Page 126 of The Fixer

Don’s face was a mask. “A little under.”

“Howfarunder?”

“We’re at about ninety-eight percent of projections,” another partner piped up.

Charlie forcefully tapped his index and middle fingers on the shiny tabletop. “Ninety-eight percent? I’d call that a win. But let’s put that aside for a minute. If the same doubts aroseafterthe agreement was struck, shouldn’t we have been informed so we could all sit down and revise accordingly? We have decent people who bought into this dream and have invested their hard-earned money, believing it was not only moving forward but that it was on schedule.”

“They acknowledged the risk when they signed on,” Don pointed out.

Charlie shifted his weight to disperse some of his pent-up frustration. “They were sold a bill of goods that you unilaterally decided to yank out from under them.” His gaze moved around the table, landing on each Silver Summit executive, where it lingered for several uncomfortable beats—uncomfortable for them, not him.

“The original question is valid, but so is Hunnicutt’s point,” Cantrell pressed. “Why don’t you address that for us?”

Don visibly squirmed. What came out of his mouth was merely a repeat of the question padded with a bunch of extra words that explained nothing.

Cantrell’s eyes remained locked on Don. “I would hate to think that we’re ignoring a valuable opportunity here.”

“I have a suggestion,” Charlie interjected. All eyes turned back to him. “What if we’ve been looking at the wrong set of tracks?” Eyebrows around the table rose. “There are abandoned tracks all over the place up here, and one spur connects Fall River to Silver Summit. It’s a much shorter stretch than the tracks we’ve been focused on. What if we fixed those upfirstand started running a train between our two locations? It could transport double the people the shuttles are carrying. After we get that going, we switch back to renovating the tracks leading up from the flats. The original project will be pushed off, but suddenly we have a new attraction, and you get more than the ninety-eight percent you’re seeing right now.”

Leo Cantrell sat up … and laughed. Threw his head back and howled. His partners stared at him as though a train track were sprouting out of his forehead. To Charlie’s left, Noah hid a grin behind his hand.

Cantrell slapped the conference table and stabbed a finger toward Charlie. “Genius.” Then he looked around the table. “Why didn’t any ofusthink of that? I love it. What a fantastic idea.”

An excited buzz overtook the room, and Charlie felt like a kid on a skateboard for the first time—wobbly but pumped up and triumphant.

The meeting ended an hour later with hand-clapping, back-slapping, and an agreement to speed up the depot project.

This could actually work!

Noah was laughing and shaking his head when he slid into the driver’s seat and pulled his truck onto the highway. “I owe you an apology, baby brother.”

“Why’s that?”

“I totally underestimated you. As Cantrell said, that was genius. I always thought you had it in you, but to see it in action … Yeah. Nice job.”

A warm glow warmed Charlie inside, and he didn’t even mind the “baby brother” bit. “I expected you to jump in, especially when Cantrell kept looking your way.”

“I didn’t think I needed to. You know a helluva lot more about this shit than I do. The spur? Never occurred to me. No, you were doing fine on your own. If I jumped in, I might have fucked it up, and then where would we be?” He punched Charlie in the arm.

Charlie couldn’t wait to share the news with Bea and the others who’d invested in the dream.

Buoyed by his triumph, he set his mind on the next mountain he had to conquer—one in Chicago he would possibly die on.

Charlie left a voicemailfor Shane, asking if he had any updates. On close inspection, Charlie had determined the cameras at the Havenhadbeen disabled, and he’d turned those over to the deputy. This whole mess mystified him, and he hoped they might lift a fingerprint or find other evidence that would point to the crooks.

He plopped onto his couch, surrounded himself with his canine support group, and tapped Joy’s number. It was nine in the evening for her, but knowing what a workaholic she was, he wouldn’t be surprised if she was still at her office.

She picked up on the second ring, breathless.

He spiked his voice with a smile. “Are you excited to hear from me, or were you running?”

“I was running,” she gusted out.

Damn.Not the answer he’d been looking for, but he’d take it. If she was running, she was eager to pick up his call, right? Unless she hadn’t been able to see who was calling …

“How did your meeting with the Silver Summit boys go?”

I nailed it!Yeah, he hadn’t come down from that high completely. “That’s one of the reasons I’m calling. I’d like to tell you in person. What are you doing Friday?” His heart kicked up its tempo.

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