“All very legal. Kind of. I’m not actually paying them anything, but Jian knows I’ve given many of his guys jobs. It’s kind of payback for that.”
“Andyour injuries?”
“Did Heather squeal to Callie?”
“She may have mentioned something, but you’ve still got a few cuts on your faceand knuckles.”
“I’m fine. Mostly cuts and bruises. Had worse in the sandbox.You know that.”
“And the renovations are starting up again?”
“Yeah, though I’m one man short. After the accident one of the crew didn’t show up again. He wasn’t injured, so I wondered if he’d gotten spooked by the accident. Called him a few times then went to visit. The address he gave was an empty lot and all his other info was fake, right down to his former employer. I should have checked that out better, but I was strapped for more workers for this project and might have skipped a few steps.”
“You think he had something to do withthe accident?”
“I don’t think it was an accident, Jack.”
His cousin’s eyes narrowed. “Why not? The building’s kind of dilapidated.”
“I’d checked that wall a few days earlier, and it had some problems that needed fixing but it was stable enough. Now that I think of it, the guy who skipped out had been working in that area earlier in the day and was there before it crumbled. Right as I walked up to it.”
“You think he could have beentargeting you?”
Shrugging, Scott said, “Me or the project in general. You know how many fuck-ups we’ve had since we started. I wish I knew what the hellwas going on.”
“I’ve still got friends in the Bureau. I could see if anyone wouldlook into it.”
“Appreciated, but I don’t think I want to go there quite yet. No one has been seriously hurt and each incident could be simple mistakes.”
A tone sounded and Jack fished his phone from his pocket. Sliding his finger over the screen he read the message then slid off the stool. “Gotta go. Callie needs me to pick up some milk before I head home. Supper’salmost ready.”
“I thought you dropped off some milkat lunch time.”
The grin on his cousin’s face was huge. “Well, you can never have enough…milk.” He threw a few bills on the counter. “I’ll catch you later.”
Waving to Jack, he turned back to the counter and finished his beer. He didn’t have a family waiting for him. Once this mill project was done he should try and take some time for his own social life. It had been a while since he’d dated anyone. Except the pretend dating he’d done with Heather.
Would she want to date him? She’d commented on something like that a little while ago. Once they weren’t partners any more. Although if they ended up renting the bottom floors for retail, they’d be in business together for a while.
Throwing more bills on the bar, he moved to slip in between the crowd. A tug on his arm had him turning. A young woman stumbled and fell right into him. He grabbed her wrist and kept her from landing on the floor.
“You all right, miss?”
She reared up, her eyes flashing fire. “Leave me alone. Don’t touch me.”
“I’m sorry, I was trying to keep you from falling.” What the hell was her problem?
Her large bracelet jangled under his hand and she gripped his arm to push away, leaving some long scratches from herpainted nails.
“I said don’t touch me!” Her shrill voice caught the attention of many of the crowd in the bar, so he dropped his hands and backed away a few steps. She shook her head and the aqua strands in her hair shimmered. Interesting color.
“Is everything all right, miss?” The fear in her eyes had him searching the room for any potential trouble. Aside from people staring at them, mostly at him, thinking he’d done something to her, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Turning away with a sharp cry she rushed from the building. People stared at him and he stared right back. Hadn’t anyone seen what had actually happened?
Looking down at his arm, he put his hand over the scratches. One more war wound to add to his collection. Too bad he didn’t have Heather nearby to mend his injury. As he walked to his truck he wondered what she’d do if he called and asked her to patch him up?
* * * *
