"No, you listen to me. If the Senator isn't at his fundraising event smiling wide for the cameras — with his wife standing proudly at his side — heads will roll, and I already know who's first in line."

Tori paces back and forth while I watch warily from a chair across from the couch. We're in the same room Chloe and I sat in the day of my surprise visit, but the decorative pillows are pointedly on the couch instead of the floor. Chloe rolls her eyes when she comes back from the kitchen with a platter of chips and salsa, then settles onto the couch.

"She always gets like this during election years," she whispers over the coffee table, gesturing towards her pissed off wife. "Just try to duck if she throws something."

"Sure, sure, that's a totally normal request. One question though. Where is he?"

Chloe scrunches her brows. "Who?"

"Ashton Kutcher. That's what this is, right? You've roused him out of retirement and this is the series premiere of Punk'd Rebooted. Go ahead, cue the cameras." I crane my neck to check under my chair in hopes of finding one.

"Why are you like this?" she asks, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Did you hear anything I said in the car?"

"Oh I heard it, Chlo. Especially the part where she tried to kill you over a cheer flip," I hiss, though my eyes don't waiver from Tori. She's balancing her phone between her shoulder and ear as she undoes the top buttons of her work shirt. I know she can't hear me over the stream of expletives flying out her mouth, but I'm not taking any chances.

"This is insane." I lean in closer to be sure Chloe can hear me. "How the hell are you married to Tori fucking Whitfield?"

Chloe starts to answer, but a phone falls in her lap and cuts her off. Tori walks around the couch, then slouches into it, catching one of the pillows before it hits the ground. Her feet come to rest in Chloe's lap, who promptly removes her shoes and begins massaging a foot.

"If I have to deal with one more cheating politician ready to throw his life away for any penny-worthy pussy that shows interest, I'm gonna blow my brains out," Tori sighs, squeezing her temples.

"Good thing I'm not a politician." Chloe lifts an eyebrow and couples it with a suggestive grin. Tori nudges her with her free foot, but she's smiling. A relaxed Tori is a rare occurrence, and the sight of it is just as jarring as the bomb Chloe dropped in the car.

"So, what are we talking about?" Tori asks, finally acknowledging me. We never had much interaction in high school, so I'm not sure what our dynamic is now that she's my best friend's wife. I decide to stick with what I know: classic sarcasm.

"Ashton Kutcher's return to stardom and the crucial part we'll play in it."

Tori looks to Chloe for translation.

"She's trying to wrap her head around us being together."

Tori snorts. "Her and everyone else senior year."

"Can you blame them?" I contend. "You didn't tell anyone you liked girls. It's not like we could've seen it coming."

"It wasn't anybody's business," Tori shrugs, reaching over to grab a chip. "My attraction to women wasn't something I felt the need to broadcast, but it wasn't a secret, either. I just wanted to work out my sexuality without everyone's stupid commentary. See, when you grow up popular like I did, you try to hold onto any privacy you can get."

"Until she realized I'm the love of her life, that is," Chloe adds dramatically. "I have been described as irresistible in the past."

"Honestly, I still think I was so obvious about it. Before I understood what I felt for Chloe, I could never just leave her alone. It wasn't until she started dating that bland glass of milk that everything began to make sense. Only took me two years to finally do something about it."

"How long were you guys sleeping together behind Jane's back?" I don't love the fact that my best friend is a cheater, but considering I was never a fan of her ex, I'm finding it hard to hold it against her.

"Like, barely a week?" Tori's mouth turns up in a smug grin. "Turns out, I don't like privacy all that much."

Chloe gives me a pointed look. "See. Told you I didn't keep it from you long."

"And, what, you guys just dated and lived happily ever after?" It comes out more aggressive than I mean it to. Tori didn't necessarily sleep around back in high school, but she didn't stick to just one person, either. Chloe may act like she's cool as a cucumber, but I know she wears her heart on her sleeve. If Tori was willing to break up Chloe's relationship, what's to stop her from stepping out on this one?

Her face doesn't make me feel any more confident. She glances away, embarrassed. "I wouldn't exactly say that. We were like a hurricane in the beginning, and it took us a long time to find some god damn stability. It's a miracle we didn't tear each other apart."

"Outside the bedroom, that is," Chloe says, letting her fingers travel further up Tori's leg. "We can still break a headboard with the best of them."

