Page 121 of Without a Clue

Look at the horizon.

Breathe.

Focus solely on calming yourself down now, because you’re about to give the most important lie of your life.

“Hey. There you are.” Nash steps up to me. “Where did you go?”

I listen to the concern, bordering on frustration, in his voice.

Or is that anger?

Or is that . . . suspicion?

Focus, Pip.

I smile lightly as I turn to face him. He’s holding out the tea for me. “I needed to walk. I needed to move around and clear my head.”

“I searched the whole top floor for you.”

“We must’ve been just missing each other.” I motion to the circular loop around us and try to change the subject. “Did you run into Crystal on her hoverboard?”

“No.”

I nod as though this sums it up then. “Yeah. Well, I was hoverboard side. You must’ve been on the opposite side as we went.”

Nash’s eyes are squinting at me, scrutinizing me as though he doesn’t believe what I’m saying. “Okay,” he says at last.

And it’s over maybe.

The question is over.

This is my story.

He holds out the tea. “You want it?”

I feel myself hesitate, a foreign urge to resist taking anything from him at the moment. What if it’s poisoned? What if . . . ?

But . . . to give him reason to have any more suspicion is unacceptable.

“Thank you.” I take it and hold it to my chest.

The cup is warm, burning hot, I realize, against my fingers that are cold as ice.

“So. One more, then.”

“Hmm?” I say.

“One more interview.”

“Oh, right. Gordon. Yes.” My eyes dance around as though expecting to land on him any moment. Suddenly the fact that Gordon is the sole beneficiary of Hugh’s will matters little. It feels tedious to even talk to him now. But he’s the last one on the list. “I probably ought to do that now before the evening session.”

I hold the cup in one hand and pull out my phone with the other.

Nash frowns further. “Are you sure you have enough energy for this? Maybe you should go lie down—”

“No,” I say, then feel a rush as I realize, Nash sleeps in my room.

How am I going to pretend I have no suspicions of him when I tell him I need to be alone in my room tonight?