Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
FORD
Iknocked on Griffen’s office door but didn’t wait for a response, just turned the handle and let myself in. I stopped at the threshold, not expecting to see Paige lifting Stella from Griffen’s arms. She froze, her eyes on me, and for a moment, everything spinning in my head stopped.
God, I was an idiot. I hadn’t served any purpose in this last week apart from making both of us miserable.
I doubted she was any safer. No one had tried to get to me since we’d sent the sniper off with the information that the bounty wouldn’t be paid.
All I’d gained was a week away from Paige—the last thing I wanted.
“Ford, what’s wrong?” Hope asked, reading my face.
Paige gave herself a little shake, breaking her stillness, her eyes narrowing in sudden concern.
“I— I—” I stopped, words piling up on each other in their rush to get out. How to explain?
I looked to Paige and everything settled.
“I got a call back from the concrete contractor,” I said.
Her eyes flew wide. As I’d expected, she knew exactly what I was talking about. I’d mentioned the reappearing concrete invoice more than once over the past few weeks. “What did they say?” she asked.
Realizing Griffen and Hope had no idea why concrete might be interesting, I looked their way. “I’ve been going through the paperwork, you know—” Griffen nodded. “And I keep finding this invoice for concrete repair in the garage.”
“Dad converted that part of the Manor into garages in the late seventies, I think,” Griffen said.
“Yeah,” I agreed, “but this was a repair in eighty-six. Something to do with plumbing. Anyway, the invoice kept turning up.” I shrugged, not sure how else to explain it. “I’d file it with household paperwork, go to another bin, even another room of the attic, and there it would be again.”
“You’re sure it was the same invoice?” Hope asked. “Maybe it was copies that got stuck in different boxes.”
I shook my head. “It was the same invoice. I recognized the way it was folded and the note of payment in the margin. I finally decided to call the concrete company.”
“You know that sounds impossible, right?” Griffen asked.
I nodded. “I know. And I’m sure it was the same. I’d put it away and find it again somewhere else.”
“For a repair that was done more than thirty years ago?” Hope asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s a little crazy, but it kept turning up and all I’ve been hitting are dead ends.
At this point, anything feels like it’s worth looking into.
When I talked to them, the office manager said no one there would have any idea.
I figured that was the end of it, but the contractor called me back a few minutes ago.
The office manager is his daughter, and she mentioned it to him.
He said no one ever forgets work they do at Heartstone, and he remembered the job. ”
I relayed the conversation, Griffen’s gaze growing heavy with understanding by the time I finished. “There’s something under the garage floor,” he said.
“I think so,” I agreed. “I don’t know what, but I think Dad buried something there and tried to cover it up himself.”
“Well, fuck,” Griffen said, shaking his head. “How do we…? Hold on—” He pulled up his phone and sent a text.
Hope leaned over to read his screen. “Do we have a jackhammer? Why would Hawk have a jackhammer?”
“I don’t know,” Griffen said, “but if anybody around here does, it’ll be Hawk, considering his sideline is managing the grounds.”
Griffen’s phone pinged in his hand, and Hope laughed, saying, “Hawk doesn’t have a jackhammer, and he’s on his way here. Clearly, he wants to know what you’re up to. But I know who has a jackhammer. Billy Bob.”
Billy Bob—Billy and Bob—were cousins of Savannah’s and local handymen. Considering they’d also managed to clear Hawk’s security checks, not an easy feat, they were around the Manor more often than not, given the rate at which things broke down around here.
Griffen sent Hawk a text. I’d bet he was asking him to call Billy Bob and get them over here with their jackhammer.
If Prentice had hidden something in the garage floor, it was probably family business.
But since I didn’t know how to run a jackhammer and was guessing neither did anyone else, we’d let Billy Bob handle that part.
“I’m calling Uncle Edgar,” Hope said. Griffen looked at her and she explained, “If Prentice buried something in that garage and covered it with concrete, Uncle Edgar knows about it.”
Hope set her phone on the desk and opened her contacts list. Before she could tap Edgar’s name and initiate the call, Paige interrupted.
“Should I— Do you want me to take Stella and put her down? This is personal, family stuff and—” Her gaze flicked from me to Griffen and Hope.
Hope’s eyebrows went up in surprise.
Griffen sent me a look.
I shook my head. “I think you should stay.”
I’d been an idiot, pushing her away, but I’d done it because I felt so much for her. I didn’t want her to walk—not now, not later, not ever—which meant I had to stop shutting her out.
“I don’t want you to go,” I said, “unless you want to.”
She resettled Stella in her arms and shook her head. “I don’t want to go.”
“All right, then,” Griffen said. He glanced at his phone screen. “Hawk is headed here. Billy Bob are on the way with a jackhammer. Call Edgar—let’s see what he knows.”
