You Can't Catch Me(89)

“What? Why?”

“Nothing. Have a seat,” I say. He sits, and I do the same on the couch across from him. They only got delivered last week, these couches, my first purchase with the money I got back from Jessie.

Covington takes a swig of his beer, then holds it awkwardly between his hands.

“What’s going on, Cov?”

“It’s been bugging me, like I said.”

“What?”

He makes eye contact briefly, then looks away. “Your reaction.”

I try to think back. We were drunk when he brought that up. I’m sure I denied knowing anything about it. Called it out for the silly thought it was.

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t seem surprised.”

“I . . . What?”

“It didn’t seem like news to you.” Covington takes what I can only consider as a nervous sip of his beer, then puts it down on the table.

“What are you suggesting? That I somehow snuck back into the LOT and killed Todd?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

He doesn’t say anything.

“What, Covington? Jesus.”

He glances at me again, then away. “How did Kiki die?”

I do not like the direction this is going in. “I told you, she killed herself.”

“You didn’t tell me that, actually.”

“I didn’t?”

“No. You told me she died, and that the funeral had been family only, and you said something about an accident.”

“It was an accidental overdose. That’s what I said.”

“That’s not what you said. And that’s not true.”

I look to the door. He’s between me and it, though if I move fast enough, I’d probably get out before he reacts. But there’s no point in trying to escape him. Better to sit here and learn what he knows, then make a plan.

“What business is it of yours how she died?” I ask. “Just because you shared a kiss—”

“It was more than that. I cared for her. And she cared for me.”

I shrug. “She left you and went to Ohio.”

He winces. “She needed to clear her head before we could start a real relationship.”

“Fucking Todd.”

“Yeah, him. But also, you.”

“Me?”

“You wanted her to be something she wasn’t.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m only telling you what Kiki told me.”

I swallow my pain. I need to stay focused and not get distracted.

“She killed herself, okay?” I say. “I was ashamed to tell people. It felt like my fault.”

“Why?”

“For a lot of reasons I don’t have to discuss with you.” I consider my words. “But how do you know what happened to Kiki? You been investigating me, Covington? Putting your Liam training to good use?”

“I wanted some answers.”

“What did you come here to say?”

He stands and starts to pace back and forth in the small space.

“Todd’s death was bugging me,” he says. “It got me thinking about Kiki. How I’d never known what happened to her because I’d shoved all those feelings away after I found out she was dead because that was easier. Then that stuff with that girl, that other Jessica who defrauded you, something there was bugging me, too, and I couldn’t quite place it. So, I started digging around, and, well, I ended up going to see your parents.”

“My parents?”

“In Connecticut.”

My stomach’s in knots. “You have a nice reunion?”

Covington grimaces. “Ugh, no. It was awful seeing them all together. But Kiki’s mom was nice to me. She showed me some pictures she had of Kiki, and that’s when I noticed it.”

“What?”

“Her name on the front of the photograph album. Her real name.”

“Jessica Katherine Williams,” I say.

He nods. “And her birthday.”

“The same day as me.”

“The same. I’d forgotten about that. Kiki mentioned it once, but I never thought about the two of you having the same name because I’d always known her as Kiki. Even in the LOT.”

“We called her that since she was two. Before you were born.”

“Her mother said. But not why they gave you the same name.”

“It was a kind of joke between them, I think. The two families. That’s what my mother told me. Because it was funny that two cousins were born on the same day in the same place, so why not take it a step further. Jessica was Todd’s mother’s name.”

“That’s weird.”

“They were weird, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Anyway, the more I thought about it,” Covington says, “the more it seemed like too many coincidences. Too many Jessicas.” He picks up his beer and drains it. “And then your mother told me what she did.”

“What?”

What the actual fuck? What is wrong with her?

“She told me what she did to Todd,” Covington says. “And why.”