Chapter Three

Lacey Porter stared down at her lunch without much appetite. She couldn't eat a single bite but that was hardly a new occurrence, not since her past had literally collided with her present. It had been four days since Danny Desai had returned to Green Grove and, ever since that moment, her world had been distressingly off kilter. Each time she inadvertently crossed paths with him in the school corridor, her heart would immediately leap into her throat before it began pounding double-time. She'd get breathless, clammy and light-headed and as a result, would have to seek refuge in the bathroom in order to get a hold of herself.

She hadn't spoken more than a few sentences to him since his enrollment at Green Grove High School and, despite that limited contact, Danny Desai was already wrecking her, both mentally and emotionally. Thoughts of him were consuming her brain, making it impossible to eat, to concentrate or to even function in any meaningful capacity. Lacey didn't want to be curious about the physical changes in his appearance or fascinated by his long hair, his earring or his almost cocky swagger. She didn't want to care about how he was acclimating to his father's death and how he was coping with the loss. She resolutely stamped down any questions that arose within her about the time he'd spent in Huntington and whether or not the experience had been as horrible for him as she'd imagined.

That day in the hall when she had told him she was done, she'd meant every word of it...or, at least, she wanted to mean it. After all, she had worked too hard and sacrificed too much to go back to that same horrible place she had been in following Danny's hearing and sentencing. Lacey was not at all eager to expose herself to the possibility of being ostracized and judged for her former friendship with him. She wanted to leave the past in the past. And yet, there remained that part of her, that incontrovertible part of her that continued to yearn for it.

Her messy feelings where Danny Desai was concerned only became messier when she began to witness the occasional and albeit brief exchanges between Jo and Danny at school. The two weren't exactly hanging out. Danny maintained his distance both in class and at lunch but it was clear that Jo had begun warming up to his presence. At most, they were simply making cordial acknowledgment of each other when they passed one another in the hallway but it was enough to catch Lacey's attention. She was keenly aware that something had changed between them. It seemed to her that a lot of the initial tension that had existed between them on Danny's first day of school had eased considerably over the course of the past week.

She wondered if Danny had possibly confessed to Jo the reason he had murdered his Aunt Tara. But, as soon as the idea occurred to Lacey she dismissed it altogether. She seriously doubted that was the case. If Danny hadn't seen the need to tell his side of the story during the five years he had spent locked up, Lacey was certain he wasn't going to unburden his soul now that he had been released. Still, there was definitely something was different between him and Jo. Lacey tried not to obsess too much over what had changed or dwell too closely on why it bothered her. And it did bother her...a lot.

The realization annoyed her and only increased her determination to ignore Danny's presence altogether. She resolved within herself not to care at all. Consequently, Lacey did a fabulous job at maintaining an outward show of indifference towards her former friends. She attended various afterschool committees. She hung out with her friends and laughed carelessly at their jokes. She watched her boyfriend during his soccer practice and made out with him in the hallway.

She expertly played the part of popular teen girl but, all the while, Lacey Porter felt as if she were dying inside by heart-wrenching inches. Every day she attended school was like reliving that horrible day Tara Desai had been murdered over and over and over again. It was difficult, not only because she was remembering the horror and disbelief she had felt back then but also because of the sadness she felt on Danny's behalf. It was disconcerting to discover that her heart still ached for him now as much as it had when she was an eleven year old girl.

Lacey was bothered by that as well. But no matter how hard she fought to will the feelings away, they not only remained but also seemed to grow stronger with each passing day. She honestly couldn't tolerate another minute of it. If she had to endure the unrelenting stress even one day more, Lacey was sure she would start screaming and never stop. She was beyond grateful that the weekend was imminent. Distance was exactly what she needed. Hopefully two days would be enough time to accustom herself to Danny being in her space again.

