The kid squirmed, trying to break free, but Ryan had been in construction a long time and had a strong grip. With his free hand, he slipped his phone out of its holster and dialed the Whitford Police Department.
“Please don’t call the cops,” the boy pleaded, but Ryan wasn’t screwing around. The Northern Star Lodge had enough woes without some punk kid making it worse.
After the dispatcher promised to send an officer, Ryan marched the kid around the house and told him to sit down. “What’s your name, kid?”
He got no response, but the sullen disrespect the boy was going for didn’t mask the fear on his face. He was probably so afraid he couldn’t talk if he wanted to.
“Suit yourself. I bet whoever shows up to cart your sorry vandalizing ass to jail will know who you are.”
Ten minutes later, a cruiser pulled up the drive and Drew Miller got out. Mitch’s best friend was the police chief now, which boggled Ryan’s mind, and they shook hands before Drew turned his attention to the vandal.
“What’s up, Nick?” The kid shrugged one shoulder, staring at the police chief’s shoes. Drew pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. “I have a list here of all the incidents Rose and Josh have reported for the last few weeks. You know anything about them?”
The one-shoulder lift again, and Ryan had to give him credit for not lying outright, at least. “You know how much those windows cost? Bet your parents are going to love paying for those.”
Nick got pale and finally looked up, locking his gaze on Ryan. “I’m sorry. I’ll pay for the windows. And for the other stuff.”
“Have a lot of money stuffed under your mattress?” Drew asked.
“No. I can work it off. I can mow and split wood and do whatever you need me to. Please don’t make my mom pay. She’s trying to save up for new tires before winter and she just had to spend a bunch of it on school stuff for me and she works really hard....”
Ryan forced himself to keep the stern look going when the kid’s words tapered off. He was obviously choked up, but there were going to be consequences one way or another. “After all the damage you’ve done, why would I want you on the property? I have expensive tools and trucks, and the supplies aren’t cheap.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry you got caught. You didn’t think anybody was home and, if I hadn’t been, you’d have come back and trashed something else when you got bored.”
Drew cleared his throat. “Nick, what’s your mother’s cell number?”
He punched it into his cell phone as the kid mumbled the digits, then stepped away to make the call.
“I’ll work it off,” the kid said again.
Ryan shook his head. “You sneak around, destroying our property, and now you expect me to believe you have a work ethic? And the integrity to stick it out?”
It was too bad, though. The kid was young, but looked fairly strong. And, if nothing else, he could pick up after he, Dill, Matt and Andy Miller—who was Drew’s dad and had been working around the place for a few weeks—were done for the day. Cheaper than paying his guys to pick up tools. But the kid was trouble and he didn’t need any more of that.
Drew walked back over, putting his phone away. “Your mom’s on her way.”
Nick’s shoulders slumped and he stared down at his feet. Ryan decided to leave him to his sulk and turned to Drew. “You have that list?”
Drew handed him the paper and a pen. “He’s never done anything like this before. He’s always been a good kid.”
Ryan went down the list, putting estimated dollar amounts to each incident. He wrote in the cost of the windows at the end, but a quick glance had shown him that only two were damaged. The total wasn’t huge, just a few dollars over nine hundred, but that wasn’t counting the aggravation, either.
He handed the list back to Drew and, with nothing else to do until the kid’s mother showed up, decided on small talk. “How are things going?”
“You probably heard Mallory and I split.” Ryan nodded. “Other than that, everything’s the same old shit. My dad said you run a tight ship over here.”
Ryan let him get away with the swing in subject. Divorces sucked. “Dill and Matt are good guys, but if I didn’t have my thumb on them, they’d be on those damn phones all day.”
“Did you ever find out what happened between Rosie and my old man?”
Rose Davis hadn’t spoken to Andy Miller in almost thirty years and nobody knew why. She’d thrown a fit when Mitch and Josh had hired him to work around the lodge, but something had happened and she’d forgiven him, apparently. For what, none of them knew.
“Nope. I’m not sure if anybody knows but them, and they don’t seem to be telling.”
Drew went on to say something else, but Ryan’s attention turned back to the boy. His name was Nick. He looked to be about sixteen. He was kind of tall, with dark hair and light brown eyes and a nose just like Dean Carpenter’s. Oh, shit.
“Tell me that’s not Lauren’s kid,” he said, interrupting Drew in midsentence.