True. They’d met in preschool, and had been inseparable for most of their lives. Eighteen months ago, Kara married Gavin and moved to Seattle. Then Ingrid came west and stayed. So they were together again, getting in trouble again.
Kara hadn’t wanted to come out drinking, but Ingrid had insisted. It was Kara’s twenty-first birthday and time for her first drinking party. Firstlegaldrinking party, that is. She’d taken her first drink at thirteen. Got drunk for the first time at fourteen. Not surprisingly, Ingrid had been there both times.
“Go move the car,” Kara said.
“Come with.”
“I’ll walk and meet you over there.”
Ingrid giggled. “You can barely stand, Kare-Bear. It’s a hundred feet. Come on.”
Kara sighed and followed Ingrid to the car. They got in. Ingrid pulled onto the road and shot away from the paid lot.
“Hey!” Kara said.
“I’m looking for a cheaper one. I don’t have ten bucks.”
Kara slapped a twenty on the console.
“You need that for diapers and shit. Stop being such an old lady and let me drive you home. It’s all country roads anyway. Nothing to hit.”
“Except deer, coyotes, bears, the occasional hitchhiker…”
“I’ll avoid the animals. If the hitchhiker is cute, I’ll pick him up.” She grinned over at Kara. “Give you a proper birthday party.”
Kara flipped her the finger and fastened her seat belt.
“Yep,it’s an engine,” Kara peered under the car hood. At least she was no longer seeing double. She was also, unfortunately, not seeing the problem that had them pulled over on an empty wooded road. “I have no idea what’s wrong, but Gavin will be here in fifteen minutes. If he can’t fix it, he’ll give you a lift. Gavin?—”
“Gavin, Gavin, Gavin,” Ingrid huffed. “Do you know how sick I am of hearing his name? How many times have you brought him up tonight?”
“Um, twice? First when I said you shouldn’t drive and second when you proved it, leaving us stranded by the side of a very creepy road.”
“Thecarleft us stranded.”
“I thought you said it was new?”
“It is. This is the first problem I’ve had with it, unlike that rust bucket you’re stuck with because you marriedGavin.”
“I like my car just fine.” Kara slammed the hood shut and perched on it. “And my husband.”
Ingrid sniffed. “He’s not your husband, he’s your jailer. He’ll get here and be all, ‘I told you not to go out.’ I’m surprised he let you.”
“Actually, he’s the one who talked me into it. He thought I could use the break, and he knows you’re going through a rough time?—”
Ingrid’s head snapped up. “You told him about the phone calls?”
“I don’t keep secrets from my husband, but no, since you’re the only one getting them, I haven’t told him. I just said you’vebeen having a rough time adjusting to the new job and new state?—”
“You still don’t believe me about the calls, do you?”
Kara exhaled and leaned back on her hands. “Why just call you? Why not me, too? He thinks we both did it.”
“But only one of us has a hulking construction worker for a husband. The other lives alone in a crappy apartment with zero security and a so-called best friend who won’t take the threat seriously and let her move in?—”
Kara hopped off the car. “Bring me proof and you can move in.”
“Proof? I’m your best friend, and I’m telling you we’re both in danger. Serious danger. He’s going to make us pay?—”
