Mav was looking at me questioningly, probably wondering how much ofthis was true. But Knight…well, he was just staring at me with that ice-cold look in his eyes.
He leaned forward and flipped the switch again. “I was just going to tell you to make sure you stack the wood at the back of the fire. The opening is too big and the chimney isn’t tall enough. The smoke will filter into the house if you’re not careful. Hence, the fire suppression system.”
That…actually made sense. Leaning forward, I flipped the switch again. “And this?”
“It’s a blower run by a generator in case the power goes out.”
I nodded, frowning slightly. “Handy.”
30
BLAKE
“Are they gone yet?”I asked without looking up.
“Who?”
That voice didn’t belong to Parker, but Wes. I hadn’t been expecting him to come into my room. Not when he’d barely spoken to me in three days. He was still pissed at all of us and refused to say much, other than grunt in response to something we said.
“Sorry, I thought you were Parker. Did you need something?”
He shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets as he glanced away. “Just bored.”
“Did you get your room all set?”
He shrugged again.
Wow, this kid could win an award for the least likely to open his mouth and speak.
“What are you working on?”
Surprised that he was even showing interest, it took me a second to wrap my mind around the fact that if I told him, I might get him to talk. However, the subject matter probably wasn’t suitable for him.
“Um…a murder.”
“Planning one?” he sneered.
“Trying to solve one, actually.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as he walked a little closer. Everything about this kid screamed unease. Even in his own clothes, loose jeans and a t-shirt,the kid looked like he wanted to burn it all down and become someone else. I didn’t know how to solve that or how to make it better.
“Whose murder?”
This was so not appropriate. However… “Are you sure you want to know about this? I mean, it’s not pretty.”
“Whatever,” he muttered, turning away from me and striding toward the door.
“A little girl,” I answered quickly, hoping to keep him from running away right when I got his attention. “Uh…it was a long time ago.”
He stalled, waiting to hear more.
“She disappeared right before a snowstorm, and no one knew she had been kidnapped for hours. They assumed she had wandered outside and got caught in the storm.”
“How old?” he asked, walking back over to me.
“Just turned seven.”
He picked up her picture and stared at her. “She looks so little.”
