“No, sir,” Ethan responded to Griff’s question. He could almost feel the tension rising in Laurel. Clearly, she believed her life was in danger and this incident was aimed at her.
Out of the corner of Griff’s eye, he saw Jonas Schneider barreling toward them with his gaze fixated on the teens. The event manager’s hands were fisted at his sides and his cheeks were blood red. Everything about his body language said he was about to go after the teens. Griff needed to stop Jonas before he did something he would regret.
Griff shot a warning look at the teens.
“Do not move,” he warned. Then, he turned toward the storm coming right at him that was Jonas. Griff purposely blocked Jonas’s line of sight to the teens. They’d done something incredibly stupid, but based on their reaction so far, Griff believed the boys were unaware of the consequences of their actions and truly didn’t mean to injure anyone.
“Hold on there a minute, Jonas,” Griff said, holding his arms out.
Jonas’s gaze was practically boring a hole through Griff to get to the teens. “I’ll handle this one,” Jonas said. The man was coming at those teens like a bull that saw red.
“You have every right to speak to those boys when I’m finished with them,” Griff said, literally catching the man in time to redirect them both with a quick change in momentum in another direction. Anger rolled off Jonas in palpable waves.
Griff glanced over at Laurel who was sitting down, legs folded while watching over the teens. The two made eye contact for the briefest of moments, before she resumed scanning the faces of the gathering crowd.
He immediately realized she was looking for someone. It had happened before she’d bolted, when she fell over the stroller. Griff really hoped that when the dust settled, Laurel would trust him enough to sit down and have a conversation with him about what was putting that fear in her eyes. But right now, his sole focus had to be on keeping Jonas from taking out his fury on those teens.
“I appreciate what you’re doing here, Griff. But I’m guessing, based on what I’ve been told, that those teens are responsible for putting people’s lives in danger,” Jonas said.
“I’m guessing no one was seriously injured,” Griff said.
“No. Not technically, unless you count my insurance that’s going to go up and the damage to the confidence good people have in me and the trust they put in me to keep them safe,” Jonas said as he started pacing back and forth. His hands were secured on his waistband. Every few steps he tugged his trousers up.
“No one was injured. I know this whole incident probably scared a lot of folks, and I have every intention of putting out a statement that says the festival is in no way at fault. I will further say that a ride was tampered with by juveniles and that all safety standards have been met and exceeded for rides this year, just like in years past,” Griff promised. He exhaled a little bit more in the knowledge that no one was hurt. There was a huge sense of relief with the revelation. “Based on what the kids have said so far, which I fully intend to investigate and check out, they acted stupid. Like teens are known to do from time to time. Which in no way excuses their behavior, but it does explain how this kind of thing happened. They will be punished for the stupidity. Rest assured, as scared as those kids are right now, they’ll never do anything like this ever again.”
“You bet they won’t. Both with be banned for life from this festival. I don’t ever want to see either one of their faces here again,” Jonas said.
“Fair enough,” Griff said. “No one would blame you for taking action to protect your festival, your customers, and your employees.”
“That’s exactly what I intend to do,” Jonas said; a little bit of his fury was starting to ease. It was like their conversation was offering a slow release valve.
Jonas issued a sharp sigh.
“I’ll do my best to make sure your insurance doesn’t go up,” Griff stated.
“I appreciate it, Sheriff. I really do,” Jonas said. “But we both know this kind of thing can ruin a festival forever. It could dry up business and send me into bankruptcy.”
“We won’t let that happen,” Griff stated.
Jonas took another lap before shaking out his hands. “Okay,” he said.
“Good. Now, let me go do my job while you go make sure Deputy Rustler has arrived on scene. If not, see to it no one touches anything so we can see about lifting fingerprints until he gets there, or I return. Preserve the area for me, okay?” Griff fished his cell out of his pocket before looking up. “I’d also like the space where they pulled the pin cordoned off.”
Jonas was nodding his head in agreement. At least Griff seemed to be getting through to the man.
