“What’d you say?”
“I didn’t know what he was talking about.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Hernan said.
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t kill him,” Martyr sneered.
“I didn’t!” Nate’s eyes landed on the Mendax. “I didn’t kill him!”
Hernan frowned. “That’s also the truth.” He cursed and straightened from the doorframe. “Shit, what if we really have the wrong person?”
“That it?” Martyr dug the barrel of the blaster in deeper. “We got the wrong person?”
Fuck.
Nate nodded.
The metal weapon connected with the side of his face in a flash, causing stars to wink in his vision.
“Use your words,” Martyr demanded, replacing the blaster to Nate’s thigh in warning. “We got the wrong person?”
What should he do? If he said no, would Hernan process that as a lie? It wasn’t entirely, because Nate hadn’t been the one to murder their friend—or whoever the hell he’d been to them—but on the same token, he was aware of who had…There were two other people involved in this. Kazimir and Port.
He shouldn’t give either of them up, especially not just to save his own skin.
Nate just needed to think, but he wasn’t going to be given that luxury. Choices. He was terrible at making them on the fly because actions had consequences and he was always too afraid his would burden someone else. If he didn’t make one now, however, there was a very real chance he was about to die.
Good Light, Nuri, and Neve would never survive losing him suddenly like this.
“I didn’t kill him,” Nate repeated, tentatively at first, just to stall for a few extra seconds as his mind scrambled to come up with a feasible plan. “But he was asking about my friend.”
“Your friend?”
During their talk amongst each other earlier, they’d mentioned that the target had gotten away. That had to be Port. If it wasn’t, if Nate was about to throw his friend under the bus…He stopped himself. No. No, Port had brought these people to his doorstep and was apparently already off planet, if their words were to be believed. Nothing Nate said here could make anything worse for him.
“We worked together,” Nate continued. “His name is Port. The man asked me about him and I said I didn’t know where he was. Which is the truth. I didn’t know then, and I don’t know now.”
“Our boss is the one concerned about finding that Jump,” Hernan said. “We’re here to catch a killer and make him pay for murdering Fry.”
“It wasn’t you?” Martyr hummed. “Fine. You know who did it though. Tell us. Now.”
If he said it’d been Port, they’d know he was lying, but there was no way in hell he was going to give them Kaz’s name.
“Have you ever received a romantic confession before?” Nate found himself asking, ignoring the confused looks they gave him. “How do you know if the other person is serious or not? Oh.” He glanced at Hernan. “I guess you would just know, wouldn’t you?”
“What the hell are you going on about, kid?”
“I received one recently,” he said. “I’ve been on the fence over whether or not I think this person is telling the truth. Maybe I’m lucky, after all. I think I’ll get an answer soon, one way or the other.”
Despite his momentary uncertainty earlier, facts were facts. Kaz had been on the line when they’d taken Nate. He had to have heard what was happening. If he’d really meant it and nothing was going on with him and Zane, and he wanted things to work with Nate, then he’d come for him, right?
And if he didn’t, and Nate really did end up dying here today…Well, that was an answer as well. His siblings would be hurt and would grieve, but some things were simply unavoidable.
“Just tell us who killed Fry,” Hernan insisted. “That’s all you have to do, and we’ll let you go. Still breathing.”
“There,” Martyr joined in. “Since it’s coming from him, you know it’s the truth. Who murdered Fry?”
If he told on Kaz, they’d let Nate live.
