by T. A. Chase
“Yes, sir. You did tell me to do that, but the engineers and Mr. Callahan said Jensens had the best quality products.” Sally folded her arms over her chest and met Timmons stare for stare.
James shut the door quietly behind him, but Sally noticed him and she straightened a little. He shook his head, letting her know not to give his presence away. He rested against the other desk to listen.
“I don’t care about the quality.” Timmons moved away from her. “I told Rutherson we’d be ordering it from him.”
“And why is that?”
Timmons stiffened at James’s question. He whirled around to see James standing there and his face paled. James narrowed his eyes, then motioned for Timmons to go to his office.
“We’re going to talk about this.” He glanced at Sally. “Could you call Mr. Plummer at the main office? Tell him I need him to start an audit of the Willow Hollow mine. Also, I’ll be calling him later to let him know exactly why I need that.”
“Yes, Mr. Callahan.” Sally shot a look down the hallway in the direction of the office. “I can gather up the records that are here as well, if you’d like.”
“Please do that.” He started to go then turned back. “Did Owain Rees make his shift this morning?”
Sally brought up the electronic time cards. “Yes, he did. I heard what happened to Dilys and Davy. I hope they and the other two are all right.”
James bit his bottom lip, trying to decide if he should say anything before talking to Cai. Then he gave a mental shrug. “They’re fine. Dilys and Davy stayed at the hospital overnight. The doctors wanted to be sure the baby was okay, and Davy wouldn’t leave his mother. The other kids stayed with Owain and his mother. I’d left a message letting Mr. Timmons and Mr. Rees know that Cai Rees wouldn’t be in today. He kept watch over Dilys and Davy last night and will be bringing them home when the doctors discharge her.”
“Right. Both of them mentioned it to me and I marked that Cai got a paid day off. He hasn’t taken any vacation—or sick—days in years, so he has plenty of them.” She eyed him, yet kept her questions to herself.
“I’m not surprised,” he muttered as he went to Timmons’s office.
When he got there, Timmons was on the phone. James stepped in.
“Your son’s right here, Mr. Callahan.” He handed James the phone. “It’s your father,” Timmons said unnecessarily.
“Hello, Father,” James said as he sat in Timmons’s chair behind his desk. He pointed at the other chair and Timmons dropped into it.
“James, why is Timmons calling me?” Nicholas sounded annoyed, which didn’t surprise James. His father didn’t like to be bothered by his underlings.
“I suppose he thought he might be able to convince you not to let me fire him.”
Timmons paled and James got a little thrill at the worry in Timmons’s eyes. Usually James hated firing people, but since he’d never liked Timmons, he got a certain amount of pleasure from it.
“Why are you firing him?” There was a small hint of curiosity in Nicholas’s voice.
“Because I suspect he’s either been getting bribes from suppliers or has been skimming from us. I already have a request in for an audit from the financial department. Sally is gathering files and receipts on this end.”
Timmons started to shake. I hit a nerve. James was happy to see that.
“All right. You do what you think is right, but I expect you to call me later today and tell me all the details about this.”
“Yes, sir.” He was about to hang up when Nicholas stopped him.
“Do you have someone in mind to take over the supervisor’s position or should I get the HR department on hiring someone?”
A name immediately came to mind, but James wanted to talk to Cai about it first. “I have someone in mind. I’ll let you know when I call you.”
“Fine. I trust you.” Nicholas hung up.
James returned the phone to its base and stared at it for a moment. That might be the first time he’s ever said he trusted me about something that had to do with the mines. I’m going to have to mark that down.
“Are you seriously going to fire me?” Timmons said, breaking James’s contemplation of what his father had said.
“Yes.” He didn’t see the point of beating around the bush. “You need to clear out your desk and be out of here within the hour. Your last check will be mailed to you.”
“You can’t do that. You don’t have any proof that I did anything wrong,” Timmons argued.