“I’ll circle back with you once I get more details from the boys,” Griff stated. “You have my word.”
“Good enough,” Jonas said after a thoughtful pause.
They shook hands before heading in opposite directions. Griff texted Deputy Rustler to let him know what was coming. His deputy had already reached out to Griff to let him know he was at the sight of the incident.
By the time Griff returned to the teens, they had their IDs out and ready for him. Griff figured Laurel had something to do with that. They were also a whole lot calmer and seemed to have been able to dry their tears.
“I swear we didn’t know this would happen,” Alex said with wide eyes. “We didn’t think anyone could get hurt.”
Griff had dealt with enough young people to realize it was sometimes difficult for them to consider all the possible consequences ahead of time.
“He just walked right past,” Ethan said. “He sounded like Greer’s cousin.”
“What’s Greer’s last name?” Griff asked.
“Barber,” Ethan offered.
“Do you have a phone number for him?” Griff asked, thinking they might be able to clear this up with a phone call and find the person responsible.
Ethan shook his head. “I have Greer’s number in my contacts,” Ethan supplied, motioning toward the phone in front of him that was sitting on the pavement.
“I want you to call him,” Griff stated. He didn’t need to look at Laurel to realize she hoped this could be explained by a teenage prank. There was also a whole lot of doubt in her eyes. A quick glance in her direction and he saw the tension in her shoulders, the defiance in her eyes, and the sheer bravery being displayed at her sticking around instead of bolting like she most likely wanted to do.
“What should I say?” Ethan asked.
“I want you to ask if he knows where his cousin is. Make up an excuse as to why you’re asking,” Griff instructed.
“Okay,” Ethan said.
Griff hoped it would be this easy to clear up who was responsible for urging the teens to remove the pin. They’d said it sounded like their friend’s cousin, and if their friend and his cousin were older, Griff could see how they would do most anything to look cool in Greer’s eyes. It didn’t mean they were off the hook. They were both in trouble, but the fact they were cooperating would go a long way toward him recommending leniency versus asking the judge to make an example out of them.
Ethan pulled up Greer’s contact and then tapped the screen. He started to put the cell to his ear and then seemed to think better of it when he brought it down and hit the speaker. His eyes flashed at Griff.
“Call him how you normally do and try not to sound suspicious,” Griff stated.
Ethan nodded.
“What’s up, dude?” a male voice stated.
“Hey, Greer,” Ethan said. “I was just calling…I was pretty sure that I just saw your cousin at the festival, but he walked by so fast I couldn’t be a hundred percent. Are you guys here? Cuz, I was thinking maybe we could hook up.”
Griff was impressed with Ethan’s composure and thought the kid was handling himself quite well under the pressure. Then again, it was probably the pressure that had him digging deep to pull this one out.
“Nah, Robbie couldn’t possibly be at the festival because he’s sitting right next to…” Greer released a loud groan. The background noise indicated he was playing some kind of video game and had just lost. “You jerk. How did you pull that off?” There was a beat of silence before Greer returned to the call in progress.
The theory this was someone familiar to them just went down the toilet. Another flash of fear passed behind Laurel’s eyes when she brought her gaze to Griff’s. She immediately looked away as if she didn’t want to give away her reaction to the news.
“Okay. Cool. I guess it wasn’t him then,” Ethan said.
“Wait. Hold on. How long are you planning on sticking around?” Greer asked.
“Not that much longer. It’s getting boring. Don’t even worry about trying to show up. By the time you get here, we’ll be on our way home anyway,” Ethan said. “I just thought if you guys were already here, we could hang out. It’s getting lame.”
“We’ll be here all day if you want to swing by,” Greer said.
Griff didn’t want to say they would probably still be sitting on that exact same spot on the couch three or four hours later playing those same video games, but it was true.
“Okay. Cool. Talk to you later.” Ethan ended the call. He looked up at Griff and said, “I could have sworn it was Robbie.”
“There were a lot of people around. I’m sure you just heard what you wanted to,” Griff said.
