Influence

Chapter 15

He furrowed his brow. "What does that have to do with it?"

"You have an alibi, genius. No way would I let someone into my apartment who hates me and who also might be Goldie's killer."

"I don't... I'm not a suspect."

"Yes, because you have an alibi. What part of this are you having trouble comprehending?"

"If I hadn't been drinking with whatshername the police might suspect me?"

"They have to suspect everyone close to the victim. That's how this works. Look what's happening to me." She closed the door behind him and secured the lock. "I spent all night at the precinct getting asked the same questions over and over again. That one cop, Garcia... she nearly punched a hole in the wall a couple of times because I wouldn't say what she expected to hear."

"Okay..." he sat on her armchair. "But you also got questioned because you were in her apartment and then she was dead. You have to admit that looks bad."

"She was dead and then I was in her apartment. That order really matters." She wanted to crawl onto her bed and assuming the fetal position, but it seemed safer to remain standing in front of him. She widened her stance and crossed her arms. "What are you doing here, Jasper? You want to squeeze a confession out of me?"

He tipped his head back until it rested against the wall. "Fuck, Tam, why do you always have to be so unreasonable. I'm just trying to understand."

"That's what the detectives claimed too, but they still asked all the wrong questions and of the wrong person."

He sat upright again. "So, what's the right question?"

She hadn't thought that one through. "Only the right person can answer that, and instead, they wasted a night on me. The only thing useful I could tell them was that she was seeing someone."

His knuckles whitened as he gripped the arms of the chair. "Who was it? Was it the same person as in the Maldives?"

She edged her way towards the kitchenette. She owned several sharp knives. "Again: wrong question for the wrong person. You were present several times when I can recall Goldie literally saying, 'I'm going on a date. See you later, losers.'"

"Her supposed dates were always with business connections and friends." He stood up and paced back and forth over the precious little pacing space she had between the chair and her day bed. "She wasn't seeing someone romantically. That stunt in the Maldives was bullshit. She made it up."

"You're wrong. I could tell by how she acted whenever she returned from a date. Not so much in Morinda—the fight with her mother took center stage that time. But in general. Whoever it was that she was with, she liked them."

"She would have told me." His words sounded like a bear being rudely woken a month before springtime.

"Not if she thought you'd respond like this. What is wrong with you?"

He stopped a few feet from her. "Goldie's dead. She had secrets. Some she kept from me. But some... some she kept from you."

"So? She wasn't obligated to tell me her life story. I'm not her diary. She wasn't obligated to tell you anything either. Everyone has secrets."

"Yeah, everyone does."

"But in this case, your theory is that one of Goldie's secrets got her killed."

One step closer to her. Juniper berries. A forest at dusk. Campfires and a sky lit up with stars. She couldn't focus with him standing so close.

He leaned in and she held her breath. The forest, the smell of freshly cut trees, the twinkling lights dancing through a tiny clearing—it all went away. There was only Jasper, angry and wounded and looking for a fight. "Maybe. Or maybe one of yours did."

"My secrets have nothing to do with Goldie and they have nothing to do with you." She placed a trembling hand on the middle of his chest and pushed. "Leave now."

Hands up in acquiescence, he backed up until he was at her doorway once again. She opened it for him.

"I can't let this go, Tam."

"No one asked you to. Just leave me alone."

He stepped over the threshold but turned and caught his foot in the door before she could close it. "Watch your back."

As his footsteps echoed down the corridor, Tam wondered if he meant those words as a warning or a threat.

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A warning or a threat... which is it, do you think? Whose side is Jasper on?

See you back here on Saturday. Until then, don't forget to comment and vote, if you'd like, and thanks for reading!