Page 28 of Home Town Knight

“I haven’t slept since the night before last. I can have something for you tomorrow.”

Pam heaved a put-upon sigh. “Tomorrow then. Don’t let me down, Gen. You’re lucky this new story fell in your lap. I’m giving you extra leeway here. Don’t waste it.”

We ended the call, and I fell backward against the pillows.I was lucky to witness a murder?

I had no clue how I was going to manage this. Owen would probably explode at the mere suggestion of me writing a piece on the murder. But if I wanted to keep my job, I didn’t have much choice.

The pressure weighed me down until all I could do was close my eyes.

CHAPTER TEN

Owen

After leavingLast Refuge around midday, I’d spent hours interviewing witnesses, making phone calls, and writing up reports. Keira had downloaded the hotel’s surveillance footage, and she’d turned in her summary of what it had captured last night and this morning.

Now, it was the afternoon, and I wasbeat. I still had a to-do list that was too long to fit on my whiteboard.

But the only thing my foolish brain wanted to think about was Genevieve Blake.

She’d made her suspicions of me clear, and I’d brushed her off because I had a murder investigation to focus on. Ishould’vebeen focused on it. Especially as it involved her safety. But in the back of my mind, I kept wanting her input on everything I’d learned.

Was I actually thinking about trusting her?

I needed more info. So I picked up my personal cell and called the newest addition to the Last Refuge Protectors. River Kwon.

“Owen. I was wondering when you’d call.” He sounded chipper as always, no matter the hour. I was pretty sure Riverdidn’t sleep. He also seemed to know far more than he should about any given subject.

“Ididn’t even know I was going to call you until two minutes ago.”

“But you’re human, and therefore predictable.”

I had to laugh. “You scare me sometimes, Riv.”

“Why thank you.”

River was an ex-Navy SEAL. He’d met Trace when they were both in the CIA. They’d lost touch for a while after Trace had broken ties with the agency, for reasons I didn’t fully know. But River had helped Trace and Scarlett when she’d been in danger last year. Afterward, he’d decided to move to Hartley and join the Protectors. He also provided the funding.

River came from wealth, but he had a day job like the other Protectors. Unlike Aiden and Trace, River’s gig was a bit more nebulous and a lot more questionable. He was a hacker. Trained by the US government, now operating independently and serving causeshebelieved in.

I preferred to know as little about his activities as possible. He also got on my nerves sometimes with his irreverent humor. But when it came to gathering information, nobody was better.

“I assume you’re calling about the reporter at Last Refuge?” he asked.

“Aiden told you?”

“He just asked me to run a full background on her. As deep as I can go. I’ve been working on it. Intriguing so far.” He whistled. “And I’m not just talking about her more obvious attributes.”

I rolled my eyes and reminded myself not to introduce him to Gen in person. “Have you found anything I should know about?”

“Depends on what youwantto know.”

I leaned back in my chair and grabbed a stress ball to squeeze from my desk. “Anything that could help me decide whether or not to trust her.”

“I understand your concern given that she’s a reporter. But her history suggests she might be more friendly than you’d expect.”

The legs of my chair thumped to the carpet as I sat forward. “What history?”

“Her father, for starters. He was a cop. Dad was accused of wrongdoing, disgraced, and she cleared his name.”

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