“Christian’s half dog, half wolf,” Ace said. He’d felt safe leaving Amka there with the animal pacing the porch, alert and watchful.
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.
