Page 46 of Home Town Knight

Cold sliced through the numbness. “Is that where Trace is? He went to investigate? Is he all right?”

“You’d better hope so.” River had spoken mildly, but there was that accusatory tone again.

If my presence had drawn the killer here, I would of course feel terrible. But I didn’t see how it was my fault. They’d known I was in danger. Wasn’t that the point of Last Refuge?

What exactly was going on?

“Where’s Owen? I want to talk to him. Right now.”

“He’s on his way. I’m going to put you on ice, and then I have other things I need to do.”

Put me on ice?“I’m not going anywhere with you. I’ll find the answers myself.” I took two steps in the direction we’d come from.

“I warned you,” he muttered, before scooping me up and tossing me over his shoulder in a complicated hold.

I was so shocked I barely had time to yell.

River carted me down a hallway and set me on my feet in a closet. There were shelves with cleaning supplies. The guy moved fast. He was already in the hallway, swinging the door shut.

“Wait!” I ran forward, but not soon enough to stop him from slamming it closed. I rattled the door knob. He’d locked me in.

I banged on the door with my fist. “Hey!”

There was no response.

I spun around in a circle, searching for some other way out. But there wasn’t one. Not even a window. I could keep banging on the door, but Jessi wasn’t going to let me out. She had seen River escort me from the reception area. And Aiden certainly wouldn’t, judging by that icy look he’d given me.

We all know what you did.

I just couldn’t get my head around it. What did they think I had done?

I didn’t have to wait long. After a few minutes of pacing the tiny closet, I heard footsteps outside the door and a key in the lock.

The door swung open, and Owen stood there.

“Did you tell River to lock me in here?” I demanded.

He stalked into the narrow room, slamming the door closed behind him.

If I’d thought the way Owen’s friends had looked at me was bad, that was nothing on the sheriff himself. His dark blue eyes were darker than ever, flashing with fury. His gaze moved over me as if searching for wounds. Then seemed to go deeper, like he was trying to see inside of me.

“Did you write it?” he bit out.

“What?”

“Did. You. Write. It.” He advanced on me. Backed me up against a shelving unit, his hands landing hard on the metal to either side of me. He wasn’t touching me, yet it was also clear that I wasn’t going anywhere. “TheDenver Dailyarticle. I want the truth, Genevieve.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

Owen’s nostrils flared. “Really. You had no heads-up about an article your own employer published just hours ago. That had information only you knew.” He spoke in a low growl. It was somehow worse than if he’d been yelling. His presence in the tiny room was overpowering. I wasn’t afraid of him, but I was fed up with these vague references that I couldn’t understand.

I lifted my chin. “I saw a man get murdered this morning. I’ve been dealing with your hot-and-cold nonsense all day.” I pointed at the door behind him. “And now, someone just fired a shot close enough to terrify me and a little girl I’d just met, not to mention her pregnant mom, and all your friends are acting likeI did it. If you’re accusing me of something, at least have the decency to spell it out.”

For another long moment, Owen glared at me. My chest heaved as I breathed. I was trembling again, just like I had after the gunshot outside.

Then he moved, digging one hand into the pocket of his coat and pulling out his phone. He scrolled to something and turned the screen to me.

“Did you know about this? Yes or no.”

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