Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Paige studied him. “Did you stay with her for a while?”
“No. I dropped her off, made sure she and Tika went inside, and then I drove to May Smirnov’s to stay for the remainder of the night.”
Paige made a small sound. “Huh. There seems to be a bit of time between when you dropped off Ivy and when you returned to the bar.”
“Nope. I went directly there,” Ace said, easily following the shift in the timeline.
Paige winced, and the gesture looked forced. “Amka can’t really remember when you came back.”
“She was really busy,” Ace said. “I’m not surprised. I got back and jumped into washing dishes. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Yeah, but you could have been gone for a good hour,” Paige said.
“Maybe two,” Jeb added.
Ace didn’t have time for this crap. “I wasn’t.”
“You have any proof of that?” Jeb asked.
“I didn’t know I’d need proof,” he said, glancing at Daisy. She’d gone a little pale, which didn’t do much for his confidence.
Paige put down her pen. “I want to help you, Ace.”
“I don’t,” Jeb muttered.
Paige shot him a look before turning back to Ace. “Listen, Ace. Things happen. We know you’ve had a difficult time of it. Your brain may not be working the way it usually does. You may have a good excuse. Sometimes a guy just snaps. Sometimes rage takes over.”
One of Ace’s eyebrows rose slowly. “I’m not feeling a lot of rage right now, Paige.”
She exhaled through her nose. “Let me help you. Tell me what really happened and we’ll see. I’ll tell the ADA you cooperated.”
“I am cooperating,” he said evenly, gripping the edge of the table to keep his temper in check. “But I didn’t kill anybody. I would never kill a woman.”
“So what happened?” Jeb asked. “Did you make a move on Ivy and she rejected you? Some guys don’t take rejection well.”
“Jeb, knock it off,” Paige said.
Ace barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “You don’t need to run the good cop routine with me. You look ridiculous.”
“Ace,” Daisy whispered.
“Well, they do,” he said. “Listen. I’ve never made a move on Ivy. I didn’t make a move on Laura. Nobody rejected me, and I didn’t kill either one of them. That’s all I have for you.”
Paige leaned back. “You know,” she said thoughtfully, “both of those women look a lot like Dr. Smirnov.”
“I saw that as well,” Jeb said.
“I noticed it too,” Ace said, a chill sliding through him. “Which is why I don’t want to be here right now. I want to be at the clinic keeping an eye on her.”
“Really?” Paige tilted her head. “Why? Is she next?”
Ace crossed his arms. “No way in hell is May next.”
“Is there a reason you’re killing women who look like her and not her?” Jeb asked, both bushy eyebrows lifting. “Is she the one you’re building up to?”
“Ooh, that’s a good theory,” Paige said.
“Thanks,” Jeb replied.
Ace pinched the bridge of his nose. “You two are unbelievable. You know that?”
“I don’t think any of this is funny,” Paige said coolly.
“Neither do I,” Daisy cut in. “We’re done with this interview. He has told you the truth in an attempt to help. That’s enough.”
“All right,” Paige said, closing her notebook. “Then I guess we move to the next step.”
Ace felt the shift before she said it.
She straightened. “We need your second truck, and we’re in the process of getting a warrant. We’re also getting a warrant to search your home again.”
“You don’t need warrants.” He yanked the keys to the truck and his place from his back pocket and slammed them onto the table between them. “Feel free.” The metal rang against the tabletop. “Do I have my Ford back? Or do you need that too?”
“No. That was already in our possession, so you can have that,” Jeb said.
Ace crossed his arms. “You didn’t find anything in it, did you?”
“No,” Paige said. “You obviously know what you’re doing.”
Ace stood. “I didn’t kill anybody.”
“Where do you think you’re going?” Jeb asked.
“This interview’s over,” Daisy said, standing as well.
“All right.” Paige’s smile was thin. “Ace Osprey, you’re under arrest for suspicion of the murders of Laura Jordan and Ivy Carter. You have the right to an attorney.”
Now they were reading him his rights.
“Just get it done,” he said.
The room seemed smaller as Jeb moved around the table. Ace stood and held out his hands without being told, forcing his expression to remain calm as the cuffs clicked around his wrists. He looked at Daisy. “What happens now?”
She sighed, already shifting into strategy. “It’s early enough that we may be able to get a telephonic hearing. Let’s see if we can get you out without bail. Then the case will go to the district attorney’s office, and we’ll go from there.”
“Let’s get this over with.” Ace didn’t want May uncovered any longer than necessary. Even though he wasn’t thrilled with the troopers, they weren’t wrong about one thing.