Page 57 of Remnants
Dane sets a plate in front of me and another before Aiden. Thesmell is mouthwatering. “Thanks,” I murmur as he strides back to the kitchen. He smiles at me over his shoulder and nods, then gets to work on assembling the next sandwich.
I dig in, groaning a little at how delicious it tastes. Dane’s expression is hopeful and nervous when he places a mug of coffee down for me next. “Is it good?”
Nodding emphatically, I manage around a mouthful, “So good.”
His smile widens.
The door to the Loft opens, and a line of people enter, followed by Jack.
“Good morning, everyone. I’m so sorry for the timing. I tried to hold him off—” Aiden raises his hand, and Cibrina stops.
“There’s no need to apologize, Cibrina. Have any of you eaten?” He indicates the counter where Dane’s already prepared breakfast sandwiches for everyone.
Cassandra’s looking around the Loft like this is her first time here; a small, selfish part of me is pleased to see that.
Fabian rushes to the counter, tossing the rest of whatever else he’d been eating in his mouth at once to free his hands and reach for a sandwich. He releases an unrestrained moan after a single bite. “Marry me,” he directs to Dane, who scoffs.
“I’m taken. Besides, you’re not my type.”
Fabian shrugs. “My type is whoever can cook the best.”
“Odd priority,” Dane mutters, taking a sandwich for himself and standing by my side.
Jack grabs one and then leans against the sliding glass doors to the balcony behind me while Cassandra and Cibrina each take asandwich and sit in the remaining two seats.
“Now that we’re all here, let’s discuss what we are—or, more importantly, arenot—going to say to the detective,” Aiden begins.
“Are we going to talk about how illegal this is?” Kellan speaks up.
Cibrina nods. “Technically, yes. It would be against the law for them to issue warrants for our arrest. Going to the station to answer questions when no report has been filed is our choice. Ordinarily, I would advise against going to avoid possible self-incrimination. However, with this particular detective…” She glances at Aiden.
“It would be in our best interest to comply enough that he drops it. Avoiding him seems to have only made his curiosity in us grow,” he adds.
“Can we file a complaint against him for threatening us?” Dane demands.
“We could,” Cibrina responds. “But, at most, he may receive a few days’ suspension, and then his ire would be aimed at us, making matters worse.”
Dane curses under his breath.
“Which brings us back to how we’re going to answer his questions. Dane and Raegan, you’ll both have been drunk and fallen down the stairs to sustain your injuries. And you won’t remember anything from that night,” Aiden says.
“What about my bullet graze?” Dane asks.
“Something that you fell on caused that wound, but seeing as you don’t remember the night and only Raegan was with you at the time, you’re unsure what it was.” Aiden looks to the rest of the room. “He’s going to try to get the victims to mention a name or somepossible offender he can go after. We aren’t going to give him one. And this was a private party, unaffiliated with the Guild.”
Aiden and Cibrina continue their coaching as uneasiness swirls in my gut. If this detective already has it out for us, I have a bad feeling he’s not going to be satisfied after these interviews.
I only hope we leave him with enough of a dead end that he drops it.
“Is that all you have to say?” The detective grinds out, his temper clearly frazzling. “You don’t remember anything?”
I shrug one shoulder, relaxing back in my seat with arms folded over my chest. “I’m not sure what you’re looking for, Officer. It was a hell of a party that went too far. I’m sorry if that’s not the answer you want, but there’s nothing more to it.”
His frown lines deepen, his bushy dark brows drawing in. “It’s Detective Unger.”
“Huh?”
“Not officer. Detective,” he corrects me.
