Page 19 of Deathmarch

Why was he so big? He couldn’t have growntaller. She stood to put them on a more even footing, but her eyes still only came up to his chin.

“I can make some calls,” he offered. “I know a guy. Turn around, please.”

She did, and without protesting. She was that dazed.

He managed to cuff her without as much as brushing a finger against her wrist. The metal felt hard and cold, the small clicks sending shivers down Allie’s spine.

Welcome to the Twilight Zone.

Or maybe she was having a nightmare. Or maybe she’d fallen asleep in the tub, and her brain was making all this up, deprived of oxygen. She needed to wake up before she drowned.

“I’m going to have to pat you down,” Harper said behind her, disturbingly close.

Her head snapped up, alarms ringing through every cell of her body. She jerked her head around. “I don’t have anything on me. I swear.”

“It’s regulation. Just hold still for a second.”

He bent and patted her down, quickly and efficiently, spending the absolute minimum time necessary with his hands on her body.Then, without a word, he turned her back and did the same on the front, with her staring at the door, unable to look at him.

She didn’t draw a breath the whole time, felt light-headed by the time he finished and gestured toward the small mountain of buffalo fur hanging on the peg by the door.

“Want me to put that coat over your shoulders for going out?”

She couldn’t respond. She was being arrested.For real.He wouldn’t have slapped cuffs on her as a joke. She was pretty sure that was against the law.

“I’m parked up front,” he said. “Just a few steps from the front door to the car. But it’s damn cold outside.”

“Yeah, I remember.” She shook her head. “No coat.” She felt crushed enough already. She met Harper’s emotionless cop eyes and knew hers were begging. “This is a mistake.”

“We’ll talk about it when we get to the station,” he said without a hint of sympathy as he escorted her out of the room.

Thank God there were no other guests to gawk at her. But somehow, she felt as if all the glass eyes in the jars were watching.

He said, “It helps if you don’t look at them.”

“Theydon’t bother me,” Allie snapped, just to be contrary, but her knees were weak as she walked forward.

When she stumbled on a wrinkle in the runner, Harper caught her, his fingers tightening on her arm. He held her closer as they went down the stairs. She flippinghatedHarper Finnegan.

Lucky for him that her antique rifle was in her suitcase and that she didn’t have any bullets. Otherwise, she would have been tempted to shoot him in the ass.

Shannon O’Brian stood at the bottom, her face pinched, her hands clasped in front of her. She shifted from foot to foot as if unsure what to do. Guests probably didn’t often get arrested in her very respectable establishment.

“I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding, dear,” she told Allie.

Harper didn’t comment on the sentiment as he stopped in front of her, while Allie tried not to die of embarrassment. “Could you please lock her room and make sure nobody can access the key? Nobody goes in there but me.”

When Shannon silently nodded, Harper said, “Thank you, Mrs. O’Brian. I appreciate it.”

And then he marched Allie out the front door and off to jail.

Chapter Six

“Are you warm enough?” Harper turned the knob on the dashboard to crank up the heat.

“Like I’m sitting in hell with the devil.”

She didn’t bother to hide that she hated his guts. He wasn’t thrilled with her presence in Broslin either, but he’d found her and had her in custody, which was better than the alternative. He would never have lived it down if he’d given a murder suspect a ride to town, then lost her.