Unaware of Lacey's inner turmoil, her two best friends, Regina Crane and Sarita Henson were currently discussing Danny Desai's recent assimilation into their school. "I can't believe he's just allowed to walk around free after he killed somebody..." Sarita was remarking presently, "...It's like nothing ever happened. It's unnerving." She shuddered at the musing. "I really don't feel safe."

Regina dipped a single french fry into a blob of ketchup and popped it into her mouth before lifting her shoulders in an unconcerned shrug. "Oh whatever, Sarita! Why shouldn't he be allowed to walk around? He did his time. Besides, have you seen him? That boy is so hot!"

"Oh my god, Regina," Sarita gasped with a revolted grimace, "Do you hear yourself? You're like a cat in heat. It's disgusting!"

"What?" Regina cried, blinking at her with wide, innocent eyes, "Don't tell me you haven't noticed! Those intense eyes...the way he moves...his hair..." She hummed a low moan of satisfaction. "I could eat him up! He's gorgeous!"

"And a killer," Sarita added rather tartly, "Let's not forget that part, Reg. Kil-ler."

"I don't care. He's still fine."

For the majority of Regina's frivolous exchange with Sarita, Lacey had remained uncharacteristically silent. She mostly sat, moody and pensive, picking at the Cobb salad that was supposed to be her lunch with general disinterest. That fact did not go unnoticed by her friends, particularly Regina who had sensed the gradual change in her friend's disposition for the past few days now. Usually, Lacey would always weigh in on their discussions of cute boys but this time she had very little to say. In fact, the more they talked about Danny Desai, the more reserved Lacey seemed to become.

Curious about the shift in Lacey's demeanor, Regina surveyed her with a speculative stare. "I can't believe you been holding out on us, best friend," she remarked softly, "You never mentioned that your former playmate was such a hottie. What's up with that?"

"Maybe that's because I never really talked about him at all, Regina," Lacey mumbled in a stiff tone, "That was kind of intentional."

"Hey...weren't you there the day it happened?" Sarita pressed slyly, "You know, the day when he..." She made a slicing motion across her neck for unmistakable emphasis. "I saw a story about it on the news the other night. You and that weird girl that wears the camouflage and boots all the time-,"

"-Her hair is absolutely tragic," Regina interjected with a giggle, earning a short laugh from Sarita before Sarita resumed her earlier account, "Yeah, that's her. She's the one. What's her name...it's right on the tip of my tongue. Sam, Charlie, Chris...Avery...?"

"It's Jo, Sarita," Lacey interrupted with a flare of impatience, "Her name is Jo."

Sarita gave a flippant wave of her hand. "Whatever. I knew it was a boy's name. Anyway, on the news it said you guys were the ones who found the aunt's body. That must have been wicked freaky." She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, leaning in close to Lacey when she asked, "So is it true? Did you really find her corpse?"

"Was she fresh or had she been dead for a few days?" Regina followed up immediately.

"Ugh, gross," Sarita balked, "I don't know what I would do if I found a decomposing body. I'd be scarred for life!"

Before Lacey could even begin to make it abundantly clear that she had no intention of talking about that day with them or anyone else for that matter nor did she appreciate their disrespectful discussion about it, Regina weighed in with her own speculation on the rampant rumors circulating about the infamous Danny Desai. "Wasn't his aunt like special needs or something?" she wondered, "I heard she had MS or spina bifida or maybe it was Lou Gehrig's disease...I can't remember. It was something tragic like that. Anyway, they say she could barely lift her head and that's why she couldn't fight him off."

"Cerebral palsy," Lacey corrected sharply, "Tara Desai had a mild form of cerebral palsy and she was able to move around just fine."

"Wow, that's harsh!" Sarita snorted, "He actually offed his crippled aunt? Seriously? Who does that? How did he even seem afterward? Were his eyes all crazy? Did he just shrug it off like it was nothing? I bet he did. I bet he didn't even care. He seems like the type."

"And what type is that, Sarita?" Lacey bit out in a flare of irritation.

