Page 16 of Rescued By the Mountain Man Cowboy
"Uncultured."
"Ma'am."
That huff again. I'm collecting them.
She pushes the bowl away. Sits back. Runs her thumb along the rim of her water glass. I can see her working up to something, the way the line between her eyebrows goes from soft to sharp.
"Luke."
"Yeah."
"What happens now?"
I set my fork down.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything." She lets out a breath. "Nothing. I don't know. I've been here for three hours, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
"You're supposed to eat. Sleep. Let Madison do what she does."
"That's it?"
"For tonight, yeah."
"And tomorrow?"
I look at her. Sit with the question.
"Tell me what happened, Anna."
Her face goes still.
"Madison didn't..."
"Madison gave me the cliff notes. Portland. Office. You saw something you shouldn't have. That's all I got."
"Why do you need to know more?"
"Because I'm the one with a gun in my closet and you under my roof. And I don't do my job half-informed."
She opens her mouth. Closes it. Her fingers move up to the ring on her left thumb and starts turning it. Round. Round. Round.
"It was Tuesday night."
I wait.
"I stayed late. I was doing a campaign report for my boss, Marcus." The name comes out clean. Rehearsed. She's said it to herself a lot. "I was the only one on the floor. I thought I was. I ordered food. I went down to get it. When I came back up..."
She stops.
"Take your time."
"I heard them arguing. Him and another guy. I was just..." She lifts one hand, helpless. "I was just gonna walk past. I don't know why I stopped. And he, Marcus, was talking about money. Shell accounts. Somebody fucking up. And then he..."
Her throat works.
"He shot him."
