“What’s the question?” Dad asks, his finger poised above the screen.

“You’re okay with me asking your son a question?”

“Ask the question, and I’ll decide.”

“Dad,” I say.

They both turn to me.

“I want to know what the hell’s going on.” I turn to Haley. “Is Chloe okay? Do you know something about where she is? Can’t you just tell me that?”

One corner of Haley’s mouth twitches a little, almost the start of a smile. But he puts it off, not wanting to reveal too much. He places his hands flat on the table and looks at me, his face smooth as glass again. “Okay, Hunter. Can you tell me where you were last night?”

Dad says, “He was home. We went to that clown show of a vigil, and then we came home. He was here, in his room doing homework all night.”

Haley doesn’t even glance at Dad. He keeps his eyes boring in on me. Dad turns from Haley and looks at me, too, because I haven’t spoken. Everything is quiet. The only sound is the water running upstairs where Olivia is taking a shower.

“No, Dad, that’s not right. Remember? I went to Daniel’s house. He wanted to show me something, and you told me to drive instead of walk.”

“Oh. Right.”

But Haley jumps right in. “So you were at Daniel’s house last night? This is Daniel Nevin, right?”

“Right.”

“What time were you there?” Haley asks.

“I don’t know. About nine or so, I guess.”

“And what time did you leave?” he asks.

“Around ten.”

“And what happened while you were at his house?” Haley asks.

Why is Haley asking me about Daniel? Doesn’t he want to talk about Chloe? Isn’t that why he’s here?

Is there some weird connection between Daniel and Chloe?

But how could there be? Did they know each other outside of talking in trig?

“He showed me something, a stupid movie he’s working on. And then I left.”

“You just left?” Haley asks. “Just said goodbye and left?”

“Hold on a second—” Dad says.

I cut him off. “We had a fight.”

“A fight? With fists?”

“No, an argument,” I say. “About his movie. He’s making a movie about Chloe. It made me look guilty, so we argued about it. And then I left.”

“You didn’t like that the movie made you look guilty?” Haley asks.

“No, of course not. Would you like to be under a cloud of suspicion?”

“I know the feeling,” Haley says. “When I drive into certain neighborhoods in Bentley.”

“Hunter,” Dad says with an edge in his voice, “stop talking.”

“And you got mad at Daniel because of that?” Haley asks.

“Yes.”

“You hit him?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Hunter,” Dad says, his voice louder. He’s moving toward me, his hand out. “Stop. Talking.”