Chapter 9 - 13
I jolt up—a bombardment of knocking.
Kel stumbles out of the bed like a drunkard. She grabs her robe and scrambles out of the room. I move upright, rubbing the cloudy haze from my eye. My red dress is cast on the chair, and I’m currently wearing an oversize hoodie that belonged to her ex-boyfriend that she never gave back. Now I understand why, it’s insanely comfortable.
Kelsey’s voice carries into her room, and I listen to the staccato of stomping boots like a horde of men just burst inside the house. I hurry out of her bed, scurrying out of the room and the shouting grows louder. I increase my speed to a jog until I’m in the main passage. Vance, with a gauntlet of guards, has Kels surrounded. Vance’s eyes jump to me and unadulterated anger flickers across his face.
"Where is he?"
I gape at him, beyond bewildered. "Who?"
"Was he the man you met at the pawnshop?" Anger courses through him like molten lava as he heads towards me. "He took you home with him?"
Kelsey impedes his path. "No, because this is my house, and she met me. I had something I needed at the shop and I could only come in at that time. I needed help and Avara, being the best friend she is, she came. Then we had a sleepover. That okay with you?"
"There was no record of you," he says flatly.
Confusion screws up her face. "Record? You are watching her."
Vance’s eyes are dead-bolted to mine. "She knows we are, which is why I know you’re lying and you weren’t on site."
"She slept here," Kelsey repeats with a raised voice. "You should have a record of that. There was no one else. That’s the truth."
The men separate, going to inspect every inch of Kelsey’s house.