“We can’t?” The alley camera was still broken, but the one out front…
“System malfunction,” Alex said. He had his hands shoved into his pockets and his shoulders up. “The whole week is gone.”
Had I messed up the system when I’d checked the video for Sicily?
“The cameras,” Alex said.
We all waited.
“They glitch,” he said.
Everyone looked at me, but I was still staring at Alex. I’d never seen him offer so many lies in a row.
I turned back to Detective Aycock. It wasn’t a tough choice.
“The cameras are a real drag,” I said. “They glitch, like, all the time.”
18
By the end of the interview, I was exhausted. Detective Aycock had wanted access to the apartment I’d shared with Joey, but of course I didn’t have it to give. I gave him Cam’s number and Heather’s, so he could notify her. Joey’s sister was pregnant, and while I was imagining her having to take the call, Alex escorted the detective out. From where I sat in the office, I heard Alex announce early closing and, in response, a few light complaints, chairs scraping.
Primary Jim—Quin, I guess?—hung back and leaned through the doorway. “You okay?”
“Not great,” I admitted.
“Thought you didn’t like that guy so much,” he said. “Joey.”
“I hated that he ghosted me,” I said. “And stole the rent. But now I don’t know if he did either of those things.”
“Tough call,” he said. “Whether to hate him or not.”
But I wasn’t thinking about that. When I didn’t answer, he finally shuffled off to the front.
What I was thinking about was the security system. I couldn’t have borked the remaining camera just by checking one video, right?
I scooted around the desk, checking the hallway, and took the chairon the business side. The computer sat dark but as soon as I moved the mouse, it was ready for service, the screen open to the security system files. The queue of footage was empty. The trash had been emptied, too.
I checked the download folder. The video I’d played for Sicily, the one tracking Marisa’s movements, was still there. Was it useful? Was it damning?
Damningwho?
I could hear Alex bolting the door up front and then his footsteps coming toward the office. I moved the downloaded video into a random folder of old tax files just as he appeared in the doorway.
“I’ll shut that down,” he said. “You should get some rest.”
“Weird about the cameras,” I said.
“Yeah,” Alex said. His expression was flat, but then it always was. “Weird.”
AFTER A FEW HOURS INbed, sleep still wouldn’t come. Or tears. For once I was glad my phone wasn’t working, or I’d have been thumbing sadly through old photos.
The green numbers of my alarm clock glowed too bright. Three in the morning was closing time at the bars, the time for gathering your things and facing up to your actual life.
But I couldn’t do it.
I didn’t want to. If I looked too directly at the situation—
Yeah. No, thanks.
