“Thank you but just stay out of this. I can handle my problems myself.” She gave the man a withering look. If he was in the company of the beast then he was one of the enemy.
The man’s face fell. He was obviously taken aback by her bitter rejoinder.
His startled look actually made Solie feel bad. If the man weren’t the color of hot chocolate he probably would have turned red in the face. Okay, so maybe she didn’t have to slam him that hard. After all, it was that other man who was pissing her off. She drew in a deep breath. She really had to get a hold on her emotions.
“I’m sorry," she said quickly. "That was uncalled for.” She shook her head then turned her attention back to the man who was now regarding her with a face as dark as thunder clouds. “It’s you I have a problem with. Do you do these things to annoy me?”
Almost casually, the man folded his arms across his chest, tilted his chin and looked at her through narrowed eyes. “Maybe,” he said, his voice deceptively soft.
Her brows fell and, with a pout added, her frown turned into a scowl. “Maybe? You mean you’re doing these things deliberately?”
His expression made it clear that he thought she was daft. “You’ve got a mind of your own. Think whatever you like,” he said, his tone little better than a scoff. “Just don’t come pissing your anger all over my lawn. I’m within my rights and you know it.”
“I know no such thing. If you don’t shut this party down right now I’m calling the police.” The nerve of him.
He jerked his chin at her. “Go do what you have to do.” With that, he turned and strode away, his bewildered-looking friend by his side.
Solie clenched her teeth and balled her hands into fists. If she could only get her hands on him she’d show him who he was dealing with.
With a frustrated growl she hopped off the rock and stomped back into the house. He was right. The noise wasn’t loud enough to be a public disturbance so she didn’t dare call the police. But she knew he would mess up again and she was sure it would be soon. And when he did she would get him.
He could bet his butt on that.
***
The days were flying by so fast Ransom couldn’t believe it had been a week since he’d last visited the construction site. He’d been caught up in the office for days and the need to make a quick trip to his New York office hadn’t helped. Today, though, he would not let it slide. He hated to feel out of the loop on such an important project.
When he pulled into the parking lot at the site he hadn’t even shut off the engine when his construction foreman, a brawny middle-aged man wearing the standard fluorescent orange vest and yellow hard hat ran toward his truck. “We’ve got a problem,” he blurted out before he’d even come to a halt.
That was an immediate attention grabber. The last thing you wanted to hear on a construction site was that there was a problem. There was too much that could go wrong. He threw the door open and got out. “What’s going on?”
Gordon shook his head. “The same problem. We thought we’d resolved it but like a friggin’ pendulum it keeps coming back.”
“Plumbing again?”
That got him a nod from the foreman. “That damn fool of a plumbing contractor we’ve got isn’t worth a sack of dirt. Doesn’t know his head from his ass, if you ask me.”
Ransom could have reminded him that they’d hired the man on his recommendation but he kept his mouth shut. No sense in going there, not when it wouldn’t resolve a thing. He would much rather focus on resolving the issue than on casting blame. “The leak is still in the underground parking garage?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Gordon said, falling into step beside Ransom who’d already set off across the gravelly parking lot. “He’s down there with his crew right now.”
Ransom gave a grunt and kept on walking. For many of his other projects he’d relied on his team of managers to ensure that things ran smoothly but for this one he’d decided to immerse himself fully. Now he was beginning to wonder if that had been such a good idea. They were beginning to rely on him a little bit too much.
When he got to the location it was to find Egan Stiles tapping his fist against his chin, a look of confusion in his eyes. Not good.
As Ransom approached he looked up then nodded. “Glad you’re here, Mr. Kent. Good to have someone I can discuss this with. Someone who won’t go flying off the handle.” He directed a pointed look toward Gordon who had come in just behind his boss.
Ransom ignored his jibe. “Where’s the problem this time? Same place?”
Stiles shook his head. “It’s shifted to the north passageway. I have my crew on it but just can’t figure out why this would crop up again. That’s what’s beating me.” He was back to tapping his fist against his chin.
“Take me to it.”
At Ransom’s words a look of surprise flashed across the contractor’s face but, just as swiftly, he tightened his lips and turned. “Follow me, please.” His voice was businesslike, almost brusque, as if it had dawned on him that his show of confusion could have been construed as a sign of weakness.
For his sake, Ransom hoped it was a minor glitch because if the problem couldn’t be resolved within the next twenty-four hours then he would have his foreman give him his walking papers. In this type of business where production schedules were critical he had no time for incompetence.
When they got to the north passage Stiles pointed to a narrow tunnel. “It’s along here. The guys are busy down there so it doesn’t make sense to bother them while-” He broke off when Ransom strode past him, bent his head and headed into the shadowy walkway. “Hey, I didn’t mean for you to go down there. I’ll get the guys to come out and talk to you.”
Ransom ignored him. He wanted no second party reports on what was going on. He needed to see what was up. “It’s not safe.” He heard the yelled words but did not slow his pace. He was going to see things for himself. That was the only way he would understand what the devil was going on.