The anger was so fast it took Brad’s breath away. In seconds he'd left Macy's side and was stalking down the aisle before anyone could stop him.
“Brad!”
He heard Ethan's roar, then the thunder of feet, but Mr. Ryan had obviously seen the rage in his face and was backing toward the door.
“This will not help.” His brother's hand grabbed his arm, and then he felt someone else take the other one.
“We don't want any more trouble with this, Brad.”
He stopped a foot from the lawyer and shook his arms free.
“Get out of this town before I personally escort you, and if you try any more of that bullshit with Macy, I'll rip your head from your shoulders.”
“Y-you can't threaten me. I'll have you arrested.”
Mr. Ryan's eyes weren't quite so smug now.
“Sheriff, this man threatened me, I insist you do something about it.”
“Do you have proof to back these wild allegations up, Mr. Ryan? Because from where I'm standing, which incidentally is right here before you, with most of the town of Howling at my back, I'd say you'd be wrong. I have at least fifty people, possibly a great deal more, who would stand up in court and agree with me.”
Brad was now sandwiched between Jake and Ethan. He battled down his anger by breathing slowly in and out. What the hell was the matter with him? He didn't lose control like that. In fact, he hadn’t done so since the day he left home. He’d vowed then that anger was not the way to settle things.
“I think we all need to take a breath and get back to the issue at hand here, Sheriff, don't you?”
“Sounds an idea to me, Mr. Alexander. How about you, TJ?”
Brad nodded.
“Sorry. I don’t like people shooting at me, or issuing baseless threats to my friends.” It was the best he could come up with, but it seemed to work as Brad watched Mr. Ryan nod quickly.
“I accept your apology, Mr. Gelderman.”
“I d—” Brad grunted as Jake elbowed him in the ribs. “Sure, whatever,” he added.
“Okay, I think we'll shelve further discussion for another night. You lawyers head on back to the Hoot, as I'm sure that's where you are staying.” Cubby moved in front of Brad. “And my advice is you leave town in the morning, and in future you run all visits and correspondence through my office.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” Mr. Ryan spluttered. “We don’t have to have permission to gain access to this town.”
“No, you don’t, but my advice is it will go easier for you if you do.”
The lawyers decided to leave then, after a rumble of agreement swept through the church.
“Okay, folks, let's call it a night, and we’ll schedule another meeting when we have more details. If any of you want to come on board and think you can help in any way, let me know.”
Brad moved to one side with Ethan and Jake as the people started to file out.
“Nice work, brother.”
“The man was a dickhead.”
“Sure, but we’ve both seen plenty of men like him in our lifetime, and I don’t remember you reacting like that.”
“Leave it alone, Ethan.”
Thankfully he did.
“Thanks for looking after our girl.”
