I wanted to bury my face in Zena’s coat but remained upright like a grownup. “You do know who Aiden is, so you know he didn’t do this.”
“Do I?” Pierce asked.
I kept back a sigh. Pierce had never trusted Aiden, and ATF or not, that hadn’t changed.
“I need to know where you were last night,” Pierce said.
“I didn’t kill her,” I burst out.
Pierce’s eyes glittered. “I know. If you did, it’d be pretty stupid to dump her body in your office. But if the FBI agents manage to connect this homicide to Agent Sasha Duponte’s murder, you’re going to be questioned about both anyway. Let’s get it over with now, and I’ll see if I can provide some cover for you.”
I relaxed. Pierce really didn’t think I’d done it. He was a friend, albeit a grumpy one. “Thanks, Grant,” I murmured.
He nodded. “Get to it. Where were you?”
“I, ah, left work with Kurt, my bodyguard, maybe a little after six and went to my cottage.” I scrambled to think what all I could say.
Pierce looked up. “What’s Kurt’s last name?’
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s an ATF agent who Aiden assigned to bodyguard me.”
“Then why did Devlin call me way too late last night to have an officer assigned to you?” Pierce’s brow furled.
“Yeah,” Bud added.
I rubbed my eyes. “I think Aiden fired Kurt from the job last night. In fact, I know he did.”
“Why?” Pierce growled.
Not many men could make a noise that actually sounded like a real growl. Pierce accomplished the feat handily. I sat back in the chair but kept my hand on Zena’s head. I wasn’t under any sort of confidentially agreement with the ATF, and we were all on the same side, so I told Pierce the entire story.
“The man who’s one of the FBI’s most wanted was in your office yesterday?” By the end of my story, Pierce’s jaw was set so hard he had to be getting a headache. “You need to go take a vacation. Now.”
“I can’t. The FBI told me to stay here,” I reminded him. “Wait a minute. Barensky is one of the FBI’s most wanted?”
“Yes,” Pierce said. “Guess Devlin left that out?”
I pet the dog. “Not on purpose. He told me how dangerous Barensky is and to stay out of the case.”
“Right.” Pierce slapped his pen on the table and made me jump. “If Kurt disappeared, who stayed at your place with you?”
“Aiden did,” I said.
Pierce pinched the bridge of his nose. “I see. So the president of the Lorde’s motorcycle club, the one who would be the prime suspect for this if he wasn’t an ATF agent, is your alibi for the night.”
Well, since Pierce put it like that. “Yes.” I needed coffee. Like now. “But Aiden is an ATF agent, and you know he didn’t do this.”
“Right. If he had, we wouldn’t have a body,” Pierce agreed.
I wasn’t sure I liked that line of thinking.
Clark tapped his fingers on the Seahawks tablecloth. “The longer you can keep this as a state matter and not federal, the better it is for Anna.”
Pierce shot him a look. “I’m more worried about the murdered young woman.”
“Me, too,” I said.
A uniformed officer stuck his head in the doorway. “Pierce? We’re ready to clear the scene.”
