don’t want to play phone tag with him. Might as well get it over with. Maybe by the time I’m done, Knox will be back to explain more of what happened tonight. “I have to take this,” I murmur to Addy.
I stand and pick through the crowded waiting area until I’m in the corridor. “Hello,” I say, plugging my free ear with my index finger.
“Phoebe, it’s Derek. I’m really glad you got in touch.” His voice sounds far away, and if I didn’t already know who it was, I’d never have recognized it. I have no idea who this person really is, I think as I lean against the wall.
“Why,” I say flatly.
Derek clears his throat. “Well, to be honest, the thing is…ever since that party at your friend’s house, I can’t stop thinking about you. I feel like we could have something special if—”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I don’t realize I’m yelling until a passing nurse gives me the evil eye. I lower my voice. “Do you realize Emma is in the hospital?”
“She’s what?” Derek sounds bewildered. “No. How would I know that? I haven’t talked to Emma in months. What happened?”
“She’s falling apart! And I think it has something to do with what happened between you and me—which, by the way, was not special. It was stupid. But anyway. Emma found out about us last month, and now she’s suddenly drinking herself to death. So who did you blab to? Did you stop to think for one second that running your mouth might get back to Emma?”
“I…” Derek falls silent, the sound of his breathing the only sign that he hasn’t disconnected. I’m feeling a surge of righteous satisfaction that my words must have hit their mark when he adds, “Phoebe, I told Emma. The day after it happened.”
I plug my ear harder against the noise of the corridor. I can’t have heard him right. “Excuse me? What did you say?”
“I told Emma about you and me. I felt like shit and I figured you were gonna tell her, so I just…wanted to get it off my chest, I guess.”
“You told Emma,” I repeat. I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at it, like that’ll help me make sense of his words, and a series of texts from my mom flashes across the screen:
Phoebe, are you still here?
The nurses said you went downstairs.
I need you back in Emma’s room.
Right now.
Oh shit. That doesn’t sound good. I bring the phone back to my ear just long enough to tell Derek “I have to go” before I disconnect and retrace my steps upstairs.
* * *
—
I was steeling myself for lots of things when I reached Emma’s room, but a police officer wasn’t one of them.
“Um. Hi,” I say nervously, clutching my phone as I step inside. Mom is sitting beside Emma’s bed and the police officer is standing at its foot. The gray-haired nurse is writing something down on Emma’s chart. Emma herself is still asleep. I gaze at her peaceful face, wishing I could see directly into her brain. Emma knew about Derek and me. She knew. Even when she confronted me in Café Contigo, red-faced and almost crying, waving her phone like it was the first time she’d ever heard the news.
Unless Derek is lying. But why would he? My head aches, my brain working overtime trying to connect the dots on all the new information that’s hit me tonight.
Mom’s strained voice pierces my tangled thoughts. “Phoebe, this is Detective Mendoza with the Bayview Police. He has some questions for you.”
“For me?” I tear my eyes away from Emma as the nurse straightens.
“You can stay here, if you like,” she says, crossing to the door. “We can close this for a few minutes and give you privacy. Just press the call button if the patient needs me.”
I hover next to the door after it closes, and Detective Mendoza clears his throat. “Phoebe, I’ve already explained this to your mother, but you are not being accused of anything related to this evening’s events. Your presence for the entirety of tonight is accounted for. However, we’d like your cooperation as we build the case against Jared Jackson, and to do that effectively we need to understand your relationship with him.”
“My…what?” I wish I had my cup of water back. My throat is suddenly so dry that it hurts. “I don’t have a relationship with him. I only just learned his name downstairs.”
“We’ve spent