The girl frowned. “What? Who are you?” She saw Hawk’s badge, then her Taser, and her eyes got even bigger. “I thought you were my tan girl.”

I didn’t ask. I pushed in, ignoring her and saying as Hawk followed me, “Where’s Tabatha?”

“Wha—hey!” She tried to get in front of us, blocking us from the house. Too late. We were already inside, and as her shoulders fell, she asked, “Who are you?”

“Just tell me where she is.”

“No.” Her hand let go of her hair and it came tumbling down, falling past her shoulders. “We have an event tonight and you need to leave, whoever you are. I’ll let Tabatha know she had two people asking for her, but she’s not here—”

“Who’s at the door…” Tabatha’s voice rang out from the second floor, alerting us before she appeared, standing at the bannister. Her voice trailed off, seeing us. “Oh.”

Oh?

That’s not what I expected to hear.

I moved past the girl, heading for the stairs.

“Hey! No. You can’t go up there.”

Tabatha wasn’t saying anything.

The door girl was trying to get in front of me again, in front of Hawk, too, since she was behind me. “Tabatha, get to your room. You two, stop!”

Tabatha sighed. “Just let ’em up. I should’ve gone to see her anyway.”

That really wasn’t the response I expected from Tabatha.

Door Girl paused, frowning up. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” Tabatha waved toward me as I was nearing the top of the stairs. “She’s Jordan’s family.”

“Oh.” Door Girl stepped to the side, all the fight leaving her. A flash of remorse filled her eyes instead, and she bit down on her bottom lip. Adjusting her top so it was firmly bunched under her breasts, the doorbell rang at that moment and she looked back to it. “I–that’s for me.”

“Go.” Tabatha nodded, her tone gentle. “I’ve got this.”

“You sure?” The girl hadn’t moved from her step. Her concern was clear.

“Yeah.” Tabatha’s voice was more firm. “I’m good. Promise.”

Door Girl gave her a look, widening her eyes. “Call if you need anything, anything. I mean it.”

“I will.”

The doorbell rang again.

“Go. Fix your tan line.”

The girl groaned before hurrying back down the stairs. “That’s what I get for crashing after a full night of studying. And we have the Zeta Kappa Mingle tonight, too.” Right before the door, she snapped back, pointing at Tabatha. “Don’t forget the green dress for tonight.”

“Got it.”