Page 181 of Chameleon Killer

Maybe.

Alisha glanced at me but said nothing. We were both waiting for the next question. Brewster didn’t make us wait too long.

“You referred to him as ‘Simon’ at the scene.”

I inclined my head and didn’t allow a scrap of emotion to escape. “I did.”

“Why?” He wanted to know.

“I was tired,” I said with a shrug.

“That's not an explanation.” The crisp snap on the end of each word almost made me smile.

“No,” I told him agreeably “Being tired is a condition.”

Flint covered his mouth. Alisha's shoe connected with my ankle. Not hard. But enough.

I looked at her. She didn't look back.

Fine.

Brewster tried again. “Where did the name Simon come from?”

I folded my arms. “No comment.”

His expression barely changed. The frigid lock of his features betrayed him more than he knew. “Did he give you that name?”

“No comment.”

“Did he ask you to call him Simon?”

“No comment.”

“Is Simon his real name?”

That almost made me laugh. “I have no idea.”

Alisha held up one finger. “That's enough on the name.”

Brewster looked toward her. “The alias is material.”

“Then you have the alias.”

“We need context.”

“You want context.” The correction incited him nearly as much as my answers.

“They're the same thing.”

“No,” I said before I could stop myself.

Every eye at the table moved to me.

I smiled faintly. “They really aren't.”

Brewster's stare cooled. For one uncomfortable instant, Simon's words moved through my head.

Facts.