Dutch cleared his throat.
“I mean arrest them,” Christian said half-heartedly.“We’ll figure out what’s up with Damian.”He looked at Ace.“I feel like we’re pretty solid with you right now.Have you been seeing Smitty?”
“Maybe,” Ace said.“Don’t want to talk about it.”
Fair enough.Christian didn’t push.
“Come on, Dutch.I’ll walk you out,” Ace said.“I promised Doc May I’d come by so she could check the shoulder I put out last week.”
“That Doc May, she’s a pretty one,” Dutch murmured, his voice trailing off as they walked across the tavern and then out the door.
Brock watched them go.“You think he has a hard-on for the doctor?”
“I don’t know.He does get hurt a lot,” Christian murmured thoughtfully.“I thought he was just being a moron, but maybe he has ulterior motives.”He could respect that.Definitely.Christian’s gaze returned to watch Amka by the bar.
“Can I give you a little advice?”Brock asked.
Christian cocked his head.“Always.”
“You might want to let her in on your plan about keeping her safe from a distance but not being in her life.I find they like to know what you’re thinking.”
Christian folded his arms.“I haven’t formulated the entire plan yet.”
Brock chuckled again and pulled Dutch’s deserted plate toward him to finish the fries.“Like I said, this is definitely going to be fun.”His phone buzzed.He lifted it to his ear.“Yeah.Thanks.Gotcha.”He clicked off and looked up.“The Miller boys finished pulling Amka’s rig from the river earlier while you guys were out scouting.”
“That was the mechanic?”Christian asked.
“Yeah.The brakes were cut.”
Fury tasted like ashes.“Of course.”He’d figured.Still, hearing the truth confirmed settled hard in his gut.“I still can’t figure why anybody would want to kill her.”
“Jarod had to have been into something dangerous, and somehow she’s involved,” Brock said.“I don’t have a lot of pull outside of here, but Dutch does.He should have the background on that idiot soon.I need to ask Amka what she wants to do with the body once the coroner in Anchorage releases it.Officially, she was his fiancée.”
Just then, the doors opened and both Alaska state troopers walked inside, moving immediately toward Amka.
Christian didn’t think.He stood and walked toward her.“What’s going on?”
“We need to bring you in for formal questioning, Amka,” Jeb said.“We’re sorry, but we now have an even better motive for you to have killed Jarod Teller.Let’s go.Now.”
Chapter30
The room felt colder than it should’ve, like the walls had secrets and wanted her to hear them crack.
Amka sat stiffly in a hard-backed chair that was just slightly too low, her knees awkwardly angled.Her spine ached.Every muscle below her waist reminded her she’d barely slept last night—and exactly why.
Across the table, Jeb folded his hands.Paige didn’t sit.She stood, arms crossed, leaning against the filing cabinet.Amka couldn’t think of them officially since she’d gotten kind of used to them.First names was probably inappropriate, but who cared?
Christian wasn’t there.
Neither was Brock.
They’d been told to wait outside, and the fury on both their faces when she was escorted in without them had scared her more than the actual interview.
“Thanks for coming down voluntarily,” Jeb said, his voice doing that forced-politeness thing that made Amka’s back teeth ache.
Daisy, seated next to her with a legal pad and zero humor, didn’t respond.She’d even dressed like a fancy lawyer in a light green skirt and jacket set with gold jewelry, her thick hair up in a tight bun.“She’s here briefly.Keep that in mind.”
“We’re going to walk through a few things,” Paige said.“Officially, you’re not under arrest.”
