"I'm sending a deputy to escort you to your car and follow you home. I want you to text me when you're behind the gates of the Manor."
"Got it." I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed the front desk again. When the manager answered, I said, "I need you to go to my office, grab my laptop in the backpack beside the desk, and bring it to the terrace. Keep the gardens closed. We've had an incident. West will fill you in when you get here."
"I'll check in later," West said, nodding to Scarlett and striding over to one of his officers.
Scarlett eyed me with suspicion. I could practically see her mind racing, see her concocting her newest bullshit story. I wasn't having it. I plucked her phone from her back pocket and shoved it in my own, pretending I hadn't seen her covert glances at the cottages.
"Ready to go?"
"Where are we going?" she stalled.
"My family's house. Heartstone Manor."
"You expect me to just go with you? What's your family going to say when you show up with a strange woman handcuffed to your wrist?"
I raised my eyebrows and shot her a grin. "That I'm a lucky man?"
Scarlett let out a huff and glared down at our joined wrists. This would be a lot easier if I didn't have to fight her.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. And if whoever killed Vanessa comes back to tie up loose ends, the Manor is the safest place you could be. My oldest brother used to work in security, and he has the whole place wired up. Guards, cameras—you name it, we have it. If a bunny rabbit hops too close to the house, they know."
Scarlett worried her lower lip with her teeth and looked at the sky, just like West had. I glanced up. Nothing to be seen, just puffy white clouds and summer blue sky. Whatever I was missing, Scarlett seemed to find her answer. Lowering her clear green gaze to mine, she gave in.
"Fine. I'll come with you. Doesn't seem like I have a choice." She pulled at the cuffs, the metal jangling.
"You don't." I turned as if to head back toward the Inn.
"Wait!" Scarlett turned the other way, our joined wrists dragging me along with her. "I told the truth when I said I was staying in one of the cottages. I just didn't exactly check in. I need to go back there before we leave."
That was all I needed to hear. Now I knew exactly where Scarlett had been squatting.
Chapter Five
TENN
Scarlett kept pace with me as I strode down the path to the cottages. There was only one cottage empty right now, but it should have been locked up tight. "How did you get in?" I asked conversationally. Yelling at her wasn't going to get me anywhere. Might as well play nice considering we were stuck together.
"Get in to where?" Scarlett gave me an innocent smile.
"The cottage," I said through clenched teeth.
I was trying for nice, but this woman could test the patience of a saint. I am not a saint. If Royal were here, he'd make a joke or flirt. He'd find some way to diffuse the tension and win her over.
I wasn't a saint, and I wasn't my brother. I could be a soft touch when it came to a person in need, but I wasn't particularly charming. Royal was finesse, and I was the blunt hammer.
Scarlett gave me another smile, genuine laughter in her eyes. I tried not to notice the way amusement sparkled in all that clear green. I'd bet she was heart-stopping when she laughed.
Not that I cared.
Her mouth quirking to the side, she said, "Hypothetically, if I had broken into a cottage—not that I'm saying I did, because I didn't—"
"But if you had?" I prompted as we passed the first of the occupied cottages.
"But if I had," she mused, "I might have picked the lock."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "You can pick locks?"
A shrug of one shoulder. "Or I found a bathroom window that had been left open."
"Impossible. The staff wouldn't have left a window open."
"You never know. Do you have an eye on every single thing that happens here?"
"Yes," I answered, knowing it was a lie. There were too many moving parts to the Inn at Sawyers Bend. I had an eye on ninety-five percent of what went on in my inn, but even I had to admit things slipped my attention.
Her steps picked up their pace as we neared the last cottage, the one that was supposed to be empty. From the outside, there was no sign anyone had broken in. Scarlett came to a stop at the bottom of the porch steps and raised one eyebrow.
"What?" I asked.
"Aren't you going to open the door?" She shoved her free hand in her pocket, apparently prepared to wait me out.