Tori doesn't flinch. I can't ignore how different her reactions to Chloe are compared to Jane's. Whereas Jane made Chloe feel ashamed for her boldness, Tori seems to celebrate it — or at least tolerate it a lot more.

"So how the hell did you guys go from that to married with plant children?"

Tori looks up at Chloe, flashing her a genuine smile. "We're both too stubborn for our own good. There's never been a challenge big enough for either of us to back down, and our relationship was no exception. No matter how many times she made me want to pull my hair out, there's no way I was gonna let her go. I've always gotten everything I wanted in life, and there's nothing I ever wanted more than Chloe."

This feels like an intimate moment between the two of them, one I'm not meant to witness. Tori has always been dramatic, but even without knowing her well, I can tell she means every word. I don't focus on her though; I'm locked in on Chloe. During the two years she and Jane were together, not once did I see her as happy as she is now. Based on the light in her eyes, I'm expecting something sweet in return.

"God, I wanna fuck you so bad right now."

Tori glances at me. "You know where the door is, right?"

I choke on my own spit. Chloe laughs at my failed attempts to breathe until my coughing subsides.

"And on that note," I say, holding up a hand, "I think it's time we table this conversation. As baffling as it's been, we have crazier shit to tackle."

"Ah yes, the whole 'save Mark' plan," Tori says, pulling her legs up to sit criss cross. Without missing a beat, Chloe leans back to lay in her lap, propping her feet up on the other end of the couch.

"Yes, the plan that was supposed to be a secret." I emphasize the last part and shoot Chloe a look. Her eyes conveniently fall closed as Tori plays with her hair. It makes her seem younger, more like when we were teenagers.

"What can I say, she dragged it out of me." Her smirk clues me in on which method of manipulation Tori used. "Besides, the more minds the better, right?"

I'm inclined to comment on the quality of Tori's mind, but a brilliant thought crosses mine. Tori's never been one to miss a party, and based on the way she works any room she enters, I'm sure she would've been all over that house — including the basement.

"Did you go to Darren's party that year?" I ask, my pulse quickening at the thought of a solid lead on Mark.

But they exchange a guilty look. Tori's the first one to face me again. "I was there, but I didn't see Mark. And I might be the reason Chloe didn't either."

"Granted, I was looking for you guys in the beginning," Chloe tries to justify, but the guilt is all over her face. "But let's just say, we got a little distracted by each other and Jane caught us in the act. All because someone forgot to lock the door."

I catch Tori's fingers tighten in Chloe's hair. "For the last time, you were the one—"

"Refocus, refocus," I cut in, snapping my fingers for good measure. "What about Darren?"

"Unfortunately, I did see him. Darren asked some of the girls from the squad to come early and help out, but he was in a shit mood the whole time and made the process miserable. I probably saw him once at the actual party, but after the way he treated us during setup, you could say I was keeping my distance."

"Wait, why the interest in Darren?" Chloe interrupts, readjusting until her head faces me. "I thought the plan was to figure out where Mark was?"

"It still is. But I went to Darren's yesterday and things got... weird."

I fill them in briefly, skipping over the part about the vision; it's too complex to fully explain. Instead, I chalk up my memory of Mark and Darren's secret conversation to it being so fresh in my mind. Technically, it only happened a few days ago for me, so it's not outside the realm of possibility.

"I remember asking Mark about it later that day at the log. He said it was about tutoring, which is a pretty innocent topic of discussion. And I know I didn't imagine the way Darren twitched when I brought it up. I'd bet my life that he knows exactly what I was talking about. So I've been asking myself, why would he lie about hiring Mark for SAT prep?"

"And?"

"Well, what if Darren knows more than he's letting on? I mean, the party was at his house. He had to have been hosting it to some capacity. There's no way he didn't see Mark at least once the whole night."

"But what's there to gain from lying?" Chloe counters. "I get that it's an underage party, but I doubt Darren's family would've gone down for something like underage drinking. Why would he risk obstructing the police's investigation then or bother covering it up now?"

"Because what if Mark's overdose was Darren's fault?"

Tori's question makes every atom in the room freeze all at once, including the ones that make up my heart.

My mouth is too dry. I force myself to swallow past it so I can get the words out. "You think Darren killed Mark?"

"Maybe not on purpose," she continues. "But what if Darren is who he bought from? That would explain the secret conversation."