Sarita frowned, confused and taken aback by the surprising anger she detected in Lacey's tone. "A sociopath."

Lacey flinched at the label, even though it was notion she had entertained and even voiced aloud herself many times in the past. It definitely didn't escape Regina's attention how disturbed Lacey seemed by the idea now. "Why are you being so sensitive about it?" she prodded, her eyes narrowed in censure and suspicion, "When we found out he was going to be enrolling here, you were one of the main ones saying he was psychotic and a total freak. Have we forgotten who came up with the charming nickname 'Socio?' Now you're pearl clutching. What's that about?"

Thinning her lips at the reminder that she was the one who had sparked that particular trend, Lacey took several breaths before she spoke again, hoping devoutly that she didn't sound as defensive as she felt right then when she retorted, "I'm not 'pearl clutching' and I'm not being sensitive about it. I just don't understand why we have to spend our entire lunch period talking about him, okay!"

Regina and Sarita exchanged a knowing look filled with amusement. "Sen-see-tive," Sarita mocked in a suffocated, sing-song tone.

Lacey's expression became positively stony with their teasing. Regina nudged her, a crooked, impertinent grin pulling at the corner of her lips. "Lighten up, Lacey," she huffed, "Maybe you wouldn't be so edgy about everything if you simply opened up about your feelings. Tell us your fears. Help us help you." She rolled her eyes, a gesture quite incongruent with her outward altruistic cajolery.

Sarita, as well, steepled her hands together and rested her chin at the tips of her fingers, affecting an expression of exaggerated concern. "Come on, Lacey, share with us. Bare your soul. We're listening." She then promptly ruined the invitation by pretending to gag herself.

Despite her affronted feelings and general irritation with them, Lacey found herself slightly amused by their irreverent antics. She compressed her lips to keep from smiling at them. In a way, their insensitive teasing was exactly what she needed to relieve the tension that had been steadily building inside of her since Danny's return. She needed an outlet, even if it was in the form of mean girl banter.

"You guys are such complete bitches. Screw you both," she muttered but with a decided lack of heat.

"Aww, you say the sweetest things," Regina needled her in a babyish tone, "Does that mean you forgive us for finding your former friend sexy as hell? I sincerely hope so because I could totally hit that...and I think I will!"

"You're gross," Sarita declared succinctly.

"And you're jealous!"

"Um...not even close! Just for the record, Lacey, I don't find him sexy at all," Sarita intoned with a sardonic look leveled at Regina, "Convicted killers aren't my thing."

"That's because you have no taste!" Regina retorted.

"Girls...can we please not debate Danny Desai's sexiness or lack thereof from this moment forward?" Lacey pleaded in a weak tone, "I'd rather not talk about him, if it's all the same to you guys."

Regina cocked her head in thoughtful consideration of the request. "You see that's the thing that really peaks my interest...you've never talked about him. Up until a week ago, I didn't even realize that you knew Danny Desai, much less was around when he murdered his aunt! And here I thought we shared everything."

"I knew," Sarita inserted, "Well...at least about them being friends once upon a time. They used to be inseparable in elementary school. It was actually quite nauseating."

Armed with that new tidbit, Regina once again appraised Lacey with a probing look. "So, what gives? What is it about Danny Desai that makes you clam up, Lacey? We're your best friends. Shouldn't we know everything about you?"

Lacey covered her unease over the questioning with sarcasm. "Sorry...I didn't realize there was a code of honor for best friends that required telling each other everything. I'm sure you have your secrets too, Regina."

"But we're not talking about my secrets right now," the other girl argued, "We're talking about yours."

The tart rejoinder Lacey had planned was abruptly drowned out by Sarita's discomfited squeak. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Both Lacey and Regina followed her line of sight to where Danny stood less than twenty feet away, perusing the vending machines. Lacey swallowed her reactive groan of consternation, the tension that had eased moments earlier surging anew and swelling to new heights. Just like that, she was plunged back into her usual vat of agitation and fear. Lacey checked the impulse to make a mad dash for the nearest bathroom.

