Page 49 of The Arrangement
“Where were you last night?” she asked, shocking me back to reality. It was the first time she’d brought it up, and I didn’t like the way she was asking.
“Out. I went out.”
“Out where? Come on, I need to know in case the police do come around.”
I sighed. “I went to grab a beer.”
“Okay, good. Where did you go? Somewhere where there’ll be camera footage?”
“Er, well, I didn’t end up getting in anywhere. That was where I was headed, but I drove around instead. I needed to clear my head.”
She nodded but kept her eyes trained on mine. “If there’s one thing we don’t need right now, it’s to lie to each other. We’re on the same side. Like we said yesterday. We’d do anything for each other. It’s us versus them, always.”
“I’m not lying,” I swore. “I drove around. That was it.”
She studied me, an unreadable expression on her face. “So you didn’t do this?”
“Didn’t do what? Th-the Illiana thing? You think I…what? You think I did something to her? Are you seriously asking me that?”
“You were gone a long time, Peter. And you were the one saying we needed to take care of the problem.”
“I didn’t mean that we should kill her. You can’t be serious right now, Ainsley. Who do you think I am?” I put a hand over my forehead. “I would never… I mean, what I did to… I feel sick about it. I hate myself. I would never do it again.” I put my hand over my stomach, feeling ill as I thought about it. “I physically couldn’t.”
“Okay,” she said, the end of her word an octave higher than the rest, as if she were asking a question.
“What? You don’t believe me?”
“I don’t know what to believe, Peter. I want to believe you.”
“Well, what about you? Where were you?”
“I was home,” she said angrily. “And don’t you dare point fingers at me. You’d have known where I was if you hadn’t stormed out.”
“I needed air, Ainsley. Is that a crime?”
“No,” she said, “but murder is.”
I swallowed, hearing the hint of threat in her voice. “I don’t want to fight. That’s not what we should be doing right now,” I croaked out. “I love you. Us against them, right?”
She didn’t answer or fight against it as I pulled her in for a hug, but she didn’t return the hug either. “I should go anyway.”
“Go? Go where?” I stepped back.
“I’m supposed to go check on Glennon. She needs me.”
I swallowed, feeling the fear swoop in again. “Why does she need you?”
She bounced her head back and forth, contemplating. “If I tell you, you can’t tell Seth you know. Not yet.”
“Know what?” I could barely utter the words.
“She’s leaving him.”
The statement hit me like a ton of bricks. “Excuse me?”
“Glennon’s leaving Seth. She’s moving into her mom’s house.”
“W-why? What happened? How long have you known?”