Without thinking, Liam vaulted over the back of the bench and barreled straight into the attacker from behind, grabbing him in a bear hug.
The man tried to throw him off. When that didn’t work, he jerked his head back, hitting Liam in the face.
Pain cracked across Liam’s cheekbone. His grip on the man loosened for a split second, and the attacker turned and punched him in the jaw. Liam’s head snapped back, his ears ringing as he fell, but he managed to knock the wallet to the ground.
The attacker dove for it, but Liam kicked it, sending it skidding into the wall beside the old man. The attacker let out a guttural curse, and by the time Liam got to his feet again, the man was already running, disappearing into the night.
Liam braced to run after him when an unsteady groan drew his attention. The old man clung to the wall.
“Are you all right?” Liam walked over to help him.
“He—he tried to steal my wallet,” the man grunted.
“Aye, he tried, but he didn’t succeed. You’re lucky he didn’t do worse.” Liam helped steady the man, scooped the wallet off the pavement and handed it to him. “Do you need me to call for a doctor?”
“No, no.” He waved a shaky hand. “None of that nonsense. I’m tougher than I look.” He leaned his back against the wall, breathing heavily. “If I were thirty years younger, I’d have given him a knuckle sandwich he’d never forget.”
“Sure, you would’ve.” Liam tried to sound convincing as he sized up the old man.
Watery brown eyes squinted at him from a road map of wrinkles. “Believe me, boy, he’d have been down for the count. I used to box back in my day. Fought in two wars. Raised four children. Survived cancer and even my wife.” He tapped a gnarled finger to his temple. “I still got the fight up here. It’s just these old bones that slow me down now.” He stared off into the dark where the attacker had disappeared. “It’s a damned shame this neighborhood has gone to hell.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far.” As a man whose soul dangled right over the threshold of that fiery underworld, Liam felt qualified to make the distinction. “Men like him are everywhere, even in good neighborhoods. This place doesn’t look all that bad.” No demons. No tortured souls screaming in agony. No fiery pits of doom. “I can think of worse places.”
The man snorted. “The whole world’s changed, son, and not for the better. People nowadays got their fancy beeping computer gizmos, always face down in their phone screens and never looking each other in the eye. Never paying attention to what’s real. What’s around them. You’re young now, so you don’t understand, but trust me, the world isn’t like it used to be.”
“Oh, I believe you.” Liam stayed with him, waiting until the old man’s breathing evened out, and his face returned to a normal shade.
“Time flies,” the man said, shaking his head. “And one day you wake up and look around and wonder where the hell you are.”
That was God’s truth. Liam stared up at the murky sky. “You sure you don’t want me to call a doctor?”
The old man let out a grunt of dismissal and pushed away from the wall.
“I’m a police officer,” Liam explained. In the heat of things, he’d almost forgotten. “I can call it in right now, if you want to report it.” Liam pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up. “With my fancy beeping computer gizmo.”
The man waved Liam away. “Off with you, son. I don’t need to waste your time. That man is long gone, and I got my wallet back.”
“Let me at least walk you home.”
“No need.” He pointed to an old car parked along the sidewalk. “That’s my car right there. You should get your own face looked at. You’re going to have quite the shiner in the morning.”
Liam pressed his fingers to his face and winced. Nothing was broken, but he’d be badly bruised.
“Good night, son, and thank you.” The man began walking to his car, then turned back. “Keep your eye out for wolves in sheep’s clothing. We’ve got thieves among us, boy. They’re everywhere. Masquerading as nice, honest folk like us. But you already know that.”
“Yes, I do,” Liam murmured. He watched the man drive away. Then he checked the time on his phone and headed back to the motel room. Margaret was passed out cold, and from the sound of her soft, kitten-like snores, he knew she wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon. There was only one bed in the room, so he dropped into the upholstered chair in the corner with a heavy sigh.
He dialed Cora’s number, unsure what he was going to say. When the call went to voice mail, he was relieved. For the next several minutes he tried to come up with something to tell her, then just texted a quick apology that was far from adequate. Finally, too tired to think, he shoved the phone back in his pocket and closed his eyes.