Beside her, Regina was practically bouncing in her seat. She tugged eagerly at the elbow of Lacey's sleeve and pleaded in an excited whisper, "Quick! Call him over here!"

Lacey balked at the very idea. "What? No!"

"Come on!"

"I'm not doing it, Regina. Leave him alone!"

Regina narrowed her eyes in annoyance, her lower lip protruding in a petulant pout. "Fine! If you won't tell me what I want to know, then maybe I'll just get the answers directly from him," she threatened, "Maybe...I'll even invite him to my party this weekend."

As expected, Lacey's reaction to that was quick and volatile. "Regina, stop joking around! That's not funny!"

"Who says I'm kidding?"

Sarita reached over to tap Lacey's forearm in reassurance when she saw that Lacey was getting genuinely upset. "Lacey, chill out. Regina's not going to do anything. She's all talk."

The aforementioned quirked a single eyebrow in challenge. "Oh, really? We'll see about that." With a superior look of challenge directed at both of her friends, the impudent redhead swiveled around in her seat and called out, "Hey, Socio? Socio? Yoohoo! Over here!" She beckoned him forward when Danny threw a startled glance in her direction. "Yes, I'm talking to you, cutie pie! Get your butt over here."

Clearly wary of making an approach but intrigued by the invitation simply because it would bring him into closer proximity with Lacey, Danny made his way over to the lunch table with an inquisitive smile. Inevitably, the closer he got, the more his attention was drawn to Lacey. By the time he reached the table, the tension between him and Lacey became almost a tangible thing with Danny staring at her without reserve and Lacey doing everything in her power not to stare back at him. With concerted effort, however, Danny managed to tear his eyes away from her dejected profile long enough to address her outrageously flirtatious friend. It was difficult to ignore her, especially when she was leering at him in the most provocative fashion.

"Um, hello...can I help you with something?"

She batted her eyes prettily and extended her hand to him. "I'm Regina. Regina Crane, Lacey's BFF. We're practically sisters, you know."

Danny digested newfound piece of information with a thoughtful frown. "O...kay. Good to know." He shook Regina's hand briefly, making a mental note to himself to ask Lacey about it later. "Nice to meet you. I'm Danny."

"I know who you are, Socio. Everyone knows who you are. In fact, we were just having a very interesting conversation with Lacey just now," Regina informed him cheerfully, "I didn't realize that you two had such a complicated history together."

"Yeah, we go way back." He slid a deliberate look over towards Lacey. "Isn't that right, Lacey?"

Unable to bear his scrutiny any longer or the tremulous response he was stirring up within her, Lacey scooted her chair back from the table with the clear objective of putting as much distance between herself and Danny Desai as possible. She could feel Danny's eyes following her every movement as she gathered her books together. It made her extremely self-conscious, so much so that she couldn't even look up when she said, "I'm gonna go, you guys. I have Bio in ten."

"So that's it?" Danny charged softly as she shifted to her feet, "You can't even look at me, Lace? You're not going to talk to me at all?"

Lacey averted her eyes, hoping to cover how unsteady he made her feel with his nearness and his words. She hated that he could unnerve her so easily, that he affected her at all. She despised the way her heart rate would quicken with his nearness and how every time he approached her he managed to create a sizeable dent in the protective, emotional armor in which she'd insulated herself. She had to get away from him so she could think again, so she could breathe again. Because Lacey knew that if she remained just one minute longer she would be unable to maintain her veneer of indifference. Then Danny would know instantly that her next declaration to him was an absolute lie.

"I don't have anything left to say to you, Danny."

"Well, I have plenty to say to you," Regina inserted suggestively, coming to her feet to hook her arm with Danny's. She seemed ostensibly unperturbed by the tense exchange that had just taken place between her best friend and the school's resident bad boy, a fact that irritated Lacey more than she wanted to acknowledge. The last thing she heard as she walked away from the table was Regina making good on her threat to invite Danny to her party and his mumbled promise to "think about it." By the time Lacey cleared the cafeteria doors, she was fuming.

