You Owe Me a Murder(39)

Alex, how could you? My heart rate tripled. If I had been hooked up to an EKG, it would have been beeping out of control. “It didn’t seem important.”

One of her perfectly tweezed eyebrows arched. “You didn’t think it was important to mention that you’d been in a relationship? Not even when the police were asking about him?”

“We weren’t still dating.”

“All the same, seeing what happened to him, losing someone who was important to you must have been devastating.”

I bit down hard. I had to be careful what I said. “It was, but I didn’t want to talk about it.”

Tasha nodded. “Uh-huh. Alex is worried about you. He says you’ve gotten a little obsessed about Connor’s death . . . about trying to figure out what happened. He thinks you’re convinced it wasn’t an accident.”

Had he told her about Nicki? “I’m not obsessed.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I feel like you’re accusing me of something.”

She leaned forward. “Listen, I’m on your side here.”

“I don’t have a side,” I insisted. “I’m just upset. Not because we used to date, but because it’s horrible. Maybe I should have said something, but like I said, I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“What about this person who you think sent the article?”

I clenched my teeth. “I don’t know who did it.”

“I have to tell the police about this. I think Alex is right and the article was likely someone’s idea of being helpful, but we need to make sure the authorities have all the information.”

I wanted to beg her not to, but I knew it wouldn’t work. Tasha wasn’t the kind of person to be swayed by some tears. “Okay,” I said. I pushed up from the chair and walked to the main stairs without looking back. I was right—?there wasn’t much to talk about where Connor and I were concerned, but it wasn’t going to look like that when the cops started poking around.





Seventeen


August 22


9 Days Remaining


Alex stood up as soon as I came into the Thai place a few minutes after four. He shifted uncomfortably as if he didn’t know what to do with his hands and feet, like a puppy that was a mix of adorable and awkward. “I ordered you a Diet Coke.”

“Thanks.” As soon as I sat down, I started picking at the paper napkin, tearing thin pink strips off and letting them drop into my lap. The smell of curry and spices hung in the air like a fog.

“I’m glad you came. I wasn’t sure you would.” I didn’t answer. Alex took a deep breath as if he were about to jump off the high dive. “Look, I’m sorry I talked to Tasha. And I get it if you’re mad and don’t want to speak to me ever again, but I had to. I was worried about you.”

“You don’t have to be worried.” My heart zinged to hear that he cared. I realized I wasn’t angry at him. I ignored my reflection in the mirror across the restaurant. I didn’t want to see the dark circles under my eyes. I moved my hand, knocking the napkin shreds onto the floor. “I’m fine.”

Alex’s eyebrow twitched, but he didn’t call out my lie. “What you feel about Connor is normal. He hurt you, and now he’s dead, and that has to be hard—?”

“You have no idea,” I said softly, then pinched my mouth shut to keep myself from saying more than I wanted. Alex winced. The waitress dropped a plate of steaming spring rolls onto our table, breaking the tension.

“No shrimps,” she said, without waiting for Alex to ask. The waitress was used to his allergies by now.

I waited until she walked away. “Sorry. I know that I’m stressed and acting weird and you were trying to help, but this could get me in real trouble.”

“It’s not going to.”

“What if the cops think I did something to Connor?”

“They won’t.”

I shook my head. It wasn’t that simple. I had a motive for hurting Connor.

“They can’t think you did anything. You have an alibi.” He grabbed one of the spring rolls and dropped it quickly onto his plate. “They’re really hot,” he warned. “I told Tasha that you and I were standing right next to each other when Connor fell. They can’t accuse you. I’m your witness that you’re innocent.”

Alex hadn’t been next to me. The crowd on the platform had separated us by at least five or six people. I’d been closer to Connor than to him. Then I realized the impact of what he’d said. “Why would you lie for me?”

He blew on his food. “Because I know you didn’t do anything to Connor. That’s not a lie. All I’m doing is making sure they don’t focus on the wrong thing.”

My heart seized. I couldn’t believe he’d done that for me. He really believed in me. Enough that he’d lie for me to keep me safe.

Alex leaned forward. “What the cops should worry about is why someone sent you that newspaper article. She contacted you again, didn’t she? That’s why you took off today.”

“No.” Technically I wasn’t lying. I’d reached out to Nicki—?she hadn’t contacted me. I wanted to tell him. I ached to share what she’d said, but I couldn’t trust him to keep it to himself. “I thought I’d figured out a way to find her.”