Page 40 of What They'll Say About Us

I refused to flinch at his provocative words. "I only recently found out about those texts from Alina."

"Liam never told you?"

"No. I asked him about it when I saw him on Tuesday, which was the first time I'd seen him since we graduated nine years ago. He said he didn't want to cause more trouble between us because the texts meant nothing. He wasn't cheating on me with Paige. But she was interested in him, and he thought she might be using him to get back at me."

"Well, that's an explanation I could see working for you," he said, his penetrating gaze still focused on my face. "One that makes him look good and Paige look bad."

"I don't know if it was a lie or not," I said honestly. "I'd like to believe him, but we broke up at graduation, and I haven't seen him in a long time, so I don't know what to think."

"Why did you break up?"

"I was going to New York; he was staying here. Most college romances don't go the distance. Ours wasn't unique." I paused. "For what it's worth, I don't think Liam had anything to do with Paige's death."

"But he didn't have an alibi. Neither did you, for that matter. You were in your apartment alone. No one had seen you since seven p.m. And no one had seen Crawford since around that same time, but apparently you weren't together."

"We weren't. We'd gotten into an argument at McGee's, where Liam worked. That was around seven. I was tired after a long rehearsal and in a bad mood since I was basically rehearsing for nothing. I had to shadow Paige in every scene, but I was never supposed to do those scenes for real."

"So you saw Paige at rehearsal?"

"Yes. That was the last time."

"What did you do after rehearsal?"

"I went to McGee's to hang out with Liam. But he was in a bad mood, too. I don't know why. We started arguing about nothing, really, which was kind of the pattern we'd fallen into. And then I got pissed and left. We were going to hang out together when he got off at nine, but I was over it. All this information should be in the file. I gave this statement to Detective Cabot. And you were supposed to give me a copy, remember?"

"I'll send it to your email, but there's not much in there you don't already know." He sat back in his chair. "Is your podcast really about getting to the truth or just getting views? From what I understand, you were at one time a good actress. And you're certainly dramatic and engaging on your podcast. You have a talent for bringing your listeners into the moment."

"You've watched the podcast?"

"I thought I should know who I was dealing with."

"I want to get to the truth, and if that gets the podcast views, great. But that's not my primary motivation, not this time. I have a personal interest in this case. I want to get justice for Paige."

"A woman you didn't like."

"Our relationship was much more complicated than you're making it out to be."

He looked at me as if he were weighing my words, my sincerity, trying to figure out who I was, and I found that to be unsettling. I'd always had my walls up, and that's the way I liked it. I didn't need people to know what I was thinking or feeling. I preferred them to take whatever I said at face value, but clearly, this was not a man who did that.

"Okay," he said finally. "Let's move on."

"More than happy to do that."

"I need you to let your listeners know we are now reviewing the case, and then you need to back off."

"I will let them know you are on the case, but I won't stop looking into what happened."

"What if that person who almost ran you down was supposed to actually hit you? What if the threats start to escalate? What if someone decides you're a loose end they want to tie up?"

"I'm not stupid. I take threats seriously, but I don't run away. And if my questions are making someone nervous, that means Paige's death wasn't an accident."

He paused as his phone buzzed. He read a text, then said, "I have to go now. I'd like to speak to you later. Where are you staying?"

"I'm in an apartment next to my aunt's theater, the Cornerstone. It's the gray building. We're on the second floor. I don't know the exact address."

"Will you be there around five?"

"I'll make sure I am."