Barclay, Linwood Novel 08 - Never saw it coming

I’ve got to say.”
    “Justin, go away.”
    “You look really stressed out, Keisha. Everything okay?” There was nothing in his expression that suggested empathy. He looked—was this possible?—mischievous.
    “I haven’t had a very good day,” she said.
    “I’ll just bet you haven’t.”
    She was starting to close the door on him when he said that, and she stopped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I’m just saying, I bet you’ve had a pretty stressful day.”
    She tried to read him, figure out what his game was. “You got something you want to say?”
    “It’s kind of cold out here,” he said, on the verge of shivering. Reluctantly, she opened the door and allowed him in. He took his hands out of his pockets and rubbed them together. “I shoulda worn something warmer. But I really hate big coats and boots and all that. Makes you feel like you’re smothering.”
    “Why are you here?” Keisha said, closing the door.
    “Like I said, I got this idea to make more money.” He offered an apologetic smile. “Actually, it’s an idea for
me
to make more money. But even so, I think you’re going to want to hear it.”
    She waited.
    “So, you gonna invite me into the living room or anything?”
    “No.”
    He looked hurt, then made a quick recovery. “Okay, so, this morning, when I dropped by, as I was leaving, you were watching the news about the guy whose wife went missing on Thursday. There was that press conference, with his daughter, getting all weepy and stuff? You remember?”
    She hesitated. “Yes.”
    That grin. “I knew you would. And I was thinking, that’s your thing. Like with the Archers. I could tell your interest was, what’s the word, piqued. And you know, so was mine. I thought it would be cool to see how you work your magic.”
    No.
    “Remember I said we should work together? How I would like to job-shadow you, like we used to do in high school? And you basically said to piss off?” He shook his head. “That never really works with me. I’m not real good at following instructions. It’s what all my teachers said, even Mr. Archer.”
    “What did you do, Justin?”
    “Okay, so, Dwayne—still a big fan of yours, by the way, for finding me, and even my mom can’t get her head around how you did it—drove me over here this morning, right, and on the way back home I said, hey Dwayne, my man, would it be okay if I borrowed the car for a while? Just to drive around and clear my head? Because for the last week, he and my mom have been all over me, thinking I’m gonna run away again or try to kill myself, right?” He leaned his head toward hers, like there were others in the room and he wanted to tell her a secret. “Between you and me, I really do wonder whether our scheme was such a good idea. I mean, yeah, I got the money we split and they’re all worried sick about me and all, but Christ almighty, they’re watching me like a hawk, you know? I look in the fridge and sigh because we’re out of ice cream and they think I’m going to slit my wrists.” He laughed.
    “Anyway, so I say to Dwayne, I’m feeling really good and would you trust me to borrow the Rover for a spin or something. Said it would lift my spirits, help me clear my head. And he tosses me the keys. So then I look up this Garfield guy’s address and plug it into the ol’ GPS, and by the time I drive by, your car’s already out front. Like, perfect timing.”
    Keisha felt as though she needed to sit down, but kept standing.
    “So I parked down a side street and hoofed it back and I was actually thinking maybe I’d knock on the door and introduce myself as your assistant, you know? But I thought first I should see how it was going, and I got this great spot in the garden, by the living room on the side of the house, where the blinds hadn’t been closed, where I could see you do your thing. I couldn’t hear much, but I was able to get the gist of it, watching you make your pitch, then Garfield looking all, like, you gotta be kiddin’ me. So I’m watching for a while, and pretty soon Garfield brings down a bathrobe or whatever it was and you start running your fingers all over it.”
    He shook his head in wonderment. “I gotta ask, what the hell made him snap?”
    Keisha, speechless, didn’t know which fact left her more stunned. That Justin had seen the whole thing, or that he’d chosen to do nothing when he saw it.
    “I mean, I was totally blown away. Even if he thought you were