Page 39 of Identify

“Is the confession legit? Can we even use it?”

I hold my hand up and waver it slightly. “Maybe.”

“So . . . no.”

“Probably not. But at least we have something to go on.”

“It doesn’t matter if we can’t use it.”

“Look, Reed, you needed to know if he was guilty, now you do.”

“Based on a coerced confession.”

“It wasn’t coerced.”

“The entire thing was a setup. How did you get on the security detail, anyway?”

“I have a friend who owed me a favor.”

“Jesus Christ, Mack. None of this is on the level, not a single fucking thing.”

I shrug.

“Unbelievable.” He turns to look at Tremblay, who is watching us intently, before continuing, “Let me hear the confession.”

I pull my phone out and cue the recording. I watch as his facial expressions go from incredulous to furious to dismay. I can only imagine which emotion goes with which part of the playback. He hands my phone back to me. “So, what else have you gotten from him since you’ve been here?”

“Not much. He claims to not know the other players or the locations. I think he’s lying.”

“Let me try talking to him.”

“Suit yourself.” I don’t really want Reed talking to Tremblay, but it’s not like I could tell him not to at this point. I need to play this carefully if I’m to protect Daria. And Quinn.

I head over to confer with the girls as Reed approaches Tremblay.

“What does he know?” Daria asks, her voice low.

“Not much. QT was a distraction, the gun had blanks—”

“I was a distraction?” Quinn sounds upset. “The gun had blanks?”

I lower my head, then look back up at her with my best “please forgive me” eyes. “Sorry, QT. I couldn’t risk you hurting anyone.”

“So, I wasn’t really an assassin tonight?” She looks to Daria for confirmation, who shakes her head in response.

Quinn’s head jerks back, her eyes widen. “Wow. Okay.” She turns away and Daria grabs her by the upper arm.

“Quinn, don’t be mad, please. There wasn’t enough time to train you in everything you would need to know to pull this off. That would have taken months, if not years. And what you did was so important. If it weren’t for you, Mack never would have been able to get David alone.”

“You lied to me, Daria.” Quinn’s voice shakes slightly. She’s dwarfed by Reed’s jacket, which hangs loosely off her shoulders reaching past her mid-thigh.

“And I’m sorry for that. Truly.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”

“Because we needed your reactions to be genuine, especially with Reed.”

“You knew Reed would be there?”