“I didn’t specifically accuse you,” I said, stumbling over my words. “But they needed to know you were there that night. And that Beverly worked at the same law firm—”

“I had nothing to do with her death,” he spat out, the words clipped, the anger on par with what I’d seen the night of his concert. “And I can’t believe you went to the cops. Since part of the reason I gave you that money was for you to keep your fucking mouth closed.”

“About the fact that you’re sleeping with a Chicago socialite,” I snapped back. “Not about…not about…”

“About what?” he asked. He was staring at me with anger and disgust, and I suddenly felt scared again. “You don’t know anything, so you should keep your stupid mouth shut. How is that so hard? I thought we had an agreement.”

“That was before all this,” I said. “I saw you there. You know I did.”

He exhaled.

“So what if I was there?” he said. “That doesn’t mean I killed somebody. Are you nuts? Calling the cops like that. It was the stupidest thing you could’ve done.”

I frowned as I watched him. I thought back to the YouTube videos I’d watched where he’d been so charming, so funny, so put-together. Now, he seemed unhinged, his entire body shaking, his anger taking up too much space in the car. I leaned back against the driver’s side door, wondering if I could open it and get out before he could reach across the gear shift and pull me back.

His hands were balled into fists on his lap, but then he reached up and slammed them down on the dashboard.

I jumped, my heart racing.

“You need to stop calling the cops,” he said. “I thought we were in this together.”

“In what together?” I asked. “I didn’t have anything to do with the other night.”

“I know,” he said. “Not that, and neither did I. I’m talking about the whole thing with Emma. That’s the only reason I’m not turning you in, because Tiffane can’t find out about it. But if you keep doing stupid shit…I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

He seemed to be breaking down, his voice filled less with anger and now with desperation. I didn’t know if I should be scared or feel sorry for him. I just knew that I wanted him gone. His chest was heaving, up and down, and I could see that he was struggling to regain control.

“I gave you that money, and the whole point was for you to keep your mouth shut.” He opened the door and got out. Before he closed the door, Hooks dipped his head and leaned back into the car, staring me directly in the eye.