“I am.”
“We’ve had multiple complaints from your neighbors that there is excessive noise coming from your house that is disturbing the peace and quiet in the area,” the officer explained.
Aaron tipped his head to the side. “During the day? People can complain about noise in the middle of the day?”
“They sure can. When it’s excessive,” the lanky, bearded officer replied.
Aaron looked over his shoulder at Sasha. “Were you doing something excessively loud while we were gone?”
“I don’t think so,” he said with a shrug. “Nothing that would have woke the neighbors.”
The first officer put his hand on the doorjamb. “I sure hope you have all the proper permits for the work you’re doing here. I would hate to have the city come out and shut you down.”
Suspicion set in. That sounded much more like a threat than a warning. Something was not right here. “We have all the permits.” Aaron folded his arms across his chest. “Who exactly called about the noise? I would love to apologize and let them know we’ll keep it down moving forward?”
“We aren’t at liberty to give out names, Mr. Cole. How many people do you have working here?” The officer took off his sunglasses and tried to see around Aaron, who quickly blocked the doorway with his body the best he could.
“How do you know my name? I don’t remember giving you my name.”
Officer Big Mouth glanced back at Officer Lanky, who answered for him. “The person who made the report gave us your name.”
Unlikely, since he had yet to introduce himself to any of the neighbors. This had his dad and sister written all over it. “So, am I getting some kind of ticket or citation for being ‘too loud,’ according to this anonymous neighbor who knows my name?”
“No citation. Just a warning,” Officer Lanky said. “Of course, if we have to come out again, we might need to shut this down.”
“‘Shut this down’? You mean the renovations on the house that I own? You’re going to stop me from remodeling my own house because someone says that one man—” he pointed back at Sasha “—disrupted the entire neighborhood in the middle of the afternoon? I’m not sure you can do that, Officer. I think that my lawyers would have a thing or two to say about that.”
Officer Big Mouth slipped his sunglasses back on. “Well, we might not be able to shut you down, but like I said, I sure hope you have all your permits in place, because the inspectors sure can.”
“Bring them on down. I have all the permits. If that’s all, I think we’re done here.” He shut the door and pressed his back to it. “Can you believe that?”
“What did you do to make the police hate you so much? Rob a bank or something?” Sasha asked.
It was so embarrassing to admit the truth. He didn’t want Sasha to think he came from some evil family that would sic the police on their son or brother because he was nice to Bonnie. “I didn’t rob a bank. I just made some powerful people unhappy.”
“You and Bonnie have a lot in common, huh? That poor girl got run out of a coffee shop yesterday by a pack of angry women accusing her of all kinds of wild things. I didn’t realize this town was full of so many cutthroat individuals.”
Cutthroat was a good way to describe the Coles these days. Thank goodness Bonnie wasn’t here for the shakedown by the police. She would have thought she was headed for jail in the near future for sure. He’d have to warn her to be careful not to go over the speed limit in town. Something told him they wouldn’t let her off with a warning if his family truly had gotten to the police.
He’d tried talking to his dad. That had been miserably unsuccessful. His chat with Lauren had accomplished nothing. There was only one Cole left for him to try to reason with. He needed to corner his mother. She was the last hope for stopping this madness.
AARON PULLED INTO his parents’ horseshoe-shaped driveway and parked his car right in front of the door. It was before five o’clock, meaning there was no way his father was home yet. He rarely left the office before six.
This house always made Aaron smile. They had moved in when he was in high school, and his mother had been very involved in the design. He remembered her having blueprints spread open on the dining room table and listening in on her conversations with the architect. That may have been when he developed his love for house design.
The arched front door of their gorgeous Mediterranean-style house was surrounded by windows. He peered inside and tried the door. Thankfully, it was unlocked. He pushed it open and stepped into the massive two-story foyer.
“Mom?” he called out. The house was too huge to go room to room looking for her.
“Aaron?” Her voice came from the living room, which was unmatched in size and volume. They could host a party for the whole town in it and no one would feel crowded. The high ceilings were accented with wood beams. That was something Aaron would love to do in his house.
His mom was relaxing on the cream-colored chaise lounge that sat in front of the glass french doors that looked out to the patio and swimming pool. She lifted off it and sashayed over to him with the grace of the ballerina she’d been before she got married and had children. She greeted him with a hug. At least someone in this family still loved him.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to you.”
“Well, it’s about time,” she said, pulling back. Her hands rested on his shoulders and gave him a little shake. “I have only left you a million messages that were never returned.”
“I know. I apologize. I guess I just didn’t want to hear you tell me that