“Are we going to jail?” Alex asked. He’d been intensely working the hem of his shirt in between the thumb and forefinger in his left hand, a nervous tick.
“You did something stupid and criminal. People could have died. This is serious and you should be scared right now. There are a couple of things working in your favor. Number one, you are cooperating. Number two, no one was injured. This is beyond a prank and I want you both to understand the seriousness of what could have happened. Since it didn’t, you are going to get a break and likely be charged with criminal mischief,” Griff said. “Don’t ever let me see you doing anything like this ever again. And, between you and me, if that’s the kind of cousin your friend has, you’d be smart to steer clear of him too.”
“Yes, sir,” Ethan said as he nodded.
“Sit tight while I call my deputy and have him come over to process you both. It’ll be up to him whether or not he lets you go or writes you up, but I will have a conversation with him and let him know how cooperative you were. We’ll go from there,” Griff said. He wanted to know a little more about them, so he could pass over the information to his deputy. Plus, he wanted more information to make a determination for himself as to whether or not these young people truly deserved leniency. “What kind of grades do you get in school?”
“As and Bs,” Alex offered almost immediately. He was dressed in a rock t-shirt and jeans. He was tall and lanky, not yet having grown into his frame.
“I used to get mostly Bs,” Ethan admitted.
“What grade are you in?” Griff asked.
“I’m at the community college,” Ethan said. “Trying to finish up my basics so I can transfer to a four-year program.”
“I’m guessing you’re a freshman,” Griff stated.
“Yes, sir. And I work hard for the Bs I get.”
Both of the teens had been nothing but respectful since Griff had called them out. When he’d first seen the expressions on their faces moments after the pin pulling incident, they’d been truly mortified.
Based on his assessment, these teens deserved a break. He pulled out his cell and communicated the message to his deputy to go as easy as possible. The teens were also going to have to apologize to Jonas, and he was going to be a tough sell on giving these kids a break. Maybe they would work off the damage they’d caused. The festival was open for a couple more days. Griff might be able to arrange for the teens to make restitution by pushing brooms or emptying trash.
“I’m not making any promises here, but would the two of you be able to come back tomorrow and the next day to work if I was able to work something out with the event manager?” Griff asked.
“Yes, sir,” Ethan said. “You tell us when to be here and we’ll show.”
“Okay,” Griff stated. He could work with them, considering their attitudes were in the right place. People made mistakes. Young, impressionable people were high on the list of mistake-makers. Their brains weren’t fully developed yet and that wasn’t helping with the impulsive bad decisions. He’d learned that attitude made all the difference. He’d had true juvenile delinquents sitting across the room from him. He could generally tell by looking at their posture how the discussion was going to go. They had angry eyes and usually folded their arms over their chest with their chin up like they were daring Griff to throw a punch. Those meetings didn’t tend to go well. When kids felt like the whole world had abandoned them, they had nothing to lose and cooperating with a sheriff was the last thing on their mind. They usually came across like they had a chip on their shoulders the size of a Buick and said as few words as possible.
The teens’ eyes were wide open with fear, which told Griff they weren’t used to getting into trouble. They came across as genuine and scared. The fact they cared about getting good grades in school painted a picture that they wanted to take care of their responsibilities and most likely had some pride in their work.
He’d come across far too many broken teens with dead eyes and a bad attitude in his career. Ethan and Alex didn’t fit into that category. These two truly did come across as naïve enough to follow someone’s dare on the spur of the moment, especially since they truly believed they knew the person. Getting caught was probably the best thing that would happen to them, because it would scare them into learning the lesson.
Deputy Rustler responded with a text, saying he would take care of the situation and was on his way over. One glance at Laurel caused all Griff’s protective instincts to surface. Granted, she’d been doing an amazing job of taking care of herself, but he needed to know who put the fear in her eyes and could only hope she would tell him.
Rustler arrived as Griff asked the teens to stand.
