ROB AND GARY Trilling sat in Hildebrand’s Sports Bar, having left Lillian to run Chet home. Fido would remain
at the car lot for the time being, under Cindy’s supervision, until Lillian returned to ke ep him company. Technically,
the bar was not in the town limits of Palm Island, but it was the closest restaurant to the car lot. There wasn’t much
of a crowd, making it the perfect place to speak privately about the Trilling family business. The owner had made a
half-assed attempt at creating a real sports venue with random football jerseys on the wall and an old basketball
hoop with LAKERS written across the back of it in gold paint. After visiting some of the famous sports bars in
Manhattan, this place didn’t really excite Rob.
Rob nursed a club soda while his brother started on his second sixteen- ounce beer. Gary finally said, “What did you
think of Cindy?”
“She seems nice.”
“Did you miss the fact that she’s gorgeous? She’s sweet too. She comes over and talks to Pops whenever he’s at the
car lot.”
Rob k ept sipping his soda.
“You should ask her out,” Gary said. “C’mon, I know you get kind of tongue-tied around girls, but seriously, get
over it. You’re a cop and a war hero.”
“I thought I came all this way to help you deal with some guy from Los Angeles trying to buy your car lot. I didn’t
realize it was all an elaborate ploy to get me a date.”
“Believe me, I appreciate you coming out here. I really think you can help me with my problem,” Gary said. “But as
your brother, I’d like to see you happy. Happy and in a relationship. Cindy never even crossed my mind when I
called you. I heard you tell Lillian you’re interested in a girl back in
New York. What’s the story with her?”
Rob shrugged. “I have no idea what’s going to happen, but Juliana is great.”
His eyes shifted to the front door as a man and a woman walked in and sat at the end of the bar. He had already been
ke eping his eye on two men playing pool. There was nothing really unusual about any of them. Exc ept it didn’t
seem like the man and woman were a couple. And they looked pretty hard in the Trilling brothers’ direction.
Something about the newcomers set Rob on edge. Maybe he was finally developing that sixth sense cops were
supposed to have. He’d seen his partner, Michael Bennett, display it a number of times. The guy seemed to have a
sense for when someone was about to cause trouble. Rob didn’t want to ignore his own intuition now.
Gary said, “So what do you think? If you’re not sure about this Juliana, will you ask Cindy out?”
Rob listened to his brother but k ept his eyes on the two people at the end of the bar. Then he said, “I don’t know.”
“I’m not saying you should marry Cindy. Just grab dinner one night.”
Before Rob could answer, one of the pool players backed away from the table until he was only a few feet away
from them. He leaned down like he was surveying a shot and allowed his pool stick to swing up behind him and
strike Gary on the leg.
The man turned around and said, “Watch it.”
Gary said, “You hit me. You watch it.”
Rob stayed silent. He assessed the other pool player. He was a little older than his partner, but both were in good
shape. He noticed the man and the woman at the end of the bar getting up from their stools.
Rob flexed his ankles and hands. He knew what was coming and wanted to loosen up. No one ever really won a bar
fight.
But Rob Trilling didn’t intend to lose either.