“I am not giving one cent to your…your…bitch!”
The town gasped.
Josie leaned close. “This is getting good.”
The arguments ceased as Bob Ragen stood so fast he knocked the chair out from beneath his dirty jeans and mud crusted boots. He shouted, gaining the attention of the room.
“For Christ’s sake, no one here cares about the goddamned poodle or shitty zoo!”
“Shih Tzu!” Mrs. Greentree corrected.
Bob didn’t care. “Nolan, get your shit together and control this rabble. I have real business with this council.”
Not often I agreed with Bob Ragen, but the asshole had it right tonight. Unfortunately, Josie nudged my arm.
“Promise me you’ll behave?” she whispered.
“No.”
“Just this once?”
She must have expected a show. Not that Bob Ragen ever spouted off without inciting half the damned town.
He didn’t wait for an invitation to the podium. Bob claimed the overhead and unwadded a dirty paper from his pocket. Councilman Grossi unwrinkled the old paper and attempted to put it on the projector without dusting the ink off. The properties on the survey belonged to Bob Ragen’s father and Matthias Davis.
“Here we go.” Josie nibbled on a fingernail.
“Time’s come to make decisions here,” Bob pushed a greasy finger on the projector, patting the dotted line dividing his property from Josie’s. “This has gone on for long enough.”
For the first time, Nolan and I agreed. He waved Bob off. “It’s a civil matter. We can’t do anything. Take it up with Matthias.”
“Can’t. He’s still laid up, nearly burned to a crisp.”
A harsh whisper rallied the meeting. Their gazes shifted to us. Josie pretended not to notice.
Bob continued. “I don’t know what Matt Davis and his family are playing at, welcoming an arsonist back into their home…”
Christ. Now the townsfolk started talking. It’d take three batches of cookies tonight before Josie unstressed enough to even consider going to sleep.
Delta’s sharp shush silenced the gossip, but that just gave Bob Ragen the floor, uninterrupted. That asshole could do more damage with an incoherent sentence than the entire council and their illustrious mayor could accomplish in a year.
“This is a survey of my property. Look here. You can see it. These lines?” Bob slammed the projector. “My lot. Matthias Davis has siphoned off three foot of my land for the past fifty years, and I want to know what will be done about it.”
Josie sighed. So did Nolan. He gestured to the councilmen. None of them felt like dealing with the issue and decided now was the best time to check email on their phones.
“I need some goddamned answers,” Bob spat. “Every damn month I’m getting the run-around. Don’t care if she is the town sweetheart or if everyone feels bad cause her delinquent boyfriend got pissed off and burned the place down.”
I tensed. Nolan grinned. “Let’s keep the discussion relevant?”
“Facts are facts. I know this town don’t like holding to them, but this is my survey and it shows my land. I want compensation for the years I was infringed on.”
Josie crossed her arms. Delta coughed something uncouth.
“The building isn’t there anymore, Bob.” Nolan glanced to Josie, his gaze lingering a moment too long. “I think you owe someone else in this meeting a debt of gratitude for solving your problem.”
“We’ll light a candle in his honor,” Josie muttered.
Bob wasn’t done, especially now that somehow he held the attention of the town for more than just a fleeting second of disgust. He balled a fist and slammed the projector.
“I want these lines investigated. Revised. I’ll push it to the Zoning Hearing Board if I got to.”
Josie finally stood. “Bob, I’ll work with you. Later. Okay?”
“That ain’t good enough this time.” Bob pointed at the council. “When are we gonna make her take care of that hellhole property?”
“Hellhole?” Josie sounded hurt. “It’s vacant now.”
“Yeah, a nuisance property. Got rules on the books to prevent that sort of mess from happening.”
Now the tides turned. A few people grumbled at Bob to sit down, and even his son-in-law urged him to take his seat. Bob didn’t move, but he stumbled, good and drunk for the meeting.
“Ordinances, gentleman.” Bob called to the council. “Someone’s gotta maintain that land. The grass is over three inches tall.”
“By whose measurement?” Delta asked. Her uncle told her to quiet down.
