I turn to give him my full attention, because if he is willing to make us even later, it must be important.
“With so many potential suspects, things can get convoluted for the detectives, so every single detail matters. I have worked hundreds of cases in my career, both more straightforward and even more complex than this one, so I need you to trust me.”
“I do,” I say. “The fact that Cameron isn’t here with us should be proof of that.”
He shakes his head. “I’m pleased that you agreed with me on that, but any reasonable person could have seen the logic behind that decision. It won’t always be that clear moving forward, because there are certain instances or details that might seem straightforward, but they actually aren’t. If one of the detectives asks you a question that you think will help your case, but I tell you not to answer, then I need you to defer to my judgment, no matter how counterintuitive it feels. Understand?”
The food I just ate threatens to make a reappearance, but he’s the expert, and Cameron trusts him with my defense. I need to trust him fully too, if I want to walk out of here tonight and return to the hotel instead of a holding cell. “I understand.”
“Good. Let’s go inside.”
I follow him up the sidewalk in silence, and the second we enter the police station lobby, I set my features in a way that I hope reflects that I am sad about Delaney, but not guiltily so. When we check in at the front desk, Detective Cartwright comes around the corner to greet us, and my shoulders instantly relax, causing my mask to slip. I put it right back in place, though, and follow Jalen’s lead to return Cartwright’s professional handshake, even though I’d much rather throw my arms around him.
“Hey, kids. Nice to see you both. How have you all been holding up?”
“As good as expected,” Jalen says. “We’re ready whenever you are.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m not doing Drew’s questioning today. I’m actually here for Valentina.” He looks over our shoulders as Val materializes and glides across the floor like an ethereal being, causing Jalen’s jaw to drop slightly open. I wave to her, and she speeds up to close the distance to pull me into a tight hug. I stiffen and peek sideways at Jalen, half expecting him to reach forward to wrench us apart himself, but he is still too stunned to do more than gawk.
“It’s such a relief to see a familiar face.” Val pulls away to give me an approving once-over. “Ollie and I have been cooped up with nothing but our thoughts, and it’s been terrible.”
I chuckle at her brutal honesty, which is one of my favorite things about her, and can’t deny that I’m relieved she’s here, because at least that means I am not the only person they called back. Not that I want her to be a suspect, either, but having her here does give me a small bit of hope that maybe they aren’t as far along as we thought they were, and that it’s not all over for me quite yet. “How are you guys doing? Other than feeling cooped up?”
“I’m all right, but Ollie isn’t doing well. He’s—” She is forced to stop mid-sentence when Detective Harvey comes around the corner and clears his throat.
“Hi, everyone. Nice to see you all again. Thanks for coming back.” The air seems to still as we all turn to look at him. From the way Val’s shoulders rise a fraction, I am certain that she got a prickle on the back of her neck at his presence despite his wide, boyish grin. “Jalen, Miss Bailey, I’ll be handling your questions today, and we are a bit behind schedule, so come with me, whenever you’re ready.”
Chapter forty-three
DANGEROUSLY CLOSE
OptimisticDrewisleftbehind in the lobby as Frantic Drew enters the chat.
We follow Detective Harvey to a room for questioning, and I run my mind through boot camp-like drills to remember everything Jalen told me. When Detective Harvey begins the interview, I dutifully pause to defer to Jalen for every question, even for the simple things like what my occupation is and some basic details about my home life.
But an hour in, I find myself relaxing a fraction. Jalen’s demeanor has been calm and collected since the second we walked into the interview room. He really is good at this and presents himself like he truly wants us to help Detective Harvey solve the case, even though I know his only interest is to protect me.
Detective Harvey and I settle into a rhythm by the time my retelling concludes, and I half expect him to stand and shake my hand to tell me that I am free to go, but apparently, he was justgetting started. He gets up to fill a Styrofoam cup with hot water and rips open a tea bag to steep inside of it.
“I learned my lesson last time, Drew,” he says, referring to how he almost spat out the coffee he made during our first round of questioning.
Jalen shifts in his seat at the smile of familiarity that Detective Harvey throws in my direction after his statement, and I put my guard all the way back up, then straighten my back to signal to Jalen not to worry.
“So, listen, Drew. I’m going to let you in on some secret information about the case, but you have to promise to keep it between us,” Detective Harvey says, dunking the tea bag in and out of the hot water. Jalen’s eyes slide to mine, and then back to the detective before he has a chance to notice. “We got the security footage back, and we can’t tell for certain who did this to Delaney, but we were able to determine that whoever did it is clearly a woman.”
He pauses to allow me time to process this information, not knowing that I was already privy to it. I do my best acting and widen my eyes to look shocked but leave it at that so I don’t risk overplaying it.
“Which means that it was one of the women at the retreat who did this, yet none of you saw anything out of the ordinary. I find that hard to believe.”
Even though I don’t like the veiled accusation, I do feel an overwhelming sense of relief at his statement. If no one else saw anything, either, that means there probably isn’t any concrete evidence against me. I still have a chance to let Monika work her magic to find something in Judith’s background that can tie her to the murder. It’s always the deep dive that cracks these kinds of cases.
I turn to Jalen with a shrug but stiffen when he uncrosses his legs and leans forward to speak.
“Now, Detective Harvey. You and I both know that borders on the line between Miss Bailey answering routine questions and an official interrogation. My client is more than willing to answer any questions you may have, but if they continue to move in that direction, then I am going to request that you read her her Miranda rights first.”
Detective Harvey’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. That is not what I was implying at all, Jalen. I just wanted to make sure that she understood that every detail is important, and that there has to be something that points to who may have done this.”
I look back and forth between them but have the good sense to keep my mouth shut, even though I technically agree with what Detective Harvey is saying more than I agree with Jalen.
