Page 77 of High Frequency

He sets down his coffee mug and raises his hands.

“Hey, man, if you wanna risk getting burned twice, be my guest.”

He’s pissing me off, but I have a feeling he’s well aware, and I’m not about to let him suck me in. Determined, I get us back on track.

“So, are you interested?”

“I’m not some kind of charity case.”

“I’m not fucking offering charity. I’m trying to hire someone to do the job, it can be you, or someone else.” I shrug my shoulders and dump the rest of my coffee in the sink. “No skin off my nose as long as the work gets done.”

Then I head for the door.

“I meant I’m not a charity. Not busting my ass for you for free.”

I’m glad I have my back turned, otherwise he’d see the smug smile on my face. I have my hand on the door when I quote him what I figured would be a fair wage.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a cheap bastard?” he fires back.

This time I laugh out loud as I pull open the door, leaving him with my parting shot.

“Take it or leave it. I need to know by tonight.”

I hear him yell, “Asshole,” as I head down the porch steps. But I’m grinning when I get in my truck. He’s gonna call, I know he is.

Next, I’m making a quick stop to the cabin to pack a cooler, and then I’m heading back to the house to get to work.

Wolff is just coming out of Sloane’s door when I pull up to my cabin. I never caught up with him last night after we got back from the hospital.

“Not at the house today?” he asks when I get out of the truck.

“I’m on my way, I’m just grabbing a few things here. What were you doing over at Sloane’s?” I can’t stop myself from asking.

The bastard grins, happy to try and get a rise out of me.

“She asked me to come.”

“Because?”

“You missed it last night, but Deputy Schmidt and I found a narrow access path to a cabin about half a mile from the lake up that trail. Sloane wanted me to show her exactly where on the map. She’s gonna check for permits.”

“Any sign of the ATV we heard?”

He shakes his head. “No. There were fresh tracks but I think he must’ve looped back down the trail while we were at the big clearing.”

“So Sloane’s already back to work,” I observe.

“Were you expecting anything else?” Wolff points out. “Although, it’s probably a challenge with her mom and the baby in the same space. Maybe I should’ve offered her the use of my cabin.”

“If she needs quiet, she can use my place,” I snap.

As he walks off, fucking Wolff laughs again, taunting me.

“You’re too fucking easy, man.”

Asshole.

Sloane

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