Page 43 of The System

“I was going to grab a snack,” Tinley added.

“Maybe grab it and go,” Carina suggested.

Tinley walked over to where Carina was standing and turned away from Kieran.

“A little tacky, Carina. I live here, and you’re bringing dates over?”

“First, you’re just staying here. There’s a difference. Second, not that it’s any of your business, but Kieran is just a friend.”

“You have other friends, and I haven’t seen you invite any of them over for pizza and a movie.”

“Um… You’re not exactly whispering over there. I can hear you,” Kieran spoke. “Just so you know.”

“I’ll leave you two to your non-date,” Tinley said and turned to Kieran. “Nice to meet you, Kiera.”

“You too, Tanley.”

Carina laughed loudly at that.

CHAPTER 14

“I don’t know what she’s talking about. I was on the bus,” Marin argued.

“But you weren’t, Marin. I saw the footage. I watched it over and over again last night, and you’re not on that bus. Could it have been another bus or a different bus stop? Carina said that the footage is something the public can request to see. Diego could get it. He’d just need to know what bus or bus stop to narrow down his search.”

“I swear, it was that bus,” Marin replied, looking down at her handcuffed hands.

“But could it have been a different bus?”

“I don’t know… Maybe. I… Nick hit me that night. It was in the head. He’d tried to avoid my head most of the time because that was easier to see by other people, so he’d be more likely to get in trouble, but there was this torn-up deck outside the house, and a piece of wood came off it when he’d stepped on it on his way for a smoke. He got pissed and came inside to blame me for not fixing the deck, as if that was something I would’ve done. He swung the board at me, but I moved out of the way.” Marin looked back up at Kieran. “The first time. Then, he hit me with it, and I don’t know what happened after that. I woke up later, and it was still somewhat dark outside. He wasn’t there. I remember feeling dizzy, and I think I threw up, but after I stopped the bleeding at the back of my head and put on a hat to cover up what he’d done, I just packed as fast as I could, and I thought I took that bus. I thought it was the ninety-two. I remember that bus stop.”

“You had a concussion, didn’t you?” Kieran asked. “You passed out, and you vomited after a head wound.”

“Probably. Wouldn’t have been the first. Anyway, a few days before all this, I’d gotten someone to get me those fake papers I told you about the other time. Luckily, I remembered to grab them, and Nick didn’t come up while I was packing. If he did, I’d probably be gone.”

“With a concussion, it’s possible you got the bus or the bus stop wrong. Diego can look into it. I can look into it, if he needs help.”

“You’re sure I wasn’t there? I think I was wearing a hat. Maybe you missed me?”

“You look just like me… Kind of hard not to spot myself on the video,” Kieran replied.

“Maybe it was the twelve,” Marin said.

“Huh?”

“The number twelve bus. I didn’t take it often, but there’s a bus stop another block over for the twelve. If I remember correctly, it crossed with the ninety-two somewhere, so I might have mixed them up. It went to the main depot.”

“I’ll look into it. But have you told Diego about the concussion?”

“No. Why?”

“Because he can use that to help you, Marin. If you’re not on that bus or on this other one, you don’t have an alibi, and he needs something to help you.”

“I didn’t do it,” Marin told her. “I’m innocent.”

“I understand. But innocence doesn’t really matter now, does it? It’s about what they can prove. And if Diego doesn’t have anything to show that you weren’t at the house or find another suspect, he needs to argue something.”

“What? That I’ve been lying this whole time, and I did do it? I was just beaten up first, and then I shot him when he got home?”

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