Covert

by Natasha Preston

  "No," I replied. There was of course. I was cooking for about half an hour, and there was a chance while I was preoccupied that he could have. I didn't want to tell Wright that because I knew he would call Blake back in. There was no way he tried to kill his uncle.

  "Did you leave the house?"

  "No," I replied.

  He smiled, and I thought he was going dig further about how I could have, but he didn't. "Let me run through what I think happened at the cabin once more, shall I." It wasn't a question. I didn't really have a choice. "I think you killed Josh because he was threatening to expose your secret. Courtney witnessed the attack, which meant you had to kill her too. Peter Sheffield somehow - I haven't quite worked that part out yet - found out what you'd done, so you tried to kill him, too."

  "I bet you said the same thing to Blake."

  He smiled tightly, narrowing his eyes. "Blake's motive was different."

  I blinked, shocked. Why was he admitting he'd accused him in the same way too? I couldn't figure him out. Whatever I thought he would do or how he would react, he always did something completely different.

  "You're free to go now, Miss Keaton."

  I was? I didn't stay to question it. He worked differently; everything he did was designed to confuse you and shake you up. I stood up and left the room, refusing to allow Wright knowing he was getting to me.

  I walked quickly through the station and out of the door. It was only when I passed the front desk that I remembered Lawrence. Would it look like I was just clutching at straws after Wright revealed his theory yet again? He would probably see it that way. Sighing in frustration, I pushed the door open and strolled out towards the car park.

  "Hey."

  I jumped at the sound of Blake's voice. He leant against the brick wall, one leg slung over the other as if he didn't have a care in the world. "What are you still doing here?" He frowned. "Were you waiting for me?"

  "Don't get too excited," he replied. I had a feeling that Blake didn't often think about doing things for other people, or he just never had the opportunity to. "Wanna go for a drive and talk? I'll bring you back to your car later."

  I smiled. "Sure."

  Blake pushed himself off the wall, and we walked silently towards his truck. I wanted to ask what happened in the station, and I bet he wanted to ask me, but neither of us said a word.

  He started the engine and pulled out of the car park. I could tell he was trying too hard not to look at me. "How did it go?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

  "He thinks I killed Josh and then Courtney when she witnessed it." I shook my head. "I don't know why he's doing this. My friends are dead and--" Sobs burst from my chest. Covering my face with my hands I cried until could barely breathe.

  Blake squeezed my knee but said nothing. I could tell he really was no good in situations like these, but I appreciated him trying. "Don't take me home," I said and gasped for air.

  "Where do you want me to take you?" I shrugged in response, taking deep breaths to try to calm myself down. I felt like I was drowning. "Err, you can come to mine, I guess."

  Chapter Sixteen

  "Who do you think it is?" Blake asked, staring up at the ceiling as we lay on his bed. I liked being at his house, as weird as that seemed. We barely knew each other, and this was Josh's place, but I felt relaxed. My parents fussed around me, and I didn't feel that comfortable at Kyle or Megan's anymore.

  It took me half an hour to calm down. Blake had barely said two words to me the whole time I was crying but he stroked my hair and that was all I needed.

  I shrugged. That was a question I asked myself every few minutes and every answer was always the same: I don't know. "I don't want it to be any of them."

  "You'd prefer it to be me."

  "No," I replied, knowing he would think something like that. He was way too hard on himself. I hated that he felt the outsider in his family. I honestly didn't want it to be him, but I knew I probably should want that over one of my friends.

  He pushed himself up on his elbows and raised an eyebrow. "Of course you do."

  "I don't, really. I don't want it to be anyone I know. There has to be another explanation."

  "But there isn't, is there? We both know Lawrence is pretty pissed off, but it's not him."

  Deep down I knew that, but I couldn't admit it aloud and make it real. I had known them all for years and didn't want to accept one of them did it. Believing it was Blake would be easier but for some reason I couldn't. I'd lost count of the amount of times I had protested their innocence out loud and in my head - convincing myself.

  "Eventually you're going to have to accept that it was one of them."

