Daisy elbowed him. “Knock it off.”
He couldn’t help it. This whole thing felt like a waste of time.
Jeb cracked his gnarled knuckles. “So we’ve established the timeline of Laura Jordan’s last night as far as I can tell. If you don’t mind, how often are you drinking alcohol until you black out?”
Ace barely kept from jerking. “I’m not.”
“Oh, come on,” Paige said. “Jeb and I only come to town a few times a month, if that, and I always see you drinking a lot at Sam’s Tavern. I’ve seen you drunk, Ace.”
“Maybe,” Ace replied. “But I haven’t overindulged like that for quite a while. Ask Amka. I switched to beer, and I don’t drink that much.”
Paige crossed her arms. “Then why do you keep getting in altercations?”
Ace figured that was a decent question. “Maybe I’m grumpy.”
“No.” Paige shook her head. “Brock is grumpy. You’re something else entirely.”
Ace’s mouth twitched. “All right. Fair.”
Jeb’s voice went flat. “Did you kill Laura Jordan?”
Ace’s head snapped up. “God, no.”
Paige’s stare didn’t soften. “Come on. She was accepting drinks from other guys. You got mad and left, your feelings no doubt hurt. You went to the doctor’s place and probably hit on her.”
Ace’s pulse kicked once, hard.
“And when she told you no,” Paige continued, “you went back to the bar and saw Laura leaving. Being a nice guy, you offered her a ride. That’s something you’d do, right?”
“If it had happened. Which it did not,” Ace said.
Paige held his gaze. “And then what? Things got out of hand?”
Bile rose in Ace’s throat. “Of course not.”
Paige continued. “Did you park down by the river? Sneak in a couple kisses? I can see that. She’s a cute blonde, and you’re a sexy rebel, Ace. To a T. She kisses you back, but then decides, wait a minute, she has a boyfriend named Tyler, and she wants to work it out. Did that make you mad?”
Ace sat back even further, the wooden chair creaking under the shift. “None of that happened. I did not see Laura after I left Sam’s Tavern at ten o’clock. I went to May’s.”
“And you were back at your place by eleven, right?” Jeb asked.
“Right.”
Jeb’s expression didn’t change. “Hmm. Well, here’s our problem with that.”
A slow, cold dread slid down Ace’s spine. “You have a problem with that?”
“Yeah,” Paige said. “We do. We’ve spoken to two of the influencers in town. The ones who do Betty and Barbie’s Adventures.”
Ace blinked. He’d met the two a couple of days before. For some unknown reason, Knife’s Edge had become a destination for social media influencers. “They’re cute.”
“They’re what? In their early twenties?” Jeb asked flatly.
Ace had no idea. He’d had a drink or three with them the other night and told them about the best fishing spots close to town, and also where to shop in Fairbanks. They were also too young for him, but fun to drink with.
Paige continued, “They got ahold of your address. Friday night. They decided to head out to your place.”
Ace’s head snapped up. “What?”