James clasped his hands together and tapped his pointer fingers against his lips as he studied the man. “Do you really think I’m that stupid? I’ve suspected you for a while, Timmons. To be honest, the financial department auditors have been on standby, just waiting for me to call them about you. I guarantee they’ll have the information I want within two days. I’m not waiting.”
Timmons jumped to his feet, swearing and yelling. James stood, but not in time to catch the first punch Timmons threw. It hit his chin and stars sparkled in his vision as pain rolled through him.
“You conceited little prick. How dare you ruin my life? You wouldn’t have anything if it weren’t for your daddy footing the bills for you. What the fuck do you know about running a mine or anything else about these backwards, ignorant people?” Timmons shouted, swinging his fists and trying to land more punches.
After the initial blow, James was better able to protect himself. He got his hands up, blocking Timmons while doing his best to fight back.
“What the fuck is going on in here?”
He didn’t know who yelled, though he was happy someone showed up. Suddenly Timmons was gone and James could focus on who else was in the room. Bedwyr, Cai’s father, had Timmons pinned to the wall, arm against the man’s throat. James hit the intercom.
“Sally, have you called the guards?”
“And the police, sir. The officers are about twenty minutes out.”
“Good. The guards can take Timmons to the security building and hold him there until the cops get here. I want him arrested for assault and embezzling.” He turned to see Bedwyr watching him. “If you think we can handle him, you can let him sit.”
Bedwyr nodded before dragging Timmons over to the chair. “Sit your ass down and don’t say another fucking word. You’re in a shitload of trouble, and I can’t say I’m not happy about it.”
Timmons glowered at both of them, but did as he was told. Bedwyr propped his hip on the desk. Reaching out, he took a hold of James’s face and turned to look at the fast-appearing bruise.
“Looks like he got you good.”
“I’ll definitely look like I was in a brawl. Thank God my parents won’t see it.” James braced his hands on the edge of the windowsill as he looked outside. “They’d be furious about me lowering myself to physical violence.”
Bedwyr snorted. “Did you start it?”
“No. Well, yes, I guess you could say I did. I fired him. Told him he had an hour to get his shit out of here.” James motioned to the frames on the shelves and other mementoes Timmons had collected over the years. “He didn’t take kindly to it.”
“I’d say not.” Bedwyr tilted his head in a move that reminded James of Cai. “What made you decide to get rid of him now?”
James turned his back to the window and paced the room. “I’ve been waiting to do so for a while now. Just wasn’t entirely sure if it was just my general dislike for him or if my instincts were telling me the truth. Came in today to find him yelling at Sally about suppliers. Decided it was time. There’s going to be an audit of the mine’s financial records.”
The older man scrubbed his hand over his silver-streaked hair. James had a pretty good idea what Cai was going to look like in twenty years, and he liked what he saw.
Bedwyr coughed and James frowned. “You’ve had that checked, haven’t you?”
Bedwyr nodded. “The doctor doesn’t think it’s anything to worry about. They’re keeping an eye on it. Of course, it doesn’t he
lp that both my grandfather and my father died of black lung disease.”
Black lung disease. One of the hazards of working in a coal mine. The dust from the ore filled the air in the shafts and the miners breathed it in, causing their lungs to become diseased. It wasn’t a pleasant way to die.
“It’s not important. I’m glad that you’re doing something about this asshole.” Bedwyr nudged Timmons with the toe of his boot.
“If you knew what he was doing, why didn’t you say something?” James inquired.
“When your family depends on the mine, you don’t want to risk losing your job—or any other employee’s job—so you bite your tongue.”
James narrowed his eyes. “Do you mean to say he’s threatened to fire you, Cai, Owain, or Rich?”
Shrugging, Bedwyr informed him, “He’s threatened to fire anyone who spoke up about it. I’ll admit we were getting to the point where one of us was planning on telling you. Hell, I told Owain he should mention something to you. Of course, all that bullshit with Rich happened and I’m pretty sure we all forgot about everything else.”
