I stared at the envelope. “Jacquie?—”
“Please.” She twined her hands together in her lap until the knuckles were white. “You’re the only one I trust to actually look for the truth instead of just trying to pin it on me.”
That was incredibly ironic, considering what we were to one another. I wanted to say so, but I didn’t. I also wanted to decline. I didn’t do that, either.
“Tell me about Kenny,” I said instead.
She blinked. “What?”
“You and Kenny. At Fidelio’s last night. What was that about?”
Her cheeks flushed. “Nothing. We’re friends. He called me after he heard about Nick—he said his uncle told him—and he wanted to take me out to dinner, to take my mind off things.”
“Considerate of him,” I said dryly. “Did it work?”
“No.” She looked down at her hands. “Nothing works. I can’t stop thinking about it. Someone shot Nick and I wasn’t there and I didn’t even know about it until you showed up.”
“How long were you together?” Rached asked softly, and Jacquie glanced at her.
“We met when I was twenty-two. Almost four years ago.”
Definitely before she’d met David, then.
“What about Kenny?” I shot in. “How long have you two been friends?”
She shrugged. “I met him through David. Him and Krystal both. David wanted me to meet them, wanted them to approve of me, I guess. Kenny kept in touch after David died.”
“Kept in touch how?”
She didn’t seem to have any problems answering. It was as if she couldn’t hear how damning this all sounded. “Texting mostly. He’d check in, see how I was doing. He was nice about it. Not like—” She stopped.
“Not like what?”
“Not like Krystal.” She flicked a glance at me. “I don’t think she likes you very much?—”
I shook my head. Definitely not.
“—but she didn’t think I should have pursued her father, either. Like it was my fault that David wanted someone young and pretty.”
She tossed her head. The ponytail swung.
I bit back the retort that wanted to escape. Over on the sofa, Zachary smothered a laugh.
“And when did Kenny start wanting to be more than friends?” I wanted to know.
Jacquie’s flush deepened. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. I saw the way he looked at you last night. So did you.” And she wasn’t stupid. At least not when it came to this. “Was it before David died, or after?”
She didn’t answer that, and I guess I couldn’t blame her. But that probably meant that it had been before. Kenny had had his eye on Jacquie for a while, then.
“I haven’t encouraged it,” she said. “I loved Nick. I still love Nick.”
“Did Kenny know about Nick?”
She looked up. “Of course. I told him I have a boyfriend.”
Still with the present tense.
