“But if he’s going to be involved with your project, will he have time to do mine?”
Matt threw an arm around her shoulder and drew her into the house with him. “You have to understand construction lingo. When I say that everyone is lined up and ready to go, it means that if we’re lucky, we’ll have broken ground within six weeks. And then there’s the heavy work that has to be done first—blasting, digging, pouring foundations. The plumbers and electricians and carpenters you’ll need won’t be required at our site for three months minimum. Thomas will have more than enough time to oversee work here—that is, if you find that you like him and what he has to say. You’re under no obligation to use him. There are other names on that list.”
“Of the ones I spoke with, I liked him the best. Call it instinct, or whatever, but something meshed even on the phone.” She was well aware of the fact that Matt’s using Thomas Gehling for his own work might have slanted her view. She trusted Matt’s judgment. But she had liked Thomas. He spoke intelligently and seemed perfectly comfortable dealing with a woman.
“I think you’ll be impressed when you meet him.” Having reached the kitchen, Matt went directly to the sink, turned on the water and squirted a liberal amount of liquid soap on his hands. “So how was your day, sweetheart?”
“Fine—I mean, okay. God, I can’t believe it happened again.”
“What?”
“I’ve been a nervous wreck all day, counting the minutes until you got back so I could tell you what happened. Then you walk in here, bringing a sense of security, and I forget all about it.”
He stared at her over his shoulder. “What happened?”
“My car wouldn’t start this morning. The battery was dead. I had to get a truck here to jump-start it.”
“The battery was dead? Didn’t you say you’d gotten a new one just before you left Bennington?”
“I did. That’s what’s so weird. The man from the garage suggested that I’d left my lights on by mistake. I’m sure I’d never do that.”
A thick cloud of suds coated Matt’s hands, but he paid it little heed. His brows knitted low over his eyes. “I was the last one to drive your car. I put it in the garage Tuesday morning before we left for Boston in mine. I’m sure the lights were off. There’d have been no reason for me to turn them on to begin with, and the car started perfectly, so they couldn’t have been left on the night before.”
“That’s what I figured.” She was standing close by the sink. “The only logical explanation is that someone’s been tampering in the garage again.”
He shot her a sharp glance. “Was anything else wrong with the car?”
“No, and it started perfectly when I left work tonight.”
Bending over the sink, Matt splashed soapy water on his face. Lauren reached into a drawer and had a clean towel waiting by the time he’d rinsed and straightened up. No amount of wiping, though, could remove the concern from his features.
“It may have been a fluke,” he suggested quietly.
“Do you believe that?”
He hesitated. “No.”
“Matt, don’t you think it’s time we called the police? I mean, when it was only a couple of incidents, they might have thought I was crazy, but at this stage the situation has to be considered suspicious. At least if the police were aware of the possibilities, they could patrol the area more closely.”
Matt’s expression grew more troubled than ever. “The police might scare him off, and then he’d only wait for things to die down before starting again. What we need to do is to catch him.”
“Come on, Matt,” she chided, “I was only kidding about playing Spenser.”
“It wouldn’t be too hard to rig up some booby traps.” His eyes were growing animated; he was obviously warming up to the idea. “I think I could manage it, with a little help from a friend.”
“From what friend?”
“One of the guys I met in Leominster. He works at a nearby lumberyard.” Matt gave a mock grimace and scratched the back of his head. “Seems to me that he mentioned something about having done time.”
“A convict? You’re going to enlist aconvictto save me?”
“An ex-convict. And he’s been straight for ten years.”
“Matt, whatisthis?”
“His specialty was breaking and entering, and he was a genius at it.”
Lauren narrowed her eyes. “How long did you spend with this guy?”
