Fighting Fate (Granton University #1)(82)

“When was the last time you saw the victim, Mr. Xander?”

“Last night,” Logan croaked. He looked as if he were about to empty his stomach. Paige wondered how he was still standing. “At the…at the party.”

“At the fraternity house where you engaged him in a fight?” the officer asked.

Logan nodded, closing his eyes.

“You didn’t see him again after that?”

This time Logan shook his head. “No.”

“Where were you from between midnight last night and six this morning?”

When it struck her where he’d been, Paige gasped again. Both officers turned toward her. She slapped her hands over her mouth and gaped back before quickly lowering her fingers.

“He was with me,” she admitted, shocked she was actually his alibi.

This seemed to take the men by surprise. “And you are…?” The cop asking all the questions shifted intimidatingly closer to her.

“Paige Zukowski.” Her voice was small as she answered.

The uniform taking notes paused halfway through his writing and looked up. “You’re the…”

“The girl Dorian attacked,” she finished. “Yeah.”

Logan shifted protectively closer to her, and she shared a quick look with him before turning back to the officers. “I…we…after Logan saved me from…from…well, you know, my dorm mate brought me home. Logan showed up almost immediately to see how I was doing. I was pretty shaken, so he stuck around the entire night and took care of me.”

This time, the two cops shared a glance with each other, both looking entirely too suspicious for Paige’s comfort. In unison, they turned back to her. “And you two just happen to work together?”

Paige couldn’t help herself; she sent a telling look from The Squeeze apron around her own waist to the one wrapped around Logan’s. “Uh…yeah,” she answered the obvious.

The cop with the pen took notes as the other motioned between them. “What is the nature of the relationship between you two?”

Paige’s cheeks burned with heat. When she realized Logan had turned to her expectantly as if he also wanted the answer to that question, she cleared her throat. “Um, well…I’m not too sure yet. It’s kind of undefined at the moment. I mean, I started out really, really not liking him. But then he was okay, you know. And I just couldn’t hate him no matter how hard I tried. And now…now he’s just…amazing and—”

When she lifted her face, she caught Logan’s gaze. He looked so hopeful she whirled back to the officers before she did something embarrassing like throw herself at him. “I guess you kind of interrupted us mid-transformation between relationship statuses.”

Both cops stared at her as if she was loony.

Logan cleared his throat. “You can just say we’re coworkers.”

The cop scribbled that down.

Nothing about the situation was funny, but Paige grinned anyway.

“Can anyone else verify this alibi?” One cop asked, making her grin die a quick, ugly death. “Did anyone else see him in your room all night?”

Her mouth fell open. They didn’t believe her? Shocked, she was too busy gaping at them to immediately realize she hadn’t answered the question. Then she snapped her fingers.

“Ooh! Yes, my roommate can. She let him into the building when he arrived.” At least, that’s what Logan had told her. She sent him a swift glance. “Right?” When he nodded, she returned her attention to the cops. “Then when she came back in the morning at about…eight, eight-thirty, he was still there.”

Another blush scorched her cheeks. “She actually thought we’d…you know.” Motioning between Logan and herself, she managed a nervous laugh. “But we hadn’t.”

“I don’t think they really care about that part,” Logan murmured beside her, looking amused.

She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, everyone always cares about that part.”

He stared at her a moment before his lips twitched. It was so charming, she wanted to throw herself at him again and kiss him all over his sexy mouth.

Clearing her throat, she forced her gaze back to the officers, who were also sporting entertained grins they were trying to hide.

“So, you two were together, alone in your dorm room from…?”

“From about eleven last night to eight this morning, I guess.” Wow, had it only been this morning?

The cops nodded, finally looking satisfied with one of her answers.

“Okay. I think that’s about everything we needed to know. Oh, one more thing.” They focused on Logan. “Do you own a gun, Mr. Xander?”

Logan shook his head. “No.”

“All right then. Thanks for answering our questions. We’ll be in touch if we have more. You two stay safe. There’s an armed murderer out there on the loose.”

Paige shivered as she watched them leave. No wonder Gus had called. It hadn’t had anything to do with Logan’s past it all.

Things had just gotten real.





The Squeeze was deathly silent after the cops left.

“Logan?” Paige said as he locked the door. He looked so tense she grew worried about him.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, waving his hand to keep her away. “Thanks for the alibi,” he rumbled.