Page 16 of What They'll Say About Us

"It seemed like the case was closed quickly."

"Because everything pointed to an accident." He sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Frankly, you're the last person who should be looking into this. You hated Paige."

"I didn't hate her," I said immediately. "I didn't like that she got the lead because I thought I deserved it, but I didn't hate her. I didn't want her to die."

"But then you got the role you wanted."

"Come on, Liam. You know I didn't have anything to do with her death."

"I know she called you, and you allegedly didn't call her back."

"Allegedly?" I echoed in angry amazement. "Why are you talking like a cop?"

"Detective Cabot told me that the last person Paige called was you, but it didn't look like you answered or called her back. I waited for you to mention it to me, but you never did."

"What about the texts that you two exchanged? You never brought those up, either. You never mentioned that Paige wanted to see you. Were you hooking up with her? Were you cheating on me with her?"

"No!" His reply came out angry and explosive. "I never hooked up with her."

"I saw you in the bar one night. You were talking so close to each other. It felt like something was going on. And all I could think was that Paige was trying to take something else from me."

He stared back at me with a mix of emotions running through his gaze now. "I didn't cheat on you, Tessa. Not with Paige or anyone else."

"But there was something going on between you two. What was it?"

"It was nothing."

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care if you believe me. I have nothing to say about it. Is that why you came here? You want me to go on record for your podcast?"

"No. I want to know if there was something going on with Paige that you knew about, and I didn't. If she was having a problem in her life that could have led to her death."

He shook his head. "You need to drop this. Go back to New York. Go back to your life."

"Why won't you tell me what you were talking to her about?"

"Because it was meaningless. She was flirting with me. I wasn't interested. And honestly, I thought she was trying to make you jealous. She was lonely, sad, and pissed off at you."

"Lonely? Paige? She had a boyfriend, and she was starring in a play. She had everything a girl could want. Why would she be sad?"

"I don't know, but she was. You know that, Tessa. You were the cause of some of her unhappiness. You were hard on her. You made your feelings about her getting the starring role quite clear. Not just to me, to everyone. You trash-talked Paige all the time."

He was right about that, and I was certainly more embarrassed about my behavior now than I had been back then. "I didn't handle my disappointment well. But Paige and I hadn't been close most of that year. We were always competing, and she was always winning. I didn't want to be around her." I paused. "Is there anyone else besides me that Paige had a problem with, that she might have mentioned to you?"

"She complained about other people in the play not liking her success. She said it was hard to be happy when so many people hated her for being good."

I felt another twinge of guilt at that comment, but I pushed past it. "What about outside of the theater world?"

"I wasn't her confidante, Tessa. We talked a few times; that's it. Whatever you plan on doing, leave me out of it. I don't want to be dragged back into the past, certainly not with you."

"I didn't want to get dragged back there, either, but Alina came to me and begged me to help. She thinks if I can generate public interest, the police will reopen the case, so I agreed to try to do that. If you get caught up in it, that's because you had a relationship with Paige, and Alina knows that. So do the police."

"Fine. Whatever. I never could change your mind."

As he pushed back his chair to stand up, I said, "Liam, wait."

"Why?" he demanded.