Page 7 of Secrets at Dawn
The sheriff nodded and began asking her what had happened.
Toby stopped paying attention to the woman and the sheriff when Cass patted him on the back and said, “We’ll have questions for you, but hang tight for now.”
Toby nodded and watched as Cass handcuffed the attackers. He led the guy, whom Toby thought might have been the main instigator, to the back seat of his car. They had to pass by Toby to get to the car. On the way past, Head Dickwad glared at Toby and said, “This ain’t over.”
Cass pushed him forward. “That’s another charge.”
The guy smirked. “My father is going to have your badge by the end of the day.”
“Bobby Ball can’t do anything other than bail you out, which I’m sure he’ll do.” It sounded like Head Dickwad’s father never held him accountable for anything.
Head Dickwad resembled the guy running from the giant red sales ball in the commercial Toby had hated so much. The only difference was that Head Dickwad wasn’t pretending to scream as the red ball with the word sale written all over it threatened to flatten him. The idea of his pain was the consumer’s gain came through the second the ball rolled over him, and he was just a flat splat on the asphalt dealership parking lot.
Head Dickwad hesitated, but in the end, he sealed his own fate by affirming that it was, in fact, a threat, although he called it a promise.
Toby pictured him in a jail cell, complaining about how his father hadn’t bailed him out yet because a giant red sales ball flattened him.
Note to self: never buy a car from Bobby Ball.
Chapter Three
Griffin sighed so much he couldn’t even eat his steak, and it was good steak. Too bad it was getting cold.
He had no idea what his date was talking about anymore. The man hadn’t come up for air once since the host had sat them at a table. Thank the gods, the host sat them near the center of the restaurant, so at least Griffin had other people who shared in his misery. And they shared it with him. His date, Colin, talked to everyone who made eye contact with him.
“Excuse me.” Griffin put down his fork and knife and fished out two twenty-dollar bills, laying them on the table before standing. “I’ve gotta use the bathroom.” What he didn’t say was that he would use the bathroom at his dad’s house, which wasn’t far from the restaurant. His dad also had food. Griffin was starving, but he couldn’t take one more second of Colin’s constant yammering.
For the first time all night, Colin took a breath, giving Griffin precious seconds in which he didn’t have to hear the guy’s voice. What a treat. Not that it lasted long. “Right, well, usually you’d wait for the server to bring the check before paying, and I said I’dpay since I asked you out on a date. It’s only fair, but we can sort it all later.” Colin turned to the woman at the table next to theirs. “You know, this one time I went on a date with a guy who said he had to use the bathroom and then never came back.”
Griffin’s face heated, and he took off toward where he knew the bathrooms were. Thank the gods he drove himself and had enough forethought to park in the back lot just in case he needed an exit strategy. He should have had Riley call him forty-five minutes into the date, so he could fake an emergency, but he hadn’t thought of it until Colin told Griffin his name and then started talking about his job and why he always wore a suit even on casual Fridays.
Colin was still talking when Griffin took the hallway to the back door. He didn’t need to see him to know that.
It didn’t take very long for him to walk out of the restaurant and find his truck in the lot. The sun had gone down while he’d been listening to Colin drone on about only the gods knew what because Griffin hadn’t been able to pay attention after the first half an hour.
His dad’s house was only a few miles from the restaurant. It didn’t take him long to get to his dad’s house. Griffin saw his dad’s car in the driveway, which was a win. His dad would make him something to eat and listen to him whine about his date.
Griffin parked behind Marric’s car and then headed for the front door.
One time, Griffin had come over to find his dad and Marric all freshly fucked and in their underwear. Lesson learned. He’d been knocking and waiting for one of them to open the door since then.
Really, he was thrilled for them, but holy moly, they were like rabbits.
Marric was the one who opened the door. He wore sleep pants and a hoodie that advertised Fortune Falls as a treasurehunter’s paradise, complete with a map of the area, though it left out many details. But the shape of Fortune Falls and the surrounding mountains were recognizable.
As soon as Marric saw Griffin, he ushered him into the house. “You don’t have to knock, you know. You can come inside as you had before I mated with your father.”
Griffin patted Marric on the back and smiled. “I love having you as a part of the family, but I don’t want to see you and my dad doing it on the table or whatever other flat surface you two climb on.”
When Marric opened his mouth, Griffin cut off whatever he was about to say. “That wasn’t an invitation for you to give me details.”
Marric chuckled and followed Griffin into the kitchen. Griffin opened the door of the refrigerator and rummaged inside.
“Where’s Dad?” he asked as he found some sliced chicken and cheese. He would make himself a sandwich.
“On a call. Cass picked him up.” Marric frowned as he watched Griffin gather what he needed. “Weren’t you on a dinner date with Colin? Why are you still hungry?”
“Ask Colin. I’m sure he’s still there. Talking.” He assembled the sandwich. “Seriously. He never shut up. Not once. Even when he asked me a question, he didn’t stop long enough for me to answer.”
