Great, I thought, Here we go.
Rachel, to her credit, seemed to sense the shift in attention as well. I saw her stiffen slightly.
"Well, well," the man said, his voice taking on what he probably thought was a charming tone but which actually sounded more like a predator sizing up prey. "Looks like not everything from New York is worthless after all."
"Brad." The sharp warning came from Mike, who stepped forward with his baseball bat held a bit more prominently than before. "Why don't you back off and let these people get settled before you start causing trouble?"
So his name was Brad, and apparently his behavior was a known issue even among his own group. That was both reassuring—it meant we weren't walking into a community that endorsed this kind of conduct—and concerning, because it suggested they either couldn't or wouldn't do anything definitive about him.
