Page 7 of Wild Idol

Her face scrunched as she thought about it. “I think his name is Jason. We met him the other night at Bumper. I thought he was totally full of shit, but Haley was into him.”

“Do you have contact information for him?”

Taylor shook her head.“She did send me a picture from the Pearl Room with her and Sable.”

“What time was that?”

“I can check. Hang on a minute.” She stepped back into her dorm room, grabbed a tissue, and returned a moment later with her cell phone. Her head was buried in the screen asshe tabbed through it. The soft blue glow illuminated her face.

Taylor showed me the picture of Haley with Sable Fox. Both girls smiled as they sat on a plush couch at the club. “That came through to my phone at 10:33 PM.”

JD and I studied the image.

“Would you text that to me?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“She sent you another text from Beats.”

Taylor’s face wrinkled with confusion. “How did you know that?”

“Phone records,” I said, not going into detail.

“Oh, right,” she said.

“What did Haley’s last text say?”

5

“She said she met this cute guy and would tell me all about it later,” Taylor said.

“Did she give you any names?” I asked.

Taylor shook her head.

“Can I see that text?”

“Sure.” She found it on her device and showed it to me.

It was as she stated.

“That’s the last time you heard anything from her?”

“Yeah.”

“Did Haley ever do drugs?” I asked.

“No. Maybe a little weed here and there, but nothing major. Don’t get me wrong, we both like to drink, but…” She cringed. “I guess I shouldn’t admit that.”

“I don’t have an official cause of death, but I suspect your friend died from an overdose.”

Taylor’s jaw dropped, and her eyes rounded.

“I think she got a taste of life in the fast lane, and it bit her,” JD said. “You might want to reconsider your position on drugs and alcohol.”

Taylor hesitated a moment. “I don’t do drugs.”

“Was Haley dating anyone?” I asked.