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I walked inside.
“Evie’s not here.” There was another person behind the counter. “And you need to leave.”
Her voice drifted out from the aisles. I couldn’t tell where Evie was, but it was near enough to hear her talking.
“Evie,” I shouted. “I’m sorry. About all of it.” Apologizing sucked. Surrendering sucked more.
“Fuck you,” she yelled in response. “Get out of my store.”
God damn it.
I walked out, and headed down the street. As I neared Gage’s, he and Rohde were loading a cooler into the back of a pickup truck, next to a few other coolers and a grill.
“Mr. Rawlings.” Deputy Meier greeted me with an overly friendly grin. “How is the man with a record-breaking number of tickets in a forty-eight-hour period?”
Gage fist bumped him.
They would not get me to react. I hated this place, and now I knew who sent the cops after me.
I played fake all the time to make sales and this was just another instance of needing to do so. “That’s me.”
“I’m gonna run this down to the park,” Rohde said to Gage. “Want me to take out the trash on my way?”
Oh, real subtle and mature, asshole.
“Nah, I got this.” Gage snorted a laugh.
Rohde gave me a wave and a wink, before climbing into the truck and pulling away from the curb.
“So good to run into you again.” Gage was too warm and friendly. “Rumor is, you want to talk to Evie.”
“That’s the rumor huh?”
Gage nodded. “Tell you what. Municipal barbecue is today. Cops will be there. Fire. It’s going to be a blast, and I’m catering. Come help me out, work for me for the day, and I’ll think about putting in a good word with Evie.”
If anyone could get her to listen, it was probably him, and I instantly hated him for it. I also doubted any bit of his offer was sincere. “I call bullshit.”
“Do you have any other options?” Gage asked.
I hated that he was right, but I could charm the pants, skirt, or work boots off anyone, and if this was my way to get people on my side, or at least sympathetic to my cause, so be it. “All right, I’m in.”
11
Gage
When we arrived at the park, I was surprised to see we’d beaten Rohde there.
I pointed to several of the items in my truck. “These can all go by the picnic table,” I said to Sawyer. “We’ll set up in a few.”
“On it.”
That easily? I shouldn’t question his willingness to take orders but, “Like that? No argument?”
“None.”
“Why not?”
Sawyer clenched his jaw. “Because at the end of the day, if you decide to be an anal-retentive asshole and nitpick my work, you won’t have anything to pick at. I may not like this, but I said I’d do the job, I’ll do the fucking job.”
