“What does he need from you?”
“He wants me to look at some potential suspect photos.”
I blinked. “They have more than one suspect?”
“Well, it’s more of a lineup kind of thing, but using photos instead of real people. I think they might be close to narrowing it down to one person and need my input.”
I sucked in a breath as my adrenaline surged. “That’s great news.”
He looked into my eyes. “I won’t stop until we get to the bottom of this, Juliette.”
Did he think that’s why I was concerned? Maybe Ishould’vebeen more concerned about finding the perpetrator than I was about Wes’s sneaky behavior. But the latter had completely overtaken me.
“Can I go with you?” I asked.
He shook his head. “He told me I need to come alone.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why can’t you bring someone? You shouldn’t even be driving yet.”
“I’m fine to drive.” He shrugged. “I guess they don’t want anyone influencing what I remember.”
“I was there, too, though,” I pointed out. “What if something sparksmymemory?”
“I get why you’d think that,” he said. “But you already told them you don’t remember seeing anyone. I admitted that I got a glimpse of a guy right before it happened. So that’s why they’re focusing on whatIremember. They likely wouldn’t trust your word since you’ve already admitted to having no memory besides me covering you.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.Oh my God. His face was turning red again, same as yesterday. This confirmed that it wasn’t my imagination.He’s lying.
“Where exactly are you meeting the cop?”
He hesitated. “The police station.”
I nodded, remembering the bits and pieces I could make out from his phone call. He’d mentioned the Hotel Adventura. Nothing about a police station.Hmm…
Wes turned away from me. “Have you seen my keys?” He scrambled to locate them, knocking into one of the end tables, seeming discombobulated.
“You have to leave right now?” I asked.
“Not yet. Like in ten minutes. But I can’t go anywhere without my keys. Can’t remember where I last put them. I think my brain is still fried from the meds they gave me at the hospital.”
As I pretended to help him look for the keys, a crazy idea came to me. As much as I knew I shouldn’t pursue it, I wasn’t able to stop myself. “I, uh, have to go next door to return a book I borrowed from Pam,” I said. “So I probably won’t be here when you get back.”
Heforced a smile. “Okay. Make sure Eddie knows. I’ll see you a little later then.”
I nodded and walked to my room, grabbing one of Wes’s black hoodies that had been hanging on a rack. When he went to use the bathroom, I snuck out the back door, somehow managing to bypass the guards’ attention.
After running over to Pam’s, I knocked on her door.
She opened. “Hey, Juliette. I was ju—”
“I need your help.” I took a deep breath.
Her expression turned serious as her dog barked, circling her legs. “What is it?”
“I have to borrow your car. Just for like an hour.”
“My car?” Her forehead wrinkled. “Why?”
I decided to be somewhat honest. She either still knew nothing about my mafia ties, or had chosen not to say anything. But I could certainly play the worried-girlfriend card.ThatI knew she could relate to. Pam had a cheating husband some years ago, so I suspected she might sympathize with that angle.
