I shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

She pointed to a black Jeep behind me, and we both got inside.

“You mind if the top is down?”

“That’s fine.”

It was one of the Jeeps where the sides and top could either be up or lowered down. I had to admit that it was nice to be driving with the breeze after sitting inside a vehicle all day, and after a couple stoplights, after I pulled up the address for Tabatha’s house and got the GPS ready to go, she asked, “So. Fill me in. What’d he say to you?”

I didn’t want to ask why she wanted to know. That was politics I didn’t want to deal with, so I filled her in.

I waited a full thirty seconds for her to respond.

When she didn’t say anything, neither did I.

It wasn’t until we pulled up outside of Tabatha’s sorority house before she spoke again. She turned the engine off. “If he asks you again about the Red Demons, let me know.” He already did, but I frowned. “There something I need to know?”

She shook her head. “No, but I have to ask you this question, and it’s for your safety. Okay? I want you to know that.”

My gut tightened. “What is it?”

“Do you know anything about the Red Demons?”

My gut tightened even more. “No.” I was getting pissed that I was getting questioned about them in the same day, much less at all. “I know nothing about them.”

“Okay.” She blew out a breath, nodding. “Good. Just keep it like that and you’ll be fine.”

That wasn’t totally true, but it wasn’t anyone else’s business.

Her gaze trailed past me, and she cursed under her breath. “Jesus. You weren’t kidding about the sorority house.”

I grinned. “Why did you think I needed backup? Not for my safety, for my mental health. These girls make me want to go apeshit.”

“I’m thinking I should’ve kept my Taser on me.”

I paused. “Is it here?”

She motioned to the back. “In my bag.”

That didn’t even need consideration. “Grab it.” And then I added for good measure, “Wear your badge, too.”

Hawk was grinning as she clipped it in place, following me up to the house. A burst of warmth hit me in the chest, and I didn’t know how to handle that feeling, so I tried to roll my eyes. I couldn’t. Instead, I grinned back as I knocked on the door.

There was a sound of footsteps running to the door before it opened. A girl stood there, barefoot, hair up in one hand, shorts low on her hips, and a tank top that was barely covering her breasts. It’d been pushed up, and sitting there, right on her bare stomach was a handprint. A white handprint, tan all around it.

The girl frowned. “What? Who are you?” She saw Hawk’s badge, then her Taser, and her eyes got even bigger. “I thought you were my tan girl.”

I didn’t ask. I pushed in, ignoring her and saying as Hawk followed me, “Where’s Tabatha?”

“Wha—hey!” She tried to get in front of us, blocking us from the house. Too late. We were already inside, and as her shoulders fell, she asked, “Who are you?”

“Just tell me where she is.”

“No.” Her hand let go of her hair and it came tumbling down, falling past her shoulders. “We have an event tonight and you need to leave, whoever you are. I’ll let Tabatha know she had two people asking for her, but she’s not here—”

“Who’s at the door…” Tabatha’s voice rang out from the second floor, alerting us before she appeared, standing at the bannister. Her voice trailed off, seeing us. “Oh.”

Oh?

That’s not what I expected to hear.

I moved past the girl, heading for the stairs.

“Hey! No. You can’t go up there.”

Tabatha wasn’t saying anything.

The door girl was trying to get in front of me again, in front of Hawk, too, since she was behind me. “Tabatha, get to your room. You two, stop!”

Tabatha sighed. “Just let ’em up. I should’ve gone to see her anyway.”

That really wasn’t the response I expected from Tabatha.

Door Girl paused, frowning up. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” Tabatha waved toward me as I was nearing the top of the stairs. “She’s Jordan’s family.”

“Oh.” Door Girl stepped to the side, all the fight leaving her. A flash of remorse filled her eyes instead, and she bit down on her bottom lip. Adjusting her top so it was firmly bunched under her breasts, the doorbell rang at that moment and she looked back to it. “I–that’s for me.”