“Ugh. I thought all this bullshit was taken care of the last time someone decided to take bribes and Father fired the supervisor at every mine.” James dropped into the desk chair and rested his elbows on it.
“Which was a bastard move,” Bedwyr commented. “I always wondered why he didn’t just fire the one guy.”
“If there’s one thing my father expects and appreciates, it’s loyalty to the company. If one goes bad, he can’t help but suspect the others. Paranoia runs deep in his psyche.” James rubbed his temple. “All right. Timmons, I’ll have Sally box up your stuff and have it sent to your house.”
Timmons glared at him. “The mining company owns my house. I’m assuming I’m going to get kicked out.”
Fuck! Hadn’t considered that. Drumming his fingers on the desktop, he thought about the situation. Timmons had a wife and two kids. James didn’t really want to throw them out on the street, figuratively. He didn’t doubt that the people of Willow Hollow would do what they could to help the man’s family. It wasn’t their fault their dad—and husband—was an ass.
“I tell you what. You have six months to figure out where you’re going to move. I won’t throw you out and I’ll even waive your rent, seeing as you don’t have a job anymore. Your family doesn’t deserve to suffer because of you.” He hit the intercom button. “Sally, are the guards here yet?”
“Yes, Mr. Callahan. They just walked in. I’m sending them to you.”
“Thank you.” He looked over at Timmons. “Of course, you will be going to jail. Not just for assault, but for embezzlement and whatever else my finance department digs up on you. I guess you should talk to your wife.”
Bedwyr snorted. “Given half a chance, Evie will divorce your ass, Timmons. She’s just been looking for a reason.”
James pursed his lips and nodded. “Mr. Rees, would you be so good as to call your wife and have her come in? I’d like to discuss something with her.”
Rees eyed James before standing up. “I’ll go call her now. Dilys’s kids are getting home from school around this time, but Owain should be there. He can watch them while she’s here.”
“Thank you. Have you heard from Dilys or Cai today?”
Before Bedwyr could answer, the guards arrived. James asked them to take Timmons to the guard shack and hold him there until the police arrived. By the time they left, Bedwyr was off the phone.
“Mary will be here in ten. She talked to Cai about an hour ago. They were heading home from the hospital. Should be back at the house any time now.” Bedwyr took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. “Thank you for taking care of the bill.”
As much as James wanted to downplay the whole thing, he understood pride, and Bedwyr Rees had a boatload of it. Like father, like sons. He simply bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment.
“You’re welcome.”
When Bedwyr left, James leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes for a moment. It had been an eventful day so far. He wasn’t even close to being done with it.
His cell phone rang and he jumped. Tugging it out of his back pocket, he frowned at the unfamiliar number. He swiped his thumb across the screen and answered.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hey, James. It’s Cai. I thought I’d call you and give you my number. I got a cell phone before we left town.” Cai’s voice drifted over the phone. “We’re almost home. I wanted to make sure you could get a hold of me whenever you needed.”
James shivered. His groin tightened as well, causing him to shift in his chair. Christ! You know you’ve got it bad when you get hard just from hearing the man’s voice. Yet he felt more than lust toward Cai. He’d always been intrigued by Cai Rees. Even when they were younger, something had drawn him to the older Rees brother. Of course, that was before James realized he was gay. Once he did, Cai starred in a lot of his wet dreams while he grew up.
“James. Are you still there?”
Shit! “Yeah. I’m still here. Sorry, I got thinking about something else.” He cleared his throat. “Dilys and Davy doing all right?”
“Yes. The doctors told her to be careful for the next couple of months. The baby can’t take much more stress. I explained that she would be taking it easy until this kid comes. No matter what we have to do.”
James heard Dilys say something in the background, and then Cai laughed.
“I take it she’s not being very cooperative about the whole ‘taking it easy’ thing?”
“No, she’s not. But that doesn’t matter. Once I tell Ma, she’ll set Dilys straight.” Cai chuckled. “I’m dropping them off at my place. Oh, how did Dean and Sam do with Pharaoh?”
