"Just reporting something to Dawson that he's been following."
Sterling slid the phone face down.
Buddy glanced over his shoulder. “He looks nervous.”
“You think anyone I call the cops on looks nervous,” Sterling said. "But why don't we focus on our conversation, and Dawson will deal with his situation when he gets here." Sterling didn't really mean that, but he didn't want to clue Doyle in on anything.
"Okay," Buddy said. “Doyle, who else knows Sterling was requested for this contract?”
“Just me and my boss, so far. But if you choose to accept, my entire team, and of course the client, will be informed.”
Sterling turned his bottle with two fingers. “The mission packet had my name. That had to be created by someone. Who?”
“I did that.”
“Convenient," Sterling said, his gaze still locked on the man with the hat and the hoodie.
The door swung open, and Dawson entered in jeans, boots, and a navy T-shirt. Jasper two steps behind him. Dawson scanned the patio first, then the bar. Once he found who he was looking for, he marched right toward him.
The chatter in the bar lowered, but not too much. However, everyone turned and watched.
“I didn’t do anything,” the man said, loud enough now for the words to carry. “I came in for a beer. What the hell?”
"Let's take this outside, nice and civil," Dawson said.
Thirty seconds later, the door shut behind them.
The bar erupted into whispers. Calusa Cove loved a wedding, a funeral, a good sandwich, and a public removal with equal enthusiasm.
Doyle picked up his beer. “What the heck was that about?”
"Dawson wanted him for questioning regarding something," Sterling said.
"Do you know what?" Doyle asked.
"Not the details." Sterling shifted. His mind had wandered to the parking lot, wondering what Dawson was saying to the man in the hoodie. Sterling wished he were outside listening. Too many questions. Too many things that didn't make sense. And Doyle was still right in the middle of it, even though he wasn't.
"So, what do you think about the job?" Doyle asked. "Are you interested at all?"
Thing was, if Doyle hadn’t rolled into town and everything between the robbery to this point in time hadn't occurred, the job would still be a hard no. It wasn't that he didn't like working, because he loved his job. But he didn't want to work with Doyle again. Ever.
But there were things in his brain regarding the corridor that could never get out. Those things that Doyle had referenced that had never made it to paper hadn't been put in an after-action report for a reason.
And this was exactly why Juniper had been assigned to him.
Dawson stepped back inside and made his way to the patio door. He stopped at Sterling's table and stared down at him. “Got a minute?”
"Sure."
"Outside?"
"Both of us?" Buddy asked.
Dawson held up one hand. “I just need Sterling for now.”
"I feel so unloved." Buddy lifted his beer.
"I'll be right back." Sterling followed Dawson through the pub and out into the warm night.