  "Who do you think it is?" I asked. He had said Kyle before, but his reasons were ridiculous.

  "I don't know." He pulled his arm from beneath him and flopped back on the mattress. "No one's saying much. I still think Kyle, but I don't know. I'm not ruling the other two out just yet."

  They have said much, just not to you. I had learned things about my friends recently that shocked me. Everyone had a reason for wanting to hurt Josh and Courtney. Should I tell Blake and see if he could figure it out from what I knew? He wasn't as close as I was; perhaps there was something really obvious that I was missing because I didn't want to believe any of them were responsible.

  "Blake," I said slowly, still mentally debating whether I should say anything or not.

  "Yeah?"

  "There are some things about Megan and Kyle you don't know." I felt like the biggest bitch in the world. I was pretty much selling out my friends. I wanted to protect them, but another part of me wanted justice for Josh and Courtney.

  He frowned, but he didn't make any attempt to move. He wasn't surprised. "What things?"

  "They had a reason to kill them," I whispered.

  He remained still, too still. "Go on."

  I don't want to. Sighing, I resigned myself to the fact that I had to follow through and tell him since I had started. "Josh blackmailed me. You resented him," I said, making it clear we had reasons, too. I didn't want him to jump to conclusions when going by motives it could easily be one of us too. "Megan spiked Gigi's drink which forced Courtney to drive and crash, and Kyle was having an affair with Courtney."

  "Courtney was cheating on Josh?"

  "Yeah. Kyle said it ended a few months ago, but it went on for about five months."

  He snorted. "Cocky, arrogant bastard probably deserved it."

  My eyes widened, and I fought to hide my shock. "Blake!"

  "Oh, come on, you're thinking the same thing. Something like that would have deflated his ego a bit. I'm just disappointed he never knew. What about Aaron?"

  "What?" I frowned. Complete one-eighty! "What about him?"

  "What's his deep, dark secret?"

  "He doesn't have one."

  His eyebrow arched. "Of course he doesn't."

  "You think he does?"

  "What I think is that nothing would surprise me anymore. Everyone has at least one skeleton in their closet, and you need to ask yourself why Aaron is still hiding his."

  "It's possible there is nothing, or nothing to do with Josh and Courtney anyway."

  He sat up and was too close. "Mackenzie, you're far too naive and far too trusting."

  I sat back, putting a little space between us. I was flat against the wall, so I hoped he didn't move anymore. "So I've been told."

  "People will take advantage of you."

  I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling vulnerable. "Sorry for not wanting to believe my friends are murderers," I muttered.

  "I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but you need to be careful. Your need to see the best in everyone is going to bite you in the arse. You can't see things clearly because you're blinded by the faith you place in people, even strangers."

  "Are you talking about you?"

  "Yeah, me too. You believe I didn't kill Josh and Courtney, but you know so little about me, other than I resented my brother and
put a man in hospital."

  I gulped. "Are you telling me you did it?"

  He sighed. "No, Mackenzie, I'm telling you that you couldn't tell if I was. Which one of them is the most likely?"

  "I don't know. None of them."

  He smiled and cocked his head to the side. "There you go. You know it's one of us, but you refuse to face it. You know them more than anyone else. You know which one of them is the most likely, even if you won't acknowledge or accept it." I bit my lip. Was he right, did I know? "Gut instinct, Mackenzie, who is it?"

  "I don't know, Blake!" I hopped off the bed and paced his room. He watched me walk silently; his bright blue eyes followed me back and forth. "I don't know."

  "You do."

  "No, I don't!" I shouted. "Stop it, you... you arse!" He broke out into a full smile filled with amusement. "I want to punch you right now."

  "Look, I'm not trying to piss you off--"

  "Then stop pissing me off."

  "You want my help or not?"

  I shook my head and walked out of his room. "No. I'll walk to get my car."

  Blake didn't follow me as I left his house, but I didn't expect him to, he wasn't the running after a girl type.

  I didn't see or speak to anyone the following day. My hope was that I would be able to see things clearer without having anyone influencing my thoughts. That didn't happen. I couldn't force myself to truly believe one of them did it. Not even Blake.

