Page 85 of Rastor

Damn it. Bishop was right. Iwaslosing it. I reminded myself that I didn't know anything, not for sure, and if I didn't get a grip now, I'd be blurting out accusations that I couldn't take back.

I strode forward, shutting the door behind me. "Let's go," I said, walking past her. When she joined me on the walkway, I kept on going, striding through the open front gate and onto the sidewalk, with Chloe walking beside me.

The day was cool, but sunny, with a light breeze. Some might call it a beautiful day. Not me. Not now. Chloe and I headed out on the usual route, following Chucky, who lunged forward like he always did.

For a long, awkward time, Chloe said nothing, and neither did I. We did that sometimes, just walked without talking. Normally, it was alright, nice even. Not today. With every step, things got more tense.

Or maybe that was just me.

On the next block over, I couldn’t stop myself from saying, "So, you got your call last night, huh?"

She gave me a sideways glance. "What call?"

Great. So now she was playing dumb? Screw that. "Never mind," I told her. "Forget it."

Her steps faltered. "Oh," she said, before picking up the pace again. "You mean that business call?"

"Yeah." I heard the sarcasm in my own voice. "The business call."

"You don't believe me?"

"I never said that."

"But you're not saying youdo, either." She sounded insulted.

Hey, she should put herself inmyplace. See how insulted she'd feel then.

I shrugged. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't want you to say anything." She stomped forward, not looking at me. "Not if you're gonna be like that."

Oh, soshewas the victim now? Yeah, whatever.

"Alright," I said, like I didn't give a shit either way. "If that's what you want." I kept moving, but said nothing else. Hey, at least I tried. It was more than I could say for her.

We plowed on like that for maybe five or ten more minutes. I kept my mouth shut and eyes straight ahead, wondering what would happen when the walk ended. We'd been planning to spend the day at my place. Now, I just couldn’t see it.

There was no way I could pretend that nothing was wrong. And worse, there was no way to ask her what I needed to know – not without insulting the hell out of her. And if I was wrong…?

Shit, I'd better be. Hey, I'd been wrong before, right?

Something squeezed at my heart. Yeah. I had. But I'd lost her, anyway.

The best thing now, I decided, was to keep my mouth shut and see what played out. Who knows? After some sleep or something, I might see things differently. Maybe I was just missing something.

Yeah, I was. My sanity.

Chloe's voice, softer now, broke into my thoughts. "You're mad about that call last night, aren't you?"

When it came to things I was "mad" about, yeah, that was part of it. But overall, it was pretty low on the list. I shrugged, but said nothing.

"Okay." Chloe blew out a shaky breath. "You know I'm just staying in that house, right?"

Yeah, but that'sallI knew. I nodded and kept on moving.

"Well," she continued, "that call last night. It was from the home-owner, just some financial thing that couldn’t wait."

Sure it was.