Brent toppled under Hank’s weight and broke the coffee table as he landed on it, fighting Hank, his eyes wild with fury. Hank had been a wrestling team champion and was using his skills to pin the slightly larger man to the floor. He held him steady and reached behind him for cuffs that weren’t there and then grinned at Travis. The lawman was deeply ingrained in Hank. He instead patted down the asshole’s pockets and waistband, looking for weapons and then shook his head negatively at Travis.
The intruder flopped and huffed, blowing air through his nostrils like an angry bull but finally stilled.
Rubbing his jaw, Travis squatted down into Brent’s line of sight. “You done, dickhead?”
Brent struggled some more, anger and exertion turning his face red. “Sons of bitches. What the fuck are you doing here?”
Hank growled in Brent’s ear. “Not that it’s any of your business, dickhead, but let me make some introductions so you know who you’re dealing with. You just struck a game warden and you’ve been subdued by the sheriff of Divine County, whose house you’ve broken into.”
“He hit me first!”
“After you threatened to do harm with a loaded firearm and broke through a locked door.”
The fight went out of the behemoth and he went limp. “Shit.”
Hank finally released him after making certain Veronica was safe. The bastard proved he had a brain as he stayed where he’d been put, facedown on the floor.
Veronica returned to the living room dressed head to foot, Hank’s work belt in her trembling hands. “What are you doing here, Brent?” Veronica asked in a confrontational tone as she surveyed the damage. Travis had to smile. The girl he’d reconnected with at the wedding would’ve stayed back and let them do the talking. “Should I call 911, Hank?”
Hank removed his handcuffs from his belt and said, “I’ll call it in, in a minute, Nika. Right now, I think we need to have a little chat with…Brent Haygard, I presume?”
Brent turned flinty eyes on Hank but spoke in a subdued voice. “I came to talk to Veronica.”
Travis said, “You came to talk? Who the hell do you think you are, busting into her home?”
Brent snarled him. “This ain’t her home. Her home is in Billings, Montana, with me!”
Hank put the cuffs on him as he said, “That is up for debate, Haygard. You’ve violated trespassing laws, broken into a dwelling, damaged property and threatened further damage, and disturbed the peace. I’d be happy to take you into Divine and put you in a cell. You gonna settle down so we can talk like adults?”
“Can I at least get up off the broken furniture? I got splinters.”
Hank lifted him into a sitting position and Travis curled his lip as he watched Haygard pout over a splinter in his finger. The guy was big, and the way he sat displayed his fat belly hanging over his jeans. He might have size on his side but he looked like the most exercise he got was playing video games and terrorizing defenseless women. In another ten years what muscle he had would probably run to fat.
Hank removed his phone from his pocket, quickly swiped at the screen and said, “Hey, Wyatt. I’ve got an intruder at the house. No, Veronica’s fine, although she may want to file harassment charges. Call Simon out, too. Thanks. I’ll be in in the morning to deal with him.”
Hank seated Veronica at the dining room table and then pulled another chair from the table, turned it and sat with his arms resting on the back, placing himself squarely between Haygard and their woman. Travis could feel the anger radiating from Hank as he stared at their unwelcome visitor.
“Why are you here?”
“Veronica won’t take my calls or answer my e-mails. I’m here to take her home.”
“She broke up with you several weeks ago and asked you to move out.” He turned to Veronica and she nodded in confirmation. “She made it clear she wants you gone from her life. You were supposed to pack and be gone from her apartment.”
“That’s not the way I see it.”
Hank turned to Veronica. “Who pays for the apartment lease in Billings?”
Veronica stared at Haygard, emotions flitting across her face. Embarrassment. Disgust. Regret. “I do. I pay the gas and other utilities, too. I can produce proof. Brent, I made it clear we were finished before I left and asked you to move out. And I did reply to your texts and returned your call to ask you to move out again. I even had the landlord call you to tell you to move out but you never returned his call.”
Hank turned back to Haygard. “How did you know where Veronica was?”
Haygard frowned. “Some lady I met at the coffee shop, Tabitha-something, told me.” Turning to Veronica, he growled, “I drove all the way from Montana to bring you home, Chubbs. I deserve another chance. That other gal didn’t mean nothin’.”