Page 28 of The Last Grift
And he was law enforcement, couldn’t forget that.
FOURTEEN
GABRIEL
Wednesday
“Don’t mind Casey,”Elton said after he’d climbed slowly out of his truck again when they were back at his house. “He’s good people.”
Gabriel ignored the comment, instead realizing he wanted to find the older man a massage therapist, a set of portable stairs for his truck, that cane Ranger Man mentioned—anything to make moving his body easier for him.
Not your problem, Chance.
Gabriel normally managed to keep his concern for others hidden—even from himself. A confidence man?—
I prefer conartist,Chance.
—manipulated people’s inherent trust in humanity. Con artists do not trust others. But dammit, Gabriel already trusted Elton.
There is something about Elton, yes. I never did figure it out.
After Elton’s arrival at the docks, Lundin had shot Gabriel yet another stern look and strode off with the dog trottingby his side. Gabe stared after him. Fucking catnip. No matter a person’s gender, Gabe was always drawn to a good stern smolder. He shook his head, willing the attraction to evaporate. He could not be distracted from the real reason he was on Heartstone.
Why did he think this was going to be difficult to focus on if Ranger Man was hanging around?
No accounting for taste, Chance. He has a beard.
Lundin and Bowie had then walked all the way to the end of the dock, where the most seaworthy of the sailboats was moored, and climbed aboard.
“The actual fuck,” Gabe had whispered. It wasn’t possible. The universe could not be this outrageous. And yet.
The boat had rocked back and forth under their weight as they’d disappeared inside it. Gabriel had smothered the stab of jealousy at the fact thatthe Barbarawas in much better shape thanThe Golden Ticket.
Were they—Gabe winced at the thought—neighbors? Now, that was a fucking ironic thought. He fucking hoped fucking not but also suspected that, as was often the case, his hope was fucked. And moody Ranger Lundin might be a stickler for rules, but he could stick his request to see the title up his ass. Beingpossibleneighbors would not change Gabe’s allergic reaction to following rules.
Gabe wasn’t on Heartstone to be liked. He was there to stay alive.
“Ranger Lundin seems to have a problem with me,” Gabriel commented as he followed Elton to his front door. He’d stewed about the encounter for the entire three-minute drive back to the mobile home. He may not have been on the island to be liked, but he also wasn’t there to be harassed.
Elton shook his head while twisting his key in the lock. “Casey is a good person, feels protective of our little communityhere. He grew up on Heartstone and both the people and the environment are important to him.”
And, once again, Gabe was reminded he was an outsider. He’d been an outsider all his life. Until recently, that status hadn’t bothered him.
He shoved away the uncomfortable thought that he might want to belong.
Casey Lundin was dedicated to his job, that was clear. And good at it. But then Gabe remembered the trespassing violation and was annoyed all over again. Re-annoyed.
Asshole.
“Why is Lundin a ranger and not a cop?” Gabriel asked. “He sure seems to like enforcing rules.”
The front door swung open under Elton’s touch, and they stepped inside. Gabriel shrugged out of his coat and got a whiff of something unpleasant, abruptly aware of just how badly he needed that shower.
“You’d have to ask Casey that,” Elton replied as he hung his coat up on a wooden three-prong rack behind the door.
Great.
Not gonna happen.
