Healing Haven - Book 2 in Haven Series [Complete]

16| Busting a Lannister

On most days, Ethan considered himself a calm man. A patient man. A man with an iron grip on his emotions. On the back of a hard night of restless tossing and turning, his morning was all residential complaints and neighbourly spats

Pushed to his limits, Ethan was walking an emotional tightrope stretched thin as an eyelash.

As Sheryl had predicted, Wade had pitched an offer to Ji to settle outside of courts.

And by some sliver of a miracle, Ji had thought to call him first, putting Ethan in a position to at least try to talk the poor guy out of doing something stupid. Like signing on the dotted line. Getting out of his car, Ethan slapped the door shut hard enough to make the body rattle. Hong Shing's was still roped under caution tape and 'Closed for Inquiry' signs.

Ji Kim sat out front, head in his hands and his daughter Christine at his side. She smiled as he approached and leaned in to her father. Ji's head pulled up revealing a pale face and watery eyes.

"What's going on, Ji," Ethan asked, lowering to his haunches.

Ji's face crumpled, his shoulders sunk in to his narrow body. "Insurance stall again. Say we no up to date with paperwork. With premium."

"Bureaucratic bullshit," Christine seethed, then met Ethan's gaze. "Mr. Robinson came by early this morning with an offer from the Carter boys. Their father is willing to hand over fifty thousand dollars if we let this go away. Daddy wanted to take it. I told him to call you first."

"You did the right thing." As Ji started to silently weep, Ethan nodded at Christine. "Give me a sec with him?"

"Sure." Sweeping a hand over his back, she kissed her father's cheek and whispered something in Korean, before getting up to leave them alone.

"I got family," Ji said as Ethan claimed the seat next to him. "Bills. Christine in school. Michael need therapy. Money is tight with no restaurant. No income. Fifty thousand dollar they offer. Fifty."

Resting his forearms to his knees, Ethan sighed. It sounded like a sizeable amount of money, and he understood why it would have been enough to make Ji waffle, but he'd grown up in his father's construction business. Building homes and handling renovations for commercial properties. He knew the damage to the restaurant would soak up that amount in no time.

By no means was it enough to make this family whole. Not by a long shot.

"Give me a couple of weeks. I need you to trust me." It had taken a good twenty minutes along with a proffered shoulder for Ji to cry on before he agreed to leave the matter in Ethan's hands. And the weight of that man's grief settled over his shoulders, stoked his frustration to new heights.

Part of carrying the badge meant protecting the weak from the extortion of the strong; it was a role he took very seriously.

"There's the man of the hour. How'd it go?" Carlos popped out of his seat, a half-eaten burger on his desk—all grease and cheese atop a thick slab of beef. Reminding Ethan he had yet to touch anything aside from his morning oatmeal and protein shake at seven am.

"If I wasn't a cop I'd want to commit murder," Ethan grumbled, stalking to the kitchen in search of coffee. He went over the details of his conversation with Carlos, pausing only to gulp down his mug. The brew was acrid and stale but he was too impatient to brew a fresh pot.

"Poor dude," Carlos shook his head. Arms crossed and eyes distant. "What are you gonna do about it?"

"Short of paying the fuckers a visit and shoving my boot up some privileged ass? Not much I can do besides ride the judge to move ahead with the hearing."