For the remainder of the afternoon, she practically sleepwalked through her day, vacillating between anger, annoyance and confusion. She couldn't concentrate on a single thing. She failed her Bio quiz, completely forgot to turn in her Calculus homework and earned herself an afternoon of detention for being late to English Lit. By the time the final bell rang, she was frazzled, edgy and had a pounding headache. It was little wonder then that when her steady boyfriend of nine months surprised her from behind with an ardent kiss to the crook of her neck, Lacey flinched away from him with a grimace of irritated distaste.

"God, Archie! Do you have to maul me at every opportunity? I'm not in the mood, okay!"

It was a familiar refrain he'd heard in varying degrees for the past two weeks and, not for the first time, Archie found himself growing irritated with Lacey's mercurial shifts in mood. "Well, excuse me for wanting to kiss my girlfriend!" he flung back, "I didn't realize that was a federal crime!"

"Well, did it ever cross your mind that maybe your girlfriend isn't in the mood to be kissed?" she muttered. At least, not by you, an insidious voice whispered in the back of her mind.

Lacey steadfastly refused to acknowledge that internal taunt. Archie Yates was the stuff most teenage girl fantasies were made of...he was tall, athletic, popular, with smoldering good looks and the perfect amount of confident swagger. He was also a fun, engaging and extremely attentive boyfriend. He'd also granted her with more patience than she probably deserved. For the life of her, Lacey could not fathom why all of that had suddenly not become enough for her anymore. If Archie's next words to her were any indication, he was wondering the same thing.

"What's going on with you, Lacey?" he grated impatiently, "You've been acting like a bitch for more than a week now!"

Lacey made a face at him. "Gee, thanks. That's nice, Archie."

"You know what I'm saying," he cajoled in a softer tone, "You've been snappy with me ever since that DePsycho kid started going here. You're constantly tense. He's not giving you hard time, is he?"

She hoped devoutly that her emotions weren't plainly evident on her face right then. Thankfully, her darker skin tone kept him from detecting her guilty blush. "Who said he was giving me hard time?"

"Look, I talked to Sarita, okay. I know you and the psycho used to hang out back in the day. I totally get that his being back here must be freaking you out a little." He gently drew her into his arms and began stroking her back in soothing circles. "You can talk to me about it, you know. I'll listen."

"There's nothing to talk about. It was a long time ago. I don't want to think about it."

He accepted that reply with a small smirk. "Okay, so if it's not Desai then why are you acting like such an ass? It's not a good look, babe."

The teasing affection in his tone was quite effective at disarming her. Lacey slumped against him, allowing herself to relax in his embrace for the first time since he'd wrapped her in his arms. "I have detention," she mumbled into his chest unhappily, "I was late for English and Mrs. Kapalowski has it out for me."

Archie chuckled at the idea. "No way! My girl? Late for class? Detention?" He tsked her. "Next thing I know you'll be hanging out at lunch with the slackers."

"Don't tease me about it," she grumbled, "She called me out in front of the entire class. I was so embarrassed."

"So I guess this means you won't be at my practice this afternoon, huh?"

"Nope. Sorry about that. But I'm trying to focus on the positives. At least detention will give me some extra time to study for my Bio midterm. I'm going to need to score a high grade on it after bombing the quiz today."

He tipped an incredulous look down at her, his brow knit in a concerned frown. "Wait a minute, you failed your quiz too?"

"Yep. Spectacularly."

"That's not like you at all."

"It's just one grade," Lacey sighed, "I'm having an off day."

Archie appraised her with an inquiring look. "And you're sure nothing went down with the freak today that shook you up..."