“Go.” Tabatha nodded, her tone gentle. “I’ve got this.”

“You sure?” The girl hadn’t moved from her step. Her concern was clear.

“Yeah.” Tabatha’s voice was more firm. “I’m good. Promise.”

Door Girl gave her a look, widening her eyes. “Call if you need anything, anything. I mean it.”

“I will.”

The doorbell rang again.

“Go. Fix your tan line.”

The girl groaned before hurrying back down the stairs. “That’s what I get for crashing after a full night of studying. And we have the Zeta Kappa Mingle tonight, too.” Right before the door, she snapped back, pointing at Tabatha. “Don’t forget the green dress for tonight.”

“Got it.”

The door opened and we heard voices below, but I tuned them out. Tabatha was staring at me now, a sadness so strong that I started to feel it. She said quietly, “What Jordan told you wasn’t the total truth.” Her eyes flicked to Hawk, lingered, narrowing, and her head moved back an inch. “You brought backup for me?” She was fully taking in all of Hawk now. “A Taser gun? You a cop?”

Hawk snorted, stepping closer to me. “I’m thinking you don’t need the restraining you thought you did.”

Yeah. I was getting that vibe, too.

I gave her a small nod. “I can call for a ride. You can take off if you want.”

She nodded back, giving Tabatha a long look. “Not what I thought I was getting myself into this afternoon. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Five again?”

Please, God, no.

She started for the stairs, but flashed me a grin. “Eight this time. You’re in charge of coffees. I’ll text you the list in the morning.”

Coffees. I could do that.

Then I thought about it. I was their intern girl. I was the rookie. My mouth twitched. A part of me enjoyed that, for some reason. It felt… normal?

I’d never felt normal.

It was nice.

Tabatha started down the hallway and turned back at a door. Seeing me still standing by the stairs, she motioned with her head in a room. “You coming?”

I followed.

Her room was large, and sunny. Her windows went up and folded back, becoming half skylights. She had two, facing out over another large house next to them. A dresser was set between the two windows. A closet with sliding doors was on one side. Her desk was against her wall, just beyond the door when it was opened. In the middle of the room, facing the windows, was her bed. Two nightstands on either side of it.

As I stepped farther inside, she closed the door and disappeared into a door behind it.

It was a small bathroom. She looked like she had just enough space to stand inside.

Her voice called from inside, “I’m surprised it took you this long to come over.”

I frowned. “Why do you say that?”

She came back into the room, a hair curler in hand. She was rolling up the cord. “Because I cheated on Jordan. I hurt one of ‘yours.’” Her tone was biting. “I kept expecting to wake up with a knife to my throat.”

She moved to her desk, putting the hair curler there and sitting down. She swung around to face me, just waiting.

Waiting for what, I wasn’t sure.

I wasn’t sure myself.

I sat on the end of her bed. “You’re not a cheater.”

She reacted before catching herself. Her head snapped to the side as if I’d slapped her, but drawing in a harsh breath, she froze. I waited, watching as her chest slowly deflated. Then she swallowed before she closed her eyes, her head folding downward. “I didn’t expect this response either.” She raised back up, her eyes almost haunted. Her cheeks looked more gaunt. She lost color, as if I were a ghost she just saw. “You were supposed to hate me, Bren. Why aren’t you hating me?”

I leaned forward, my elbows to my knees. “Instead of wasting that emotion, why don’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

Cross hadn’t waited to fill me in at the house tonight. He called right after his class, left me a message on the vibe he was picking up from his brother. He was right. There was more going on.

Tabatha didn’t respond.

I tried with a different question. “My brother is a bounty hunter. You know that, right?”

She laughed, and even that sounded hollow. “Everyone knows from Roussou. Channing Monroe takes care of our town. Why are you telling me this?”

“Because he hooked me up with a local team here. I’m going to be working with them.” Well, technically… “I mean, I am working with them.”