Page 88 of Death and Do-Overs

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right.” He looked back at me. “I tracked his phone, here to Nevermore.”

“Can you keep tracking it now?”

“It’s in the ocean.”

Bummer.

“I found nothing here, for five days. Until I spotted a fox at the train station acting like it was looking for someone. It dragged a trash bag under one of the trains and disappeared. With no better leads, I bought a ticket and rode that train to Piccadilly.”

I sifted through what he’d said. Every word could be important, a key to betrayal or a new realm of trust.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” I asked.

“I did tell you I’d seen a fox in Nevermore.”

But he’d left out key details. Last night he said he saw a fox. He’d said that was the whole story.

Everything between us was new. I couldn’t expect him to divulge everything immediately. Trust took time.

He continued, “And then I met you at the market, and you looked familiar. I’d seen you before, here in Nevermore. I thought if we talked, you might recognize me, too.”

“You saw Nie, here in Nevermore.” I searched Nie’s memories for a glimpse of Levi. I came up short. “Did you talk to me?”

“No.”

“But you saw me on the day I—Nie—died. Where?”

“At the Mournmore.”

That didn’t tell me much, but it was something.

“Did you see the fox again in Piccadilly?” I asked.

“No.”

I believed him. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt in all matters. If I was being honest with myself, I liked him. Really liked him.

“I’m glad you told me,” I said.

He smiled, but then his brows furrowed and he flicked his head to the side.

I followed his gaze and caught a flash of something small and orange just as it turned the corner.

Maybe it was a fox. It was certainly something, which was better than the nothing we’d seen the rest of the day. So we ran after it.

As we turned a corner, the creature jumped up on top of a trash can, splayed itself out and licked its belly. I remembered seeing an orange tabby at Bernadette’s house before. The town might not have children, but it seemed to have a plethora of orange cats.

Levi stepped closer. “This is not our fox.”

I stepped closer, too, and checked out the animal’s features. “Not a cat-fox. Just a cat.”

I let out a defeated breath and glared at the imposter.

“Are you sure the fox you saw at the train station wasn’t just another cat?” I asked Levi.

“I’m sure.” He stepped between trash cans and put his hand on the wall, swiping ivy from the stone surface. “Take a look at this.”

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