“Thank you.” I turned away from creepy, obsessive Chief Ass Burn and started walking back to my bookstore as dignified as I could while holding a thrashing Ghost in her cat carrier and a pile of books in my other arm. Ghost was hissing and meowing. I think she sensed Chief Ass Burn’s basic disgustingness.

“And I bet you want to apologize to me.” He hurried around and stood in front of me, stomach out. North Sound wasn’t crowded this morning, but there were people milling about, fishermen in the bay, bikers riding through on their way to the lake.

I laughed at him. After what I learned last night, I really didn’t want to be dealing with this shark, so it made me, paradoxically, laugh loudly. “You have to be kidding.”

“You owe me an apology. I apologized, now you apologize and we’ll call a truce.”

“What would I need to apologize for?”

He flushed with anger, his sneaky pig eyes narrowing. “Undermining my authority with the other islanders. Not obeying me when I told you to bring your ticket in to me when your taillight was fixed so I could reduce it. Telling Marco to defy me. Back talk from you when I had to run a Breathalyzer on you because you were swaying in your lane. Not bringing that ticket to me so I could reduce it. Reporting on me to my superior. Calling me Chief Ass Burn when that is not my name. You are unfriendly and rude and disobedient . . .” He paused and coughed. “Disobedient to the law.”

“Disobedient?” I wanted to choke. “I do not have to obey you. I don’t have to be friendly to you. I can say whatever I want because we have something here called free speech.”

“And there you go again, Evie,” he said, taking a step closer, his stomach coming straight at me.

I put Ghost, who was cat-screeching now, right between us. She hissed at Chief Ass Burn. “Don’t try to intimidate me, because I don’t intimidate. Now step back.” I said “step back” loudly.

His mouth tightened, then inexplicably he smiled. Which was so creepy it made my whole body tense up.

“You want the truth, Evie? I think we could be friends, if you lose some of your attitude and stop trying to challenge me. When are you free for dinner? We’ll go to dinner, talk this out, come to an agreement. You haven’t even taken the opportunity to get to know me.”

“I like my attitude and I’m not changing it. You feel challenged because you would feel challenged by any woman who doesn’t praise you or stroke your ego. I am never going to dinner with you, and I don’t want to get to know you any better.” I turned and walked around him toward my pretty bookstore.

“Evie, stop!” he ordered in his police chief’s voice.

I kept walking.