"But Mark was using cocaine. Darren only carried weed on him," I reason.

"At school, yeah," Tori admits. "But the right people knew where to find Darren if they were looking for something stronger. There were a few girls on the team who used to whisper about it. Maybe Mark was one of those people?"

"And maybe the last batch he sold him wasn't as clean as advertised," Chloe adds solemnly.

"This is insane," I insist, trying my best to stay reasonable. "We're talking about murder here."

"It's not murder if Darren didn't know what he was selling," Chloe argues. "He might've been an asshole, but he was still just a kid. It's possible that whoever he was selling for spiked the stuff without Darren knowing. He'd be looking at manslaughter at most."

It all makes too much sense, and I'm instantly livid I didn't put it together sooner. Darren's nice act had been disarming at first, but I wasn't imagining the crack in his facade. When I brought up that night, he said it was the worst one of his life. It's starting to become clear why.

"We need to know for sure," I insist, staggering to my feet. My hands are shaking from the adrenaline pumping through my veins; I couldn't sit still right now if I tried. "This is way too delicate a situation to go off theories alone. We need proof."

Chloe leans forward on her knees and drums her fingers against her chin. "Well, I doubt we can just waltz up to his door and ask. It sounds like that didn't work out too well the first time around."

"And even though I hate to say it, Darren's always been smart," Tori adds. "He'd know something was up if you came asking questions again."

"We don't need to go through Darren. Not if Mark can tell us himself." The idea hits me so hard, it almost knocks me back into the chair. "Did the state ever order an autopsy?"

I'm expecting Chloe to answer, but it's Tori that jumps in. "Ok, so this is gonna sound super weird... but that's kinda up for debate."

Why must every question have such a complicated answer? "Explain."

"So, this actually isn't the first time we've talked about this. When you originally passed the bar, you called up my office wanting to talk about Mark's death."

I blink, trying to hide my disbelief. "Are we close like that?"

"Oh, it's so tempting to lie and say we're besties now," Tori teases, and I can tell she was really toying with the idea. "But no, I wouldn't say close. We're usually at our best after the wine starts flowing. About an hour in is when we swap personal stories about our steamy nights with Carter."

Bile rises in my throat before Chloe quickly adds, "She's joking about the last part, and at a very inappropriate time might I add."

"Right, right, refocus." Tori shoots me a look I assume is meant to be apologetic. "But basically, you wanted my help with looking into autopsy reports and whether they're public record in Pennsylvania. Since I started out working campaigns on the state level, I had experience with bills and when they passed. With the addition of your recent law degree, it should've been easy to figure out."

"But it wasn't?"

"Not exactly. The law surrounding autopsy reports has a pretty big loophole. It states that coroners must submit all official records at the end of January so that we the public can access them. The problem is, there's no legal definition of what constitutes official records, so it's really up to a coroner's discretion whether or not they submit a certain autopsy.

"We know one was performed because Mark's name and cause of death aren't sealed, but what he overdosed on specifically has never been made public record. Back then, we assumed it was a fluke. The bill was passed only a few months before Darren's party, so it was possible the coroner just got confused. But if the Wexlers are involved in this..."

"Then there's a chance their money is too," I finish.

We all fall silent, each of us contemplating the last ten minutes. Though there's a lot to absorb, I don't focus on any of it. Instead, I picture Darren's face again and the brief fear that broke through. Whatever happened that night, I know without a doubt he was involved, and if the Wexlers played dirty to somehow cover it up, then we need to get downright filthy.

"You're sure an autopsy was definitely performed?"

Tori doesn't hesitate. "Positive."

"What happens to the documents the coroners don't submit?"

She frowns. "I'm sure the system's been digitalized at this point, but you might get lucky since Susquehanna County is so small. There's a good chance their coroner's office still stores the paper copies. Hell, I doubt they even have the funding for a computer."

Chloe catches the glint in my eye and gives me a wicked smile, "Oh I know that face. My girl is scheming."

"I think I've got a plan," I admit, zeroing in on the chunky salsa we've barely touched. "But it's kinda stupid and not guaranteed to work."

She jumps up from Tori's lap, her face giddy. "Oh, how I've missed your shitty plans. You simply don't visit often enough."

