“So, what’s up?” Chase asked.
Finn dropped into a chair across from him, his body tense. “I told you about the historic project that was being vandalized.”
Chase nodded slowly, eyes narrowing. “And?”
“It turns out an old friend of mine is the consultant for the project. Lainey Harper.”
He said it as if she were some name from his past. Like she hadn’t once meant everything to him.
“And I think she’s being targeted. Anonymous threatening notes, harassing phone calls, repeated vandalism. Now Caleb tells me that someone has been asking around about her and the permits.”
Chase’s brow lifted. “Old friend?”
Finn rolled his eyes. “That’s what you got out of this?”
Chase grinned. “Hey, I’ve never heard you mention a woman before. Let me enjoy the moment. I’m stuck doing the numbers game, so I have to get my jollies somehow.”
“Asshole.”
But the truth was, Chase wasn’t wrong. He didn’t do relationships. Not since Lainey. He was a good-time guy. Drink a little, laugh a little, fuck a little. Then get on with life.
Finn exhaled and leaned back in the chair. “As I was saying, I think she’s in danger and way over her head. She’s on her own. No backup. She’s carrying the whole project herself. But I’m afraid she is going to collapse from the stress.”
Chase’s smile vanished. “You think it’s organized?”
“Don’t know,” Finn said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But it’s escalating.”
And she wasn’t telling him anything. She never did. Even back when. Lainey never complained, just pushed forward.
Chase frowned. “You think she’s in danger?”
“Part of the danger is that she’s not being straight with me,” he admitted. “And it’s stymieing us.”
Finn pulled out his phone and showed Chase the pictures of the vandalism and the recent one of the cigarette butt.
“Found this earlier. It was still warm. She’s got no cameras, no security, and has hinted there’s no money right now for any of it.”
“We can take care of that if you want. I’ll have to order them.” Chase reached for his phone. “Let me call Dex in and have him do a thorough background check. See what’s going on.”
They shot the breeze for about fifteen minutes, though Finn’s mind was elsewhere. Worst-case scenarios kept running through his head.
Finally, Dex showed up. “I hear you need a background check on your new squeeze.”
Finn rolled his eyes again. “What is it with you two today?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Dex. “It’s just interesting watching Romeo here pine over a lost love.”
“Fuck you. I’m not pining, and Lainey isn’t a lost love,” replied Finn.
Although if Dex knew the truth about him and Lainey, he’d never hear the end of it. He sure wasn’t sharing that spring they spent tangled up in each other.
“Can’t you just pull up the records?” Finn muttered.
Dex pulled open the hidden door in Chase’s office that led to the secure room. This was a room no one but the men in the Brotherhood knew about. The one with the wall-to-wall monitors, encrypted systems, and enough firepower to supply a small town.
A few clicks later, Dex leaned back. “Okay, the LLC is registered under Lainey’s name alone. The contract with the city made her solely responsible for the project’s completion, including all security, insurance, and repairs for damages.”
“Holy shit,” Finn said, his stomach dropping. “That must have cost her a fortune.”
