Thenoise in the back settled to a dull roar, but to Curtis’ relief, Travis hadn’tmoved. Then again, Gage was keeping a keen eye on the situation. Ever the cop,that one was.
Forthe next half hour, things seemed relatively normal. No more hateful comments,the boys in the back continued to play pool and Curtis had taken a seat at thebar and was chatting with Sawyer about the resort. Just normal, everyday stuff.And if Curtis had even believed for one second that tensions weren’t high and astorm wasn’t brewing within the thin walls of the bar, he would’ve been kiddinghimself.
Curtisturned slowly when Jimmy Reardon and one of the others at his table stood. Theydidn’t head toward the door as Curtis had hoped. Instead, they were headingtoward the tables in the back. As though synchronized, Curtis stood at the sametime Sawyer did and they moved in behind them.
Justa precaution, nothing more.
Speakingof precaution… “Hey, Mack,” Curtis whispered as he passed the end of the barwhere Mack was wiping down a glass.
“S’up?”Mack asked, his eyebrows hidden in his scraggly hair.
“Callthe Sheriff, would ya?”
Sawyer’shead snapped in his direction, but Curtis didn’t say a word. It was high timethey put an end to this bullshit once and for all. And since Curtis had nointention of any of his boys spending time in jail or the hospital, he wasgoing to make sure he got it taken care of.
Chapter Thirty Two
??
“Istill can’t believe he cancelled. What are the odds?” Ethan asked Beau as theyheaded north. Back toward home.
“Thinkit’s a sign?” Beau asked with a chuckle.
“Hellno. You’re getting that tattoo.”
“Yeah?”
BeforeEthan could respond to Beau’s comment, his cell phone rang. Grabbing it out ofthe cup holder, he barked a short greeting. “Walker.”
Theywere about half an hour outside of Austin, which meant they would hit CoyoteRidge in about forty five minutes. His phone had been blowing up with texts forthe last twenty minutes or so but until now he’d done a good job of ignoringit.
“Wherethe fuck are you?” Zane growled.
“Onthe road,” Ethan said as calmly as he could muster. He wasn’t all that thrilledwith being yelled at. “Why?”
“Youneed to get your ass home.”
“Onthe way. Again,why?” Ethan glanced over at Beau briefly.
“It’sDad.”
Ethansat up straight in his seat, the phone pressed painfully against his ear, everymuscle in his body tensed. “What’s wrong?”
“Well,unless you consider the fact that Mom’s probably gonna kick his ass, nothingserious.”
“Whatthe fuck! You scared the shit out of me, fucker. What’s going on with Dad?”
“Youknow how he’s like almost seventy?”
Ethanwas getting frustrated with Zane. And his storytelling abilities weren’t ratingall that high with him at the moment either. Knowing that talking wasn’t goingto rush the situation any, Ethan kept his mouth shut.
“Well,Trav had to bail his ass out of jail this morning.”
“What?”Ethan nearly dropped his phone.
“What’swrong?” Beau asked, reaching over to touch Ethan’s arm.
“Hellif I know,” Ethan told him as he hit the speaker button so Beau could possiblyhelp him translate. “You’re on speaker. Beau’s here.”
