. “What?”

“Just then.” Sawyer reached out, tentatively touching Chloe on the shoulder. To her surprise, Chloe shrugged away. She turned to face Sawyer, her pink lips pressed in a hard, thin line. “I said I’d always take care of you. I’d do anything for you, Sawyer.”

White-hot heat seared Sawyer’s spine. “Chloe?”

“Come on, sweetie.” Chloe offered Sawyer a hand and Sawyer stared at it, dumbfounded.

“I said, come on!”

Chloe wrapped her hand around Sawyer’s wrist and gave it a hard tug. She stopped immediately, her face contorted into apologetic sympathy. “I’m sorry.” She smiled sweetly. “I wouldn’t want you to think I’m anything like him.”

Sawyer stopped and snapped her wrist from Chloe’s hand. “What the hell is going on here, Chloe?”

Both girls stopped cold when a muffled groan and a loud thump came from above them. “Tara.” Sawyer went to the window and peered out. “Where is the ambulance? You have to wait for the ambulance. I’m going to go check on Tara.”

But Chloe didn’t move.

“Chloe!”

“Tara is going to be fine. It’s all going to be fine.”

Sawyer turned to run, but Chloe grabbed her, hard, jabbing something cold against Sawyer’s rib cage. It was the glint of the blade that caught Sawyer’s attention first.

“Chloe, what is that?”

The knife was unlike anything she’d ever seen before. The blade was arched and looked menacing, the edge sharpened razor-thin. Chloe’s eyes followed Sawyer’s to the knife. Chloe rolled the tip against Sawyer’s body. The move was gentle but sent shock waves of fear radiating through Sawyer.

“It’s all going to be fine.”

Sawyer went stone still. “Put the knife down, Chloe. My God, where did you get that thing, anyway?”

Chloe shrugged but didn’t relinquish her grip on the knife, the tip still a hair’s breadth from Sawyer’s flesh. “You’d be surprised at the things my parents have lying around the house.”

“Chloe, this isn’t funny. The police are going to be here any minute.”

Chloe cocked her head, a hazy serenity in her eyes. Her lips curved up at the corners just the slightest bit. “No one’s coming, Sawyer.”

She held up her phone, then dropped it. Sawyer watched in horror as the phone fell, the screen shattering at her feet, plastic pieces skittering across the marble floor.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you get it, silly?” Chloe blinked and reached out for Sawyer’s hand again, this time finding it and lacing her fingers through Sawyer’s gently. Chloe took a slight, tentative step forward, and Sawyer could smell the faint trace of Chloe’s perfume as her lips touched Sawyer’s ear.

“I’ve always admired you.”

Blood began to pulse through Sawyer. Her eyes stung. “You?” Her voice was a hoarse whisper, almost unrecognizable in the dimming air of twilight. “You did this?”

Sawyer could feel Chloe’s moist breath against her ear, her neck. Sawyer watched in dead silence as Chloe took the knife from where it rested on her ribcage and pressed it against Sawyer’s neck. “I’d do anything for you.”

A violent tremble started at Sawyer’s head and worked its way down. “What?”

Chloe didn’t answer. Though she kept the knife firm, her lips were soft and her eyes dreamy. She used her other hand to gently brush a strand of hair from Sawyer’s cheek. “Anything at all.”

Sawyer shook her head, images tearing through her mind: Kevin in his coffin, Mr. Hanson’s hands against her skin, Maggie… “No. No, you couldn’t have.”

Chloe tapped the thin steel blade against her lips, a slight smile on her face. “I couldn’t have fed Kevin beers until he was falling down drunk, then handed him his car keys? Or I couldn’t have mixed a big glop of peanut oil into Señor Hanson’s guacamole?”

“No.” Sawyer paused, then gaped when the fabric of the bracelet brushed against her cheek. The embroidered words Best Friends Forever just at her peripheral. “Where did you get that?”

Chloe smiled. “We both have them again. You found Maggie’s, didn’t you? I know you were over there.”

Sawyer felt sick and she closed her eyes tight. “You’ve been watching me.”

“Always.”

Sawyer’s tongue brushed across her lips. “You killed Kevin.”

Chloe rolled the strand of hair between her forefinger and thumb, her eyes fixed on it, admiring it.

