Page 126 of Knockin' Boats
“My boyfriend!” I blurted.
“Your what now?”
“I’m bi. Whatever. That’s not important. Sawyer is one of the drivers with Swallow Adventures.”
“Ah.” There was a knowing tone. “All this nonsense with you running to Swallow Cove is beginning to make more sense.”
I shook my head. He couldn’t see it, but my rejection of his words was too strong to resist. “Wrong. No. We didn’t get together until after. We’re not really—” I stopped short. “That’s not the point. The point is that Sawyer is a very sober, very responsible driver. He assisted in the water rescue. He’s a reliable witness.”
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Rick said.
“Unfortunate? Seriously? Julian plowed into a boat. No, not Julian. The random drunk guy he let drive the boat?—”
“What?”
I’d caught Rick by surprise with that one. Apparently Julian hadn’t been entirely honest about what happened.
“He let a drunk asshole drive, and they injured someone and ran, Rick. It’s acrime. He could havekilledpeople.”
“No. That didn’t happen.” His voice was firm. Stubborn. “None of it happened because Julian hit our dock yesterday, and so we canceled our tour tonight. They weren’t on the water. Couldn’t have happened.”
“That’ll never hold up against reliable witness testimony.”
“Then there better not be any reliable witness testimony.”
“Rick—”
“Ash, listen,” he said shortly. “This is the business that keeps your mother in the lifestyle she wants. The accident you’re describing? It could shut us down. Hell, it could get us sued. You don’t want to be responsible for that.”
I sucked in a breath. “You unbelievable asshole.”
“I am what I am. But it’s the truth. You’re so close to this reliable witness? Get him to change his tune.”
“And everyone else on his boat?”
“They were all drinking, and they’re tourists. Here one day, gone the next. I’m not worried about them. Just get Sawyer to recant, and everything will be fine.”
“I can’t do that.”
“You can?—”
“You’re not hearing me,” I growled. “I won’t do it.”
His voice went soft. “Careful, Ash. The choices you make could have consequences.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a fact.”
“Well, here’s another fact. I’m not turning on Sawyer. There’s nothing you can say, no threat or blackmail or fucking bribe that will change my mind. Got it?”
“Yeah,” he said flatly. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Click.
He hung up, probably pissed as hell, but I didn’t care.
Sawyer would never do the wrong thing, even if I asked. And I wouldn’t ask. Because to ask Sawyer to do that would be to destroy everything I loved about him.
