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“I’m very sorry, Mr. Blankenship,” Charlie said. “I’ll take your meal back to the kitchen and have them prepare another steak.” She tried to pull her wrist away.
Blankenship tightened his grip. “That’s not good enough.”
Charlie gasped. “Please, you’re hurting me.”
Seth wrapped his hand around Blankenship’s wrist and squeezed hard. “Let go of the lady,” he murmured as he applied more pressure.
The other man’s friends rose to intervene until Noah flashed his badged. “Sit down unless you want trouble for yourselves,” he snapped.
The other two men dropped back into their seats.
Blankenship released Charlie, glaring at Seth. “You have no right to interfere.”
Seth pulled out his badge. “This gives me the right to stop you from hurting another person.”
“My order is wrong. It’s her fault.”
“She doesn’t cook the meals, dude. Charlie delivered the ticket with the food orders to the kitchen, then brought your meals when the chef finished preparing them. If you don’t like the food, lodge a complaint with the chef, not the server.”
“Is there a problem here?” A man dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and tie hurried up to the table.
Manager, Seth guessed. “Mr. Blankenship was just complimenting Charlie on her impeccable service, weren’t you, Blankenship?” He glowered at the man, daring him to contradict Seth’s statement.
Violet and Teagan flanked Charlie. The medic examined the server’s red and swollen wrist, then said, “Charlie, would you mind showing me and my friend where the restrooms are located?”
Charlie glanced at her manager, who nodded. “Sure. Come with me.”
Seth glanced at Noah and inclined his head toward the women. His partner left without a word.
“I hope your meal is satisfactory, Mr. Blankenship,” the manager said.
When Blankenship scowled and opened his mouth, Seth edged closer, tapped his badge, and raised an eyebrow, daring him to cause more trouble for Charlie.
“Just drop this, Chad. We need to go,” one of his companions muttered. “We’re late as it is.”
The three men rose and left.
The manager stared after them a moment before rounding on Seth. “What happened here? I know something more was going on than what you said when I asked. Blankenship has never complimented a server in his life. I’m sure he didn’t buck the trend tonight.”
He glanced at the man’s name tag. “Blankenship was hurting Charlie when I insisted he release her, Stephano. He wasn’t happy with me or his meal. He bruised her wrist.”
Stephano sighed. “I knew something was wrong. That man is never satisfied, no matter what we do.”
“He just left without paying his bill. Want me to track him down and book him?” It would be his pleasure to do so as one of his last acts as a police officer before resigning to go undercover.
The manager snorted. “I should. He’s trying to wheedle another free meal from The Ranch.”
“This behavior is a regular occurrence from him?”
“He and his pals come in at least twice a week, sometimes more often. They always complain about something, but two or three times a month, they pitch a fit over how the food is prepared and demand compensation. Usually, the only thing that will satisfy them is to have the meal comped.”
“Do I have the pleasure of tracking him down, or do you have another method of dealing with deadbeat patrons like Blankenship and his buddies?”
“In this case, I’ll add the meals to Blankenship’s tab. He gets a bill at the end of every month.”
“Do me a favor?”
“Anything. I owe you for getting rid of the guy before he could cause another scene.”
