Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 1)

CHAPTER TWELVE

“We haven’t met,” Justin began by way of introduction.

Reuben looked positively scared as his gaze flickered from Justin to the men behind him and then back to Justin.

“What?” the man stammered.

“We came to ask you a few questions. I am Justin, by the way,” Justin began in a friendly manner. “These are my friends. I hear you help out at the church.”

Reuben nodded in much the same way a child would.

“Tell me, Reuben, have you seen anybody new in the area?” Justin asked carefully.

“Yes.” Reuben nodded.

Justin’s ears pricked up. “Who?”

Reuben looked at him, a little puzzled for a moment. “You.”

Justin mentally sighed. “Aside from us?”

Reuben’s gaze flickered around the men briefly, as though he was contemplating what he could tell them. “No.”

“If you do, will you go and tell Weeks?”

“Why?”

“Because there is someone in the village who shouldn’t be here,” Justin explained patiently.

Reuben scowled. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Why?” Justin asked.

“You are a stranger. Don’t like strangers. Strangers are bad. Go away,” he mumbled.

When he tried to turn around and walk away, Justin moved forward. “We aren’t bad, Reuben.”

“Stop it. Stop it. Go away. Leave me alone,” Reuben muttered. He increased his hobble toward the church with such a hurriedly uneven gait that for a moment, Justin wondered if he would fall over. Because of that, he didn’t try to follow the man anymore.

Silently, the men watched him disappear around the back of the church.

“Now either he knows something and is too scared to tell anybody, or he hates strangers,” Niall murmured.

“Vanessa said he could be odd sometimes,” Justin reasoned. “He wasn’t adopted from the orphanage because of his problems. He left when he was too old to stay there any longer.”

“We aren’t going to get any reliable information out of him anyway, even if he does know anything. I don’t think a magistrate will put much weight on anything he has to stay,” Niall sighed.

Oliver nodded. “Which means that if he has witnessed something we can’t put him before a judge. He wouldn’t cope with being questioned.”

As they wandered down the street, Justin had the distinct impression they were being watched, and glanced over his shoulder. His gaze immediately fell on Reuben, who was peering cautiously at them from around the corner of the church. It wasn’t a shifty-eyed look of someone who had something to hide. It was the kind of look a child would give an adult when they were playing hide and seek. Shaking his head, Justin turned around and focused on more important matters, like searching the farm. He knew that if Vanessa saw him and his men heading toward the farm she would be inclined to follow them, if only to make sure they did the job properly. The last thing he wanted or needed right now was the distraction of a delectable female he couldn’t touch hovering nearby.

“I need to get out of here,” he groaned as he led the men back through the woods toward the track that would lead to the farm.

“You certainly don’t do countryside, do you?” Niall muttered around a laugh.

“Wait a minute,” Oliver growled quietly several moments later.

Everyone stopped. When Oliver didn’t speak, they turned to face him to see what had bothered him. Minutes ticked past. Oliver turned to face the path they had just walked. It was empty, but Oliver tugged at his ear to warn the men he had heard something, or someone, behind him.