Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Paige watched him carefully. “Walk us through the entire scenario.”
“I walked them both out to my truck and told Amka I’d return shortly and help her clean up. There were still tons of people at the bar, even at one in the morning, so I knew Amka was safe.”
“Was Ivy upset?” Paige asked.
Ace considered the question. “No.”
“Angry? Scared?” Jeb interjected.
“No.” Ace said.
Paige made another notation. “Did either Ivy or Jennifer argue with anyone before you left?”
Ace replayed it again. The music. The chatter. Ivy dancing to the music coming out through the speakers. “No,” he said firmly. “Nothing out of the ordinary. What did Jennifer say?”
Paige shrugged. “Not much. She’s pretty upset about her friend being murdered.”
So was Ace.
Jeb crossed his arms. “Did Ivy say she was meeting anyone at home?”
Ace shook his head. “No.”
“Did anyone follow you?” Jeb asked.
Of course not. “No,” Ace said. A headache was roaring in through the base of his skull.
Jeb stared at him beneath heavy lids. “Help me understand something, Ace. You’re the last known person to see Ivy Carter alive. You had the opportunity. You had privacy. And now she’s dead.”
Ace felt heat crawl up his neck, but he didn’t let it show. “I didn’t touch her.”
Paige’s voice softened. “Nobody can confirm what happened between the tavern and her front door.”
“That’s correct.” Ace looked down at his hands resting on the metal table. They were steady. He forced himself to look back up. “I didn’t kill Laura and I didn’t kill Ivy,” he said through gritted teeth, May and her safety flashing through his mind. “How much longer are we going to be here?”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Paige said, and it sounded as though she was laughing through the words without humor. “Continue your story.” She stressed the last word enough to stir his temper, but he forced it back down. They had a job to do. If he lost it now, he’d only make things worse.
Ace exhaled. “What else do you want to know?”
“Let’s back up. What time did you take the women home?” Paige asked.
“I already told you it was a little after one,” Ace said, aware they were circling, testing for cracks. He wasn’t giving them one.
“Who sat in the back seat of your truck?” Jeb asked.
“Jennifer did. Ivy hopped in the front.”
Paige switched to the red pen. “Oh. Ivy sat next to you.”
“She was in the front seat,” he said evenly, refusing the bait.
“Then what?” Jeb asked.
This was getting tedious, and Ace hated repeating himself, but he understood their method. “Then I drove down Main Street, took a left, and headed up Wildberry Road toward the newer apartments in Lanscombe Landing. I dropped Jennifer off.”
“Just Jennifer?” Jeb asked.
Ace forced his shoulders to stay loose. “Yes. Just Jennifer. I waited until she got inside her place, and then I drove Ivy home. I went the opposite direction, up Smith Bluff and over into the Cedar Ridge subdivision to drop her off.”
“You knew where she lived?” Paige asked.
“Yeah, I knew where she lived. I know everyone who lives in that subdivision. I helped plow it this past winter,” Ace returned.
Paige scribbled more notes. “Describe her place to me.”
Ace replayed the night in his head. “Ivy lived in a little white house three doors down from Dolores Jerky’s home.” Delores lived in the small subdivision, although she owned three of the rentals in the cove.
“Tell me about her house when you drove up,” Jeb said.
Ace rubbed the back of his neck. “It was after one in the morning, but it was light outside, same as usual this time of year. The house looked quiet with no lights on inside.”
“What happened next?” Paige asked.
Ace needed to get to May. “She jumped out and thanked me for the ride, then mentioned it’d be fun to go on a double date sometime. She stumbled a little but made it to her front door.”
“Was it locked?” Jeb asked.
Ace made himself slow down and remember it exactly. “Yes. It was locked. She took keys from her back pocket, unlocked the door, turned and waved to me before she went inside.”
As the image solidified, his stomach rolled, tight and sudden, as if a fist had closed around it. He could see her hand lifting in a lazy wave. Could hear the truck idling. Could remember thinking she’d sleep it off and feel miserable in the morning.
Once she’d gone safely inside, he’d driven away.
And now she was dead.
“Then what?” Jeb asked.
Enough of this crap. “Then I returned to Sam’s Tavern and hung out with Amka, helping her close.”
“Just that?” Paige asked.
Was she insinuating an affair between Ace and Amka? Come on. “As you already know, I drove Amka to Christian’s cabin after we closed down the bar. Tika was waiting.”
“Tika?” Paige asked.
“Christian’s half dog, half wolf,” Ace said. He’d felt safe leaving Amka there with the animal pacing the porch, alert and watchful.