Page 50 of I'm Not Done with You Yet

“That’s a long time ago. You didn’t find it strange that she invited you to such an exclusive retreat after so many years apart?”

The back of my neck tingles. Is Thalia a suspect? That would be bad. Or good? I don’t know. I need to talk to Thalia, but I haven’t had a chance to; after Siobhan woke us up, everything had turned into a whirlwind. We barely even had enough time to brush our teeth before we had to go downstairs, which was when the cops took us aside to interview us one by one. And a huge part of me is internally screaming:Thalia, what have you done? What have you done to Kurt? To Antoine?But I won’t betray her to the police, and even if I wanted to, what would I tellthem? There’s literally nothing to tell, nothing but a hunch. I know how well that would go over.

“No, we used to be really close in Oxford. We were best friends, and when we bumped into each other at the con, we picked up right where we left off.”

Detective Howe smiles. “That’s nice. I have friends like that too. We could go for months without talking to each other, but when we do, we pick up right away like we’ve been talking every day.”

I nod, not buying for a second that she has any friends. I, a loner, can tell another loner right away.

“What kinds of things did you talk about with Thalia when you reconnected?”

It takes a second for me to digest what she’s just asked because it seems so out there. “Um, I don’t know, all sorts I guess? Our books...” I try to think of what we had talked about, and then race ahead to try and figure out if these things are safe topics to share with Detective Howe. Then I end up questioning why I need to figure out if they’re safe or not. Everything should be safe because I did nothing wrong. And yet everything inside me is holding me back from telling Detective Howe anything. “Just life in general,” I say finally.

“Right. Stuff like your marriage? Did she share anything about her marriage? When I get together with my girlfriends, we’re always bitching about our husbands.” Another smile appears.

“Just the usual stuff, nothing that stuck out.” What is she trying to get at? Why would our marriages factor into this conversation?

“So while you’re here, you’re rooming with Thalia?”

I nod.

“That’s very interesting.”

Why is that interesting?

“Who suggested the sleeping arrangements?”

She’s fucking with me. She must be. “Thalia, of course. She was the one who invited me here.”

“Right, of course. Did you leave the room at any point during the night?”

“No, I was sleeping. We’d all drunk a lot.” My mouth is painfully dry. I can barely get the words out.

“Right,” she says, clearly not believing me. “And Thalia? Did she leave the room at any point during the night?”

“No. I don’t know. Like I said, I was sleeping,” I snap. Shit. The anger slipped out before I could control it, like an embarrassing burp.

Something changes in Detective Howe’s face. A trap clicking shut.

She’s seen the sharp edges, the gaping red maw of me. She knows the kind of monster I am. My insides go cold.

“Sorry, I’m just a bit jumpy because, uh, holy shit?” I gesture vaguely around me and give an uneasy laugh, then I hate myself for laughing, because what the fuck kind of person would laugh at a time like this? A sociopath, that’s what.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m used to people being jumpy around me,” Detective Howe says, her beady eyes trained on me. “Did you notice anything strange about Kurt’s behavior yesterday?”

It’s a struggle to keep breathing, to keep my voice level. “It was the first time I’d met him, so I wouldn’t know what’s strange and what’s not.” Did that come out sympathetic? I hope so.

“What about Thalia? Notice anything strange about her behavior?”

From across the room, I see Thalia talking to another cop, and I wish I could just walk over there and pull her aside and talk to her. Find out what she’s thinking, what really happened last night, and what really happened all those years ago in Oxford. But even now I feel the need to cover up for her, to protect her. She looks so frail and so frightened. Are they being tough on her? I can’t stand the thought of Thalia as a suspect. What if they take her into the station for questioning? She doesn’t belong in such places.

I shake my head. “No, she seemed fine.”

“Anything feel off between her and Kurt?”

A flash of Kurt, questioning me about Thalia. The way his face had darkened when he mentioned Ivan.

I shake my head again. I need this interview to be over. “They seemed like okay friends.”

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