  "Sweetheart?" Mum said, poking her head around my door. "We're going out now. Are you okay? Do you want to come?"

  "I'm fine, Mum."

  She leant against the door frame and folded her arms over her chest. "Promise you'll call if you need anything?"

  "I promise, but really, I'm okay."

  "Are you seeing anyone today?"

  I narrowed my eyes. Where was this going? "And by anyone you mean?"

  "Just any of your friends."

  "No, I'm not feeling very sociable today." Was she asking about Blake? Why was it that if you so much as mentioned the same guy twice to your parents it meant you were dating them! "I'm just going to lounge in bed and watch crap on TV."

  "Okay." She smiled and grabbed the door handle, ready to close it again. "We'll see you later."

  My phone had beeped more times than I could remember with missed calls and text messages. I'd blown everyone off, and although I felt bad for letting them down, I wanted to be alone, too much to care. The secrets Kyle and Megan hid from me kept picking away. Why didn't they tell me? And Blake telling me Aaron was covering something up forced me to consider he could be right.

  I wanted to go and see Aaron, but I didn't. I wanted to see Blake, but I couldn't handle another one of his theories or lectures. I wanted to be alone, but at the same time I didn't. There was something else to consider now, too; Pete had been hurt, possibly because he found out who killed Courtney and Josh.

  Groaning, I gripped my hair and flopped down into the mattress. Why couldn't it just be clear? If it was one of them then not only were they keeping it from me, they were also allowing me to be a suspect. How far would they let it go? If I was somehow charged, would they let me go to prison?

  Someone who I had spent about eight per cent of my time with for most of my life could be hiding themselves and their terrible secret behind me. That wasn't friendship. I would never put myself before someone I love. Was I too gullible and too trusting?

  Somewhere between overthinking and throwing random objects in frustration, I had a moment of clarity. I was being lied to by someone. Actually, I had been for a while, thanks to Kyle and Megan. I had to look at things the way Blake did, well, not exactly how he did. I had to distance myself from them. I needed to at least know what was going on with them.

  Jumping off my bed like a small child, I grabbed my phone and keys. It was time to start demanding answers rather than digging my head further into the sand. Whatever Aaron was hiding, I was going to find out. I was also going to delve into Kyle and Courtney, and Megan and Gigi's relationships. There had to be more there.

  I got in my car and backed out of the driveway. It was time to visit Aaron, whether I wanted to or not.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I arrived at Aaron's and thankfully his car was the only one in the drive. My heart was in my throat and butterflies swarmed my stomach. I hoped he wasn't hiding anything, but I already knew differently. Before the murders I thought I knew everything about my friends, now they seemed more like strangers.

  It took me a while to want to get out of the car. I had one friend left that I still knew; that would probably change very soon, so I wanted to savour the moment. I wanted at least one person that wasn't hiding things from me.

  I had a secret, too, so I didn't know why I was so upset about theirs. Our secrets seemed to be on a different level somehow. Theirs were different. Mine only hurt me. Perhaps if they knew mine they would feel the way I did though.

  The front door opened, and I knew I had been sitting in the car too long. It would look odd that I was outside so long. Aaron stepped onto the lawn. "Kenz, what're you doing?" he asked, speaking loud enough so I could hear over the sound of the engine.

  I turned the key and opened the door. "Sorry, was in another world!"

  He frowned. "You okay?" Aaron looked so innocent. He was all angelic blue eyes and blonde hair. I couldn't imagine him doing anything bad, ever.

  "Yeah. Are you?"

  "Sure. You skipped Megan's."

  I shrugged, stopping in front of him. "Didn't really feel up to it."

  He reached out and stroked his thumb under my eye. "You're not sleeping well."

  Raising my eyebrow, I replied, "Do I look like shit?"

  "No!" He rolled his baby blues. "Just a little tired. Come in."

  "Your mum out?"

  "Yep, you've got me all to yourself. Go on up and I'll bring chocolate and tea."

  I smiled. He still seemed like my Aaron. "You know me so well."

