Page 139 of The Fixer

Charlie leaned down and ruffled their necks. “You girls were awesome tonight.” Sure, he’d brought them along for sentry duty, but truth be told, he’d been nervous about sitting in the Haven alone, even though his posse had only been a text away. “Extra treats for you when we get home.”

Noah clapped him on the shoulder. “Drop them off at your house and come on over to Miners. Private party, and I’m buying.”

“Hot damn!” Micky whooped. Of course he did.

It was good to know some things never change.

Charlie pounded his firstbeer. “Didn’t realize I was so thirsty.”

“Catching bad guys will do that to you,” Dixie quipped.

Micky snaked his hand around Amy’s back and pulled her in for a kiss. “Now they know not to mess with the FR-Team. Right, babe?” The idiot was crowing a little too loudly. Still, Charlie couldn’t help but laugh … and be grateful Micky and the rest of these guys had volunteered to help catch the thieves.

Amy rolled her eyes. “The FR-Team?”

“Fall River,” Micky scoffed. “Swooping in to save small children, dogs, and contractors. We are badass. Get with the program, woman.”

Noah shook his head. “Hate to break it to you, dude, but you’re going to need something a lot less lame if you want to be considered badass.”

Micky flipped him off.

Dixie slid Charlie a fresh pint. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

She winked. “Anytime, handsome.”

He pointed a finger at each and every one of them. “I’ve got to say this. I want to thank all of you guys. It means a lot that you were there tonight. Couldn’t have done it without you.” He beat his fist against his heart and felt the sting of tears behind his eyes.

“No, you couldn’t have,” Noah quipped. “We should all be sporting capes.”

Charlie quaffed his beer. “I still can’t believe it was Felix.” The discovery simultaneously stung and pissed him off like hell. He had trusted the guy, had tried to give him a break.

Hailey stood behind the bar with Noah, hanging on to the hand he had draped over her shoulder. “You never suspected?”

“Nope. In fact, I puthimin charge of Jimmy Culbertson. Now I owe Cully an apology.”

“No, you don’t,” Noah interjected. “You gave him a lot of chances too.”

“How did you set things up?” Hailey wanted to know.

“I arranged to get a replacement shipment of drywall, thinking that might lure them in. I also complained loudly around each crew that the cameras I’d set up had been disabled—which they had, as it turned out—and I was worried because I couldn’t get any new ones for at least a week. I joked that it would be the perfect time for the bad guys to take advantage. And it worked.”

“They took the bait like hungry trout,” Reece laughed. He looked toward the front door for the tenth time since they’d come in. Probably waiting for Shane, like Charlie was.

“We’ll see. I still need the whole story. I don’t know if those guys were only stealing or if they were also swapping. That was a mid-sized truck they were using tonight, no trailer, so I can’t see them hauling lumber and drywall back and forth to wherever.”

Reece glanced toward the front door again. “Too bad Neve’s not here. She’ll be pissed when she finds out she missed the excitement.”

Charlie’s eyebrows flew to his hairline.

“What?” Reece protested. “It’s true.”

“Since when have you cared about Neve missing out?” Noah tossed back. “Let me rephrase. Since when have you cared about Neve, period?”

A hint of embarrassment flitted through Reece’s eyes, but he quickly shrugged it off. “Wonder what’s going to happen to those guys they arrested?”

While the group threw guesses around, Charlie trundled off to the hallway for some privacy. He checked his phone, disappointed when he didn’t see a recent text from Joy. Then again, it was three o’clock in the morning here and four there. She was fast asleep. He couldn’t wait to tell her about tonight’s bust, but he wanted to do it over the phone, and she’d been so damn busy—and he’d been caught up trying to nab the thieves—that they’d barely exchanged texts, let alone actual phone calls since he’d left Chicago.

He sighed. Her words about it not working out had haunted him ever since he’d left on Saturday, and he had yet to come up with a solution that made sense.

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