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Ridge smiled easily, hoping to calm Hank’s frayed nerves just a little. “You’re trouble, Hank. I just want to know howmuch.”
Hank glanced around, panicked, in every direction before stepping back slowly, his hand inching towards the weapon hidden within his trench coat. “You need to start making sense, buddy.”
“I’m a friend of Raven’s. I’m... well... I’m a little like her bodyguard,” he said, his eyes conveying a solid conviction and seriousness of purpose.
“You got nofuckin’idea what you’re into, man.”
“Hey! You wanna talk like that, stranger, you’ll do it outside, you hear?” An old timer had reached his limit and stood to confront Hank.
“I got this one, Billy,” said Ridge. “He’s with me. But hedoesneed to watch his mouth.”
Hank glanced from Ridge to Billy to the windows to the door and back again, the very portrait of intolerable stress and confusion. “I came here...” he explained slowly, “to see Raven.”
“And she’ll be right out,” said Cheryl from the kitchen door. “In the meantime, sit down, drink your coffee, and hope no one else takes exception to your filthy mouth.” Hank felt the disapproving eyes of the other patrons, but sat back on his stool next to Ridge and took a few deep breaths.
“Did anyone follow you?” Ridge asked.
“Man, I dunno,” he said. “They knew where I was staying, I don’t know how.”
“You need to be more careful. Take some precautions.”
Hank sniggered. “Oh, and who are you, man, some kinda security expert or somethin’?” He gulped some coffee, more out of necessity than preference. “You don’t know shit.”
It had been some time since Ridge’s skills had been questioned, but he swallowed the anger. “I’m just saying, if they’re tracking your whereabouts, there are things you can do about that.”
“Hey, man, whatever,” he said, annoyingly casual. “Where’s Raven? I need to see her.”
Ridge’s fists balled under the countertop. “So you can put some more bruises on her?”
Hank’s eyes flared madly. “There ain’t no guilt you can bring to me,” he spelled out, “that I ain’t already brought to myself. I hate myself for doing that to her, man.Hate,” he repeated, his fist hitting his chest in emphasis.
“Then why not clear the fuck out of here,” Ridge hissed under his breath, “and never come back, huh? Why not take your sorry ass back to Illinois and face what’s coming to you like a man?” Had they been anywhere else, Ridge would have been yelling in Hank’s face. His anger began to consume him, his fighting reflexes responding to the surge of rage.Say one thing wrong and I’ll break you into pieces.
“Ah, the men of my life,” Raven quipped, smiling with forced artifice. “My alpha and my omega. Did someone get you coffee, oh brother of mine?” They were silent as the twin doors of the kitchen flapped behind her.
Relief washed across Hank’s face. “Hey, Raven,” he said, his slapdash disrespect creating another jolt of fuming anger in Ridge’s gut. “I did like you said, I came.”
“You did,” she confirmed, her tone matter-of-fact.
“And then this guy says I don’t belong here, or some such, and I should head home and face the music,” he muttered, jerking an accusing thumb at Ridge.
“Just angry about what you did, Hank. Any man would be,” said Ridge.
Raven’s expression betrayed her shock. “Ridge,please.”
“I hadn’t expected you here,” her protector continued, “until this morning when Raven told me she’d invited you. It just makes me uneasy,” he confessed.
“Well, it ain’t making me feel like dancing, either,” Raven assured them. “But we need to focus on getting you to visit with our friend, Hank.”
“I’ll call him,” said Ridge, reaching for his phone.
“Already did,” said Raven, bringing Ridge up short. “He’s in Corpus Christi for a little longer, but he can meet us tomorrow night, after hours, he said.”
“And what am I supposed to do until then?” Hank whined. Raven glanced at Ridge for an answer.
“Shut up, stay out of sight at my place, and don’t talk to anyone,” said Ridge firmly.
Hank nodded, resigned, but Raven gave Ridge another critical look and said, “Do youhaveto? Beniceto him,please.”
