Free Crash and Burn by Allison Brennan, Laura Griffin Page A

Valerie to lose whatever memories she still retained.
    “What did you eat at the pier?”
    “We split a bunch of appetizers. It was only five or so. Had a couple drinks. Then we decided to go bar hopping before heading to a party on the beach. Chase’s fraternity got a permit for it.” She frowned.
    “What?”
    “We never went to it. I don’t think so. Odd.”
    “You went to Diego’s. The five of you?”
    “No—Richie caught up with us with some guy I didn’t know.”
    “When?”
    “At that little margarita hut near the pier.”
    Scarlet knew the place.
    “It was crowded and we couldn’t get a table, and Chase said Diego’s had good drinks and wasn’t too crowded. I’d been there before with Chase to watch baseball games.”
    “Is Chase your boyfriend?”
    She shrugged. “We’ve gone out. But it’s not serious. We’re just friends.”
    She wasn’t looking at Scarlet. Was she lying or confused?
    “Do you remember the bartender at Diego’s, the broad-shouldered guy with tattoos on his arms, coming over to your table?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t remember anything.”
    Scarlet needed to back track. “I was at the bar, and from my vantage point, it seemed Richie was hitting on you. How did you feel about that?”
    “Richie knows I don’t like him. He’s been friends with Chase forever.” She hesitated. “I don’t know why Chase didn’t stop him from being a dick.”
    Good question.
    “Do you remember leaving Diego’s?”
    “I don’t remember going there. Well—I do, but it’s… fuzzy.”
    “Run me through it. There are no right or wrong answers.”
    Valerie was trying, but she didn’t come up with much. “We’d been outside, so the place felt so dark. But it was cool and comfortable. Then Tessa said we had to go. She made Chase and Parker take us somewhere. Chase has a place nearby.” Her eyes widened. “Chase rents that house. With Richie, and a couple other guys who are never around. Where Richie was shot.”
    That was new information to Scarlet. Bishop certainly hadn’t told her. Four college guys renting a house that cost upwards of five thousand a month? Where’d they get that kind of money? Family? Likely. She made a mental note to ask Mac to run financials on Richie and his friends.
    “And do you remember what happened after you got to the house?”
    “I don’t remember walking there. I don’t remember anything—until I heard the gunshot and ran downstairs and saw all that blood. I… I was naked. I hurt so bad, everywhere. I have no idea how I got naked or what happened. I think I screamed. I talked to someone. On my phone.” She put her hands on her head. “God, it hurts to think.”
    “That’s okay, Valerie. Really.”
    “The nurse said—she said I had sex. That I might have been raped because I have so many bruises on my legs and arms. But I don’t remember! And then they did all these things to me, at the hospital, and it was so humiliating. Why can’t I forget that, too?”
    “Where does Tessa live? Do you know her last name?”
    “Drake. She lives right upstairs. In three-forty, with her roommate, Mandy.”
    “Valerie, think for me. Is there anything you remember from the time you left the bar until you saw Richie’s body? More than six hours passed.”
    She squeezed her eyes shut. Scarlet didn’t know if she was stopping tears or concentrating. “I think we went to the beach. I don’t remember it, but I found sand in my purse.” She looked down into her lap. “What if I killed him? I don’t remember it, but I could have.” She stared at her hands as if they belonged to a stranger.
    “You didn’t kill him,” Scarlet said, though how could she be certain she hadn’t fired the gun? “Richie isn’t dead. He’s in surgery.”
    If she was a suspect, Bishop wouldn’t be looking so hard at Isaac.
    “Did you see a gun?”
    “No. One of the cops told the detective who came by the hospital that they couldn’t find a gun. Maybe I got