She turned, heading for the door. With her hand on the knob, she stopped. “Well, since you say you’re not sensitive, I can finally be straight with you about something.” Lauren paused for dramatic effect. “Dave hit on me when you were together. At the barbecue at Ina’s, he followed me to the bathroom and made a move. And after you guys broke up, he kept calling me to go for coffee, but I told him to go fuck himself.”

I was flabbergasted. “I can’t believe Dave hit on you when we were together and you didn’t tell me before this?” My eyes filled with tears—my own tears, not Paula Magnus’s. “You’re my best friend! You should have told me.”

We stood there, staring each other down, before Lauren pulled open the door. “You know what? When you want to give me a straight answer, you know how to find me. Chloe Johnson is dead, Dani—call me when you want to come clean.”

And then, with a nasty parting look, she was gone.

My head was throbbing. I sat down at my desk and tried to distract myself with work, but it didn’t help. Hours later, I was relieved when, after a rap on the door, Rich poked his head in.

“Hi there.”

“Hey,” I replied, feeling listless.

“I know how you feel about the gun thing, and that going to the shooting range with me didn’t really appeal to you, but I have a compromise. I was wondering if you’d let me come by your place and check it out. I just want to see how secure it is.”

“Um, well, I guess that’d be okay,” I said, pushing back from my desk. “But I’ve got to tell you though, my neighborhood is great. I’m not worried at all.”

He smiled. “I’m sure it’s very safe. I’d feel better swinging by and giving it a sweep myself.”

“Sure, okay.” I shrugged. “So when do you want to come by?”

“I can’t do it during the week, but I could come over Saturday afternoon.”

“I won’t get back from my Barry’s Boot Camp until five. Do you mind coming that late?”

“That’s perfect. I’ll see you at six.”

He was headed toward the door before I could stop him.

“Hey, wait a minute, don’t you need my address?”

He turned. “I’ll just get it from the cast and crew list,” Rich said. “You can find out where everyone lives off of that.”

Rich held my gaze, as if watching closely for my reaction. I gave him a cool smile. “See you Saturday.”