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He looked at his friend and noticed the direction of his gaze. He followed it to find the no-neck crew Freddy had brought with him had stood and were moving in their direction.
“I should have known when you brought me to this redneck joint, we’d end up in a fight.”
He stood beside Max, facing the threesome heading their way.
Max sighed as one of the idiots told them that they were about to get their asses kicked.
“And I was trying to act like a leader of the community. This isn’t going to look good in the papers.”
* * *
The ringingof Anna’s phone brought her out of a deep sleep. She immediately turned to snuggle closer to Max, thinking to ignore it. When she found the sheets cold, she remembered Max wasn’t sleeping beside her. It was odd how easily she’d gotten used to having him there, since she rarely liked to have her lovers spend the night.
She rolled over to her nightstand and grabbed the phone. “Hello?”
“Ms. Dewinter?”
“This is she.”
“This is Deputy Frank. I apologize for bothering you so late, ma’am.”
Turning on the light, she noticed it was just after one a.m. “Was there a problem at the store?”
“No.” It sounded like there was a lot of shouting in the background. The sound of scuffling feet followed, and the shouting died down to a low rumble. “Sorry about that, Ms. Dewinter, but Mr. Chandler has been a bit loud since we brought him in.”
For a second, her mind didn’t work. It had to be the sleep or maybe the conversation. “Are you telling me you arrested Max?”
“Yes.” She heard some papers shuffling. “Apparently, he started a fight at Ruby’s with the help of a Mr. Dupree of Honolulu, Hawaii.”
“I did not start that fight, dammit!” Max yelled in the background.
“Shut up and sit down, Mr. Chandler, or I’ll have to cuff you again.”
Anna had heard enough. “Deputy Frank, I’ll be right down.”
“Thank you, ma’am. With his parents out of town, I didn’t know who to call and his friend, that Mr. Dupree, said to call you.”
After hanging up, she rushed around to throw on some clothes. She practically ran down the stairs, almost tripping down the last few. Sitting on the last step, she retrieved her tennis shoes and shoved them on her feet. On her way out the door, she grabbed her purse and keys off the hallway table, then hurried to get to her car. As she sped down her street, her mind raced from one thought to another.
Max had been arrested. Her Max. The guy who rarely went over the speed limit, except while driving her car, and never broke the law.Now, he not only broke the law but got arrested.For a bar fight.Jesus, what the hell happened to cause him to get in a fight?
By the time she reached the station, a whole five minutes later, she had worked herself into a proper lather. When she got out of her car, she slammed the door with a little more force than needed. The sound echoed across the almost empty parking lot.
She entered the foyer and even before she opened the second set of doors, she heard Max yelling. And cussing. Never-wear-a-crooked-tie, always-do-the-right-thing Max was using the F-word, and rather loudly.
When Deputy Frank saw her, his relief was palpable. In his late forties, Milo Frank had been a fixture of the police department since he’d graduated from high school. Low-keyed, laid-back, and extremely sweet, it took a lot to get the man flustered. Apparently, Max had succeeded.
“And another thing, Frank, you are going to regret even thinking of arresting me. Frank? Are you listening to me?”
The deputy shook his head and sighed. “I’m glad to see you, Ms. Dewinter. Although, he got a mite upset when he found out I called you.”
Max did not like being ignored. “He’s not paying any attention to me, dammit.”
“Has he been like that since he arrived?”
“Heck, before that. He cussed a blue streak in the car on the way here.”
“Oh, dear.”
