read your report on the tussle that happened at Dive. You didn’t bring any of those men in. You gave them warnings. They got in an actual fight. You brought Zep in the other day for jaywalking.”
She had her reasons for that. “Well, I could have given him a ticket, but we all know he won’t pay it.”
Armie was quiet for a moment. “I’ve never talked to you about this, but it might be time because I think we’re going to need him. I know this sounds silly to you, but there will be some folks out here who get real jumpy if they think there’s a rougarou around.”
She groaned. “Come on. They can’t honestly think there’s a werewolf running around the bayou.”
“Most of them won’t, but there will be some. Especially a couple of the more isolated families. I would expect we’ll need to go out and check on them. I think it’s also time we had a person on staff who can deal with some of our animal issues. We’ve got some construction going on, and that means we’ll have problems. I know I don’t particularly want to deal with them.”
A sinking feeling hit the pit of her stomach. “Are you telling me you want to hire Zep Guidry?”
“I’m asking you if you would mind.”
This was what got her about Armie. Her boss was always considerate. He cared if she would be uncomfortable having Zep around. Which was precisely why she would lie to him. She didn’t want to work with Zep. Being around him was the very definition of uncomfortable since she didn’t want to want to be around him. But she did. She wasn’t going to explain that to Armie since she couldn’t honestly explain it to herself. It wasn’t logical. “Of course not. Let him handle the animal stuff.”
“Well, he’ll be working with us to handle animal-related calls,” Armie corrected. “We still have to respond to any and all calls. We’ll ask him to join us if we think he can help. I’ve talked to Remy about it and he’s agreed to let Zep go if we get a call and he’s working at the restaurant. He can always shift around his staff.”
“Like Zep works. He flirts with the women and hopes they leave a big tip.” She usually sat in the bar at Guidry’s since he worked the main dining room. She would avoid the place altogether, but there weren’t a ton of places to eat and Guidry’s was excellent. She certainly didn’t go to watch him smile at every female in town.
And it really was every female. The man didn’t discriminate. Old, young, fat, thin, gorgeous, or homely—they were all charmed by Zep Guidry and his ridiculously bright smile.
“He’s not that bad,” Armie said. “He’s good at playing up his bad reputation, but I don’t think he’s earned it lately.”
“He went to prison, Armie.” She admitted the real reason she worried Zep was a problem. She’d learned about his trouble in Arizona after she’d come to town. It hadn’t stopped her from making the mistake of spending the night with him, but it had added to her guilt.
“He was young and not so smart. Has he ever talked to you about it?”
“I read his sheet.” She’d been so sick when she’d read his storied history with law enforcement.
“You can read someone’s record and not understand the history behind it.”
“He wrote a bunch of hot checks. And they weren’t his checks.”
“Yes, he did something bad and he served a couple of months in jail in Arizona. I think it was actually six weeks with good behavior. I know he sometimes gets in fights or has too much beer or doesn’t pay his tickets, but did you ask why he didn’t pay those tickets?”
“I don’t have to. I’m sure he spent his money on beer.”
“Up until a couple of months ago, he was still helping his sister pay her medical bills from his nephew’s birth. I only know that because Lila’s sister is married to Zep’s brother. The family’s had a rough couple of years, especially on the monetary front. Zep’s put almost everything he’s made into paying off those bills. Just remember that when you deal with him. He’s not so bad.”
She knew he cared about his family. She didn’t like to think about him being selfless. It was far easier to view him the way he seemed to want the world to—as a careless, charming player who ambled through life, but Armie’s revelations