Page 19 of Rastor

Bishop cleared his throat. "Anyway, what they end up telling the cops is the whole thing was part of some prank gone wrong."

Prank. There was that word again. I said it out loud. "A prank?"

It was the same word that Brittney had used to describe what they'd done to Chloe. If I never heard that word again, it would be too damn soon.

"Yeah," Bishop said. "They tell the cops it's part of some fraternity thing, claim they were supposed to end up at this sorority bash, but got dropped at the wrong place."

"So what?" I said. "That doesn't explain the masks."

"Which," Brittney said, "I still need back, by the way."

Together, Bishop and I turned to look. Under our silent gazes, she shifted in her seat. "Well, I do. I mean, I didn'tgivethem to Joey and Paul. It was just a loan. They were supposed to give them back when they were done."

I heard another snap. I looked down to see a matching crack on the other chair arm.

Bishop glanced at the chair. "You wanna hear the rest later?" The corners of his mouth lifted. "Like when you're sitting on a couch or something."

"Oh, fuck off," I muttered.

With a longer look at the chair, he continued, "So they tell the cops they're wearing the masks because they were supposed to do some panty-raid, burglar skit at this sorority house – Amber's actually. But because of some mix-up, they end up at the restaurant instead."

"And you learned all of this how?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I've got a friend on the force."

"And he believed that bullshit story?"

"The guy's not stupid," Bishop said. "He knows a load of bull when he hears it, but who's complaining? The only 'victims' were the guys in the trunk." Bishop hesitated. "Well, them and the poor saps who had to look at them."

I recalled the one guy's underwear, tiny black briefs a few sizes too small. No doubt, the crowd had gotten a good eye-full.

"Besides," Bishop added, "someone backed up their story, so there you have it."

"Who?" I asked.

"Amber," he said. "I got ahold of her, walked her through it."

I sat back in the chair. During the last two hours, he'd gotten a lot done. As for me, I'd been sitting here, listening to Brittney whine about crap that didn't matter.

And now, she was frowning again. She turned to Bishop. "Wait a minute," she said. "How'dyouget ahold of Amber? I've been calling her all night. It's like she's avoiding me or something."

"Yeah?" Bishop said. "Maybe it's a hint, and you should take it."

Brittney scowled. "What'sthatsupposed to mean?"

Bishop stood. "You wanna know? Ask her." He glanced toward the stairway. "Anyway, I'm heading to bed."

Brittney was suddenly all smiles. "Want some company?"

"From you?" he said. "Hell no."

Brittney drew back. "God, what's your problem?"

He glanced toward me. "Sloppy seconds aren't my thing."

"Hey!" she said. "I'm not sloppy." Her gaze narrowed as she looked in my direction. "And besides, all I ever did was blow him. And that was for like two whole seconds before he flipped out because of 'dog girl.'"

Dog girl?I stood. "For the last time, her name is Chloe."