Page 15 of Wandering in Love
She’s giving both of us a way out, an escape route where bloodshed won’t be necessary. She’s a damn smart girl, but I want this fucker to bleed. How dare he come into my town, asking about my girl. Eva and I will have words about this later.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m going to have to ask you to leave, Mr. Rodriguez.”
“Aren’t small towns supposed to be full of helpful people?”
I smile, but it’s anything but friendly. “Small towns are helpful to the people who live there. Outsiders, not so much.” I walk around him and open the door for him. “We protect our own. No one here will tell you anything about her, but I’ll let her know you stopped by. She’ll call you if she wants to talk to you.”
“She stole my car.”
I pause for a minute, coming up with a plan.
“Alright.” I close the door and go back into my office, picking up the phone and calling my parents’ house.
“Rojas Ranch,” Momma answers.
“Hey. Is Eva there?” I know my tone gives me away; she can tell there’s something wrong.
“I think so. Her car is out front. Let me see if I can find her.”
“No,” I snap. Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly before speaking again. “I don’t need to speak to her. Tell her she needs to clean out the car and have Will drive it to my office. The owner is here to collect the car she borrowed.”
“Alright.” She drags out the word a bit. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine. I’ll be by later.”
“Okay. Bye, Sheriff.”
I hang up the phone, my eyes still drilling into the man standing directly beyond it.
What the hell is this? She stole his car? I don’t find that hard to believe, actually. She’s always been a wild card.
“The car will be here shortly,” I inform him without moving from my desk.
Every muscle in my body is tense, demanding I go after Eva and confront her, but I can’t. Not yet.
Turning back to my computer, I pretend to work, though I get nothing done. Mr. Rodriguez takes a seat in the waiting area, his knee bouncing as he messes around on his phone.
An hour later, Will comes storming into the office, slamming the door open. He’s radiating rage like I’ve rarely seen from him. I stand up as he comes into my office and closes the door, staring out the glass at the man sitting in the waiting room.
“What is it, Will?” I come to stand next to him, arms crossed over my chest.
“She’s furious,” he bites out. “This fucker cheated on her.”
A growl rumbles in my chest, my lip lifting.
“She’s scared of something, but won’t tell me what.”
“She told him her last name was Rojas. I told him she’s my wife.”
Will turns to me with wide eyes.
“Shit.” He relaxes a bit, shaking his head.
“Keys?”
Will drops them into my waiting palm, and I open the door.
“Mister Rodriguez.”