“Uh-huh.” Cooper had a calm countenance. He’d spent years serving in the military and understood about out-of-control emotions. “What’s your name?”
The man balked. “Why does that matter?”
“Because I asked.” Cooper wasn’t the type to take guff from anybody. “When you purchased your ticket at the base of the mountain, you agreed to our rules ... and that means I’m in charge up here. If I want to know your name, then you have to provide it. If not, you can sit here and wait for me to call local law enforcement and I’ll let them sort everything out. I guarantee you’re not going to like it if that happens, though, because then charges might be forthcoming.”
The man cursed under his breath, although Hannah could make out the angry words, and then sighed. “Rob Linus.”
“Hello, Rob.” Cooper kept his smile in place even though Hannah was certain he was anything but happy. “Are you up here alone today, or were you with a group?”
“I came with some friends,” Rob replied. “They’ve already headed down. I needed to use the facilities and then I was going to follow, but this guy distracted me. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“And how did he distract you?”
“He ... started saying stupid things.”
“I’m going to need more information than that.”
“Well, maybe I don’t want to give you more information than that,” Rob hissed. “Maybe I don’t think this is any of your business. Maybe you should step aside and let us work out our own problems.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t really work that way up here,” Cooper countered. “As head of security, I’m basically in charge of everything. That means you do what I say.”
Hannah made a face and shook her head. She’d seen men flex their testosterone before, and that seemed to be exactly what Cooper was doing. Not only that, he seemed to be enjoying it. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him act this way before.
“They got in a fight out of nowhere,” Justin Finch volunteered. He was one of the gunfighting re-enactors and he had his full costume on, although he’d unbuttoned his shirt and looked to be ready to call it a day. “I was heading to the brothel to change before taking off when I saw it happen.”
“You didn’t see anything,” the other man snapped. “You stuck your nose in a situation that didn’t involve you and now you’re trying to seem important ... even though you’re not.”
Frustration, fast and hard, flashed across Cooper’s face. He took the job at Casper Creek because he was sick of petty fights when he left the military. He didn’t sign up for this and was completely annoyed by the entire thing. “What’s your name?” He focused on the second man.
“Fred Rogers,” the man replied, not missing a beat.
“Okay, Fred ... .”
Hannah cleared her throat to get Cooper’s attention. He didn’t look happy, but he feigned patience all the same. “Do you have something you want to add to this conversation, Hannah?”
She nodded. “His name isn’t Fred Rogers.”
The man shifted from one foot to the other, annoyance obvious. “How do you know?”
“How do you know?” Cooper queried, genuinely curious.
“Fred Rogers is Mr. Rogers’ real name. You know, from that television show with the puppets and being nice to your neighbors. There’s no way his real name is Fred Rogers.”
Cooper wrinkled his nose and pinned the man with a dark look. “Is that your name?”
“I just told you it was.”
“I’m with Hannah,” Tyler said, moving up behind the man in question and quickly slipping his hand into his back pocket so he could withdraw a wallet.
“Hey!” The man turned, his fist cocked, but Cooper stopped him before he could throw the punch.
“Don’t even think about it,” Cooper hissed, his anger on full display. “I’ll end your life before I let you throw that punch. If you think I’m not capable, or that I’m blowing smoke, think again.”
Hannah was taken aback. Cooper’s reaction seemed completely out of character. She was uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken and when she opened her mouth to suggest that maybe they should simply separate the men and send them down the chairlift one at a time, a hint of movement between the buildings across the street caught her attention.
There, a man who appeared to be in his fifties looked positively gleeful as he wiggled his hips and did a little dance. He was watching the show with rapt attention, and he looked way too happy.
“His name is Trent Gibson,” Tyler volunteered upon reading the man’s license. “There’s nothing else of note in here.” He folded the wallet and handed it back to the man. “Was that so hard?”
Hannah’s mind was working at a fantastic rate. Between the dancing man in the alley, the testosterone that appeared to be flying in every direction, and the undercurrent of fury flowing through the street, she was suddenly uncomfortable ... and she felt completely outnumbered because she was the only woman present.
“At the risk of poking my nose in, maybe we should just break this up and send one of them down the lift right now and keep the other in the saloon for thirty minutes,” Hannah suggested in a low voice.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Cooper countered. “There’s nothing to stop the first individual from waiting in the parking lot to jump the second guy when he finally gets down there.”
“Except we have people down there,” Hannah offered reasonably. “We can call down, have whoever is running the ticket booth watch for the first guy and message us when he’s gone. I mean ... that’s probably the safest thing, right? Nobody has broken any laws up here.”
For a moment, Cooper looked as if he was going to argue. Then common sense prevailed and he nodded. “That’s actually a good idea.” He rubbed his chin. “There’s no sense in keeping
