Page 61 of Zero Chance

“Wha—?”She sent him a dismayed glance of betrayal before turning back to me to sputter, “I just—sorry.I don’t know.I was just surprised to hear that you’d seenanyof her.I thought you had no physical details.”

“Well, I saw a tattoo,” I muttered with lifted eyebrows.“That was it.”

“And her hand.So you probably know what race she is.”

“Caucasian,” I answered.“And she was shorter than you.”Glancing toward Hope, I pointed and added, “But maybe taller than you.”My eyes squinted as I studied her.“But not by much.”

“I’m five, six,” Hope stated helpfully.

I nodded.“And her frame was slighter than yours.”

Alec drew out a long whistle.“Wow.Skinny.”

“Yeah,” I murmured.“Incredibly.And her hair was straight.”I lifted my brows at Hope, letting her know she was checkmarked off my list.“But it was probably about the same length as yours.”

“Color?”she asked as if she too were trying to picture Mystery Girl in her mind.

I shook my head.“No idea.You saw more of her than I did.You tell me.”

Hope’s mouth opened before she closed it again and shrugged.“Didn’t see her hair or face, sorry.It was dark.”

“So itcould’vebeen someone you knew?”I charged, scowling at her because she’d sounded adamant last night that she’d never seen the girl before.

Shrugging, Hope admitted, “I guess.But she blew by us so fast I really didn’t get a good look at her.And then you were shouting and running up right behind her.I lost track of her almost immediately.”

I chewed on the side of my lip, studying her intently, only to finally nod and blow out a breath.“Well, damn,” I muttered, skimming a hand over my hair.“That’s a dead end.”

My shoulders slumped, and I felt momentarily lost.

Eyes filling with sympathy, Hope patted my arm.“Aww.I’m sorry, Sneezy,” she lamented.“But maybe it’s for the best you don’t find out who she is.”

I lifted my gaze to her and demanded, “How could that be for the best?”

She shrugged lamely and admitted, “I don’t know.Sometimes reality is just not as good as what you dream up in your head.”

With raised eyebrows, I asked, “Is that how it went with you and Ohrley?”

Huffing out a breath, she confessed, “Well, no, but—dammit.You’re making me feel bad for you.Do you want a hug?”

I nodded immediately when she opened her arms in offering.But as she started to lift from her chair to come to me, I added, “And could you put a lot of boob rubbing into it?”Because I was feelingreallydown right now.

Except Hope yelped, “What?Oh my God, no!”And instead of hugging me, she slapped my arm before returning to her own chair.“You’re such a tool.No wonder why I was forced to put a fake snake in your bed.”

I started to sniff, only to fall immediately still.“Wait.What?”My eyes narrowed.“That wasyou?”

She waggled her eyebrows tauntingly and stuck out her tongue.“Yep,” she crowed, sounding proud of herself.“Got you good, didn’t I?”

I gaped for a full second before breathing, “Holy shit.You liar.”

Hope pulled back as if I’d slapped her.“Excuse me?”

“You know exactly who my mystery girl is,” I said with a calmness that seemed to freak her out as I rose from my seat.Eyes widening, she leaped from her own chair and backed warily away from me.

She still tried to deny it, though.Shaking her head, she swore, “I have no idea what you’re talking about right now.How does that snake have anything to do with?—?”

“Because she knew about it,” I hissed, stalking forward as she backed herself neatly into the cabinets.I slapped a hand to the counter behind her and blocked her path.“She tried to warn me it was there.”

Mouth falling open, Hope gasped in outrage.“That snitch,” she accused hotly.“I’m never asking her to play lookout for me again.”

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