Page 90 of Midnight of Ashes
I nodded. “Yes.”
My voice sounded rusty even to my own ears.
“How do you like him?”
I stiffened, telling myself to breathe but stick to the truth. “He’s not my favorite.”
She arched a brow. “And why’s that?”
I licked my lips. “More of a feeling, I guess. He can make me uncomfortable sometimes.”
Knox took my hand, squeezing.
Brower was instantly on alert. “Has he ever touched you inappropriately?”
I was quiet for a moment, trying to choose my words carefully. “A hand on my thigh once.”
She scribbled some notes down. “Did you report him?”
I shook my head. “I was just going to transfer advisors at the end of the term.”
Alwyn huffed. “Sure, you were.”
Brower sent him a scathing look. “How did Brent seem in your meeting yesterday?”
I squeezed Knox’s hand so hard it would be a miracle if I didn’t break any bones. “A little on edge, maybe? Upset.”
Brower wrote more notes. “Did he tell you what he was doing after your meeting?”
“No, ma’am. But Knox showed up before he could end our meeting.”
Her gaze flicked to Knox. “So, you saw Brent, as well?”
He nodded, looking perfectly cool and collected. “Hayden was late, so I knocked on the professor’s door. I wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed her.”
“And how did Brent seem to you?” Brower asked.
Knox shrugged. “I don’t really know the guy that well, but Hayden’s right. He was on edge. Maybe annoyed that I’d shown up.”
“And you two didn’t see anyone else waiting to meet with him?” she pushed.
“Nope,” Knox said easily. “Campus was pretty dead by then.”
Brower took down a few more notes.
Alwyn pinned us with a stare. “Well, you two are the last people to see Professor Brent. So, you’ll understand when we tell you not to leave town. You’re both people of interest in his disappearance. And if you lied to us today, we will find out.”
46
MADDOX
All color drained from Hayden’s face at Detective Alwyn’s words. Her already pale complexion was now a ghostly white, and I was pretty sure that if she hadn’t been sitting, she’d have crumpled to the ground.
It took everything in me not to rip the man limb from limb. An image flashed in my mind of me punching into his chest. Of grabbing his heart and holding it while it still beat before ripping it from his chest.
Cillian pushed his chair back and stood. “It’s a good thing they’re college students and have classes to attend.” His eyes narrowed on Alwyn, making the man swallow hard. “But since you’ve been so clear about where we stand with you, you’ll understand that any future requests will be made through our lawyer.”
He tossed a tiny scrap of paper onto the conference table. “There’s his card.”
