Chapter 1
Zack Maynard rubbed at the thick stubble that had accumulated since that morning and debated which incompetence he should yell about first. He was spoilt for choice given that one of his staff had failed to lock a door that should be kept locked and bolted at all times, and a resident had gone exploring. His cousin, Jake, had delivered a truck full of alpacas to the field next to Severton Sunlight Care and Nursing Home and had neglected to tell his farmhand to ensure the gate was shut. And the world’s slowest builders had seemingly been employed to take as much time as possible to erect the extension to the dementia care unit and entertainment hall, and the words coming out of the site manager’s mouth were not the ones he wanted to hear.
“We’re looking at mid-January.”
Zack stuffed his hands in his coat pockets. “I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?”
“It’s unlikely to be finished before mid-Jan. I realise that’s a bit of a pain…”
His accent was broad, thickly Northern and Zack knew he needed to be careful not to mimic it.
“You realise there’s a clause in the contract if the building wasn’t fit for purpose on December twentieth so we can use it for Christmas dinner?” He managed to ignore an alpaca that was lingering nearby. He was going to kill his fucking cousin.
Jez Hammond, site manager non-extraordinaire, nodded and made a noise that could be interpreted as an agreement. “I realise that, as does the company. However, there was some issues with laying the foundations that’s slowed us down and we’ve encountered a problem with labour.”
Zack looked at the site, the half-finished shell of a building and the surrounding rubble. “What’s the issue with labour?” He could see maybe four men at work and even though he wasn’t an expert on construction, even he knew that this wasn’t enough.
“The usual shortage. Contractors, you know?”
The alpaca made an odd snorting noise and edged closer, its mouth slightly hung open, displaying large teeth.
Jake was going to die.
And then possibly be used as alpaca food.
“I don’t know. I manage a care home for the elderly. Working with builders, electricians, plasterers, plumbers—thatisn’t my speciality. It’s what I’m payingyoufor. And right now, I can count the number of people working on this project ononehand.”
The alpaca came closer. It nudged Jez’s arm and made a strange sound again. A rather excited sound. One Zack was wary of. He was going to fucking kill Jake, even if it would upset his aunt.
“I’m doing what I can, son. We were running behind, but we should’ve been done in time for Christmas so you could use the hall for your do, but the lass at the hotel on the hill has paid over the odds for labourers so we’re down. If these bloody schools would stop encouraging kids to go to university to study bleeding Harry Potter and get them in proper work instead, we wouldn’t be so far behind.” Jez patted his shapely beer belly.
Zack’s words froze in his mouth. Not because the temperature was skating lower than normal for this time of year, but because the alpaca’s expression had turned to one of sheer delight as it started to sink its teeth into the thick fleece of the site manager’s coat. It was an action Zack could only attribute to fate.
“Holy fuck!” Jez yelled, yanking his arm away. But the alpaca’s teeth were firmly sunk into the material. “Get this bastard animal off my bleeding arm? I thought this was a care home, not a freaking petting zoo with sadistic fucking beasts.” He carried on pulling his arm away from the set jaws of the alpaca.
“I’m going to feed Jake limb by limb to his new fucking pets,” Zack muttered under his breath, trying to entice the alpaca away.
He saw Lee Barnes, Jake’s farmhand trying to round up the rest of the escaped animals and shouted him over. Lee strode over, taking his own sweet time. He was dressed in just a T-shirt and ripped jeans, oblivious to the cold.
“We have a situation.” Zack pointed at the animal. “Please let my cousin know he’s going to be in a situation later. Where the hell have these creatures come from? And why?”
Lee shrugged. He was a man of few words at the best of times, preferring to communicate through the set of drums he hit most weekends. He leaned over to the creature and blew at its nose. The alpaca gave a gentle snort and released its death chomp.
“Sorry about that.” Lee didn’t look that sorry. “I’ll get rounding them up.”
“Make sure you do.” Zack turned back towards Jez. “Why can’t you stop your contractors from working on the hotel and get them back down here?”
Jez rubbed at his arm. “We don’t have the budget to pay them what the lass up there has agreed to. And they’ll only be a couple of weeks, then they’ll come back down here and finish off. I’m sorry, Zack, but there ain’t much more I can do.”
“I’ll see about upping the budget.” Zack rubbed his face. He hadn’t slept well the night before, which wasn’t unusual, but he could do with climbing into bed in one of the unoccupied rooms—or hell, even May Pearson’s room because she didn’t move from her sofa in front of the TV—and collapsing for an hour or six. “Find out how much more she’s paying them and let me know.”
Jez shook his head. “But then you’ll be stuck paying that rate until the job’s done. It’s not just extra cash over two weeks, you’ll end up going right over. If I were you, I’d hang on till the lass has had her work done. It’s only an extension and from what I hear it’s pretty straightforward.” He looked to where Lee was herding the alpacas, apparently turning into the animal whisperer. “How do you think those animals taste?”
“Not as good as revenge will when I get hold of Jake.”
Zack felt the heat smother him as he entered the care home. It was always warmer than he liked but he wasn’t important here: the sixty-three residents were, and if you were elderly or not in the best of health then heat was important.
Unless you were Mr McNeild. In which case you had every window open, plus the door to your patio propped wide and a fan on. It was a room where Zack would find refuge on a warm summer’s day, and maybe at the end of a shift partake in something to take the edge off. Mr McNeild still had every one of his marbles, and possibly a few of someone else’s. The only thing he didn’t have was mobility, although Zack had seen him race across the bowling green to chase off the odd cat more than once before now. And he was pretty speedy then.
