Daniel’s blood ran hot in his veins. Lord, I don’t want to have to fight this man. But I will, if it means keeping someone else from getting hurt.
Another man stepped up behind Hawk. Younger, stronger, with wavy black hair and dangerous eyes. Trent something. Trent was much newer to the team, but seemingly cut from the same cloth as Hawk.
Hawk glanced at Trent and smirked. Two against one. Three, if Rita decided to jump in the fray.
Lord, I could really use some backup.
Hawk stepped forward. His knuckles cracked. Daniel raised his hands in a fighting stance and tensed his body to deflect a blow.
“Excuse me, Mr. Reginald Hawkins!” Olivia appeared behind him. Her voice was strong, professional and crisp enough to cut glass. “Isn’t it true you actually asked Brian Leslie to keep your work off the books to help you avoid child support?”
Daniel’s jaw nearly dropped. Something told him that nobody—not even his grandmother—ever dared to call Hawk “Reginald.” Yet here Olivia was. A tiny, slender little spitfire of a woman, staring down a man three times her weight, who could probably level her in a single blow. Didn’t she realize how dangerous the situation was? He bent his head toward her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“My job.” Olivia’s eyes glanced at Daniel, but she was making no attempt to lower her voice. “Did you know Hawk and some of the others were complicit in what Brian was up to?”
“No,” he admitted. “Who told you that?”
“Some of the ones who weren’t in on it. It’s amazing what people will tell a sympathetic journalist when you know how to ask.”
True. In all the years he’d worked in war zones he’d seen plenty of reporters risk their lives to simply ask questions. He’d accompanied them behind enemy lines and into the dens of warlords. A good reporter could get to the bottom of situations that seemed impenetrable. But he’d never felt his heart lurch quite the same way with any of them as it did at the sight of Olivia staring down Hawk armed only with a notepad and pen. Daniel’s arm slid around her shoulders. His fingers tapped a Morse code warning on her bare arm, exactly as he’d tapped it out on the table when they were talking in the diner. Olivia froze. For a moment, he hoped she’d recognize his attempt to subtly warn her of danger and run back to the safety of the house. Instead, she just patted his hand.
Hawk looked Olivia over and muttered a swearword that made every muscle in Daniel’s body tense with the urge to deck him in the jaw. “This your girlfriend, Danny boy?”
Olivia stretched her slender hand toward Hawk. He ignored the attempted handshake. “Olivia Brant, Torchlight News. You and your friends were in the courtroom just before Brian Leslie was killed in the parking garage, and you all looked angry enough to kill when the charges were dropped.”
She nodded at Trent. “In fact, you were so upset, you had to be dragged off by police. It’s Trent, right? No one I spoke to seems to even know your last name, as apparently all of the work you did for Brian was off the books. Wouldn’t you all agree that since you gained the benefit of being paid under the table by Mr. Leslie, it’s going to make it harder to determine just how much Leslie Construction actually owes you?”
A pen clicked in her hand, and somehow it managed to sound every bit as loud as the sound of the safety of a gun. Rita’s face paled. Hawk swore under his breath. Both of them looked jittery enough to explode.
Only Trent stood calm. He eyed her for a long moment. Then he chuckled. “You are some gutsy piece of work, Ms. Brant. You know that? If you’re not careful, one of these days you’re gonna get yourself into some real trouble.” Trent turned and sauntered toward a truck. Rita hesitated, then followed after him.
Olivia glanced at Hawk. “How about you? Any comment?” She glanced down at her notepad “I already have confirmation from two other people here that you actually pushed Brian to, and I quote, ‘cheat those government pigs any way he could.’ Certainly sounds as if you were supportive, if not complicit, in his actions, at least until you realized you were going to lose out.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” Hawk’s eyes were so wide they were practically bloodshot. “So what if I worked a few jobs off the books or told Brian some little ways he could shave off taxes? Brian was our guy. He was supposed to be on our side and he cheated us!”
Olivia’s pen moved across the page.
“Stop writing things down!” Hawk shouted so hard his voice nearly cracked. “Or I will punch you in your pretty little mouth.”
“Except for the fact that with a rap sheet as thick and full as yours, you wouldn’t want to risk the fallout for beating up a reporter.” Her bright green eyes flashed with determination. That woman was fearless. “Don’t even pretend for one second that everyone else up here would have your back. They just came here to party, not to watch you commit a felony.”
Hawk turned around and only now seemed to notice his backup was gone.
Scattered raindrops hit Olivia’s notepad, smudging the ink. Daniel pulled her closer into his side. He leaned his head toward hers. “Looks as if you’ve got some good stuff there. But now I’d feel a whole lot better if you’d go into the house and make sure Sarah’s okay. This is a lousy place and time for you to go around trying to be a reporter.”
She bristled and slipped out from under his arm. “I am a reporter.”
“But you’re not just a reporter, are you? You’re also a...” His voice faded as he couldn’t find the right word to finish the sentence.
“I’m a what, Daniel?”
You’re a person I feel responsible for. You’re someone I don’t want to see get hurt. “You’re a guest in my home and on my property. Please at least go check on Sarah and make sure she’s safe.”
She stepped back. A pair of taillights illuminated her face for a second. Her mouth opened as if to argue. Then she closed it again. “Fine.”
She started back toward the house.
“Hey, Hawk!” Trent hopped up on the tailgate of a truck. His hands cupped around his mouth. “A bunch of people are going to head back to that campsite and motel place. Come on, man. It’s got clowns. This place is the pits!”
“Yeah sure. I’m in,” Hawk called. “Just as soon as I teach this guy a lesson.”
Hawk turned, raised his fist and charged toward Daniel.