Lacey shrugged out of his arms, once again defensive and guilty that he had managed to discern the true reason for her irritability so easily. "No!" she lied stridently, "I already told you it has nothing to do with him. It's about Regina..." she prevaricated on the fly, "...She was just...being Regina as always and she said something that got under my skin. We had a little fight. That's all." Lacey knew she didn't have to elaborate further. For some inexplicable reason, Archie seemed to have a particular antagonism towards Regina. He almost never pressed her on details on their friendship or what they did together, almost as if he preferred to pretend that Regina didn't exist at all.

"And you're sure that's all it is? Just Regina being Regina?"

She rose up on her tiptoes and looped her arms around his neck to peck a kiss to his lips, hoping the show of affection would distract him from questioning her further. "Of course, that's all it is," she whispered, "I'm sorry for being a bitch earlier."

He grinned at her and hugged her close. "Really? Kiss me again and maybe I'll forgive you."

After she had indulged Archie with more kisses and he had left for practice, Lacey finally dropped the facade of happy girlfriend and slumped forward in dejected misery. She felt awful. She had a caring, devoted boyfriend and she couldn't even treat him the way he deserved because she was too obsessed with her former best friend turned murderer. She didn't know what was wrong with her. For anyone else the choice would have been a no-brainer. But her? No, she had to be conflicted.

Aggravated with herself and the situation in general, Lacey made her way to the nearest bathroom with the intention of splashing some cold water on her face. She had just finished shutting off the tap when Jo abruptly exited the stall at the far end of the bathroom. Both girls abruptly rooted in place at the sight of one another. Jo was the first to regain her composure enough to speak. She approached the sink next to Lacey to wash her hands.

"Really, Lacey, we've got to stop meeting like this," she teased dryly.

Lacey bit back her answering smile. "Yeah, it's becoming habitual." An awkward beat of silence meandered between them before Lacey asked, "So, how have you been?"

Jo took her time drying her hands before chucking the sodden paper towel in the garbage. "I've been good. And you?"

"I've been okay. Really can't complain."

A heavy silence gradually stretched out between them. Jo fiddled with the strap on her backpack. Lacey traced the edge of her Biology textbook. Jo coughed. Lacey contemplated the frayed ends of her hair. Both girls surreptitiously avoided making eye contact with the one another. Finally, Jo cleared her throat. "Well, this is painfully awkward."

"Agreed," Lacey said, "I can't believe nine years of friendship has degenerated into two minutes of uncomfortable small talk."

"Well, that's the way you wanted it, right?"

"That's not the way I wanted it," Lacey refuted softly. Stunned blue eyes ricocheted to Lacey's face. "This wasn't where I imagined we'd end up, Jo. In fact...I've been thinking lately that maybe you and I could try and fix that."

Jo gaped at her in speechless incredulity. "Fix what? You mean our friendship?"

The derision in her tone aggravated Lacey's already touchy feelings of self-doubt. "You don't have to make it sound so ridiculous," she retorted in budding affront.

"I guess I'm just wondering why you're suddenly so preoccupied with the past and fixing things between us? Why do you even care? It never seemed to bother you before now."

"It's always bothered me, Jo. I guess with Danny being back I've been thinking of the way things used to be between us and...and I miss it. I miss you."

The confession was clearly the last thing Jo had expected to hear from her. She opened her mouth to make a response only to immediately clamp it shut when she realized she couldn't find the words. Finally, she settled with a stammered, "I...I don't know what to say to that."

"Say you want to start over too," Lacey suggested softly, "Listen, my friend Regina is having a party tomorrow night. I was wondering if you might want to come by...hang out for awhile. We could talk."

"You mean me, you and your fake friends?" Jo balked dubiously, "No, thank you."

And just like that, the antagonism between them resurged. "Wow, judgmental much? You don't even know them, Jo."

"I don't want to know them. I'm sure they're stuck up, snarky monsters! It's people like them who made middle school absolute hell for me!"

