“Hey, uh…” He appeared nervous. “You’re Lukas Farren?”
“I am. Is something wrong, Officer?”
“Officer…” He peered down at himself as if he were just realizing he was in uniform. “Oh.” he chuckled. “My name is Brad. Bradley Reed. I’m a friend of Sam’s.”
“I feel like everyone is a friend of Sam’s.”
He smiled. “True. A lot of people care about him…that’s why I’m here.”
I motioned to the chair beside me. “Have a seat, Officer.”
“Please, call me Brad.”
I didn’t. I stared and waited for him to say what he came here to say.
“Right. It’s gotten around that Sam is at the hospital, and everyone is kind of freaked out, worried. When I got here, the nurses wouldn’t tell me anything, but they did tell me that Sam’s partner was in the waiting room.”
I blinked. What was happening right now? Was he here on behalf of the town or his nosy self?
“Anyway.” He cleared his throat. “I was hoping you could tell me how he is, put some folks’ minds at ease. Maybe my own.”
I tilted my head and regarded the man. He wasn’t serious, was he? “You’re joking, right?”
“Joking? Why would I do something like that?”
“Because what you’re asking of me is a huge invasion of Sam’s privacy.”
“No.” His eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to come off that way but, well, we’re all Sam’s family here, and we just want to know if he’s okay.”
“Did Sam inform you or the entire town that he was coming here today?”
“No, but?—”
“Then you get nothing, Brad.” I narrowed my eyes.
“Look, we’re all concerned about Sam. You’ve just come to live in this town seven months ago. You don’t have the roots we do; we’re all important to each other.”
“And yet, Sam chose not to tell you…” I shook my head. “You’re a sophomaniac, Brad.”
“A…what did you call me?” His cheeks turned red; he was noticeably irritated.
“You believe you’re intelligent when, in fact, you are not. See…” I cut him off when he was about to likely say something that would piss me off. “You came in here in your uniform, thought it would get you answers? But the nurse wouldn’ttell you. So, not a big happy family, then. Thing is, you get to know whatever Sam wants you to know. That’s where this conversation ends. Now, I can let Sam know you came by on behalf of the entire town to find out what’s going on. I assume the town elected you to do this, that they’d support that?”
“You’re a jackass.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, I am. But I’m Sam’s jackass, Brad.”
He stood, his eyes glaring, and I wondered if people really found him intimidating. “I doubt Sam will be happy to find out how you treated me.”
I chuckled. “I think you’ll be surprised how wrong you are.” I stood and stepped closer to him. “And you’ll be surprised what I’ll do to you, if you bother Sam with shit like this when he has a full plate.”
“Did you just threaten me? I’m a police officer.”
“Time for you to go, Brad. Now.”
As if only just realizing he was in a public place, he glanced around. A few people were watching. He didn’t say another word, turned on his heels, and walked away.
I sat down, irritation coursing through my veins. I hated self-entitled pricks. But one thing that dickbag Brad taught me was that if I wanted Natalie and Ben to be allies in my quest to keep Sam alive, I couldn’t go behind his back and tell them. I’d suggest he tell them and get their opinions on it. That was the right thing to do.