“They were great. It’s like they were from the same litter. Pharaoh never had so much fun running around the woods, chasing squirrels and raccoons.” James grinned at the memory of the three dogs baying and dashing through the trees after little furry creatures.
“Great. I’ll be at the mine in a little bit. I want to go over the shift reports and see if anything more happened in those tunnels.”
Nodding, James sighed. “Good. I need to talk to you about something when you get here. Oh, you should know I fired Timmons a few minutes ago.”
Cai grunted. “Really? About time.”
“Yeah, well, better late than never. Just stop in when you get here. Tell Dilys and Davy I said hi. I’ll talk with you later.”
“Will do.” Cai hung up.
James tossed his phone onto the desk and propped his elbows up. He rested his forehead on his hands while he breathed and organized his mind to figure out what to say to Cai’s mother when she arrived.
Chapter Ten
CAI CLIMBED out of his truck at the mine. He waved as someone shouted out his name, but didn’t stop to talk. He wanted to see what James had to say after firing Timmons. As Cai reached the steps leading up to the main building, Ma walked out.
“Ma, what are you doing here? Is Pa all right?” He hugged her, then set her back on her feet.
“I’m fine, Cai. Mr. Callahan asked to talk to me, so I came in. Didn’t you wonder where I was when you dropped your sister and Davy off?” She patted his cheek.
Shaking his head, he grimaced slightly. “There was a lot of noise and Owain was complaining about something. Mr. Callahan said he wanted to see me when I got back, so I headed right over here. Plus I wanted to check the reports from earlier today.”
Ma smiled. “Right. Your pa said something about the air being bad in a couple of the shafts. I hope they’ll fix that.”
“They will. Mr. Callahan is having the engineers rework the plans for the ventilation systems to get them aired out.”
“Why do you call Jim Mr. Callahan when you’re at the mine?” She studied him. “It’s so odd. I’m sure he wouldn’t have a problem with you using his first name.”
Cai held up his hand. “I won’t do that here. Though I won’t ever be calling him Jim
at any point in time.”
Ma laughed. “I’ll admit he doesn’t really seem like a Jim, but Owain’s called him that since they met. Just habit, I guess.”
“I know. Why did Mr. Callahan want to see you, Ma?”
“He needs me to take care of a few things and wanted to make sure I’d be willing to do it.” Her fond smile told Cai how much she actually liked James. “Like I’d say no to helping him.”
Cai eyed his ma. “Like you’d say no to helping anyone, Ma. He knew the right person to ask.”
Ma brushed a kiss over his cheek. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you later at your place for dinner. You should ask Jim if he’d like to join us.”
He wasn’t sure he was ready to merge James with his family yet. Mostly it was his pa he wasn’t sure about more than the others. Pa had never said a word about Cai being attracted to men, but Cai didn’t think he was thrilled. With the animosity Pa showed James while on the job, he could just imagine what would happen if he brought James to dinner.
“I’ll think about it. Not sure either of us is ready to meet the parents. Not that there’s anything between us.” He caught the skeptical look in his ma’s gaze. “We’re just friends, Ma. Maybe.”
She laughed again, then shook her head. “Tell yourself whatever you wish, son, but I know you.”
The door opened before he could reply. Glancing up, he saw James standing in the entrance.
“Hello, Mr. Rees.” James nodded slightly, then turned to Cai’s ma. “Mrs. Rees, if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“I won’t. Now, I’ve got some grandkids to check on. I’ll see you later, Cai. Have a good day, Mr. Callahan.”
They watched Ma head toward her truck. After she left, James coughed to get Cai’s attention.
“I need to talk to you about something,” James said as he gestured for Cai to follow him.
“All right. We can discuss it after we talk about the bruise on your face.”
James rolled his eyes. “Timmons threw a punch, and I didn’t react fast enough to get out of the way. It’s no big deal and no, you can’t defend my honor by hitting him.”