He frowned. “No, what?”

“It isn’t going to end well for you.” I let the words hang. “The law is coming. It’s simply running late.”

He shot to his feet, the stool scraping loudly across the floor, and deliberately slammed one shoulder into mine. Not hard enough to knock me down. Just enough to intimidate.

Just enough to stay barely inside the line he believed protected him. “Watch yourself,” he said. The humor was gone from his voice.

At that exact moment, the front door opened, and Sheriff Harper walked in. It almost looked as though someone had called him — or as though he’d been waiting nearby for the confrontation to reach exactly this point.

He never even glanced at Travis. He looked directly at me. “Ms. Turner, I think it’d be best if you left the premises. We don’t want any trouble.”