“Mine,” Bob said. “I can measure three inches.”
Delta’s grin earned another murmur through the crowd. “With the ruler in your pants, I’d wager.”
Nolan pounded the gavel. “You promise to mow the grass if it gets high, Josie?”
She played the game. “Sure, before it gets to a nuisance level.”
“It already is!” Bob was losing the crowd, but his voice crackled and spit. His face burned red. “An unkempt property is a breeding place for vermin. Think the Davis’s ever cared?”
Delta boo’ed. A few others joined in.
Chief Craig sighed. “Bob, sit down.”
“Goddamn it, no! That lot is next to mine. I need to get my own damn customers, and I won’t let them get chased off by weeds and rats.”
Nolan frowned. “There are no rats on her property.”
Bob sneered. “No. But we got plenty of coons.”
A moment of shocked silence passed over the meeting.
Adrenaline surged through me.
I hadn’t murdered yet, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t. Josie grabbed my arm before the meeting turned into a massacre. Fortunately, the rest of the town sprung to action. They all stood, shouted at Bob, and effectively silenced him before his racist ass spouted off again.
Josie stared, as if Bob had hauled off and smacked her—or at least her dark skin. Chief Craig ordered his officer to open the back doors, and Benjamin Ducacas and Councilman Grossi grabbed Bob’s collar and dragged him from the meeting.
Benjamin called after him. “Sleep it off, Bob. You’re goddamned drunk.”
The town clapped as the door shut, but Josie stiffened. Despite the apologies from the council and the support of the town, she stood. She stormed after Bob, slamming the door in a rotten fury that silenced the hushed whispers.
I followed, smirking at the gossiping townsfolk. “And you thought I was trouble.”
Nolan pounded the gavel as the new accusations and murmurs let loose. Chief Craig called after me as the door shut.
“Bob gets home in one piece tonight.”
I couldn’t guarantee that, but it might have been the first time the town would turn a blind eye to any black eyes or lost teeth found in a puddle.
Josie had caught Bob by the time I reached her side, but the conversation shifted the instant he spotted me.
“Hell no.” He pointed a shaking finger in my direction. “I’m not getting fucked over by him again!”
“You got something to say to her?” I edged close. Josie leapt before me. “Why don’t you and I have a go? I’ll teach you how to treat a lady.”
“Maddox, stop! I’m talking to him.”
“Don’t think you’ll like what he says.”
She ignored me. “Bob, I know our families had their differences, but we’ve always tried to be kind. My Granddad even chipped in when your father died and you didn’t have enough for the funeral.”
Bob spat on the ground. “I’m not going to be intimidated by him again.”
“Intimidated?” Josie ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t understand?”
Bob pointed at me.
Shit.
“You sent your asshole boyfriend after me once. Gonna do it again?”
“What?” Josie shook her head. “I never…what are you talking about?”
“Last year. That bastard there tossed me against the goddamned wall of my store and broke half my windows.”
Son of a bitch.
Josie’s mouth dropped open.
“I was trying to buy your goddamned property, to settle this fucking dispute once and for all. Then this asshole rammed my head into the wall.”
I should have shut him up, but Josie sputtered, confused. Bob grunted.
“Don’t try to play dumb. You sent him to intimidate me into paying more money, and it damn well worked.”
So much for him not telling a soul like he fucking promised in exchange for leaving his jaw unbroken. Not like I wanted to waste my energy on the town drunk, but I was hired to send a message. Christ, the money I got for the job was spent before I earned it anyway.
Josie stepped away from both me and Bob. “Maddox threatened you?”
Bob sneered, staggering as whatever he drank finally caught up to him. “Cracked a rib. Shoulda sent him the medical bill, but he got his time in jail. Asshole.” He flipped me off. “Keep your damn property. Ain’t giving you or your family a dime.”
“We never asked for—”
“Christ, had I known Matthias would have blown through the insurance money and been strapped to a hospital bed, I’d have lit the match years ago.”
Holy shit.
Every muscle in my body rent, and I tasted bile. Bob tripped over his feet, stalking away.