Page 43 of Rastor

"What drunks?" I asked.

"Her roommate." He made a sound of disgust. "And some guy."

I recalled our last visit to Brittney's place. She'd been locked out that time, too. I recalled her frizzy-haired roommate, sleeping naked on the couch with some guy old enough to be her grandpa.

I had to ask. "The same guy as before?"

"Nah," Bishop said. "Different one. Huge guy with a nose-ring."

Amber spoke up. "Oh, I know whothatwas. It's one of her roommate's boyfriends. I think his name is John." She frowned. "Come to think of it, a bunch of them are named John. Pretty weird, huh?"

Bishop and I shared a look.

"Uh, yeah," Bishop said. "Weird." He cleared his throat. "Anyway…" He turned back to me. "Amber has something to tell you. So just sit and listen, alright?"

I glanced toward the nearest chair, but made no move to sit.

"You owe me," Bishop said. "Did I mention the guy smelled like cheese?"

Amber was nodding. "Yup, that was John, alright." She wrinkled her nose. "I hope you wore gloves. He has this really weird skin-condition."

Well, that did it.

I made for the chair and sat.

Bishop looked to Amber. "Go on. Tell him what you told me."

Amber gave me a nervous look. "Okay. I tried to tell you earlier, but you were so mad–"

"I'm still mad," I said. "So just spit it out, alright?"

"I will, honest. But first, I have to say something."

I waited.

Her voice grew very quiet. "I'm sorry."

"You should be."

"Hey!" Bishop said, "She's trying to tell you something. Don't be a dick, alright?"

"Me?" I gave him a what-the-hell look. "NowI'mthe dick? What aboutyou?"

"What about me?"

"Every single time you've seen Chloe, you've been a dick to her." I flicked my gaze to Amber. "And now, you're all nice toher, the girl who tried to have Chloe kidnapped?"

Amber spoke up. "But I didn't! That's what I’m trying to tell you!"

Yeah, whatever. I crossed my arms and waited.

She took a deep breath. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that."

"Right," I said, not bothering to hide my irritation. "So, how was it supposed to happen?"

"Let me start from the beginning, becausethat'sthe thing I'm sorry about." She looked down at her lap and said, "I was pretty mean to Chloe." She hesitated. "Brittney and I, well, we had her wait on us, you know, at that restaurant where she works."

When Amber looked up, her cheeks were flushed. "We were kind of awful."