“Take care of these guys for me,” Griff said to Rustler after giving his statement. And then he turned to Laurel. “Are you ready to get out of here?”
“Yes,” she responded, and there was something very concerning in her tone of voice.
Laurel followed Griff to his truck in silence as she searched every face looking for one of Timothy’s colleagues. She had no idea if James or Ricky had found her. Or if they would, now that she’d become news. With everyone having cell phones and social media at their fingertips, it was getting harder and harder to disappear into the shadows.
Most of her place was packed up in a suitcase and a couple of small bags. It hadn’t taken long and it was a shame her life had been reduced to such a small imprint. Tears welled in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. What good would crying do anyway? It wouldn’t change her circumstances or the fact she needed to make her exit without saying goodbye to Mrs. Brubaker.
That was the worst part, having to slink out of town like a common criminal, without saying goodbye to the few people she cared about. Leaving Marissa and the twins had been one of the most difficult decisions to make. Not being able to tell her best friend that she was going had gutted her. No goodbye.
It was for Marissa’s benefit, and Laurel would do the same all over again to keep her friend out of it. Marissa was too nice to say, but she’d been on the receiving end of snide remarks around town for her association with Laurel.
Plus, Marissa would have done her best to talk Laurel out of going. Leaving had been difficult enough. There’d been no reason to drag it out when there was nothing Marissa could have done to change Laurel’s mind.
Shoulders back, Laurel walked to the passenger side of the truck. Griff seemed to respect her privacy, not asking what was going through her mind. He’d been good about it, considering the fact he had to have loads of questions by now. Having someone paid to make keen observations probably hadn’t been the best choice for a date today.
Except that Griff was special.
Laurel really had hoped the dare issued to the teens would have come from someone they knew. It would be so simple if that was the case, and Laurel might actually consider staying in town another couple of days. There was an unfamiliar pull toward Griff, like magnet to steel, and nothing like her relationships in the past. Then again, this was nothing more than two random people who’d met, experienced off-the-charts chemistry, and then life forced them to go separate ways.
It happened. Right? There’d be others like this in the future. Right? There’d be a time when she could put down roots again. Right?
She climbed into the cab of the truck, letting Griff open and shut the door for her. The idea of leaving Gunner hit harder than expected. Suck it up.
The ride home was silent and there was something she couldn’t quite put her finger on that had been building since the moment she clicked her seatbelt on. Griff pulled up beside the cabin and, she realized, didn’t cut off the engine.
“I would like to come inside, have a cup of coffee, and talk,” he finally said after what seemed like thoughtful consideration. “The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable or feel like I’m making demands. You have every right to leave things right here. But this, whatever this is that seems to be happening between us, would feel unfinished. At least to me, and it might be my ego talking here, but I believe you feel the same.”
He kept his hand on the wheel and his gaze steadfast on the stretch of lake in front of him.
“You’re not wrong, Griff. But it’s complicated. I’m complicated,” she admitted and felt warmth crawl up her neck and then focus on her cheeks, heating them six shades past red.
“I can’t do complicated,” he said so quickly she believed him. “But I need honesty, or it won’t work.”
A few moments of silence passed before either spoke again.
“I like you, Laurel. That doesn’t happen a whole lot to me,” he said. “And I think you like me too. It would be a shame to waste whatever it is brewing between us. I’m not eighteen anymore and I know the qualities I’m looking for. No one ticks the boxes quite like you. So, I’m asking you to give me tonight. Not your whole life. Not even tomorrow. Give me this evening so we can finish our date properly. And then you can finish packing and move on.”
Laurel gasped.
Then she realized, of course, he’d seen the state of her bathroom. Plus, she’d accidentally left the door to her bedroom open; he didn’t seem like the type to snoop around but he’d walked right past the room twice.
“You’re trouble, Griff Quinn,” she said.
“I sure hope so,” was all he said in response.
Now, she had to make a choice. Let him in and risk more of her heart, or tell him to go, and quite possibly never feel like this with another human being for the rest of her life.