Page 69 of Out to Get Her
“It’s not that.”
The gin continued to swirl Erin’s thoughts like an out-of-control blender. “Are you sure?”
After a much too long pause, Samantha said, “It’s about the case. I have to talk to him alone.”
“Why now? It’s not safe. And why can’t this be a phone call?”
Despite all of their conversations, Samantha was still trying to fix everything and save everyone on her own. Erin thought they were moving past that. They’d looked at those bookshelves together, and Samantha had talked through what they knew with her. They’d felt like a bit of a team back there.
Erin froze.
If Samantha wasn’t embarrassed to be seen with her—a fact Erin’s reactive brain wasn’t convinced of but that the rest of her more rational thoughts were willing to give the benefit of the doubt on—then there was some bit of news or evidence she didn’t want Erin to find out about.
“Unless you know something you haven’t told us.”
Samantha’s mouth tightened. “I don’t know anything yet.”
“But you suspect something. Something you don’t want me to know about.” Erin felt a stab in her heart as the reactive gin thoughts won their battle against rationality. “Are youcoveringfor whoever killed my grandpa? Is that it?”
“Erin, no.”
“Kellers protect Kellers, is that it?” Erin felt a sickening pit open in her stomach. “Or is it a different family you’re protecting?”
Samantha looked like she’d been slapped, and Erin immediately regretted the accusation. But only for a moment. Because Samantha didn’t deny it.
“We can talk about it when I get back,” Samantha said as she left.
The door closed behind her, leaving Erin standing in the middle of the living room and Zach still sitting on the carpet with the cards. Even Marty was silent.
After a long while, Zach said, “Erin?”
She shook her head. There was nothing to say. Nothing she wanted to talk about.
Either Samantha was covering for her family and Erin had completely misjudged her character and her loyalty to them, or she didn’t want to be seen with Erin.
Neither was an option Erin wanted to discuss.
She’d been right all along about this place. She didn’t belong here. Samantha had been the only person aside from Zach who she’d thought really accepted her. Understood her. Was glad to have her around. She didn’t come back here to be someone’s secret or feel ashamed of who she was or have someone she’d grown to care about choose their shitty family over her.
Erin had left all of this behind once before. She could do it again.
Zach collected the cards in a pile. “You all right?”
“I will be.”
“Wanna play something else?”
“Not really.”
She plopped onto the couch and grabbed the remote. The moment the TV switched on, a loud pop sounded outside and the lights went out. If they’d been able to see out the window, they probably would have witnessed a bright flash as a tree branch fell on a power line. But the boards had blocked the light show, and now they were in complete darkness.
Erin sighed. “I was going to suggest we watch something while we still had power.”
“Was hoping it wouldn’t go out for a few more hours.” Zach turned on the battery-powered lantern and set it in the center of the room. “Deal you in? Your pick of game.”
Erin slid to the floor beside him. She didn’t have anything better to do, and she sure as hell didn’t want to sit in the dark with her thoughts. “Gin. The game to go with my drinks. Which I’m done with, by the way. The drink, I mean. And I’m tired of beating you in bourré.”
Zach shuffled the deck and winked at her. “Cheer up.”
