Darn, she thought.Guess Iwashungry.
Chapter EightAn Awkward Exit
Day 2 A.L.
Amie let David lay out the plan. One, because she knew he’d feel better if he got to make a plan, and two, she didn’t really have one anyway.
“I will lure Benny out of his apartment,” David said, twirling his keys on one finger as they stood by his door. “Once we’re gone, you’ll have ten minutes to search his place. Let’s coordinate our watches.”
“I don’t have a watch.” Amie said, waving her phone at him. “Our phones should have the exact same time.”
David pulled his phone out of his pocket, intrigued. “Do they really?”
They spent the following twelve seconds silently waiting to see if the clocks on their phones changed at the same time. When they did, David let out a satisfied “Hmph.”
“Great. By the ten-minute mark, you need to be out of there.”
“Got it,” Amie said. “Ten minutes and I’m out of there. What am I looking for?”
David stuffed his phone back into his pocket. “How should I know? You were the one who wanted to search his apartment!”
“Okay, okay.” Amie frowned. “I’ll … figure it out.”
Apparently, there was something in Amie’s expression that didn’t give David much confidence in her figuring it out. He sighed. “Just look for anything that seems out of place. Check drawers and closets. And garbage cans. Definitely check the garbage cans.”
Amie perked up at receiving instructions she could follow. “Garbage cans. I can do that.”
“All right.” David opened the door and gestured for Amie to exit. “Let’s do this.”
Benny wasn’t home. Which would have been convenient for someone trying to sneak into his apartment, presuming that person had a key or knew how to pick a lock. After a quick inventory of keys and skills, Amie and David came to the conclusion that they were zero for two.
“He could’ve gone out for the evening,” David said. They were standing in the stairwell, looking through the small window that faced the street. “We could be here for hours.”
“It’s only been thirty minutes,” Amie said, resting her forehead against the window pane. “Just wait a little longer.”
“You sure you don’t have some time loop knowledge that can tell us where he is right now and when he’s coming back?”
“I’m notpsychic,” Amie retorted. “Just because I know a lot about things that happened on Monday doesn’t mean I’m supernaturally attuned to everyone’s habits and whereabouts now.”
“Worth asking.” David leaned against the wall. “Do you know where Benny was Monday evening?”
“Why?”
“Well,” he said, “if Savannah was killed that night, but you knew he was in his apartment watching football all evening, thenthat gives him an alibi. And it givesmethe excuse to abandon this mission and get back to my machine.”
Amie stepped back from the window, sifting through her memories of the time loop to see if Benny appeared in any of them.
“I’d see him in the morning, sometimes,” she said. “He’d leave the building around eleven thirtyAMand get into his car, which was parked across the street.” She closed her eyes, thinking harder. “His car was back by mid-afternoon. I never saw him after—”
Amie stopped suddenly, a memory coming back to her.
“I saw him once,” she said, struggling to remember. “I’d left my date with Ziya early. He was smoking outside the building.” She recounted her interaction with the landlord to the best of her ability, including the fresh breakup, the cheating, and the regrettable gifting of leftovers.
“So hewashome that evening,” David said, pushing off the wall as he made to leave.
“Hang on!” Amie protested, grabbing him by the shirt sleeve. “We don’t know what time Savannah was killed. He could’ve just come from killing her, or gone back out after!”
David sagged against the wall again with defeat. “Around what time did you see him?”
