“Maybe.”
“That’s it,” she snapped. “We’re not friends anymore.”
“Oh, hush. You know you don’t mean that.” I looked up at the roof, checking for the name of the bar. “Hmmm. Stilettos. Yeah, we’ve definitely gotta come back here.”
“Come back here?” Haleigh eyes widened. “You do realize this is a strip club?”
“Well, yeah.” I shrugged. “I think it could be kind of fun to come and check it out. We can consider it another adventure for our bucket list.”
“You mean your bucket list, and after tonight, I think I’m over it.”
“What?”
“I love ya, Rae, but all this thrill-seeking stuff is wearing me out.” She let out a deep breath. “One minute we’re jumping railroad tracks, and then the next, we’re jumping off hotel rooftops and getting arrested. It’s just too much.”
“I thought you had fun when we did all those things, especially the night we went out on the tracks.”
“I did until you stayed out there too long and almost got yourself killed. I get that you have this crazy inner need to feel alive or whatever, but if you keep going at this rate, you’re either going to find yourself in a heap of trouble or end up really hurting yourself.”
The high that had been coursing through my veins immediately vanished, and I was left feeling like I’d just been reprimanded by my high school principal. I dropped my head and murmured, “Why is it that you suddenly sound so much like my father?”
“If I do, it’s only because we care so much about you. We’ve both seen this change in you, and neither of us knows what to do about it.” Her voice trembled as she went on, “You’re my best friend in the whole world, Rae. I don’t know what I’d do if something ever happened to you.”
“Nothing’s gonna happen to me, Haleigh.”
“Says the girl who’s sitting in the back of a cop car that’s parked at a strip club surrounded by scary bikers and fire trucks. I’d say plenty has already happened.”
I didn’t respond.
I couldn’t.
Mainly because I knew she was right.
I’d been so caught up in my own head that I hadn’t thought about the consequences of my actions, and now, we were both in a heap of trouble, and I had no one to blame but myself.
I couldn’t bear to look at Haleigh, so I turned and stared out the window. I was drowning in the pits of my own despair when I noticed the hot biker had moved from the front door and was talking to one of the officers who’d arrested us. They spoke for a moment, then the policeman gave him a quick nod and headed over to his partner.
Haleigh and I remained silent as the two officers got back into the cruiser and closed the door. As the driver started the car, he turned to his partner and said, “There’s something about those guys that I just don’t like.”
“Can’t disagree with you there.” He took off his hat and tossed it on the seat next to him. “They wanna act like we’re stupid—like we don’t know something was up with that whole electrical fire bullshit. Hell, I’d bet my entire paycheck that someone blew up the place on purpose, but honestly, I could care less. As far as I’m concerned, they had that shit coming.”
“Yeah, I don’t get it. Everyone knows they’re up to no good but always manage to stay under the radar.” The driver shook his head as he pulled out of the parking lot. “Maybe whoever was really behind all this tonight will have what it takes to finally take these assholes down.”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t count on it.” He glanced over his shoulder at Haleigh and me, then asked, “What are we gonna do about these two?”
“I guess we get them back to the station and book ’em.” He leaned back in his seat and sighed. “Drunken halfwits pissing on pedestrians, crazy girls jumping off hotel rooftops, and blown-up strip clubs. I’ve about had enough of it tonight. I just wanna fill out my damn reports and get home.”
“You know,” Leigh gave me a scathing look when I leaned up to the metal partition and suggested, “you could just let us off with a warning and save yourself a lot of paperwork.”
The officer looked over his shoulder with a disapproving expression, then rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Not a chance, little lady. You and your friends caused quite a stir tonight, and a simple slap on the wrist isn’t gonna cut it. Not this time.”
“Not this time?”
“Last time your bunch pulled this mess, they promised it would be the last. I’m not playing this game anymore.”
“But we weren’t with them. We had no idea—”
“Doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.”
Feeling completely defeated, I sat back in the seat and remained silent as they drove us to the precinct. Haleigh wouldn’t even look at me, much less talk to me, as they booked us and put us in a cell. They gave us the option of making our one phone call, but we both opted to wait until morning, hoping our parents wouldn’t be quite as livid if we didn’t wake them up at two-thirty in the morning.