dog anymore, do you?” I laughed. “I guess you couldn’t, not after this long.”
“No, unfortunately not. He died.”
I frowned. “Oh, I’m so sorry. The dog probably passed a while ago.”
And he was a she, but who was counting? If I could remember that, Priscilla should be able to. Who forgot the gender of a beloved pet?
Now that I was thinking back, I remembered how Priscilla had carried Ginger Snap everywhere, and she’d had her parents bring her to football games. The little fluffy dog had even had her own cheerleading costume, which had made Priscilla’s boyfriend laugh his head off.
“Yeah, you know dogs don’t live long.” Her voice brightened. “Anyway, where are you off to next?”
“Philly,” I answered automatically.
Then I thunked the heel of my hand against my forehead. Jeez, why not give her a roadmap where to find us?
She probably already had one.
“Hey, so about your old high school boyfriend. Bobby, wasn’t it? You guys went to the prom together. King and Queen senior year and all that. I have to say, we all figured you two would end up married.”
“To him?” She let out a shrill laugh. “No way. Bob was okay for a high school boy, but I dropped him like a bad habit as soon as I got to college. Besides, high school relationships never amount to much.”
“I wouldn’t know. I barely dated in high school.”
“Right. You were pretty sheltered.”
I narrowed my eyes. If counting her lies was a game, so-called Priscilla would be voted off the show in about a minute.
Not only had her steady boyfriend not been named Bobby—try Tony instead—she had not been Prom Queen, nor had he been Prom King. And I hadn’t suffered from a lack of dates. I’d actually been on the Prom Court myself and had probably dated half a dozen guys junior year.
I wasn’t saying she was privy to my dating history. Even if she had been, she could have forgotten it since it had been ten years since I’d been in school with her. But I’d mentioned her being Prom Queen senior year, and I hadn’t even been a student in California then. I’d moved to New York with my parents when my father got a new job as a professor in the city. Shouldn’t she have at least remembered that?
But hell, since she now thought she’d been the Prom Queen since I’d told her she had been, what was one more lie?
I shifted the phone to my other ear and wrapped my arm around my midsection. I just couldn’t get the point to this. Why would she be trying so hard to get close to me, only to drug me? She hadn’t tried to kidnap me last night.
Did she want to get closer to the guys in the band? Not the first time I’d been used as a springboard for that, but she hadn’t even talked to any of them except Cooper. And she’d told him she wanted to meet me.
Unless she was pretending to be someone else as part of a much bigger scheme. Maybe for Pat. Maybe for someone else.
I had to keep this going to try to get more information. I wasn’t the only one at risk here. Cooper was too. And Zane. Hell, Lila had gotten a threatening letter at home. My place had burned, and I’d lost more than I could replace—and not only in physical items I could touch.
I couldn’t let this go without finding out as much as possible. If all I did was ensure this wasn’t connected to the larger looming threat against Ripper Records, I would have helped.
The people I loved were at stake.
“Are you still there, Teagan?”
“Yes, sorry. Just running water for a bath.” I turned on the faucet for believability. “I’m so out of it today. I have a killer headache, and I’m just zoning.”
“Wild night. That rockstar life must be exhausting. And then on the road to Philly soon too. When does that happen?”
Wouldn’t you like to know?
I bit down on the retort. “We fly out Tuesday.”
In truth, the bus would be leaving Monday. Suck it, bitch.
“Wow, so soon. Well, we have to get together before you leave. We need to catch up. It’s been so long.”
“We do. I just have to hear about everything you’ve done since our days at Oakdale.”
All the lying and drugging and taking on other personalities…
She chuckled. “I’d much rather hear about you. You’re the one with the exciting life traveling the world. Getting to meet so many new