Page 70 of Sheriff's City Girl

“Why would he have left?” My voice wavered as I choked out the words. Fear was beginning to creep into my chest as I hovered there.

“Oh, maybe because we told him you did. Poor upset pregnant Emma just couldn’t handle the heat he threw at her…” The mocking tone made it apparent that she was up to something, and I no longer wanted to know what it was. I turned to the doors, pushing against the handle to leave…

But it didn’t budge.

“Oh, I’ll have to unlock them from the outside,” she commented. “Let me go let you out.” With that, she spun on her heels and headed through a side door, slipping out of the kitchen. I raced after her, but the door had closed before I could catch it. I pressed against it—and it was locked, too.

What the hell? Is she going to leave me in here to keep me from the proposal?

My heart thrummed in my ears, but as I turned to try the other door, I was met by two men who had slipped in the room, both in black hoodies and ski masks.

“What… What are you doing?” I stumbled over the words, panic striking me like a bolt of lightning. “Please just let me leave…”

“Can’t let you do that,” one of them laughed, pulling out a gun. “You’re gonna come with us.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Mason

“If Lucas isn’t willing to come and talk for himself, why even come here at all?” Graham reasoned, folding his arms across his chest. He had met me as soon as I had stepped in the door, having put myself back together—well, the best I could, anyway.

“He doesn’t do functions like this,” I said through gritted teeth. “You know he doesn’t, and you know he doesn’t want to sell. I think there’s plenty of people who would appreciate the history of the ranch.”

“I think you’re barking up the wrong tree, Sheriff Hewitt,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “These are not the kind of people who have any interest in preserving the land. All they care about is making money.”

“They make nothing in return for the money they donate.”

“Maybe that’s true, but it’s nothing but a tax write-off in their minds. They could give two shits about what happens to the Lowe Ranch. If it were up to most of these people, they’d be partnering with me to make money by buying that ranch. I’m eventually gonna give him an offer he won’t be able to refuse—and deep down, Mr. Lowe knows that.”

I shook my head. “He’s told you no, over and over, Graham. I don’t understand why you won’t just take it for what it is and leave him alone.”

“Winners never quit, Mason.” He shot me a wink that made my stomach nauseous. “All you small town people think that you can just preserve your town—kicking out all the outsiders, but that’s not how it works in the real world. I intend to pop that bubble… And then show you the oasis that Millfield could be if you’d just let me do what I do best.”

“You’re so one-minded that you don’t see it already is what we want it to be. If we wanted it to be anything other than what it was, then we would’ve made it that by now. We’re more than happy to take in outsiders—look at Emma Fisher’s business. It’s thriving.”

“And it would thrive even more with a higher population and other stores.”

“It would just introduce more competition in the long run,” I argued. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t some fancy ass businessman, but I did understand how expansion worked—and I didn’t want that in Millfield. No one did.

“Yeah, sure, you just keep those beliefs of yours, and I’ll keep working on my own goals. By the way, where did Emma head off to? Because I’m pretty sure I saw her leave right out the front door.”

“What?” I whipped my head around to the door, wondering how in the hell she missed me standing right here. But then again, maybe she didn’t miss me standing right here. I knew she had to be upset with me—and even though I was angry at her for hiding it, I still shouldn’t have walked away from her in the middle of this shitshow.

“Yeah, I think she said something to my wife about leaving as soon as she walked in the door. I think she’s done with this town.” Graham shrugged, like what he was saying wasn’t shocking information. I didn’t trust it or him, though.

As if she heard herself mentioned, Brittany appeared from the kitchen, heading right for us. “Have you seen Emma?” she interrupted, looking concerned. “I was in the kitchen with her, and you know those stupid doors are always locked from the inside, so I went around to let her out, and when I made it around, she was gone. I haven’t seen her anywhere since.”

Something started to nag at the back of my mind, and I shook my head. “I don’t think she would’ve left. She didn’t drive here.”

“She probably had Lily pick her up,” Brittany continued to seem somewhat upset by it.

“I’d let her go, presentations start in thirty minutes, and you’re up first,” Graham said, his tone nonchalant. “She probably just got mad at you and decided to take a hike or something. You don’t want to miss out on the proposal, do you? It might mean you don’t get the funding to save the ranch… Not that I was expecting anyone to care.”

I hesitated, that nagging feeling shifting to an alarm. “I need to go look for her. Excuse me.” I ducked away from them, ignoring the strange looks they were giving me as I started to search the room, desperate to find her. It wouldn’t be crazy for her to have been upset enough to leave… But would she really have done that?

Digging into my suit jacket pocket, I pulled out my cell phone, and dialed her number. It rang twice, and then went straight to voicemail. Did that mean that she had denied my call? Or that it didn’t go through? I checked the service on my phone. It was spotty at best, but I rarely had issues with it not going through.

Emma, where did you go?

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