“That’s what makes New Cloverfield perfect for a cover-up like this. They’re served by a small unit of cops who are overstretched. Anyone who did make a fuss, it’d be easy to kill them or to pay them off.”
“More likely they’d die.” She rubbed her temple. “This is a massive stretch, Conor.”
“You think I don’t know that? If I was certain about any of this, I’d have crowed from the rooftops. Instead, I’ve got a potentially unstable woman claiming she was involved in a road traffic accident that no one else says happened.” My arms flopped in the air. “It’s definitely a stretch,butisn’t that what also makes it perfect?”
Star tapped her fingers against the table. “Maybe.”
“Did Dead To Me call?”
“She did. She’s on her way.”
“What do you want her to do?”
“Be involved. She keeps me honest.”
I leaned back against the table. “Stops you from lying?”
She hummed. “To myself. Plus, she’s a great multitasker. Operation: Snake would definitely send her out on a task like this by herself. She makes MacGyver look un-MacGyvery.”
“There’s an adjective for you.”
“Perfect for D, though.” Sinking back into her pillow fort, she folded her arms across her chest. “We have an unknown accident taking place in a tiny township with no witnesses. How does that get us anywhere?”
“It doesn’t. But I thought you could ask Kat about it.”
“I’m telling you it was a brain fart,” she groaned.
“You should ask,” I prodded.
“Ask her about a random town she probably didn’t drive through? Bring up a subject she’s finally stopped having nightmares about on a whim?”
“It isn’t a whim. You think I’d want to stir up old nightmares when I know how fucking horrendous they can be myself?” I pointed a finger at her. “You wouldn’t have had the thought if your instincts hadn’t kicked in.”
“Say it is her and she’s Kuznetsov’s granddaughter. Don’t you think that’s statistically unlikely?”
“Anomalies happen for a reason.”
“I just happened to move into the MC where her long-lost sister lived. That’s one anomaly already. And we were lucky. Lucky because Kat needs Alessa, so I won’t argue that miracles don’t happen, but does lightning really strike twice?”
“You know it can happen.” But I grimaced, accepting it was unlikely. Unless… “Could you have been fed the information?”
She blinked. “What?”
“You heard me. Let’s say she isn’t your cousin. But don’t you think it fucking smells rotten as hell that you bought a manifesto on the dark web, which led to you finding her mom and then Kat? Maybe you were pushed onto that path by someone else.”
“By whom?” she demanded. “The tooth fairy?”
“Whoever put her into CPS. Who was that by the way?”
She sighed. “Her records said she was brought in by a stranger who found her.”
“Well, that’s not suspicious. Or befitting our narrative.”
“Let’s say the manifestowasplanted. How would they know I’d be the one to buy it?”
“I dunno. I’m just saying anything’s possible. How did you find it? Dumb luck?”
Tugging on her bottom lip, she played with it, and I knew she was processing my argument. As wild as it was, nothing would surprise me in this throne of lies that was our basis foreverything.