The diner went silent. Until the slap hit—a violent crack that echoed like a gunshot.
Travis Boit, the town’s notorious bully, had just smashed seventy-eight-year-old Marta across the face, sending her sliding into a chair. Cups rattled, a child stifled a scream, and coffee mixed with fear in the air. Everyone froze. No one dared move. Travis thrived on that silence.
He smirked as Marta struggled to her feet. “I told you to hurry with the coffee. When I talk, you obey,” he growled.
The bell over the door chimed. Javier Hale stepped inside, exhausted from a night on the road, Titan, his Belgian Malinois, moving with lethal precision at his side. The dog sensed it instantly. A low growl vibrated from his chest.
Javier’s mother, holding her cheek, looked up, hope and fear battling in her eyes. The man looming over her didn’t notice—until Javier stepped forward.
“Mom,” he said calmly, the kind of calm that made the air heavy.
Travis laughed. “Old hag brought reinforcements.”
Titan’s growl deepened. The room held its breath. Javier crouched beside his mother. “Did he hit you?”
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