Page 66 of Vain

“Officer Reeves. I’d say it was nice to see you again, but…” I let my voice drift off when he scowls at me.

“If you’re ready to conduct this interview, please take a seat.”

He indicates that I should follow him inside. I bite my lip to avoid pointing out it’s my seat anyway.

“Is this okay? I thought you were waiting for forensics to arrive.”

“As your prints will be all over this space, it will make little difference.”

Okay then. I take a seat and move along the bench so Aiden can squeeze in beside me.

“This would be better if I interviewed you alone.” The asshat side eyes Aiden, making my hackles rise.

“Aiden is my bodyguard as well as my partner. He is rightly concerned about my safety, so I think it’s safe to say we’d both feel more comfortable with him here.”

“Right,” he drawls, looking around for his partner, who is looking at some of the Post-it notes.

“Can we just begin?” I sigh, feeling a headache form.

“You called us, Miss Carson, and made us wait at that.”

“I came as soon as you requested. As you needed to see my trailer and interview Aiden, what was the harm? And again, I was under the impression you’re waiting for forensics, not me.”

I can feel Aiden growing more and more tense beside me, so I slide my hand over his thigh and squeeze it. His hand covers mine as the detective continues.

“Walk me through the flowers.”

“I’m sorry, walk you through what? Do you mean how they got here in my trailer?”

The guy crosses his arms and frowns. “They were delivered yesterday?”

“Yes, just as we were wrapping up for the day, well, night. We didn’t get out of here until almost ten.”

“You recognize the driver?”

“No, but I would if I saw him again.”

“And you’re sure he hasn’t delivered flowers to you before?”

“Well, no?—

“So it is possible you have had flowers delivered by him. Do you get flowers often?”

“No—”

“So it stands to reason you should remember someone who isn’t part of your regular crew?”

I don’t speak. I wait as he gets impatient.

“Are you going to answer the question or waste my time?”

Any moment now, Aiden is going to jump up and punch this asshole. I dig my nails into his tense thigh, urging him to stay seated and not let this guy push his buttons.

“As you keep answering for me and not giving me a chance to finish a sentence, I figured there was no point.”

His mouth snaps shut. His partner, who is doing a piss-poor job of pretending he’s not listening, looks over.

“As I was trying to say, I didn’t recognize him. However, he might have delivered flowers before. I’ll be honest, Officer, I don’t remember faces of delivery drivers unless I have the same one repeatedly. However, it is possible. I don’t get flowers often, though, unless the studio sends some, and they use a runner to deliver them.”