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When he heard her footsteps, he looked up. She appeared calm as though she’d worked through her anger.
“Ready to talk?” he asked.
“What happened wasn’t your fault,” she said, surprising him. “I should have known that I couldn’t trust anyone to do my job for me.”
Ouch. That’s not the direction he thought this would take. She was making it clear that the mistake had been hers for trusting him, which made him feel about five inches tall. There had to be a way for them to get back on better footing. “Maybe we should focus on the GPS locations and the background checks,” he suggested. “Pour our energy into those. Something’s gotta give.”
“I agree, it does, but I still think the interview with Razor is our best bet to break this wide open. I feel in my bones that he can give me information that will take the investigation in the right direction.”
A trickle of nerves went down Owen’s spine. He had to admire that she never gave up, but the cost of pursuing this lead could be high. It was his job to prevent that. “Sophie, what are you thinking?”
“I’m going to reach out to him again. I know he’s going to be unwilling…” She paused. “Even more unwilling than he’s been so far, but I have to try. I want to interview him in person. Me. Alone. Because if you’re there, I know he won’t tell me a thing.”
He was already shaking his head and regretting that he hadn’t tried harder to get through to Razor. What she was suggesting was a horrible idea. “No—”
“Let me finish,” she interrupted. “I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll wear a bulletproof vest if you think I need to. We can go to the meeting site two hours early to scope the place out, and you can pick whatever vantage point you want to keep an eye on things, as long as you stay out of sight. But I’m getting that interview. Period.”
With that declaration, she left the cabin and made her way toward the main lodge. She’d be safe enough there, so he didn’t go after her. They both needed some breathing space—and he needed some time to think about the latest bombshell she’d dropped.
One of them was going to lose this battle. He hoped it wasn’t him.
ELEVEN
Sophie wasn’t great with silence, and that had dominated the space between her and Owen for the past eighteen hours. They had said only what was necessary to each other even though they’d spent the majority of their time together.
In the evening they’d driven to the city and checked out a few more GPS locations from Mason’s phone, learning nothing of significance. By the time they got back to the cabin, it was late, and they went straight to bed. She’d seriously considered sleeping on the loveseat but decided against it. Why should she be uncomfortable because he was being pigheaded?
She’d been convinced all day yesterday that she was in the right. She’d felt sure of herself and empowered by the way she’d stood her ground against him. In the cool of the morning, she was starting to have doubts. Maybe it was too much of a risk to do this interview in person after all.
But if it meant getting answers, bringing Wilson to justice, and ending the lifting the horrible weight of fear and dread off of her shoulders and the shoulders of her friends, then the risk would be worth it, right? If it was just for a byline, for the chance to advance her career, then taking that kind of risk would be ridiculous. She wasn’t willing to pay with her life just to get a story. But her life wasalreadyat risk. Playing it safe with the investigation just meant spending more time with a target on her back, and on the backs of her friends. They wouldn’t be safe to come out of hiding and go back to their lives until Wilson was in jail. Besides, she’d already put it in motion by emailing Razor the night before. He hadn’t responded yet, and he might tell her to screw herself. She’d just have to wait and see.
She felt the need to talk it over with Helen and Julia, though. Fortunately, Owen was out of the cabin when it came time for their morning check-in.
“Can we video chat?” she texted. It was easier to talk that way, and she liked seeing their faces. They both responded with thumbs-up emojis, so she started the video.
“What’s wrong?” Helen asked immediately. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Really. But I’m feeling a little…unsure of myself,” she admitted.
“You?” Julia said with an astonished expression on her face. “You’re Ms. Confident.”
“Usually. And I’m sure I’m right about this, but…”
“Tell us what’s going on,” Helen said.
Sophie told them about the botched interview the day before. She was irritated with Owen over the way he’d handled it, but she was also upset with herself for thinking that someone else could do her job for her. She was the reporter, the one with the right skills for the task.
“So what I need to know,” she said as she reached the end of her narrative, “is am I taking too much of a risk? Or is Owen being too cautious?”
“I get where Owen’s concerns are coming from,” Helen said. “Razor sounds dangerous, but…”
“But what?” Sophie leaped at that.
“But he slashed the tires because he thought you were trying to trap him, so I understand why he panicked. His reaction was over the top, though. Seriously, who slashes all four? But, yeah, I can see where he’s coming from. And really, of all things he could have attacked, he chose the tires. He didn’t take any shots at you or Owen. He protected himself, and he didn’t actually hurt you. He didn’t put you in agreatposition, sabotaging your way out of dangerous neighborhood, but he probably could have done a lot worse.” Helen paused for a few seconds. “He’s the best lead you have to get the story. That’s the real problem, and it might…might make it worth going for the personal interview. I’m not a security expert, and I’d hate myself forever if anything happened to you, so I don’t want to tell you to definitely do it. Should I ask Ethan what he thinks? He might be more objective than Owen is.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sophie asked.
“You know.” Helen seemed to be choosing her words carefully. “Owen could be getting emotionally invested in protecting you.”