  Just as I curled up against Aaron's pillows my mobile phone beeped with a text message. 'Check his drawers under the mattress. Text BACKUP if you need me and I'll fire up the Batmobile!'

  I shook my head, grinning to myself. Blake was an idiot. I had called him on the way, telling him how I intended to find out what was going on. We'd completely plastered over our fight yesterday. We moved on without mentioning it at all. I should have known he'd send something stupid like that.

  'Catwoman doesn't need help.' Punching a reply, I put my phone down and waited for him again.

  'Do you have a Catwoman costume??????'

  I flipped my phone over and laughed quietly. Typical man!

  "What're you laughing at?" Aaron asked as he walked into his room with chocolate bars stuffed in his pockets and a cup of tea in each hand.

  "Nothing," I replied, sitting up to take my mug. Aaron didn't have a very high opinion of Blake, so I didn't want to start a conversation about him. "Thanks." I sipped my boiling hot tea, not caring how it burned my tongue and set it down on the bedside table. "What's been going on then?"

  Aaron sat down and scooted closer to me. He frowned at my question. "What's on your mind?"

  "Why do you think there's something on my mind?"

  "You're doing that lost in thought thing."

  I bit my lip. How was I going to ask him what his secret was without it being obvious? "Nothing much. What's been going on with you? We haven't talked in forever."

  He shrugged. "Not a lot really. Tilly's birthday is soon."

  "I know," I whispered. "I miss her."

  "Me too. I just wish we could have gotten our shit together. Now I'll never know if we could have made it work or not."

  "Aaron, you two were a nightmare. I think if you'd have tried when you were both a lot older and done with other people, then maybe. Neither of you were ready for anything serious so young."

  "We weren't, I don't think. I still love her though. I wished we had that chance to turn it into something more serious."
<
br />   Aaron's confession of love surprised me a little. They had never said they loved each other when they were together. At least they had never told me they had. I didn't believe he really loved her. They hurt each other time and time again.

  "Do you want to do something for her birthday?" I asked. For Gigi's birthday I had made her a cake and we all got her cards. It was silly really, but even though they were gone I still wanted to mark the occasion somehow. They still deserved a celebration.

  He shrugged. "I'm going to get high and reminisce about the good old times."

  "Get high?"

  "Come on, Mackenzie." He rolled his eyes. "You've never done it?"

  "No," I replied.

  "Such a good girl," he muttered under his breath loud enough for me to hear. "Well, you're missing out. It's very good when you don't want to give a shit about anything."

  I couldn't have been more shocked if he'd pulled his jeans down and pissed on the floor. We never really spoke about drugs, but I assumed none of them had done any. "Did Tilly?

  "Sometimes. Screwing on a high is outta this world." He ran his fingertips up my arm. "I have some weed if you wanna give it a go."

  "What the hell, Aaron!" I shouted, snatching my arm away. Standing up, I spun around. "I don't know what's wrong with you but don't try that crap with me. I'm not going to smoke pot and sleep with you! Do you know me at all?"

  "Alright, alright," he said, raising his hands above his head. "Just thought we could cheer ourselves up." That wasn't Aaron. He wasn't like that. Arsehole and Aaron didn't go together. How he was acting was completely out of character.

  "If you want to cheer me up be the normal Aaron that makes me laugh and feeds me chocolate!" I shook my head. "I'm going. Call me when you're you again." What was wrong with everyone right now? I felt like my friends had been abducted by aliens and had a personality transplant. They were all acting fucking weird.

  Aaron didn't follow me as I left his house. I didn't even care that I hadn't found out his deep, dark secret. There was something wrong with him if he thought I was going to sleep with him like that. One thing that ate away at me as I drove was the drugs thing. We were drugged that night. Aaron had hidden smoking weed from us, what else? Was he on something now?

  Without thinking about where I was going, I arrived at Blake's house and frowned. Why had I come here and not gone home? I used to absentmindedly go to Kyle's a lot. He was the one I went to when something went wrong. Well, Blake can hear all about it and try figuring it out!