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Ry silently agreed with her as he followed her to the back of the bar, down the hallway, past the small office and stockroom.Nothing looked out of place.Roc sat on the floor near the open back door with a bloody towel around his hand.

“Did you call the paramedics?”Ry asked Linda.

“Don’t need them,” Roc said.

Ry shook his head as knelt next to the older man.“Roc, how many times do I have to tell you not to confront these punks?”

Usually, Felton’s Creek was pretty quiet, but lately, there’d been a rash of petty thefts and attempted break-ins.Nothing major until today.Roc’s place had been a target before, and he refused to be intimidated.

“Hell, Ry, I cut myself on the knife I was holding.Those punks had nothing on me.”

Relief poured through Ry.At least the punks were still unarmed.“How many were there?”

“Two.I’m sure they pissed their pants when they saw my knife.”Roc gestured to the butcher knife lying on the floor.

“I bet.”Ry unwrapped Roc’s hand to look at the damage.The knife had slashed into his palm, a flesh wound, but it might need a couple of stitches.“Linda, get me the first aid kit.”The waitress marched away.“Can you describe them to me?”

“Adult punks, I’d say in their twenties, both over six feet tall.They had on jeans, black caps, and handkerchiefs covering their mouths.”

Different description than he’d heard from half a dozen other people.Interesting.Something wasn’t adding up here.Linda arrived with the first aid kit.Ry made quick work of patching up Roc’s hand.“Go see the doctor.I’ve done a patch job, but he needs to make sure you’re good.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Ry helped Roc up off the floor, and the man swayed.“Never mind.I’ll take you there myself.”

Before Roc could protest, Ry had him bundled in his SUV.Linda promised to stay until Roc returned.After dropping Roc off at the doctor’s office, Ry drove around town, checking everything out.

None of this made any sense.Were they local adults or kids that looked older?And if so, why now?School wouldn’t be out for another month or so.Usually, trouble started by the end of summer when the kids got bored.

After pulling his SUV into his parking spot at the sheriff’s office, Ry made his way inside the building.He waved to Betty, their receptionist/dispatcher, and went into his office, sat at his desk, and began filling out reports.

Josh, a deputy fresh out of the academy, poked his head around the doorframe.“How bad?”

“Flesh wound.Drove Roc over to Doc’s.But I don’t get it.”Ry typed on his keyboard.He hated filling out reports.“Why now?”

“Did the guys get anything?”

“No.Roc flashed his knife, and they took off.”

Josh sat down in the chair in front of Ry’s desk.“Are we sure these are locals?”

“No.”That was another problem.Could these be people from a neighboring town determined to create havoc or something else?“All we can do is keep doing our reports and watching for any trends.So far, no one has gotten seriously hurt.”

“And that’s a good thing,” Josh commented before rising and leaving the office.

The phone rang.“Sheriff McKade.”

“Hi, Sheriff.”

Katie’s sweet voice made Ry smile, and his cock hardened as he remembered their weekend together.“Hi, sweet Katie, what can I do for you?”

“Umm, well.”She let out a loud breath.“I need you to drive by Gran’s house.”

His spine stiffened, and his gut tightened.“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing super bad, but I promised Gran I’d call, so would you please come by?I really don’t like talking about this over the phone.”

“On my way.”Ry slammed the receiver down and sprang out of his chair.