She winced.
“What can you tell us about Alexis’s death or the injuries Jeremiah sustained on his boat trip?” Jude asked.
Her jaw lowered with shock. “Nothing. You think . . . I?” She leaned forward. “I didn’t have anything to do with Alexis’s death or your injuries, Jeremiah.”
“Did you ever meet Alexis?” Jude asked.
“No, never. But I loved following her posts. She was awesome.”
“Who do you think might have attacked Jeremiah on his boat?”
“I have absolutely no idea.” Her eyes turned pleading as she looked at Jeremiah. “I was your girlfriend when you left on that trip. Crazy about you. I’d never want to hurt you. I only want your best.”
He knew what his best was. The amnesia had made all his flaws and bad habits and mistakes clear. His best wasn’t Alexis, and it wasn’t Gigi. His best was an artistic woodworker who didn’t want his fame or his money. Or him. That was his best.
Jude pulled his card from his wallet and passed it to her. “If you have anything else to say, now’s the time.”
“I’ve told you the whole story.”
“Please contact us if anything else occurs to you,” Jude said.
“I will.”
They all stood.
“Goodbye,” Jeremiah said, and he didn’t mean goodbye in a temporary way.
“Goodbye.”
As they walked back to their car, Jude said, “She didn’t have any tells that indicated she was lying.”
“Alexis was one of the most believable liars I ever met. I never saw a single tell and she lied to my face.”
“Some liars don’t have tells,” Jude acknowledged. “They can train away those tendencies.”
“Or they’re just born with a talent for it.”
“She seemed genuine to me,” Jude said. “But if she was obsessed with you and wanted you for herself, she did have motive to kill Alexis.”
“Yeah.” He hated the idea that someone’s infatuation with him could have cost Alexis her life.God, please don’t let that be the case.
Early the next evening, when Wendell answered Jeremiah’s knock, Jeremiah passed over the brown paper sack of Indian food he’d brought. “Complimentary food delivery for you.”
Wendell took a whiff and smiled appreciatively. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“You’re Remy’s friend.” Jeremiah’s breath misted white in the cold air. “She told me about your search for Marisol. How’s that coming?”
“We haven’t found her.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I regret more than anything that I told Remy about Marisol. I shouldn’t have done that because now Remy has her heart set on finding her.”
“Right. So if you were to figure out Marisol’s whereabouts, you’d tell Remy about it?”
“Oh yes. She’d be the first person I’d call.”
“And, I’m guessing, you’d ask her to join you on your trip to meet Marisol. You wouldn’t want to go alone . . . seeing as how finding Marisol was a project you and Remy started together.”
