Chapter Thirteen
One thing in Cooper’s life was guaranteed, his grandmother was never to be underestimated. Expecting Margaret to bring him his coffee before Emma awoke, as the maid had done for weeks, this morning, after a rap on his door, Margaret informed him that his grandmother had gotten Emma up and was already downstairs enjoying breakfast with the child.
“A travesty.” The Governor held a folded newspaper in his hand and was tapping at it with one finger. “It’s a miracle no one was hurt.”
Standing at the buffet pouring a cup of coffee, Devlin shook his head. “I barely got any sleep following the breaking newscasts.”
Without his coffee, Cooper was finding it hard to follow the conversation. Pouring his own cup, it dawned on him that his brother had not been there last night when they’d all gone to bed. “What time did you get here?”
“Little after seven.”
“Last night?” That made no sense.
“This morning.” Setting down the slice of toast he’d just slathered with an inch of marmalade, Devlin stopped and waved a couple of fingers at Emma seated between him and their grandmother. “I thought it was time to visit with my niece again.”
“She’s not your niece.” Though, ever since ice cream the other night, he’d found himself more than once distracted by thoughts of Tess and wishing he’d paid more attention to the passing of time and looked her up before their pinky swear deadline had come and gone.
“Could have fooled me,” Devlin continued to entertain Emma, “she has your eyes.”
“Lots of people have green eyes. As a matter of fact, so do you.” That got his brother straightening in his seat.
“Don’t look at me. I haven’t seen Teresa since you were in high school.”
“Ditto.” He forced a toothy smile at his brother.
“A simple DNA test would solve this argument.” Their grandmother flashed a sweet smile that completely contradicted the depth of her statement.
“Grams,” he and Devlin echoed simultaneously.
Cooper shot his brother a look and turned his attention back to his grandmother. “Grams, I explained to you. I haven’t seen Tess since her high school graduation.” His grandmother should know, she’d insisted most of the Baron clan attend to cheer the first recipient of the Baron Foster System Collegiate Scholarship.
“Yes, dear.” The sweet smile remained intact and he was pretty sure the woman’s mind remained unconvinced that he couldn’t possibly be Emma’s father.
“Family is more than blood,” the Governor muttered, shaking his head at the newspaper that occupied his thoughts. “Contractors who cut corners to save a buck should all be flogged, then tarred and feathered.”
“We ran into something similar with that mall project in East Texas about five years ago. One of the construction workers anonymously reported the concrete contractor for using recycled concrete. Had he gotten away with it we could have had a complete collapse of that underground garage. What a nightmare that would have been.”
Meanwhile, Cooper still wasn’t sure exactly what they were talking about. “Now that I’ve had a few sips of my morning caffeine jolt, anyone care to update me on exactly what has everyone all riled up?”
Devlin sighed, and if Cooper wasn’t mistaken, growled under his breath before speaking. “The central tower on that new multi-use project south of downtown collapsed. The first tenants were set to move in tomorrow. Had the dang thing taken two more days to implode, who knows how many people would have been injured or killed.”
“With all the permits and inspections and hoops we have to go through, how the hell does something like this still happen?” Now Cooper was all riled up and suddenly realized, little Emma was following the conversation like a spectator at a tennis match, and taking in every word. He was going to have to watch his language no matter how irritated he was over the situation.
“Perhaps we’re jumping to conclusions?” Grams suggested sweetly.
The Governor shook his head. “Not possible. Buildings properly constructed with approved product do not suddenly fall down.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Cooper hated stories like this. “That some engineer, contractor, or project manager put profit above human lives is enough to make my skin crawl.”
“Agreed.” The Governor reached over to pet one of the dogs. Pausing to form his words. “It has to be either gleaning the budget using underrated product, or human-cut corners on the process to save a dime or two, or outright using inferior product.”
“Thank heaven we don’t have to worry about any of our contractors.” That much Cooper was sure of. He hoped.
Dressed in an eye-catching light blue top and cropped tan pants, Tess entered the dining room, stepped aside to give her daughter a quick morning kiss between Emma’s bites of bacon and scrambled eggs, then straightened and looking Cooper in the eye, sighed. “I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one.”
Teresa was all for saving money through efficiency and use of innovative superior products that cut down on potential maintenance, but two things rubbed her the wrong way: replacing the human touch with technology, and skimping to save a dime. She hadn’t said anything to Cooper yet, not till she could be more certain. Yesterday her doctor had cleared her to drive and today she had every intention of checking things out in person.
“What do you mean?” His gaze narrowed, Cooper looked up at her from his seat at the table.
