Rob glanced at Samantha, and felt concern. He needed to get to the other cabins, collect what he could, and add it to their stores. But it would mean leaving her. For now, the snow fell gently. Once the wind returned, that would all change. Visibility would be gone, and walking a straight line impossible. If he was at one of the other cabins when that happened, he’d be stuck there until the next break. Whenever that was.
He ran his fingers through his hair, and struggled to decide. Go now, or wait for another chance? What would be best for her?
They had at least a couple of days’ worth of food left… and right now, she needed him. While she needed him, he had the best opportunity of winning her back.
That thought frustrated him. He didn’t want to be selfish anymore. He wanted to put her first. And here he was, thinking of how he could use her weakness to his advantage.
Rob sighed, and wished he could call Erik. He glanced at his watch. His brother, and Samantha’s sister, were probably headed back to Ocotillo. He could call his grandfather… but it was a lot easier to be brutally honest about his failures with Erik, than the grandfather he respected, and had so deeply disappointed. Before he talked to his grandfather, he wanted to get himself straightened out. Or let God straighten him out, he reminded himself. He knew he couldn’t do it, he proved it over and over.
Rob picked up his Bible and notebook. As he sat back in the recliner, he felt his phone vibrate.
He got up as rapidly and silently as he could, and retreated to the bedroom. As he closed the door, he snatched his phone out of his pocket.
Rob glanced at the screen, and frowned. Erik’s photo wasn’t the one displayed there. He hesitated, then answered.
“Hey, Dan.”
“Rob! What’s going on, man?” Dan exclaimed.
“A lot.”
Dan waited several seconds, but Rob said no more.
“Are… you still in one of the cabins on Pine Mountain?”
“For the foreseeable future.”
“That’s rough,” Dan said sympathetically. “You’re not missing much, at least. We’re not getting the mess you are, but the snow shut down the lift. Meredith is having a conniption. She’s been trying to get hold of you, I guess service comes and goes?”
“I blocked Meredith.”
“What?” Dan replied sharply. “Why?”
“I don’t want her in my life. Ever again.”
There were several moments of stunned silence.
“Hold up—is this really Rob—or did Erik get hold of your phone?”
“I’ve wised up, and I’ll never make the same mistakes again.”
“I am so confused,” Dan said, utterly baffled. “What in the world happened to you?”
“I’m done choosing misery. I have the chance to save my marriage, and I’m not letting anything get in the way.”
“Oh,” Dan replied flatly. “How did that happen? I thought you were done with her.”
“I was an idiot, is what I was,” Rob said irritably. “None of it was her fault. It was mine, and I hope—I pray—I can make it right.”
“How—wait a minute—you’re not at that cabin together, are you?” Dan sounded disturbed.
“Yes.”
“Fine, alright, you’re back with your wife. I have no idea how that happened, but come on! You can’t just ditch your friends like this, man. What’s Meredith supposed to do?”
“I don’t care what she does,” Rob snapped. “She’s not my friend, and she never was. She’s poison, and I’m done.”
“I… don’t even know what to say,” Dan replied in astonishment.
“There’s nothing left to say, but goodbye. So… goodbye.”
Rob ended their call. He started to return his phone to his pocket, then stopped and went through his contacts list. One by one, he blocked his former friends.
They encouraged the worst in him in the past, but that was over, he thought, as he quietly opened the bedroom door and returned to the main room of the cabin.
He rewarmed the pillow pressed against Samantha’s back, then tucked it behind her again. She didn’t stir, but she looked more comfortable.
Rob hesitated, then gently kissed the side of her face. Maybe she wouldn’t be too mad if she woke up, and realized—
Once again, he was thinking about what he wanted! And what he could maybe get away with.
But… at least now he realized, even if it was after-the-fact. And that… was progress.
Rob felt somewhat encouraged. He sat back in the recliner once more, took up his Bible, and continued where he left off.
Chapter 8
ERIK pulled out of his grandparents’ driveway, and onto the road. He and Amber waved back at the older couple one last time, then they were lost from view.
“I really like your grandparents,” Amber commented.
“They’re awesome,” Erik agreed. From the middle row, Caleb squealed and chattered. His uncle smiled. “I’d say Caleb agrees.”
A cheerful tune began to play from the stuffed dog Caleb held, then it was replaced by another. And another.
“I do wonder if they like us as well as we like them,” Amber said, glancing over her shoulder. “It may be a long ride!”
“Three hours of serenading,” Erik considered. “We’ll probably have a small shred of sanity still intact.”
“You think?” Amber laughed. “That was so sweet of them, though. I can’t believe they took the trouble to get that for him.”
“Like they said, it’ll entertain him on the way home,” Erik replied. They also knew it might be their only chance to give a gift to their great-grandson. “It doesn’t surprise me, at all. That’s how my grandparents are.”
“I like what your grandmother did to my necklace, too,” she said, examining it again. Erik glanced at her.
“That was clever of her to write the rest of the letters of your name down the side like that,” he replied. His grandmother was creative, and she had a kind heart. She didn’t find the humor in teasing Amber about the falsehood she was perpetrating, like Erik and his grandfather did.
