Keifers POV ♫♫♫
The gates were already opening by the time I turned into the driveway.
Of course they were.
I drove in slow, headlights sweeping across the front of the house. Everything looked the same as always—lights on, glass spotless, nothing out of place.
Like nothing happened.
I stepped out, tossing my keys to one of the staff without really looking.
"You're back early."
Keigan.
I glanced over. He was sitting on the low wall near the entrance, phone in his hand.
"Didn't take long," I said, heading inside.
He got up and followed me.
"That good or bad?"
"Just annoying."
He let out a small laugh. "Figures."
We walked into the living room. Lights reflected off the glass walls, everything clean enough to look fake.
Keigan dropped onto the couch.
I stayed standing.
"They still asking about that night?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"What now?"
"Timeline stuff. Where I was, what time, who I was with." I shrugged a little. "They keep going over it."
"They don't believe you?"
"They don't believe anyone."
He made a face at that.
"…That's kinda worse."
"Not really."
I picked up a glass from the table, turning it slightly in my hand.
"At least it means they don't have anything solid."
Keigan nodded slowly.
"Your timeline good?"
"Good enough."
He raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound convincing."
"It lines up," I said. "Just not perfectly."
"Yeah, that's not suspicious at all," he muttered.
I shot him a look.
"What?" he said. "I'm just saying."
"It's the same for everyone."
He leaned back, thinking for a second.
"What about the others?" he asked. "Yuri?"
I paused for a moment.
"I don't know," I said. "Something about him's off."
Keigan frowned slightly. "Off how?"
I shrugged.
"Just the way he talks. Too clean."
"That's just him."
"Yeah."
There was a small pause.
Then—
"I still don't think it's you," he said.
I looked at him.
"Did I ask?"
"No," he said. "But I'm saying it anyway."
I scoffed lightly.
"You're biased."
"Obviously. You're my brother."
He sat up a bit, more serious now.
"I know how you are," he added. "You're… yeah, you're a lot. You do what you want, you don't care what people think—"
"Get to the point."
"But you're not—" he stopped, shaking his head slightly. "You're not that."
I didn't respond.
He wasn't looking at me like a suspect.
He wasn't questioning me.
He was just… sure.
"I'd notice," he added. "If something was actually wrong."
I looked away for a second.
"…You're overthinking it," I said.
He let out a small breath, then leaned back again.
"Alright. Fine. I'll drop it."
Good.
The conversation shifted after that.
Smaller things.
Work.
Anything but the case.
After a while, Keigan stood up, stretching.
"I've got stuff to finish," he said. "Try not to stay up all night."
I didn't answer.
He walked off anyway.
The house went quiet again.
I stood there for a moment, then reached for my phone on the table. The screen lit up—notifications, nothing important.
I locked it again and set it back down.
For a second, I just stood there.
Thinking.
The station.
The questions.
The way everything kept circling the same details without actually going anywhere.
Messy.
Unclear.
I exhaled slowly.
If anything—
this case wasn't clean.
And neither were the people in it.
Especially Yuri.
"…Too smooth," I muttered.
Then I turned away.