Page 82 of Never Let Me Go

Sawyer releases a breath and nods. “Okay. Yes, I know Tawny Mullan. We dated for a few months.”

“And when did things end?”

“A little over two weeks ago.”

He nods, writing some things down in a mini notebook. “When was the last time you saw Miss Mullan?”

“When she showed up at the club three days ago,” he says. Rodriguez writes some more things down, nodding the whole time.

“You haven’t seen or heard from her since then?”

He shakes his head. “No.”

“Do you have an alibi for last night?”

“Um, yeah,” I snap. “He does.”

Rodriguez looks up and meets my eyes. “He was with you all night?”

“He got here around six and he never left.”

“Can anyone else confirm this?” he asks and Sawyer’s muscles tense up.

“What the fuck, dude?”

I nod. “Yes, I’m certain this hotel has cameras. You could also ask whoever brought our food up last night and this morning… oh, and the bartender downstairs.”

“Okay,” he breathes as he finishes jotting down notes and slips his notebook back into his suit jacket.

“You want to tell me what the fuck is going on now?” Sawyer growls and I lay my hand on his leg to calm him. I’ve never met this bitch but there’s something about her that gets Sawyer’s hackles up and that’s enough for me. Plus, she clearly can’t take a hint where my man is concerned… not that I can blame her.

“Tawny came into the station this morning to report an assault. She’s got a pretty nasty black eye and she says you did it.”

He surges forward. “Are you fucking kidding me? I would never…”

“Chill, okay?” Rodrigues says, holding his hand up. “I could tell pretty quickly that she was full of shit and layin’ it on a little thick but I can’t look like I’m giving y’all special treatment. I had to come ask you these questions, no matter how ridiculous they are.”

“Yeah,” Sawyer sighs, relaxing back into the couch. “Okay.”

“I’ll talk to the staff here and get the videotapes. That will be more than enough to convince anyone that you had nothing to do with this,” he says as they both stand. As they walk over to the door, I sigh and turn to look out of the windows, wondering what this girl hoped to gain by framing Sawyer for assaulting her. It’s not like it would win him back…

“What are you thinking so hard about over there?” Sawyer asks as he leans down and scoops me up into his arms. I lay my head on his shoulder and sigh.

“Just wondering what Tawny was trying to do by framing you.”

He shakes his head. “You shouldn’t worry about it, baby. Knowing Tawny, she was just trying to get back at me and it didn’t work so we should focus on more important things.”

“Oh, yeah?” I ask, smiling up at him as he carries me back into the bedroom. “Like what?”

My phone rings before he can answer and he scowls as he sits down on the edge of the bed with me in his lap. Nico’s name pops onto the screen and I smile as I answer it.

“Hey, girl. What time are you getting in?”

“I actually got in last night but I thought I’d get a good night’s sleep before meeting up with you to go over business,” she says and I look up at Sawyer and scrunch up my nose.

“I wasn’t actually planning on going into work today so you can take another day. Maybe explore the city or look for an apartment.”

There is a pause on the line and my stomach flips as I wait for her response. She sighs. “So you’ve decided to stay then?”