“Yeah,” Paige said. “They got a little tipsy. Saw you leave. For some reason, they wanted an adventure with you.”
Ace’s ears heated. “That’s interesting.”
“No,” Jeb said. “What’s interesting is they went out to your place and waited.”
Ace’s stomach dropped. “Crap. Now wait a minute?—”
Jeb nodded. “That might be a good idea.”
“So Betty and Barbie waited,” Paige said, consulting the file, “according to them, from eleven o’clock until almost two on your front porch. They said they waited for three hours. It started raining. You have a nice porch. They huddled under it and filmed TikToks. It was still light and so easy, being this is Alaska and we don’t get any darkness.”
Ace couldn’t tell if the troopers were lying or not, and considering he had a talent there, his gut told him they might be telling the truth. That didn’t mean the influencers had been honest, however. “I don’t believe those two waited for three hours.”
Paige flattened her hand on the table. “How would you know if you weren’t there?”
Silence pressed in.
“Finally, around two o’clock, they gave up and headed back to Flossie’s B & B, where they’ve been staying.” Paige held his stare. “So, Ace. How about you tell us where you really were? Get out in front of this now. Let me help you.”
Daisy cut in firmly. “My client’s not going to say another word.”
Jeb smiled, almost cheerful. “Okay. We’re obtaining warrants now to search your house and your truck.”
Ace’s jaw flexed. “You don’t need warrants.”
“Yes, we do,” Paige said.
Daisy grabbed Ace’s arm. “No, they really do.”
Ace exhaled. “Search all you want.”
“Good. We have a forensic team that just landed. They’ll look at the site. And if you’re granting consent…” Paige slid a form across the table. “Here you go.”
Ace stared at it. They’d known he’d consent. He scrawled his name. “My truck’s right out front. I’ll catch a ride back with my brother.”
Paige sighed, looking almost sorrowful. “You lied to us, Ace. One more chance. Tell us where you were last night.”
His chin lowered. “I’m done talking to you.” It wouldn’t matter where he went last night because nobody could corroborate his whereabouts, anyway.
“It’s your funeral,” Jeb said, standing. “Let’s go.”
Paige remained cool and steady. “I’m going to caution you to stay in town. I have a feeling we’re going to be arresting you.”
“I didn’t murder that woman.” Ace stood and walked to the door.
Daisy grabbed her briefcase and beat him there, opening it and pushing him through. Her heels clip-clopped behind him.
Ace walked down the hall into the reception area.
“You son of a bitch!” A hard body slammed into him, propelling him back against the wall. Ace shoved forward on instinct, looking down.
Tyler.
“You killed her,” Tyler snarled, his face turning beet red. A vicious black eye bloomed from Ace’s punch the day before. “You son of a bitch.”
“Whoa.” Brock stepped between them and shoved Tyler back. “Knock it off.”
Tyler’s blond hair hung wild, mussed into his eyes, where fury burned bright. “You killed her, you asshole. How could you do that?”
