"Step one is complete," Andy reported to Mr. Henry. "The crew is aware of the situation and will not be accepting Parks’ calls if he tries to contact them. No one is going back there. Parks is on his own now.”
“You’re stringing Parks along?”
“Of course.” He laughed. “I’ll leave him a message tomorrow promising to be there by noon, but we won’t show.” He paused and then added. “I have a couple of men going over after hours to fuck with some stuff just to make sure Parks has a truly terrible day tomorrow.”
“He may try to hire another crew.”
"It's a bad time right now, too many jobs out there. He won't be able to get more than one or two individuals at this latedate, not enough for his needs.” Andy assured him. “He won’t finish the job, you have my guarantee."
“Force him out in the next two days, and I'll pay you double what we agreed upon." Mr. Henry sweetened the pot, not in a mood to wait, and wanted Rhett Parks humiliated sooner rather than later.
"He'll be finished by closing time tomorrow," Andy told him with confidence. "I never liked him much anyway. He's too by the book and too nice, and I don’t trust anyone who is too nice.”
Mr. Henry laughed and poured Andy a drink. "Here, join me." He handed him the drink. "I think you and I have a lot in common. If you can get him out by closing time tomorrow, you will have a full-time position at my firm.”
“Consider the job done.” They clinked their glasses and drank to the new possibilities.
CHAPTER THREE
Damien heard the phone call loud and clear, even from across the room. The foreman was about as reliable as he’d thought. His aura had been off, and his scent was sour, indicating his deceitful nature. This was a setup of some kind, but Damien did not understand the intent. What could Rhett have done to piss off Andy? But it wasn't just Andy, as he recalled, Andy worked for that property developer, maybe that's where he would begin.
Wesley had sent him a background on Andy, but there wasn't much to it. He clearly was of the criminal type, but evidently hadn't been caught out yet. He was working for Henry Properties, overseeing two waterfront projects, which makes one wonder how he has time to work for Rhett. He sent two soldiers, Ravi and Nils, over to check out the situation and report back.
Whatever they were playing at was going to blow up in their faces because Damien was going to make sure of it. His beloved was over there taking on the brunt of the work, trying to move things along, while his crew, whom he trusted, were fucking with him. His mind was running through various revenge scenarios when his phone rang.
It was Ravi, and they were at Henry’s construction site on North Avenue. “The whole crew is here, and it is not a two-hour job. They've been working here for over a month, and they have another two to go before they finish.”
“What about the other job site?” He asked.
"He has another crew working there, and he is the foreman over both. He moves between them so there is no time in his schedule to work for Parks. Besides, why would he risk these two high-profile jobs to work on a downtown bar, a job that will be two weeks at best?" Ravi finished.
“Stay with him, get me everything you can on Andy," Damien stated cold and flat.
“Yes, sir.”
Damien went back out to check on Rhett, worried that he might be overexerting himself in an attempt to keep the job on schedule, even without a crew. As he made his way down the north side to the front of the building, he noticed something out of place. The side door, which had been closed and secured with a makeshift support to keep it closed, was now hanging open.
He walked over to the open door and looked in, and there on his haunches was the cougar shifter who had been part of Rhett's original crew. He watched him pull an item from his pocket and set it beneath a stack of paper and insulation, tucking it in so it wouldn't be noticed.
"What's your business, cougar?" He asked in a tone laced with finality. The shifter jumped and turned on him, but took a step back rather than attack.
“Nothing, I was just leaving.” He mumbled and stepped to the side. Damien glanced down at the item on the floor.
"Take that with you," Damien said and walked toward him. The cougar was deciding its next move when the item began to smoke, obviously having been placed on a timer. The cougar lunged at him, and Damien caught him easily, digging his sharp nails into the cougar's fleshy throat.
He started to try and fight, swinging wildly at Damien, but a quick twist and the cougar’s head hung limply to one side. Damien bent and retrieved the item, an incendiary device, and stuffed it down the cougar's shirt. He then carried him outside and dumped him in the alley on the north side of the building. After a quick survey of the area, he was confident that the cougar had come alone.
The threat to his beloved was taking form, and he planned to stay close. Someone was putting a lot of effort into making sure Rhett failed, and he was going to find out who and why.
The cougar’s thought process had been muddled by drugs, so Damien did not get a good read on him apart from the fact that he was working for Andy. He would find Andy, and he would find out why he was sabotaging Rhett, and then Andy would join the cougar. He put in a call for cleanup and left the alley and went in search of his beloved, who had been working too long and too hard.
It was nearly nine o'clock in the evening, and still no sign of Andy or the crew. He had been deserted and betrayed, and here he was in the beginning days of an important job, with no crew to complete it. He was beginning to feel like he'd been set up to fail. The construction business in this area was tough, but trouble usually ended at who got the bid and did not bleed over into interference after the fact, or perhaps he was just being naïve.
He finished cleaning up and securing the site, then stopped to lean against the bar with his head in his hands, unsure of what was going to happen tomorrow. He made some headway on his own, but there was too much, and to try and finish without a proper crew would take twice as long. Mr. Rose would not tolerate such delays and such unprofessional behavior. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and let out a long sigh of resignation.
A hand came up and caressed his shoulder. He didn't turn around; he knew who it was. The feeling of peace and security washed over him, and he knew it was Damien. Even as he stood in the middle of his failed efforts, he felt safe, and that feeling was Damien.
"They never returned, and they won't be here tomorrow. I lost my crew." He stated honestly, keeping his back to Damien and his eyes on the bar. Damien’s hand slid from his shoulder down his back, soothing his anxious mind.
