Page 75 of Rogue Wave

That damn reward again. I’d never hated having a reward more than I did for this incident.

Hazel glanced at me for a moment before turning back to Rourke—her silent way of telling me to let her handle this.

I would, but only for a minute.

Her fisted hands moved to her hips to mimic his stance, and I knew she was going to lay into him.

“I didn’t tell my dad shit. I told him the exact same thing I told you, which was that I told the cops everything I knew. I’m not holding back anything, but even if I was, I wouldn’t tell you or my dad.”

“Your dad stopped by and told me you were dating someone new and to leave you alone, but he also mentioned that you told the cops everything, and he said if I didn’t leave you alone, he’d tell them about everything from when we dated.”

Well, shit. There was a lot to take in there.

Someone elbowed me lightly in the arm, and I turned to see Dougie next to me, eyebrows raised. He’d heard the same thing I did and was equally curious.

He stood there holding three drinks, not saying a word—likely waiting for my cue to intervene.

“Wait. Let’s go back a second,” Hazel’s voice broke in. “Why did my dad stop by? He…but…you don’t even know each other.”

“That’s not the point,” Rourke said, stepping closer to her, and that was when I’d had enough.

I took a step in their direction, but Dougie actually spoke first.

“Drink delivery for the pretty ladies,” he said with a huge smile plastered to his face as he walked right in front of Rourke and handed one drink to Hazel and another to Vivi.

He turned around, taking his stance of blocking—and protecting—Vivi in the process, while also keeping his eyes on Rourke and me.

“Mr. Wesson, I need you to step back,” I told him, my voice civil but my body wound tight, poised to strike if he gave me reason.

At hearing his name, he spun toward me, frustration etched across his features and rapidly hardening into fury.

The tension coiled inside me, ready to react if this went south.

He glared at me. “I was just talking to her. You can’t prevent me from doing that. Free speech and all that.”

“Free speech doesn’t apply in this case…and also not if it involves harassing anyone,” I replied.

“Everything okay, Sheriff?” Ryan said beside me, holding my other drink that Dougie either couldn’t carry or had left before it was ready.

Ryan was one of the bartenders but also a manager, so his comment may have sounded casual, but was also intended to assess the situation.

“Rourke”—Hazel let out a frustrated sigh—“I don’t know what lies my dad told you, but I didn’t tell him anything, nor did I tell him to come to your place.”

Clearly sensing he wanted to interrupt, she held up her hand and rolled right into it. “I’m dating Hank, so even if I did have something else I remembered about the case, I wouldn’t tell you or my dad. I would just tell Hank. So, please give up on this stupid mission of getting me to tell you a secret I don’t have. And please leave me alone.”

He huffed out an agitated breath, but I took another step closer to Hazel before he could say anything else.

“You heard the lady,” I said.

“If you’re not gonna buy anything, I’m gonna ask you to leave,” Ryan added. “This isn’t the library. You can’t just chill here without purchasing something.”

Wesson wasn’t happy, but he also clearly didn’t want to make the situation worse and potentially get himself arrested or kicked out of the bar.

“Her dad is full of shit, so don’t believe anything he has to say,” he said to me before turning and walking out.

“You good?” Ryan asked, handing me the other drink.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I replied.