“What did he do?”
“I don’t care about what he did to me, he?—”
Mike held up his hand, and I went silent immediately. “Icare what he did to you, kid. We’ll start there.”
“He just was there to piss me off. I left everything behind years before I came here. I don’t speak to them.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“He just wanted me to throw the first punch.”
He hummed. “And did you?”
“No. I just wanted him gone. The threat of calling you was enough.”
“Good to know I’m scary.” He laughed. “What does he look like? I can make sure he doesn’t bother you again.”
“I don’t care about that. He also recognized someone else. Do you know a woman named Piper?”
“I know of her, but I’ve never met her.”
“I told him to leave, but he hinted he wanted to go out with her. She was very uninterested, but he doesn’t take ‘no’ very well.”
“And this woman lives above the coffee shop, yes?”
“She does.”
“All right, well, how about I patrol the area a little heavier. Maybe park in the front with a view of the alley.”
“It would be better to park in the back.”
“Well, how am I supposed to keep an eye on the two of you?”
“I-I’m fine, I?—”
“You’re definitely not fine, and I can make sure he doesn’t bother you or her.”
“You don’t have to protect me. I’m the one who knows them. I should handle that myself.”
Mike narrowed his eyes. “That’s not what we do, and you know it.”
“But you barely know me.”
“You’ve been here a decade, and most of that time you were helping everyone out and asking for way too little money to do it.”
“I didn’t want them to pay too much, but they did anyway.”
Mike laughed as if I’d proven a point. “Yeah, yeah. You’re a saint.”
“I’m definitely not.”
“How about we agree to disagree and you tell me what this little troublemaker looks like. Then I’ll come in for a cup of coffee and we’ll call it even.”
I blinked at him. I’d expected more questions. I’d expected him to dig into my past and find every detail.
But I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I knew Mike was a good guy and I’d gotten lucky.
There was no guarantee I’dstaylucky, however.