“I heard about the accident. Started digging around a bit online. There’s still limited info, but I called a former coworker this morning to find out what the inside word is and I got the name of the concrete contractor. Manning Brothers seems to be leaving a trail of construction accidents in their wake.”
His fork midair, Devlin set it back down. “They’re on the short list for a new development I’m working on.”
His lips tightened into a thin line, Cooper sucked in a deep breath. “Is this rumor or do we have proof?”
“They hide their tracks well.” Teresa sighed. “A few projects ago, I got some anonymous tips that there were short cuts being taken. There was a bonus involved for every day the project completed ahead of schedule.”
Both Cooper and Devlin nodded.
“We give similar incentives from time to time.” Cooper turned to his brother, who was still bobbing his head. “I don’t think we ever considered it could also be an incentive to cut corners.”
Teresa nodded. “Which is why no one at my former company blinked an eye when the contractor ran day-and-night crews to save time.”
Now Cooper shook his head. “I don’t think I’m going to like where this is going.”
“Exactly.” She sat down with her coffee and an English muffin. “The materials used during the day fully met the safety specs set out by the engineers. The night crew was a different story. My coworker and I headed out one night just for a spot inspection. There was scrambling and excuses, and delays and we knew something wasn’t right. Next time we went a tad more stealthily. Parked down the road.” She paused and smiled. “Hate to admit it, but we wore black clothes and snuck around like a couple of thieves.”
“And?”
“We found the recycled concrete they were using. I took videos, photos, ordered construction halted, and after the firestorm was over, we had a new concrete contractor involved and took a financial hit removing and redoing the foundation work Manning had already done. Thankfully, they hadn’t gotten further, but, of course, part of the settling included a gag order.”
“Which you’re not keeping.” Devlin smiled up at her.
She shrugged. “I didn’t sign anything, and I don’t work for the company anymore, and more importantly, guess who has the concrete contract for the new project I’m overseeing.”
Cooper closed his eyes for a second and blew out a deep sigh. “Manning Brothers.”
Putting her finger on the tip of her nose, she nodded. “Ding ding ding. Give the man a prize.”
“I’ll talk to legal. See what we can do.” Cooper shook his head and sighed.
Her heart swelled that Cooper was willing to take action on her word and her word alone.
“You’re going to need more proof.” The Governor turned to Teresa. “Not that we don’t believe you, we do, but if this character wants to get ugly, we’re going to need a paper trail.”
“I know. I’ve already started putting one together. And thank you for your confidence. When I’d approached my former boss, he practically ignored me. Finally relenting if I got one of the male project managers involved.”
“Construction is still considered a man’s world in many ways.” Cooper shook his head. “I’m sorry that happened.”
“It happens a lot.” Devlin added. “I’ve fired more than one really good crew member for how they treated the women on the site. We don’t have a lot of female construction workers, but when they put on a hard hat and swing a hammer, they become one of the team and deserve the same respect the men get.”
“Good for you.” A smile took over Mrs. Baron’s face.
In her youth, Tess hadn’t met a Baron she didn’t like, and from what she’d seen since her accident, not a single one seems to have grown into an idiot. She admired every one, especially Cooper. Where he was involved, that hint of a schoolgirl crush she shared with half the female students was quickly blooming into something much more complex. At least for her.
“What happens now?” the Governor asked.
All heads turned in his direction. After a long moment of silence, and his gaze clearly settling on Teresa, she hefted one shoulder and stood for more coffee. “Basic recognizance today. I need to see where things are at in person, not just on paper, and I need to dig around and see what else is happening in the rumor mills. I suspect strongly there will be a lot of noise after yesterday’s collapse.”
“Get the phone number for Carter Gibbs from Katrina. He’s been grumbling about Manning in Dallas. He might have some key insights for you. Honestly, I didn’t pay enough attention to him because of Manning’s good reputation, but now I’m wishing I had. Promise me one thing, whatever you do,” Cooper’s expression turned serious, “do not take any action until we’ve had a chance to sit down and hash out our options. I’ve learned from experience that men cornered like trapped rats can be unpredictable and much more dangerous. I do not, under any circumstances, want you caught in the crossfire.”
“I can—”
He held up his hand, cutting her off. “That wasn’t a suggestion. I know you are very competent, it’s why we hired you, but some risks aren’t worth taking. Am I clear?”
As much as she hated being treated like a girl, she knew deep down that Cooper would take that same concerned tone with a man, and nodded her head. And maybe, just maybe, she’d allow herself the illusion that his concern for her was more than employer to employee. Wouldn’t that be something?