Page 61 of Deja Who
“Stupid?”
Argh. I know this is how they teach you to do it, all the boring repetition and the trick about repeating the last word in the witness’s statement, but I honestly would rather be getting one of It’s stupid clinic colonics right now.“Yes, stupid. I thought you were telling me Archer had been hurt. I panicked and broke my phone when I thought Archer was hurt. I put one shoe on and drove to Archer’s house and did a terrible parking job and left my keys in the ignition and the door open when I thought Archer. Was. Hurt.”
He glanced at her feet. “Yeah, I was going to ask you aboutthat. But how would I have known to call you if Mr. Drake had been harmed?”
“You wouldn’t. Which is why my reaction was... wait for it... stupid. As I said, I panicked. When people panic, they are not especially bright, do not think clearly, make foolish decisions, and we are all prone to it. Or so I am discovering this week. No need to look so skeptical, Detective.”
“Was I?” he asked mildly, scribbling, scribbling.
“You know I’m capable of such behavior. Panicking. Overreacting. I...” She paused, gritted her teeth. “...blacked out for a bit. Earlier.”
“It sure seemed like that’s what you did.” Unspoken, but she could read him like a chart:convenient, too. The whole on-site team saw you go down, saw your brand-new lover oh-so-solicitously help you into another room where you could talk about God-knows-what until I followed.
“All right. I see it now.”That is goddamned enough. Doing your job is one thing. Willfully blinding yourself is quite another.Leah met his openly skeptical gaze, held his eyes. “It must be awful.”
“What?”
“You know, but you don’t know. You can’t ever escape the feeling that no matter how much good you do, it will never be enough. And what’s really maddening is you can’t figure it out, and you’re too scared to find an Insighter and ask.”
Helookedat her. “What.”
“ReallynotthetimeLeah,” Archer muttered in one breath.
“Because really, you don’t want to know. What you did. Or didn’t do. You dream about it, though, don’t you?” she asked kindly. “And the dreams are like everything else. You can’t ever tell anyone. Of course not. But don’t worry, Detective Preston.”She dropped one eyelid in a slow wink. “Your secret is safe with me.”
First thought:That is an alarming shade of red he’s turning. I wonder when he last had his blood pressure checked?
Second thought:Huh. I’ve never been arrested before. Is he arresting me because he thinks I killed Nellie, or because I’ve made him scared and angry? Either way: this will be interesting.Better yet, it got her out of the room she hated above all others.