"Watch it, Jo! Those 'stuck-up, snarky monsters' got me through some really tough times, okay!"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Jo drawled tightly, "Because they were the friends to you that I should've have been! They're flawless in your eyes and I'm a complete failure!" She plowed all ten fingers through her wild, blonde curls, tears springing unbidden to her blue eyes. "God, Lacey! You do realize that I was sick, don't you? I didn't want to be that way! I wasn't trying to be a head case, okay! I was lost! I did the best I could!"

The raw helplessness in her words sparked Lacey's own anguished confession. "I know that. I didn't blame you for your problems, but... I was thirteen, Jo! I was a kid and... I needed someone too and I couldn't handle it. Not with everything else going on with Danny and then my mom and dad! I just couldn't handle anymore, okay!"

"I know," Jo whispered gruffly, "I get it, Lacey. I do. It is what it is, right?"

Lacey bit her lower lip to control its sudden trembling. "Right."

"Any friendship would have broken under that kind of stress," Jo whispered, "It's pretty naive to think that it could have lasted forever."

"Maybe, but... That doesn't mean we can't start over. I meant what I told you before. I really do miss you, Jo."

"I miss you too," Jo sighed softly after a brief beat of silence, "For a long time now."

"Then we should make it right. I want to make it right."

"And what about Danny?" Jo prompted quietly, "Do you want to make it right with him too?"

The question clearly struck a nerve. Almost immediately, Lacey's gaze skittered away. "This has nothing to do with Danny."

"It has everything to do with Danny," Jo refuted, "You, me and him...we were always a unit. He wants another chance with us, Lacey. He wants to be friends again."

Lacey shook her head in denial of Jo's tacit suggestion that they extend a mutual olive branch to Danny. "Are you sure that's a good idea to get involved with him again? He's not the Danny we remember, Jo."

"How would you know? You haven't spoken two words to him since he came back!"

"But you have!" Lacey retorted with an edge of accusation, "I've seen you talking to him in the hall! Are you crazy? How can you let him back into your life, Jo? What are you thinking?"

"He didn't want to come back here, Lacey. Green Grove is the last place he wants to be. It holds just as many bad memories for him as it does for us."

"Is that what he told you?"

"He doesn't have to tell me. I can see it in his eyes. He's drowning here." She surveyed Lacey with a beseeching stare. "He needs us, Lacey."

That declaration chilled Lacey for multiple reasons and left her trembling visibly. "You need to be careful," she warned ex-best friend direly, "Don't let yourself get sucked into those big, brown eyes of his, Jo. You don't know who he is anymore. You don't know what he's capable of."

In characteristic form, Jo's first inclination was to dismiss Lacey's cautious wisdom with a retort that was dripping with sarcasm, not because she didn't harbor the exact same misgivings that Lacey did but because she wasn't ready to entertain the possibility that Lacey might be right about Danny. "Would you stop being so melodramatic all the time? It's Danny! We used to play freeze tag together, for goodness sake! It's not like he's not going to strangle me to death!"

"Yeah, you say that now but look what happened to Tara."

That chilling reminder obliterated every ounce of Jo's bluster in an instant. Color immediately drained from her features as she fought back the macabre mental images that bombarded her with the mere mention of Tara Desai. "Don't talk about her."

"It's the truth, isn't it?" Lacey swallowed past the rising lump in her throat, reluctant to ask her next question but unable to keep from asking it as well. "Does he? Talk about her, I mean."

"Never," Jo mumbled, "He never says a word about her. He said he wants to leave the past in the past."

Lacey frowned. "He doesn't mention what happened at all?"

"It's not like we've had long heart to hearts, Lacey. Just a handful of short conversations and that's it."

"And?"

"And whenever I do talk to him, I...I just don't get the impression that he could hurt anyone, okay! Sometimes he seems like the same old Danny."

"But he did hurt someone," Lacey reminded her grimly, "He killed her. You shouldn't forget that, Jo." And neither should I, she added regretfully in her heart. She definitely couldn't afford to forget it either.