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here.”
    Simon nodded wearily. “I know. Believe me, I know. And Sheriff Todd knows, too. We’ve never gotten a single complaint about Woody’s until Maddie started in. I get that she goes to bed super early, but she should’ve known what she was getting herself into.”
    â€œAre you guys going to do something to help me out or are you just going to fine me until you have enough money to buy a couple of new police cruisers?”
    â€œI don’t know what to do. We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Technically, I need to keep fining you, but it seems stupid. Maddie just has a bee in her bonnet about this place and she’s not going to let it go.”
    The crowd applauded as the band returned to the stage and prepared to start their second set. Hopefully a set that would last longer than . . . Emmett looked down at his watch again . . . seven minutes. “So, you can go ahead and write me another citation,” he said. “But I’m not telling the band to give up early. They drove all the way here and a lot of people came out to see them. If you’ll let me go until eleven, I’ll keep karaoke night down tomorrow.”
    â€œI understand. Eleven sounds pretty reasonable for a Friday night. I’m just going to stay around here unless I get an emergency call. I figure Maddie will call the station a second time if the music doesn’t stop, so there’s no sense in me leaving. They’re really good, actually.”
    Emmett watched Simon turn and listen with interest to the band. Even though he was a police officer, it was easy to forget that he wasn’t even twenty-three yet. He’d probably much rather be listening to the band and trying to get laid like every other kid his age instead of playing the role of spoilsport because of his sister.
    He refilled Simon’s soda and poured a couple of beers for customers. The band was about halfway through the second song when the radio on Simon’s shoulder chirped.
    â€œWe’ve got another sound complaint at Woody’s Bar. Car twenty-eight, can you respond? She’s your sister.”
    Emmett smirked as Simon rolled his eyes. “Copy that. This is car twenty-eight. I’m at the bar and will address the issue.”
    He expected Simon to stand up or do something official, but instead, he smiled, took a sip of his soda, and turned back to watch the band.
    Tonight was going to be interesting, Emmett thought to himself and poured another drink.

    Ridiculous. This was ridiculous.
    Maddie looked at her clock. It was past ten thirty and the music hadn’t stopped. She’d called the police department and they said they’d send over a car, but nothing had changed.
    Even if the music did stop, she couldn’t sleep. She was too wound up with irritation. Flinging back the covers, she turned on the lights and started getting dressed. She pulled her hair into a bun and shuffled downstairs. She was going over to the bar and dealing with this herself.
    Stepping out onto her porch, she paused for a moment. The bar was overrun with people. The parking lot was full and there were cars lining the sidewalk up and down the street. There was even a police cruiser parked there. She’d seen the marquee advertising that the Maui Dragons were playing tonight, but she had no clue who they were. Apparently other people did.
    She wasn’t going to let that stop her. If she backed down now, Emmett would never quiet down. It’d gotten exponentially louder in the last two weeks, which made her wonder if Miss Francine had given her bad advice. She’d told her this was war, so Maddie was ready for battle, but she felt like even when she won, she was losing.
    How long could the two of them keep this up? He was breaking the law; surely the fines would eventually hurt his business. As for Maddie, there were only so many protests and tea parties she could organize. If a