Page 93 of Jesse

My little purse is on the bedside table and the buzzing is coming from inside.

I make an ungraceful mad grab at it, swipe it off the table, then manage to hook my fingertip into the thin chain of a strap and pull it into the bed with me.

A few more seconds go by as I undo the clasp, then finally, I find my phone and press accept.

“Hello,” I croak.

“What the fuck, Emma? Just what the fuck? I’ve been calling you for two goddamn days!”

“Good morning, Mila,” I whisper.

“Morning, my ass!” she yells. And holy shit, that really hurts my head. “It’s three o’clock in the afternoon! I thought you were dead in a damn ditch somewhere! Why didn’t you return my calls?”

“Oh, my God,” I moan. “Can you lower your voice? My head hurts.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at home.”

“I was just there pounding on your door and you didn’t answer.”

“I was asleep.”

“Well…” She sighs. “Where is you know who?”

“Jesse?”

“Don’t say his name on the phone, for fuck’s sake! Haven’t you seen the fucking internet?”

“What are you talking about?”

“They have footage, you jerk!”

“Oh,” I say, flopping back into my pillow. “That.”

“Oh, that? We’re screwed!”

“It’s just me walking into his building last night. So what?”

She huffs. “Well, obviously you and I haven’t seen the same footage. Because the one I’m looking at shows you, me, Natalie, and Hannah dragging his body into a boat!”

“What?” I say, sitting back up again. My poor head.

“You heard me! They have it all on tape!”

“How?” I ask. “How is this possible?”

“How? Those brothers are out for blood, that’s how! It’s their security footage!”

“No,” I say.

“Yes,” she insists.

“No, I mean… he wouldn’t do that.”

She huffs again, only this time louder. “What the fuck happened this weekend?”

I look around my bedroom and realize I have no idea how I got here. The last thing I remember is… “Shit,” I say.