“Better?” he asked.

I shrugged. I decided to never drink again.

“Not the greatest night of your life, is it?”

“I’m sorry about this,” I said. “I’ve never been to jail before.”

“I know,” he said. “I checked.”

“Oh.”

His lips turned up slightly at the corners. His shirt was open to the second button, sleeves cuffed to the middle of his forearms. Neon from the window lit his face. Even in this oily light he looked handsome, in control.

“Why did you come?” I asked. “I didn’t think you would.”

“Why did you call?”

I smashed the pie with my fork, didn’t answer. He must have figured it out already—there wasn’t anyone else.

After a minute he said, “I owe you an apology.”

“You?” I said. “What for?”

“I shouldn’t have shown you those photographs,” he said. “I didn’t know you’d react like that.”

“It’s okay,” I said.

“How’s your head?”

“Fine.” The cut scabbed at my hairline, but my bangs covered it and you could hardly tell.

“I’m glad,” he said. “I wondered if I should have taken you to the hospital.”

“No need,” I said.

“Good. So. How well did you know him?”

“Who?”

“The driver of the car. Peter Randall Sones. DUI, marijuana possession, resisting arrest.”

“Is it worse if I knew him well or I didn’t know him?”

“You tell me, Charlotte. He’s your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend. I met him tonight. It was a mistake.”

Ash nodded.

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I said.

“You miss her?” he said.

“What? Who?”

“Danielle Reeves.”

“Please,” I said. “Do we have to talk about that right now?”

He shrugged. The waitress trundled over and filled our stained mugs. Ash’s eyes were a rich blue, full of kindness. Until him, I had never seen anyone look attractive in House of Pies. I moved my gaze to the dark parking lot, but I saw only our reflection in the window. My blouse was wrinkled and dirty.

“It’s just, I was thinking,” he said. “You told me everything Danielle said that day you met. Right?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Even the tiniest details could be important. You might know something that you don’t even know you know. You have to tell me every little thing you can think of.”

“I did,” I said.

“Good. I just wondered if you thought of anything else.”

“So you don’t have any leads, then?”

“We’re still in the information-gathering stage. We are talking to everyone she saw those last couple of days. Everyone she saw on a regular basis.”

“And?”

“And I don’t know. There’s some unusual things. Things that were not part of her routine.”

“Like what?”

“Like you, Charlotte.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I said.

“I’m not accusing you. I’m just noticing what changed in Danielle’s life, what was different. She saw you for the first time in years, right? It’s unusual. Anything outside of the regular pattern, I have to pay close attention to.”

“You think me seeing Danielle—you think I caused it?”