“Mr. Masters, I can’t tell you how sorry I am about all of this. I don’t understand what’s going on. Nothing like this has ever happened on a job I’ve managed before.”
The older man looked genuinely remorseful but it was too late. His anger needed a target and Sparks had painted a huge bull’s-eye on his chest.
“It’s never happened on any of my jobs either,” he said, his voice cold as ice. “I’ve also never had a man die on one of my jobsites. And now Claire is dealing with the police, the ATF, and whoever the hell else is back there and all I can do is pay expensive lawyers to make sure things don’t get any worse. This is not what I expected when I hired Matthews Contracting. I’ll talk to Mr. Matthews, but I really don’t want to see you right now.”
The construction manager opened his mouth to speak but must have thought better of it because he closed it without saying anything. He gave Luke a small nod before turning and walking away. Luke didn’t bother to watch him get onto the elevator. He would call Matthews as soon as he knew more about what was going on. The trouble on the job might not have anything to do with the construction manager, but after a certain point it had to stop being a coincidence or a fluke and start being related.
He paced for another fifteen minutes before he saw Claire walking down the hallway toward him. She was flanked by Mason and another man he didn’t recognize with the detective bringing up the rear. She looked small with all the men surrounding her. Not frail – he’d have a hard time ever thinking of Claire as frail – but he still wanted to protect her. Whisk her away and make her forget about all of this.
She hesitated when she reached his side, but he didn’t. He pulled her to him and into his arms, folding his body around her, sheltering her. The three men facing him wore a mixture of expressions ranging from curiosity to envy. After a moment the new man stepped forward.
“Mr. Masters, I’m Agent McCellan from the ATF. As I believe you know by now, someone has being using your jobsite to move illegal ammunition. We’ve secured the site, and we have officers on the scene to interview the crews working on the job, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to shut the site down temporarily.”
Keeping an arm wrapped around Claire’s waist, Luke glanced at Mason to see if he had any recourse. Mason gave his head a slight shake.
“Of course, Agent. Whatever you need.” There was no use picking a fight he wouldn’t win. It was better to cooperate until he had enough information to make a better decision. “Do you have any idea how long the job will need to be closed?”
“No, but I will let you know when you can reopen. Until then no one goes on the site without a police escort. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” said Luke, fighting the urge to grind his teeth. “Let me know as soon as we can start construction again. I trust you won’t take any longer than is absolutely necessary.”
Agent McCellan gave him a smile which said he’d be taking as long as he damn well pleased. Luke ushered Claire to the elevator, trying not to think about the tens of thousands of dollars he was going to lose every day the job was shut down.