“Why Kevin? Why now? How long—how long have you felt this way?”

The question seemed to make Chloe seethe, the cold steel of the knife vibrating against Sawyer’s carotid artery. “Forever.” She clipped the word.

“Forever?”

“God, Sawyer!” Chloe threw up her hands. “I couldn’t take it anymore! I loved you, I love you so much and I couldn’t watch it anymore. He was—he was ruining you, and you were letting him.”

Tears blurred Sawyer’s vision. “No,” she whispered.

Chloe’s eyes glowed like the last ashen embers of a dying fire. She almost looked sad. “Don’t you see?” She smacked the knife hard with her other hand, and the thwack made Sawyer jump. “He didn’t care about you! He didn’t love you. I wasn’t the only one, either, Sawyer.” She dropped her eyes for a brief second, looked at Sawyer through lowered lashes. “But you were the only one he hurt.”

Sawyer’s stomach dropped and an inappropriate rush of shame washed over her. “You knew about that?” Her voice was a choked whisper against Chloe’s ragged sigh.

Chloe shrugged. “You let him.”

“I didn’t let him hit me.” It was Sawyer’s turn to be angry now. “I didn’t just let it happen.”

“Well, you sure as hell didn’t stop it, now did you?”

“It wasn’t like that. I couldn’t—”

“Couldn’t let him go?” Chloe mocked. “Couldn’t ask for help? Couldn’t see past your own stupid nose is more like it. You’re a victim, Sawyer. Look at everything bad that happens to poor, poor Sawyer. You didn’t need him. So when I saw an opportunity, I took it.”

“What are you—”

“That night. You finally—finally—broke up with him. But I knew it wouldn’t stick. You’d go crawling back to him. He’d tell you how much he loved you, and you would turn into a big, sobbing bowl of jelly. So I stepped in. You know what happens when guys drink, Sawyer? They get horny. And a guy like Kevin Anderson doesn’t really care where he gets it from.”

“You…” Sawyer couldn’t push the words past her teeth.

“Oh, don’t act so surprised. You weren’t the only one. And neither was I.” Chloe shrugged again, the knife bobbing in her hand. The sharp blade caught the light, and Sawyer sucked in a breath.

“It was the perfect storm that night,” Chloe went on. A grin spread across her face and the calm serenity in it was chilling. “One, two, three…Kevin Anderson, done in by me.” She seemed proud of her macabre rhyme and laughed, the tinkling sound catching in the charged air.

“So, your brake lines? The gash on your head? That was all you?”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Sawyer! I had to play the game!”

“This is a game to you?”

She shrugged again, looking suddenly, chillingly, nonchalant. “Let’s say I was killing two birds with one stone. Everyone thinks someone’s out to get me.” Chloe’s eyes suddenly went hard. “Maybe paying me some kind of attention for once.”

Sawyer swallowed. “And?”

“And my crap excuse for a mom gets the ride of her life on her way to work.” Chloe held out her hands like a scale. “Win, win.” She licked her lips and a grin spread across her face. It was maniacal, totally gleeful, and it gave Sawyer terrified chills.

“But you said the car was fixed.”

“Yeah.” Chloe nodded, still grinning. “It was.”

Sawyer’s breath hitched on a sob as the weight of Chloe’s confessions pressed against her. “You murdered my boyfriend. You were there that night. The shoe—my shoes—and the sweatshirt. You took Kevin’s sweatshirt.”

Chloe’s lower lip popped out. “I was cold.”

Sawyer worked to form the words. “You killed my boyfriend.”

Chloe abruptly dropped the strand of hair and narrowed her eyes. “Some boyfriend,” she spat.

Sawyer shook her head, incredulous. “You framed me, Chloe. You put all that stuff in my locker.”

A ripple of fury washed over Chloe’s face. Her nostrils flared, her lip curled slightly. “You weren’t listening, Sawyer. I had to make you listen.”

“By getting me thrown in jail?”

“It wouldn’t have gone that far. I would have saved you. I needed to get your attention, to force you to listen. You can be a little hardheaded, Sawyer.”

“I can’t believe—I can’t believe…” Sawyer’s lower lip started to tremble. Chloe frowned, her eyes mirroring Sawyer’s sadness.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.”