Tori's movements are much more languid. She rises from the couch gracefully, then crosses her arms over her chest. It's so classically Tori, but I don't feel the usual annoyance I associate with her. Right now, all I see is an ally.

"Just tell us what we're doing."

"Help!"

Tori's scream nearly breaks my eardrum. I fight to keep my balance as we trudge through the office door, but Tori's not as light as she once was. Leaning all her weight on me, she drapes an arm around my neck and squeezes each time we take a step.

The guy at the front desk gawks at us, his eyes the size of saucers. I can only imagine how we must look to him. I told Chloe to go easy on the salsa, but she insisted that more was less. Tori's light wash jeans are soaked with it; what was meant to be a mild gunshot wound now resembles a shark attack — in central Pennsylvania.

"What happened?" the guy shouts, coming around to meet us near one of the waiting room chairs. There's only three to choose from, so we opt for the one furthest from the door and desk. The room isn't that big, so Chloe needs all the help she can get.

I do a quick sweep of the room to confirm what we already assumed: no funding for security cameras either. Making sure the coroner's back is to the door, I cough three times, our last minute signal. Over his shoulder, I watch Chloe slip through the waiting room and past the front desk before disappearing down a hallway. Tori must've spotted her too; her voice raises three octaves louder to keep the guy's attention on us.

"What the hell do you think happened," she shouts. "I was shot in the fucking thigh!"

He turns to me, figuring it best to speak to someone calmer. "I don't understand. Why did you bring her here instead of the hospital?"

"There was no time," I insist, never letting my eyes waiver from his. Susquehanna is too small to have a hospital of its own, but thankfully we have a coroner's office as a standalone building for local deaths. "It happened only a few blocks from here."

"Aren't you the medical examiner?" Tori snaps, pulling his attention back down to her. "How about you do your job and examine me."

It's a game of ping pong between the two of us, each taking our turn as lookout. I'm surprised to find we make a pretty good team. Tori picks up on my cues well, and it helps me feel more in control, even though there's still a strong chance Chloe won't find anything.

"Okay, okay, just calm down! I have to take a look first to see how bad it is." He crouches and starts to roll up the bottom of Tori's jeans, and I think desperately of something to say to make him stop.

Tori goes a different route.

Just as his face registers the smell of tomato, Tori brings her knee up and slams it into his nose, knocking him out cold.

"Tori," I yell. "What the hell was that? We're supposed to distract the guy, not kill him!"

She studies him until his chest rises, then shrugs. "He's still breathing. But he won't be out for long" Without a glance back, she rushes over to the desk and leans over it. "Hurry up babe, we're out of time!"

Seconds later, Chloe flies through the door, an envelope held high above her head. "Good thing I don't need any more of it."

We're all out of breath by the time we reach Chloe's Audi. We parked in the lot adjacent to the office to avoid being seen escaping, but with the guy out of commission, it's been reduced to nothing more than a nuisance. We all fall back into our seats, Chloe and Tori in the front and me dead middle in the back.

Chloe's the first to catch her breath. She shoots a look over to Tori, who's leaning heavily against her window.

"Did you seriously knock him out?" she asks, a hint of laughter creeping in.

Through the reflection of her mirror, I see Tori's mouth quirk up.

"Yeah," she says breathlessly. "Holy shit, I did."

She starts to laugh, and I'm surprised by how high it is. I don't actually think I've heard her laugh before. It's somewhat contagious, and it isn't long before we're all cracking up. It's a nice feeling after the last few hours.

It doesn't last, though. Chloe knocks the manilla folder off the middle console and into my lap, snapping us back to reality. It feels heavy against my thighs, so heavy I'm not sure I can open it.

"We're right here," Chloe says, nodding her encouragement. Even Tori looks genuinely supportive. It's the final push I need to lift the envelope, tear open the top, and pull out the contents.

My eyes skim over the pages until they reach the section labeled CAUSE OF DEATH. I read the entry over, then I read it again. I read it until Chloe shakes my knee.

"What does it say?" she asks, trying her best to see over my shoulder. "Was the cocaine laced?"

My whole body is numb. It takes years to lift my head, to meet their eyes again, to open my mouth.

"Yeah," I say softly, handing her the paper. "Yeah, it was."

I barely feel when she takes it from me, but her gasp let's me know when she reaches the bottom of the page.

Mark Anderson.

Cause of death: overdose.

Substances found: cocaine and heroin.