“Now people will know my name is Amber, rather than A,” she said with satisfaction.
“You’re right, that is better. You don’t want to give people the wrong impression.”
She gave him a long, narrow look.
He appeared completely innocent. More innocent than most innocent people appeared to be.
Erik wondered at the silence, and glanced at her.
“You’re looking at me like you’ve never seen me before,” he commented. “And… kind of like you’re not sure what it is you’re looking at.”
“Yesterday when you found out about Caleb, you were mortified,” she stated.
“Not about Caleb,” Erik quickly corrected her. “But the thought of you having a baby at sixteen… I was dismayed. When the woman passed by and thought I was the father of a child born to a sixteen-year-old, then yes. I admit, I was completely mortified.”
Amber tried very hard not to laugh. Erik pretended not to notice.
“Well it isn’t as though I look like I’m sixteen anymore,” Amber finally retorted.
Erik glanced at her.
“You’re right, you don’t. You look thirteen.”
Amber gasped and shot him a horrified glance.
“I do not look thirteen!” she exclaimed indignantly.
Erik glanced at her again, then shrugged.
“I guess to me, you always will.”
Amber wondered how to change that. If he stepped in as a father figure for Caleb… Amber wondered how easy it would be to get Samantha to go along with that. But if she did, and he was serious about visiting often, or relocating, then…
Amber sighed. Even she, could not pull off that house of cards. It killed her, because he was so cute! And so nice. The crush she developed at thirteen, was stronger than ever.
“Well I’m not thirteen, I’m eighteen,” she said rather grumpily.
“It�
��s hard to believe five years have gone by,” he replied. “Although… actually, it feels like it’s been longer than that. During those five years, I went through college and went into business with my brother. Speaking of our business, Grampa had several suspects for us to consider.”
Amber perked up at that.
“Ooh, tell me what he said!”
“On the environmentalist front, there’s a guy named Wilt Chapman. He headed a group in the eighties and nineties. They did some protesting and were suspected of vandalism and destroying equipment, although nothing was ever proven. Wilt is older than Grampa by about twenty years. That doesn’t mean this group is done with. Wilt’s grandson may have taken up that baton.”
“Why does your grandfather think that?” Amber wondered.
“The replies to several blog posts, claiming to be written by Chandler Chapman. The Pine Mountain development wasn’t mentioned, although a couple of others were. Because of that, and for the reasons we talked about earlier, he’s the least likely suspect on the list.”
“Who is the most likely?” Amber asked.
“That remains to be determined. I contacted Mr. Henry, the owner of the development. He’s instructing his office assistant to create a list of the contractors who bid on the project, and lost. Once we have that, we’ll add those names to the list Grampa came up with.”
“What did Mr. Henry think about someone trying to blow up one of the model homes? You told him, right?”
“Yes, I told him. He was shocked. He’s inclined to accept our bids on his future projects as a result, since he has no idea who to trust, now.”
“That’s great, I guess,” Amber said.
“Or, not. It won’t take long for someone to suggest that Rob and I made the whole thing up, to erode his trust in the competition,” Erik pointed out.
“How awful!” Amber frowned. “Then let’s hurry up and get this guy, whoever he is. So Chandler Chapman is at the bottom of the list. The location of the others is yet to be determined. Who, however, are the others? The ones your grandfather came up with?”
“Andrew Whitman is on the list. He’s a builder. He moved to the area three years ago, and opened up a new contracting firm, after declaring bankruptcy at his last location. It’s not the first time he’s done this. New company, new name, and a lot of unsuspecting new homebuyers. He builds some houses, gets a few subdivisions started, then he stops paying for materials. The homes have liens put on them, the company goes bankrupt, and he moves on. His personal assets are untouched.”
“You’re kidding!” she exclaimed.
“No. I’m not. As far as Grampa knows, he isn’t in delinquency yet. Maybe the guy turned over a new leaf between walking away from his last location, and coming to Ocotillo. I’m not willing to bet on it.”
“What a horrible person,” she declared. “And these people lose their homes? Or have to pay for them twice?”
“Mortgage companies require homeowners to purchase title insurance, so they keep their homes, and the suppliers get paid. The title company, however, pays for it.”
“And that cost gets passed on, I’m sure. The only one who doesn’t pay, is Andrew Whitman,” Amber said disapprovingly. “The title company can go after his company, but can’t touch him.”
“That’s correct. He’s unscrupulous. That doesn’t mean he’d risk sabotaging the competition… and if I were him, I’d be afraid to take on Mr. Henry. I have a feeling he would see to it that Whitman’s reputation preceded him, in the future.”
“Alright. So hit me with the next suspect,” Amber said.
“Amos Burns. He’s a construction crew foreman. He charges less than the standard rate, and the work done by his crew is a great example of getting what you pay for. No reputable contractor will work with him.”
“And so, he would profit if Mr. Henry hired a contracting company willing to hire him,” Amber deduced.
“Yes, and it’s a longshot, but… any guy willing to cut corners when it comes to connecting gas lines inside a home, wouldn’t think twice about sabotaging another company’s project, if he thought it would benefit him.”
“With people like this out there, no wonder building a house is considered so stressful!”
