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

rid of it.”
    “Did the police give you a GSR test?”
    Valerie stared at her blankly.
    “They probably put a pad on your hands that gunpowder is attracted to, in order to test in the lab.” There were field tests, but Scarlet was pretty certain Valerie had been taken to the hospital before the crime scene team had arrived.
    “They did so many things to me—I really don’t think I shot him, but how can I know?”
    “You woke up to the sound of a gun going off. You said you heard someone yelling. Did you recognize the voices?”
    She shook her head and now the tears started. Scarlet didn’t handle tears as well she did calm victims. “That’s okay,” she said quickly.
    “When I woke up—” She hesitated, then said, “I was naked. It wasn’t my bed. It was Chase’s. I can’t believe Chase would do that to me.”
    No talk about the dead guy on the beach. “What was Chase wearing last night?”
    “Wearing?” She shrugged, growing agitated. “A T-shirt.”
    “What does he look like?”
    “Brown hair. Cute.” She gestured toward a corkboard on the wall. “He’s in half those pictures. Like the one with me at Disneyland. I can’t believe he would hurt me like that. He’s always been so nice.”
    Scarlet got up and looked at the picture. She didn’t think Chase was the dead guy on the beach, but she wasn’t one hundred percent positive. She saw a picture of Valerie, Chase, Tessa and another dark-haired boy who was at the bar. “Can I take this?”
    “Sure.”
    “Who’s this guy with Tessa and Chase?”
    “Juan Robertson. He goes to Irvine with the rest of us.”
    Juan looked far more like the John Doe on the beach than Chase.
    “What’s Chase’s last name?”
    “Flores. We started college together. Became friends.”
    Scarlet was losing her again. She asked, “And Parker? Who’s he?”
    “Parker Cresson. He’s a friend of Richie and Chase.”
    “And the fifth guy, you said you didn’t know him.”
    “I don’t—I think they called him Skip, but that was probably a nickname. I barely remember him at all.”
    “Thank you.” Scarlet was going to leave, but then she walked to Valerie and sat back down on the table. “Valerie, just because you don’t remember what happened doesn’t mean that you’re going to be able to forget. Not knowing creates its own set of problems. Take the advice of the nurses and talk to someone, either someone from the hospital, or at your campus. There are rape counselors there.”
    “But what if I didn’t say no?”
    “You were drugged, Valerie. They took away your voice. They took away your free will. The drugging itself is a crime. Having sex with you after drugging you is a crime, no matter what you said or did. Do you understand?”
    Her eyes dampened, but she nodded.
    “Is your family in the area?”
    “My mom lives in Laguna Niguel.”
    “Maybe you should stay with her for a while. Just to clear your head. Can you do that? Would she be okay?”
    Valerie nodded. “I just don’t want to tell her.”
    “I can call her for you if you want.”
    “No. I need to—it’s just, she always told me to be careful. She always told me not to take drinks from people. But they were my friends, you know?”
    “I understand, Valerie. And so will your mom. Call her. You’ll feel better if you have someone with you for a few days.”
    Once Valerie agreed to call her family, Scarlet went upstairs to apartment 320, almost directly above Valerie’s. A girl answered, not Tessa.
    “Mandy?”
    “Yeah?”
    “I’m looking for Tessa. Is she here?”
    Mandy shook her head. “Hasn’t been here all night. Probably at her boyfriend’s place.”
    “Her boyfriend is?”
    “Who are you?”
    Scarlet didn’t want to explain who she was. “A friend of Valerie’s.”
    “I heard what happened.”
    “You did?”
    “Who hasn’t? Richie was shot and nearly killed and Valerie might have done it, but she has amnesia. That’s convenient, isn’t it? And the police