Beaugrinned to himself. That was such fucking bullshit, but it didn’t surprise himthat Ralph believed it. Or was pretending to at least. Ricky didn’t come in towork because he spent his nights at Moonshiners getting drunk. Hell, half thetime when he did come into work the next day, he’d still be drunk.
“Sorry,Beau,” Ralph finally said with a sigh.
Beauwanted to believe that Ralph really was sorry, but something felt off aboutthis whole thing. He had been working for Dillinger Automotive since hegraduated from high school. Granted, Dillinger’s was a family owned business,and their loyalties were clearly to family. He understood that. But, they’dbeen slow for a while now. And business always seemed to pick back up. So whywere they doing this now?
Thatwas a question that would go unspoken because Beau didn’t really care to hearthe answer. A sound in the shop had Beau glancing through the small windowbehind Ralph’s head. There was Ricky. When the guy went straight for Beau’stoolbox, he knew there was going to be a problem.
“Whenwill you have my last paycheck ready?” Beau asked as he eased his way towardthe door, keeping an eye on Ricky.
“Friday,”Ralph said, turning to see what had caught Beau’s attention.
“I’llbe by Friday morning. Make sure it’s ready for me.”
Withthat, Beau walked out of the mess Ralph considered an office and directly tohis work bay.
“Ithink that’s mine,” Beau said simply, snatching his diagnostic scanner rightout of Ricky’s hand. Grabbing the case that housed the tool when he wasn’tusing it, Beau slid it inside before latching it closed.
“Ricky!”Ralph called, his voice echoing through the shop. “Get your ass in here.”
“Yeah,get your ass in there,” Beau muttered petulantly. He damn sure wasn’t about toallow Ricky to steal his tools. He’d spent his own hard earned money on thosetools, and even if he had to wait for Zane’s help, he wouldn’t be leavingwithout them.
“Thatain’t yours,” Ricky babbled in that high pitched whine that grated on Beau’snerves, reaching for the case that Beau had just closed.
“Thehell it’s not.”
Stashingthe scanner case on the top of his toolbox, Beau stood between Ricky and his owntools as he grabbed his cell phone from his hip. He couldn’t move the toolshimself. The toolbox probably weighed close to four thousand pounds at thispoint, loaded full, and it, along with its contents, cost more than Ricky’sfucking truck. No way was he leaving it behind because sure enough, when hecame back to get it, Ricky would’ve pilfered every damn thing he had.
“Zane,”Beau said into the phone when his friend answered. “Could you do me a favor?”
“What’sup?” Zane greeted, sounding half asleep. It was only nine o’clock, but usuallyZane was up and around by now.
“Ralphjust let me go. I need a way to move these tools. Think you could come by withthe flatbed wrecker?”
“Willdo,” Zane answered easily. “Give me twenty minutes.”
“Thanks,man.” Beau disconnected the call and began collecting the stray tools he’d beenusing that morning.
Wasn’tquite the way he envisioned his Monday morning going, but at this point, therewasn’t much he could do about it. He was a firm believer that things happenedfor a reason, but right at that moment, Beau wished like hell he knew what thatreason was.
Chapter Four
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Ethanforged his way into the building, heading straight to his office. He neededmore coffee. Lots more.
Aftergrabbing the coffee carafe, he filled it with water from the small sink justoutside the office door. Tossing coffee grounds into the paper filter, he gotit all set up and then hit the brew button.
Staringout into the shop, just the idea of all of the work waiting for him made Ethancringe. As much as he detested Jared’s high-handed attitude, Ethan knew the manhad a point. He really did need to hire someone to help him.
Ethanthought back to Blake and the last time he’d come to the shop. The guy truly haddone him a favor by quitting. The fact that their business relationship hadbeen mixed with personal problems, Ethan knew it wasn’t going to last forever.Their relationship had run its course weeks before, and Ethan had actually felta little more relaxed ever since Blake walked out. Not counting being left highand dry at work anyway. The jobs were piling up, and Ethan was tired, but thatwas due to the fact he had been working nonstop just to keep Jared off hisback.
Hadn’thelped, he realized.
Thephone on his desk rang, startling Ethan. The business phone never rang. Mostpeople knew they could reach him on his cell phone. Day or night. Grabbing hiscell phone from his pocket, he glanced down and realized the damn thing wasdead.
Sothat’s what he forgot to do last night. Charge his phone.
“WalkerDemo,” Ethan answered.
