Ethan laughed out loud. He should be used to Joel’s appetite by now. He wasn’t.
Connor: You skip breakfast?
Joel: Is that a joke? If I skip breakfast, I wither away to nothing.
Ethan shook his head, heading back to headquarters. The drone had just returned to him when he stepped into the building. Connor was on one side of the room, while Ryan stood by the kitchen counter, making coffee. Neither of them looked happy.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked, closing the distance between him and Ryan.
He turned, hip leaning against the counter. “We ran into Maggie this afternoon.”
Ethan’s frown deepened, his gaze shifting between Ryan and Connor, who’d joined them at the counter. “And?”
“And the sheriff’s son was holding her in place and trying to intimidate her,” Connor finished.
Anger. It hit him so fucking hard it felt like a physical blow. “What the hell do you mean, he was holding her in place?”
“He had a hold of her arm,” Ryan said. “Apparently, she overheard him and some other guy talking about not wanting us here.”
For a second, Ethan didn’t move, but he allowed the fury to run through his veins like wildfire. Then he moved to theelectronics table, set the drone beside the laptop, and stormed out.
“Ethan,” Connor called. “Where are you going?”
“I’m done for the day. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
In his truck, he drove fast. So fast that it took him a fraction of the time it should have to get to the station.
He didn’t care that he didn’t have an appointment with Ward, or that he could get into trouble for what he was doing. He stormed straight into the station, ignoring an elderly woman’s protests from the front desk as he crashed into Ward’s office.
The older man jolted where he sat behind his desk, squeezing his donut so hard that jelly spilled out onto his shirt.
“Ethan!” Ward shot to his feet, slamming his laptop closed before grabbing tissues from his desk and dabbing his shirt. “What the hell are you doing?”
Ethan closed the distance between them and slammed his palms to the desk. “I understand you have a problem with what my team and I are doing. I even get how you must feel threatened. A little disrespected, maybe. It’s okay because you can feel whatever the hell you want. What’snotokay, is your son spewing shit about us and assaulting anyone who overhears.”
Ward spluttered. “My son would never?—”
“He did.Today. And if my guys weren’t there, I don’t know how far it would have gone.”
Ward’s cheeks turned red. “You think you can storm in here, intomyoffice, throwing accusations my way? I’m the sheriff.”
“So do your damn job and keep this community safe—and watch your son.”
Ethan swung around.
“Hey! Come back here, boy!”
Ethan didn’t pause. He stalked out of the station and into the parking lot, slamming the door of his truck closed behind him. But he didn’t go back to base or to his home.
This town was so small that everyone knew where everyone else lived. And he knew exactly where Polly Mack’s house was. He was going to see Maggie.
9
Maggie’s gaze traced the outline of her midnight-black dress in her bedroom mirror. It was revealing. Probably the most revealing dress she’d worn in her sixteen years.
She touched the low neckline, running her fingertips over the seam.
She felt…beautiful. Something she so rarely felt. Despite Ethan’s reassurance that she was.
