“Then who els—”
Wait.
I shake my head wildly.
“No. Not Jess.”
Kio presses his lips together and looks away from me. My vision goes black. I am suddenly thrust into that night, the memories replaying everything as though I’m floating above the scene.
The camera pans and zooms in on the exact moment.
When Bae went to the bar to get a drink, he placed his folder down on the bartop beside him only long enough to handle the transaction with the bartender. In that short time, Jess appeared next to him.
Subconsciously, I knew all along, but I refused to see it. I wanted to refuse to see any of it, but Kal forced this misery on me by making me solve the mystery.
Earlier parts of the day flash through my thoughts, too. Jess giving Stoney head. Her popping pills afterward. Him drugging me. I realize now why he did that — to skew my perception.
My entire body caves in, trembling. Coyote was ready for this; he took the position to hold me, not to restrain me. Somehow he figured it out not long after we got here.
He buries his face into the side of my neck. “I have you. I have you, little siren,” he whispers over and over again.