Page 48 of Caught in the Crossfire

“Why?”

“The person who stole the pipe wrench and hammer may have stolen more items but not used the remaining tools yet.” And wasn’t that a cheery thought. If he hadn’t had an alibi for the time of Fitzgerald’s attack, Mason would be in jail now.

Dean grimaced. “Let’s hope that’s not the case. Someone’s doing a good job setting you up for a hard fall.”

“If they succeed, I’ll lose everything I’ve worked to achieve. More important, I’ll lose Nicole.” Mason could rebuild his life if Brian cut him loose to protect his company’s reputation. He couldn’t ask Nicole to wait for him to be released from prison if he was tried and convicted. It wouldn’t be fair, especially since he might not leave the prison except in a body bag.

“You think she’ll dump you? She loves you. I can’t see Nicole walking away when you’re at your most vulnerable.”

“She wouldn’t. I’ll break the engagement. I won’t take her down with me.”

His friend looked amused. “I think the lady will have several things to say about that. A blistering tirade, in fact. I don’t believe it will be as easy as you assume.”

Easy? No, doing the right thing for Nicole wouldn’t be easy. Severing ties with the woman he adored would gut him and destroy his last vestige of hope. But what choice did he have? At least she’d have a life while his would be over the moment he stepped foot behind those prison walls again.

“Maybe we’re looking at this from the wrong side.”

“What do you mean?”

“What if this isn’t about you, but about Riva? This whole chain of events started with her death. You said you were at her home earlier in the afternoon. You probably did leave your pipe wrench which made a convenient murder weapon.”

He frowned. “It’s possible. But the killer made it my problem by trying to frame me and hurt Nicole. He came after her, Dean. Twice. I’m not going to forget that.”

“He’s probably afraid she saw too much and might recognize him.”

“She saw almost nothing.”

“The killer doesn’t know that, and you can’t take out an ad and announce that fact to the world. Maybe you should think about who had something to gain from Riva’s death if you can’t figure out who has it out for you.”

Mason punched Dean lightly on the shoulder. “I should have thought of that before now.” While he’d grown up, his father had repeatedly told him to go at a problem from a different angle if he hit a wall. This was a definite wall. Time to go around the immovable object instead of trying to beat his head against the wall and coming up short. Dean was right. This all started with Riva’s death. Maybe this wasn’t a vendetta against him. He could have been a convenient scapegoat. So, why didn’t he believe that? “Thanks.”

Dean glanced at his watch. “Break’s over. Lock your toolbox, and we’ll get back to work. Have you heard anything about the inspection yet?”

“Nope. Manning is taking his sweet time going over everything. If he can find something we need to fix in Building 8, we’ll make his day.”

“We checked everything ourselves and fixed the items Patton and Fisher skimped on or did wrong. That building is as perfect as we can get it.”

Two hours later, Brian strode into Building 7. He handed Mason a list. “Manning’s correction list.”

Mason scanned the items, his frown deepening as he read. “Dean and I fixed about half of this list yesterday. The rest of the items on the list were working perfectly.”

“They aren’t now. Your fixes have miraculously undone themselves. We have another inspection in a week.”

“Want a suggestion?”

“Lay it on me.”

“Let Dean and me change the locks. You keep the keys. The only way someone will be able to get back in here to create mischief is to break in.”

Brian smiled. “I like it. Go to our hardware supplier for the locks. Don’t tell anyone else what you’re doing. Let’s see if we can thwart our troublemaker. Leave the list I gave you this morning. I’ll keep an eye on things and give Dean a hand.”

“Yes, sir.” He motioned for Dean to follow him outside. When they were far enough away from the apartment building to not be overheard by Brian, he said, “Stay with him. I don’t think the person who’s been messing with me will go after Brian, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

“No problem. We’ll install the crown molding while you’re gone.” Dean rolled his eyes. “We have about a zillion square feet to install.”

“I’ll be back soon to give you a hand.” Mason drove to the hardware supplier thirty minutes away, purchased the necessary locks, and returned to the job site.

He grabbed the box of supplies and carried them inside the building. Brian and Dean were both on ladders, nail guns slamming nails through the molding and into the wall. “Looks good.”

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