Page 82 of Not Quite Dead Yet

‘Yeah,’ Jet sniffed. ‘Because we weren’t right for each other. That’s not enough of a reason for –’

‘– Men have hurt women for far less,’ Ecker spoke over her. ‘And that’s not our only potential motive.’ He pulled something out of his pocket, the letter Jet had given him, from that loan company. ‘This loan for thirty thousand dollars, taken out in your name, secured against your truck. The bank account it was paid into belongs to JJ.’

Jet’s breath stalled, caught in her throat.

‘It was JJ?’ she said, more to herself.

‘He committed identity fraud, cashed the money in your name. He’d already taken out several loans in his own name previously, tanked his credit score. Then he couldn’t afford the monthly repayments on this loan.’ Ecker shook the page. ‘Defaulted on them. Our theory is that he panicked when he realized you were going to find out what he did, that he felt he had no other choice but to …’

‘Kill me?’

Ecker didn’t answer, not directly. ‘The prosecutor wants us to hold him a little longer, see if we can get a confession. But this is a strong circumstantial case, Jet, enough to proceed with charges.’

Jet didn’t know what to say. Looked like, maybe, her murderhadjust solved itself. So, what the fuck was she supposed to do now?

‘I want to reassure you,’ Ecker continued, ‘that the charges … after you … when you –’

‘– When I die,’ she finished for him.

Ecker inclined his head. ‘The charges against JJ will be amended to first-degree murder. I know it was important to you, to have the answer before … well, now you do.’

Something tightened in Jet’s gut, twisted.Shewas supposed to find her killer, not the police. That was the whole point. She needed this, her final chance to actuallydosomething, see it through to the end. And now they were sitting over there, telling her the end was already here? Offering her the easy way out. Jet had always taken the easy way out, quit when things got too hard. But it was supposed to be different this time – she wasn’t supposed to give up. And for some reason, accepting it was JJ felt like giving up, didn’t feel right. Her gut agreed, and so did her broken head.

‘What about the hammer?’ She leaned forward. ‘Does JJ own the rest of that Coleby tool set? It’s a sixty-piece set. Are the other fifty-nine tools at his house?’

Jack cleared his throat. ‘We’ve conducted a search of JJ’s residence. Nothing has turned up yet.’

‘Well, it’s a small house,’ Jet said. ‘It’s not going to turn up if you didn’t find it already. So how do you know he owned that hammer?’

‘Well, we don’t,’ Ecker said. ‘In a case like this, you aren’t always able to tie up all the loose ends.’

‘Well, excuse me for being picky, but if I’m going to die, I’d kind of like all those ends to be tied up. Real fucking tight.’

‘As I said, we are hoping to press JJ for a confe –’

‘– What about the foundations on North Street?’ Jet said, staring down that easy way out, right there, in between the cops, taking no steps toward it. ‘How could JJ have known the concrete was being poured the next morning? He had no connection to that place. Are you telling me he just got lucky?’

‘He might have passed that way when leaving town. Spotted the construction and took a chance.’

‘So, what?’ Jet’s voice rose now. ‘You’re done? You aren’t investigating anymore?’

Ecker shook his head. ‘We are investigating. We will be shoring up the case against JJ so the prosecutor –’

‘– And if it wasn’t JJ?’

‘Dad,’ Billy spoke up. ‘I think you should listen to –’

‘– Jet,’ Mom interrupted, turning to her, face too close. ‘It was JJ. They wouldn’t have arrested him if they didn’t have a reason to. It’s over, sweetie.’

It wasn’t over. Not for Jet. She still had time, and she was not going to let it go to waste. She’d wasted enough already,her whole life. This was a test, and she wasn’t going to fail, not this time, not even with one working arm.

‘OK, sure,’ she said bluntly. ‘Thanks so much for your service, officers. Give JJ my best.’

‘I know this is hard for you, Jet,’ Jack said, running a finger over his stubble. ‘But now we’ve got him, at least you can enjoy the time you have left.’

‘Terrific.’ Jet grinned, too many teeth. ‘Yeah, I think I might rewatchStranger Things.Maybe knit a scarf. Try get some abs?’

‘Jet, please come home.’ Mom sniffed. ‘We should be together, as a family.’

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