Page 41 of Rastor

The only reason I was out here, talking to Amber at all, was to set things straight so she didn't show up on my doorstep later on. No matter what it took, I was going to win Chloe back. And when that happened, I sure as hell didn't need Amber in the middle, messing things up.

I turned to face her. "Amber, you need to know something. We're done. Our friendship, or whatever, it's over."

She blinked. "What? Why?"

"You know why."

She gave me a confused look. "No, I don't. Honest."

Did I really need to explain it? Just ten hours earlier, I'd seen Chloe lying on the ground with a knife to her throat. The knife might've been fake, but the scene was real enough. There was no way in hell I could let that slide.

From what I'd learned over the last few hours, Brittney and Amber had planned the whole thing. Maybe Amber hadn't been the mastermind – as ridiculous as that sounded – but she hadn't done anything to stop it either.

Whether she'd been too jealous or just too weak, it was the same result. Chloe had gotten hurt, thanks to Amber and her latest best friend.

But Amber was shaking her head. "But…what'd I do?"

Oh for fuck's sake. Amber wasn't the brightest bulb in the world, but evenshecouldn’t be this stupid. Fine, if I needed to spell it out, whatever.

Through gritted teeth, I told Amber everything I knew, starting with the fact that Chloe had been jumped in her own front yard and ending with Brittney's lame excuse that it was all just a prank.

"But that wasn't supposed to happen!" Amber said. "At least not like that."

"Yeah?" I said, feeling my blood pressure rise. "How, exactly, was it supposed to happen?" I gave her a hard look. "Let me guess. I wasn't supposed to catch them in the middle of it? I wasn't supposed to force their sorry asses into theirowntrunk and makethemjump out intheirfucking underwear?"

When Amber said nothing, I went on. "So, it was supposed to beChloeout there? Half-naked where she fucking works. Is that it?"

Amber drew back. "I don't know what you're talking about." She blinked back tears. "Honest."

"Oh yeah? So tell me. How was it supposed to happen?"

She was sniffling now. "It's hard to talk when you're so mad about it."

"Fine by me." I reached for the door-handle.

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah. And you should, too." I opened the car-door. "And Amber?"

"What?"

"Don't come back."

She paused. "Ever?"

"Ever." I got out of the car and slammed the door shut behind me, leaving Amber to drive off – or not. If she stayed too long, I'd call my usual security firm and have her hustled out like the trespasser she was.

Besides, I had something else to do, and it didn't involve being nice to a girl who didn't deserve it. I bypassed the house and went straight for the unattached garage out back.

A couple of minutes later, I was in the driver's seat of my basic dark sedan. I pulled out of the driveway, passing Amber's car, still sitting in the turnaround, with the engine still running.

If Amber was smart, she'd be gone by the time I got back.

But as it turned out, she wasn't.

Chapter 20

I'd been gone for two hours. Now, walking through my front gate, I wasn't happy with what I saw – Amber's car, parked in the same spot as before.