Page 47 of Caught in the Crossfire

An invisible band tightened around his chest. He gave a short nod. “How is Cosmo?”

A chuckle from Alex. “Having a blast with Spenser. Savannah loves him and so does Ivy. He acts like he’s always been a member of the family.”

At least some good had come from such ugliness. Maybe the sweet dog had found a new home. “I need to go.”

“I’ve got your woman and her friend, Mason. An attacker will have to go through me to get to them.” A cold smile. “And I’m hard to kill.”

“Thank you for watching over them.” He lifted Nicole’s hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“We’ll be fine. Watch your back, Mason.”

With a nod, he made himself leave the shop and climb into his truck. Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at the job site as the inspector strode toward Brian with his clipboard in hand.

Brian directed him to the right buildings, then came to stand beside Mason. “How did it go this morning?” he asked, gaze locked on the inspector making his way to Building 8.

“About like I expected. Brutal. You don’t want to be in an interrogation room with Ethan Blackhawk and Rod Kelter.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Dean is in Building 7.” He gave Mason a long list of tasks to complete. “By the way, Patton and Fisher are on notice.” He eyed Mason a moment. “Have you given any thought to what we discussed last week?”

“I haven’t had much time between grilling sessions and dodging bullets.”

Brian gave a bark of laughter. “Well, when you have time to breathe, give it some thought. I think it might be time. Our workload is becoming too heavy.”

“You must have employees who are more qualified without my complicated background.”

“You’re the man I trust, Mason. You’ve proved yourself over and over for the past two years. Anyway, get going. You and Dean have quite a list to knock out today.”

“Yes, sir.” He climbed back into his truck and drove to Building 7. Mason found his partner on the second floor. “What have you finished so far?”

Dean rattled off the tasks he’d completed and the two men split the remaining tasks on the list and got to work. At lunch, Mason and Dean ate their lunches under the shade of a nearby maple tree.

“I hear you had a visit from Ethan in the middle of the night.”

Back pressed against the tree, Mason glanced at his friend. “The town grapevine is nothing short of amazing. Yeah, Ethan showed up after 1:00 this morning.” He explained about Fitzgerald and the man’s accusation.

Dean scowled. “Why would you be stupid enough to do something like that? You’d be the first suspect.”

“Definitely the most obvious one.”

“Did Fitzgerald see who attacked him?”

He gave a rough laugh. “Sure. A muscular man dressed in black from head to toe, complete with a convenient ski mask, and a hammer with my fingerprints on it.”

“Huh. That’s the second tool of yours used in a crime.”

“Believe me, I know.”

“How is the man getting your tools, Mase?”

He dragged a hand down his face. “I have no idea. I lock the tool box in my truck bed every afternoon before I leave the job site.”

“But it’s open all day?”

“I’m in and out of the box several times a day.”

“Lock it from now on. The hassle of having to unlock the box when you need another tool is better than having another one of your tools used in a crime.”

“I’ll lock it when we return to work. Might be a moot point, though.”

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