Hope stabbed her finger at the phone screen, and the sound of the ring filled the room.
“What is it, Hope?” Edgar’s gruff voice said through the speaker.
“Uncle Edgar, I have a question. I’m wondering how good your memory is.”
I grinned at how well Hope knew her uncle, to start with a challenge that would get him engaged.
“My memory is sharp as a tack,” he said, and a tiny smile curved the side of her mouth.
“We’ve got some invoices,” she explained. “Savannah and I are going through old household paperwork. She’s found some journals. We’ve been trying to catalog the history of the house.”
“As you should be. Wish you’d put working with Griffen aside and focus on domestic matters more. But this is a start,” he said.
Griffen rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut. Hope didn’t respond to the comment and went on smoothly, “We found some invoices for concrete work in the garage in nineteen eighty-six. Nobody remembers any work in the garage in eighty-six. We were wondering if you did.”
The pause extended longer than was comfortable before Edgar said, “I suppose I do. I’m surprised there are still invoices around. It was years after the big renovation. There was some sort of septic issue. They had to break up the floor, get in there to repair the leak. It smelled terrible.”
“You’re sure?” Hope asked doubtfully. “We didn’t see any invoices related to septic repairs.”
We hadn’t found any related to plumbing either—only the concrete repair, but Hope didn’t mention that.
“I’m sure,” he said. “Nothing to remember or remark on, especially after all this time. Not surprised you can’t find the other invoices. It’s been thirty-some years.”
“We know, but we’ve been having some issues with the garage,” Hope said, crossing her fingers to negate her lie. “Billy Bob is headed over with a jackhammer. We’re going to dig into the floor and make sure it’s not leaking again, or whatever the problem was back then.”
“Well, that’s just a waste of time, Hope,” Edgar argued. “You’re going to make a big mess with nothing to show for it. Whatever was wrong there, Prentice got it patched up good and tight. No need to go busting up the garage floor.”
“You seem awfully sure about that for someone who’s not a plumber or a contractor,” Hope said. “I haven’t even told you what the problems are in the garage.”
“You don’t need to. Tell Billy Bob to take their jackhammer home. You have a problem, call a plumber.”
“Maybe I already did,” Hope said.
“Hope Sawyer, you listen to me—” Edgar ordered, steel threading through his gruff tone.
“I don’t think so,” Hope said pleasantly. “Thanks for the input, Uncle Edgar.” Her finger stabbed the red button on the screen. The call cut off.
“That was suspicious,” Griffen said.
“Very,” I agreed. “Because when I talked to Bailey Toms, he specifically mentioned that it smelled funny in the garage. And I asked, ‘like a busted septic line,’ and he said no. Didn’t smell like any septic line he’d ever come across, but it didn’t smell good.”
“I don’t think Prentice buried old stock certificates or the key to a hidden safe under the garage,” Hope murmured.
“Me either,” I agreed.
“Shoot.” Paige interrupted, looking down at the baby in her arms. Stella’s eyelids were drooping, her cheek snuggled against Paige’s shoulder. “It’s past time for her nap. I’m going to run up and put her down, and then I’ll find you wherever you are.” She rushed past me and out the door.
“What are you thinking?” Griffen asked, tapping his pen on his desk blotter.
“I don’t know what to think,” I said. Possibilities tumbled in my mind, and I couldn’t bring myself to put them into words. Not yet. Not when we hadn’t seen what was there.
“We’d better go move the vehicles,” Griffen said, standing.
“Good idea,” Hope agreed.
The three of us headed to the garage, meeting Hawk coming down the hall, a black vest hanging from his hand.
“If you’re going to the garage, put this on.
” He shoved the bulletproof vest at me. I took it, almost dropping it, the weight a surprise even though I’d tried it on a week before, when we’d worked out the plan if Cole came for me.
I strapped it on and grabbed a jacket to cover it as Hope and Griffen put on their own jackets.
“I don’t suppose any of you know how to operate a jackhammer?” Hawk asked, already dressed for the chilly December weather.
“I wish,” Griffen said.
“Not me,” I added.
Hope didn’t bother to comment.
“Then we’re going to have to let Billy Bob in on whatever’s up,” Hawk said.
“I think,” I said slowly, “we only need them to break up the top layer of concrete.” If my hunch was correct, it was going to be obvious once they got through that first layer.
“And you know where we’re digging?” Hawk asked, his brows drawn together as he clearly tried to puzzle out what the hell was going on.
“I think I do,” I said. “Bailey Toms gave me a pretty good description of where the hole was.” I zipped up my jacket as I shouldered open the garage door, my heart thumping faster in my chest as my eyes went to the spot Bailey Toms had described.
I had no doubt there would be answers buried beneath the concrete. I just wasn’t sure I was ready to discover exactly what they were.