Ace stared at him, holding the lie. “Yes. Really.”
“Did you see Laura Jordan after you left the bar?” Paige asked.
“Nope.” Ace glanced at Daisy. This was getting tedious.
Jeb leaned forward. “Did you talk to Laura? At all?”
“Nope.”
Paige started taking notes again. “How about Tyler?”
Ace rolled his neck. “No. I didn’t see him after I tossed him out.”
“Would you say he appeared violent?” Jeb asked.
Ace’s jaw flexed. “Well, the asshole hit me a couple of times, so I’d have to say yes to that question. That’s why I stepped between them. If something happened to her, I’d definitely look at him.”
Paige scrutinized him for a long moment, gaze steady, measuring. “You hit him, too. Does that mean you’re violent?” The room felt heavier with every second, and an odd weight of suspicion hung thick in the air.
Ace shrugged. “Can be, I guess. Not with women, however.”
“Tell us about the three guys in flannels.” Paige smoothly switched topics.
Ace thought back. “Three guys, on vacation, they talked about fishing the next day. Their guide had told them about the storm rolling in and to prepare to wait it out until the afternoon. One of them seemed irritated. The other two seemed fine. They did buy Laura a drink when we were playing darts.”
Paige rolled a pen between her fingers, showing light pink nail polish. “Did she take the drink?”
Ace looked at her. “Yeah. It was a margarita. She was drinking them all night.”
Paige switched from the blue pen to the red one. “Did that make you angry?”
Ace tried to follow her line of thought. “Did what make me angry?”
Paige exhaled slowly, clearly working to keep her patience. “Did the fact that the woman you were playing darts with, the one you defended from a possible bully earlier, was accepting drinks from other men bother you?”
Ace didn’t hesitate. “No. Didn’t bother me at all. Why would it?”
Jeb just stared at him, cold brown eyes unblinking. “Come on, Ace. You’ve been taking tourist bunnies home all summer. We all know it. Don’t tell me you didn’t try to take this one home too.”
Ace really hadn’t. His mind had been on May for longer than he wanted to admit. “Rumors about my sexual conquests are greatly exaggerated.” He glanced at Daisy. “Not the gifts but the numbers. You know.”
One of her brows arched in a clear warning. Yeah, he was starting to turn into an ass.
Jeb’s tone lowered. “All right. How many tourists have you taken home since the roads opened up in May?”
Ace sat farther back. “Just one at the beginning of June.” The memory surfaced unwanted. He’d been pretty drunk and rather upset that May Smirnov had killed a guy in self-defense. If she’d been in danger, Ace should’ve known it, and he hadn’t had a clue. The woman he’d taken home that one time had been an accountant out of Fairbanks, in town for the weekend. “Her name was Jenny or Julie or Janna. Something like that. Came to town for a weekend away from the city.”
Paige’s gaze narrowed. “You’re telling us you’ve only been with one woman this summer?”
“I’m telling you it’s none of your fucking business,” Ace shot back.
Daisy immediately put a hand on his arm. “Ace.”
He exhaled hard. “Fine. Yes. That accountant from Fairbanks.”
“That’s it?” Paige asked.
Ace gave her a crooked grin. “That’s kind of you.”
