Page 22 of Three Girls Gone

“I’m fine,” she said, and Trent declined the offer too. She’d normally accept as she found these concessions made the person being questioned more cooperative. But factoring in her suspicions, Nick might be trying to distract them with kindness.

“All right, then.” He took them to the living room and told them to sit wherever they liked. He dropped onto the couch and said, “I haven’t met you two before. I spoke with Detective McGee a couple of times over the weekend.”

“The Hailey Tanner investigation is no longer a Missing Persons case,” Trent said.

“I don’t understand.” His face pinched, and his eyes squinted.

If he was acting, he was good. “You haven’t heard the news?”

“Just on the stock markets.”

She somehow believed him. “We’re sorry to bring you the unfortunate news that Hailey Tanner’s body was found this morning.”

“Her— What now?” Nick puffed out a deep breath and raked a hand through his hair, leaving strands standing up in his wake. “No, this can’t… No, it’s not possible.”

“I assure you it is, Mr.Potter,” Amanda said. “And we have some questions for you.”

“Sure, I’ll answer anything you ask. Wow. I’m just in shock.” He popped to his feet and helped himself to a generous pour of amber liquid from the bar cart in the corner of the room. He took a few anxious gulps.

Amanda and Trent gave him a few moments, and in that time, he emptied the glass and refilled it.

“Mr. Potter,” Amanda prompted.

“Ah, yes, sorry. I’m just in shock. And heartbroken.” He dragged one of his hands under his nose and returned to the chair he’d been in before, with his drink. “I hope you don’t mind.” He met Amanda’s eyes and lifted his glass.

It’s your liver…But she was more interested in what had him reaching for the bottle. Was it grief? Guilt? A blend of both? Or did he fear he’d been caught? “If you need to drink, don’t let us stop you.”

“Well, I don’tneedto, but it will help me through this. I know why you’re here.” He slung back some booze.

“And why is that?” she asked.

Nick pointed at the tablet in Trent’s hands. “You’re not here for a friendly conversation. You think I’m involved somehow.”

“Are you?” Hailey could have been held in this very house. McGee never would have gotten a search warrant with a verified alibi. Speaking of, they never got into what that was.

“Absolutely not.” Nick tossed back the rest of his drink and wiped his mouth with his palm. “Can you not see how destroyed I am? That girl was a special light. There’s no one else like her and never will be again.” Silent tears fell.

Amanda braced herself. Letting her guard down and giving in to empathy wasn’t an option. “Where were you on Friday, the day Hailey disappeared?”

“You now? You really think Ikilledher?” He looked at the empty rocks glass in his hand, as he balanced it on the edge of the chair arm.

“If you didn’t, you shouldn’t have a problem telling us where you were,” Amanda said. “Though I’m sure I could look it up in Detective McGee’s reports. But save me the trouble.”

“I was here. Not exactly a rock-solid alibi, I know. But hemust have believed me. Can’t you trace my phone? It would show I was here during the time Hailey was taken.”

“That would only prove the device was here,” Amanda said, thinking,The Devil’s in the details…

“All I can say is you’re wasting your time looking at me.”

“But you see how you have motive?” She left that dangling, curious what he’d come up with.

“Are you referring to how Vince screwed me over? You think I killed Hailey over seven hundred thousand? Sometimes I make that much in a day. What ticked me off was the fact Vince betrayed me. He lost my trust when he didn’t tell me to back out when he did.”

“And then he fired you,” Trent said.

“After I decked him and told him I quit.”

Vincent left that part out. “Tell us about your relationship with Mara Bennett.”