“There’s a lot that can go wrong. Corners can be cut without the result being evident right away. Inspections are required as houses are built, but… you’d be surprised how incomplete those inspections sometimes are. One of Ashland’s city inspectors lost his job because work that was clearly not up to code, was passing. It was suspected he was being paid off by Robert Sherman, the project contractor. He’s also on our suspect list.”
“Are all of these guys headquartered in Ocotillo?” Amber wondered.
“No, not any more than Rob and I, are. The Davison firm bids on projects throughout the state. So do the others. All of the men I mentioned—with the exception of the environmentalist, Chandler Chapman—have had projects in and around Ocotillo, in the past couple of years.”
“Are any of these guys involved in big projects of their own, right now?” she asked.
“It’s up to us to investigate, and find out,” Erik replied.
“It wouldn’t be all that difficult to call and cancel orders…” Amber considered. “But, how would this person know where you placed orders? And for what?”
“Good point,” Erik considered. “We’ll be sure and talk to the granite people about the order that was picked up by someone else, just yesterday. That should be fresh on the minds of the employees that loaded it.”
“That’s right, they saw whoever came for it, and the vehicle,” she realized.
“I’d like to know if someone called first, or just showed up.”
“They might be getting information from someone working for you,” Amber frowned.
“It’s possible. But… who? We suspect that whoever is behind this, thought they were doing us more harm than they actually were. That doesn’t indicate they have someone on the inside, feeding them information.”
“Maybe not intentionally.”
“That, is a very good point,” Erik considered.
“Don’t just talk to the places you’ve ordered from,” Amber suggested.
“Because, if another company remembers someone inquiring about a Davison order, when none was placed… then none of our employees are giving out information intentionally. Maybe not at all.”
“Exactly. Why bother calling at random, if you know exactly who to contact.”
“Those are excellent deductions,” Erik acknowledged. He was impressed.
“Thanks,” Amber smiled. “See, I’m helping already. And you’ve got to admit, this trip would be really boring if you were all by yourself.”
“Yes, it would,” he said, glancing in the rearview mirror at Caleb.
The little boy enthusiastically pressed the paws of his plush puppy, then its stomach, setting off a rapid volley of changing tunes. He squealed as he bounced the toy up and down, then laughed.
“It would be quieter, too, and not nearly as musical,” Amber commented.
“I’m glad you agreed to let him tag along,” Erik replied. “What else can we do together? Visiting a park is out… but, considering Ocotillo is desert, has he ever had a chance to play in snow? We’ll make a snowman when we get back. As long as your parents don’t mind. He’ll love that.”
Amber’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Uh… sure… but what about our investigation?”
“We’ll save our sleuthing for tomorrow. Besides, spending time with your son is more important. I won’t let this investigation get in the way of that.”
“Thanks,” Amber said flatly.
“I never thought much about kids before, but he’s great. I’m glad you ran into me yesterday,” Erik said, as he glanced in the rearview mirror again. Caleb’s eyes were now closed, his cheek pressed against the headrest of his car seat. His plush puppy was clutched in his arms, and the truck his uncle gave him, he held tight
ly in his hand. The sight made Erik smile. “The little guy drops off fast.”
“Yes, he does,” Amber said, glancing over her shoulder.
“If I make a phone call, how likely is he to wake up?” Erik wondered.
“I can’t promise anything, but as long as you don’t have a yelling match with the person on the other end, it should be fine,” she decided.
“How disappointing. In that case, I’ll have to keep it civil,” he smiled. He reached in his coat pocket for his phone, and handed it to Amber. “Look up Granite Solutions in my contacts list, then call them for me. And put it on speaker.”
She did so, and they both waited for a response.
“Granite Solutions,” said the bubbly receptionist on the other end of the line. “How can I help you?”
“Hi, Tabitha. This is Erik Davison,” he answered. Amber raised an eyebrow.
“Erik, hi!” Tabitha replied. She sounded entirely too happy to hear from him, Amber thought grimly. “What can I do for you?”
“I suppose you heard what happened yesterday, when my guys went to pick up the counters we special-ordered,” Erik replied.
“Yes, Mr. Claiborne was so upset,” she relayed seriously, her voice hushed. “He doesn’t know how that could’ve happened.”
“I’m curious, myself,” Erik said. “I’d like to talk to whoever handled loading, and see what they remember about the person and vehicle that picked up.”
“Jerry and Mike did the loading. They could tell you about the vehicle. The guy was in his thirties or forties. He had on a cap… his eyebrows were dark, so his hair is, too. Unless he doesn’t have any,” she considered. “He has brown eyes, and he’s really tan. Either he’s in the sun a lot, he uses a tanning bed, or a spray tanner. Self-tanner wouldn’t get that dark, I don’t think. He’s maybe your height.”
Amber felt decidedly hostile.
“You spoke to him, then?” Erik asked. “Exactly what did he say?”
“He asked if the order for Davison was ready for pickup.”
“He didn’t ask if there was an order to be picked up?” Erik questioned.
“No… he asked if the order was ready for pickup.”
Disengaged (Terms of Engagement Book 3) Page 13