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“No, why?” He followed my gaze and stood beside me.

Sheriff Lowe stepped out of his cruiser in front of the house. Keith exited the other side.

Warren and I exchanged a quick look before we went to the front door and emerged onto the porch.

Lowe tipped his hat. “Miss Eva.” He cleared his throat, looking between the two of us, considering the early morning hour.

I didn’t care what they thought. “What do you want?” I asked.

“Answers,” Keith shot back, glaring at Warren.

Warren stepped toward Keith with his fists clenched. “Me too.”

I slipped into his path and put a hand to his chest. “Not now.”

Warren kept his hard stare on Keith.

“We need you to come down to the station for some questioning, Mr. Hayes,” Lowe said, clearing his throat again. He put his hand over his pistol. “I hope we can keep this civil.”

My pulse raced and anger surged within me. “What is this about?”

“My father was killed last night,” Keith said. His face was flushed and his jaw tense. “One of our staff spotted your truck on our property early this morning, Captain.”

Victor Merrick, dead?

The timing was suspicious. The hit man had escaped Birkstrom last night. Did he go back to the man who’d hired him and have a disagreement that ended in blood?

“Your staff was mistaken.” I couldn’t let Keith and the sheriff take Warren in—he might never make it back. “Warren has an alibi, Sheriff.”

“We can sort that out at the station.”

“Unless you have a warrant, he’s not going anywhere.” I looked at Keith with ire. “Warren was with me all night.”

Keith flinched as if I’d struck him. Was he still so desperate to think that I’d fall back into his arms once Warren was out of the way? In his reaction, I could see that he had been hoping for exactly that. And now he knew that wasn’t the case.

“You’re, um, willing to testify to that, Eva?” Lowe said.

“Of course.”

Lowe looked at Keith and shrugged helplessly. “Then we have no further questions.”

“Get off my property.” I pushed the stunned, silent Warren back inside. His gaze had gone from antagonistic to shocked.

Once the door closed behind us and the sheriff and Keith had left, he frowned at me. “You shouldn’t have said that.”

“It was the truth.” I lifted an eyebrow. “You were here all night.”

“Yes, but they’ll certainly spread rumors.”

“It’s happened before.”

“I could have just gone to the station. They don’t have any evidence to pin on me.”

“You think that’d stop them from booking you and putting you on trial? Manufacturing witnesses?” I crossed my arms. “No one goes against the Merricks. Whoever did kill Victor, I’m guessing it’s not someone local who can easily be found.”

He nodded and looked back toward the driveway. “I’ll get Reid on this and see what he can dig up.”

I lowered my voice. “Could it have been the man who attacked me and shot Eddie?”