Premeditated Mortar

by Kate Carlisle

  “And me,” Jane said tightly.

  “Right there with you both, but I’m okay.” It was probably due to the rush of adrenaline from almost plunging down into the abyss of darkness, but I really did feel okay. I would start shaking any minute and I knew I would want to cry, but on the outside I was totally cool and mellow to the max.

  My beloved friends were not fooled.

  “You are never going near this wall again,” Jane scolded, then grabbed me in a hug. “God. I was so scared.”

  “Me, too.” I held on to her for a long moment. “You’re right. I’ll be careful.”

  “You will be careful,” she warned. “Because I’m going to be watching your every move.”

  I didn’t remind her that she had been just as excited as I was to look inside the brick hole. But that would come later. In private.

  “I dropped your phone,” I confessed. “I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, shoot.” She glanced at the floor until she found it a few yards away. Glancing at the screen, she let out a relieved breath. “It landed on the carpet, so it’s fine. No worries.”

  “I’m so glad.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Mac said.

  “I’ve got to put the ladder back first.”

  “I’ll take care of it.” He easily pulled the ladder away from its position and moved it a few feet away where the wall was more stable. After expertly using the rope and pulley to bring in the fly section, he laid the ladder on the floor against the wall.

  I took one quick look at the dangerous pile of bricks and decided I would have to check it all out more closely tomorrow. For now, though, I kept that thought to myself, knowing that Jane might not handle it well.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked when Mac was finished.

  “You weren’t at home,” he said. “And you weren’t answering your phone. I called Wade and then Sean and they both told me you were still here when they left. So I took a chance and drove up here.” He grinned. “It’s right on my way into town.”

  “The battery died on my phone, but I didn’t realize it until a couple of minutes ago. Jane and I were walking around talking and surveying some of the work we’ve got to do over the next few days. And I wanted to show her this wall.”

  “The wall that is no longer a wall?” he said, glancing at Jane before turning to study the piles of bricks that had fallen down beneath me and were now scattered and broken inside the small antechamber. Even though most of the wall was gone, about three feet of brick wall remained at the bottom. Niall would be able to demo that section in an hour or so.

  I glanced from Mac to Jane. “Yeah, that wall.”

  He smoothed my hair back from my face. “Shannon, are you sure you’re all right?”

  “I’m fine,” I insisted. “More frazzled than hurt. It was just a little mishap.”

  Jane snorted. “A little near-death experience, she means.”

  I watched her give Mac a serious side glance and then roll her eyes. I decided not to take it personally.

  “We can go now,” I said brightly. “We’ll deal with this mess tomorrow when Niall’s here.”

  “Now that’s a great idea,” Jane said with a genuine smile at last. “Let’s get out of here.”

  I switched off the light tree and grabbed Mac’s hand. “I’m ready.”

  Mac glanced back over his shoulder at the space in the wall. “So what’s with all those bricks?”

  I started to explain as we walked through the under-stairs passage and down to the front entryway. Once outside, I held the phone for Jane as she locked the doors and entered a security code on the keypad nearby.

  In the parking area, Jane said, “So do you guys want to meet Niall and me at the pub in a little while?”

  “Sure,” Mac said.

  “Great,” she said. “I could use a drink. We’ll see you there about seven thirty.”

  We waited until she got in her car and took off, and then Mac followed me to my house. He parked behind me in the driveway and met me by the back gate. I could hear Robbie barking like a wild dog and it warmed my heart.

  He chuckled. “Let’s get inside before he claws through the door.”

  Mac played outside with Robbie while Tiger waited in the kitchen, watching as I changed the water bowls and filled their food dishes.

  “It’s been quite a day,” I said, plugging in my phone to charge it. “Do you mind if I take a quick shower? I’m not going to wash my hair so it won’t take me too long.”

  “I don’t mind at all. I’ll make a few calls and watch the ball game.”

  “Perfect.”

  But first, he leaned in close and kissed me. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day.”

  “Me, too. I guess we were all pretty busy.”

  “After the blood-throwing incident this morning, I hung out with Rachel for a full hour.”

  “That was nice.”

  “Yeah, but she was so freaked-out, I stayed longer than I wanted to.”

  “You probably helped calm her down a lot.”

  He chuckled. “Trust me, I would rather have been scraping paint with you.”

  It was my turn to laugh. “Said nobody in the history of construction ever.”

  “Oh, come on. I’ll bet you and your guys were having a good old time.”

  “We always do.” I gave him another quick kiss. “I’ll only be a few minutes.” Dashing upstairs, I wrapped my long, curly hair in a thin towel to keep it dry. I was in and out of the shower in seven minutes and felt one hundred percent better, except for the constant images flashing through my mind of me, hanging unsteadily from that ladder. I popped two ibuprofens because my shoulder was giving me some grief after stretching to reach for the ladder rail. And holding on, getting myself back to the ground, was the longest five minutes of my life. I rubbed some topical pain relief cream into the joint and my shoulder began to feel slightly better.

  I bent over and fluffed my hair out, moisturized my face, and added a touch of lipstick and mascara. I dressed in my standard black jeans, a dark turtleneck, and short black boots. I grabbed my black leather jacket and jogged downstairs.

  Mac’s eyes lit up. “Wow, you are beautiful. Sexy and dangerous.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. I might’ve spent time wondering about our future lately, but there was no question that right here and now, Mac Sullivan was pretty close to perfect. “I love you.”

  “And I love you right back.” And he kissed me again.

  * * *

  * * *

  Strolling into the pub, I spied Eric and Tommy standing at the bar. I would’ve walked over to say hello, but sadly Tommy’s wife Whitney was with him, along with her best friend Jennifer Bailey, another of the mean girls from high school.

  Instead I turned and waved at Jane, who was already sitting in a booth with Niall.

  Mac pointed toward the bar. “I want to talk to Eric for a minute.”

  “Oh, I want to talk to him, too. But I’m going to join Jane first.”

  “Okay. I’ll order you a glass of wine and be right there.”

  “Thanks.” I turned and headed for the booth. “Hi, guys.”

  “Hello, Shannon,” Niall said, reaching over to pat my back when I slid into the booth. “Did the work go well today?”

  I could listen to him talk in his Scottish brogue for hours. He was wearing his kilt tonight, as he often did when he came to the pub, and I was certain that every woman in the room had been eyeing him as he walked from the door to the booth. There was something magical about a big strong man in a kilt.

  “The work went really well,” I said. “It’s only been one day, but I’d say we’re right on schedule.”

  He grinned. “Aye, because you keep a tight rein on all of us hooligans.” His eyes narrowed. “But I understand you put yourself
in a wee bit of danger tonight.”

  I scowled at Jane. “You had to tell him?”

  “Of course I told him,” Jane said, and gave me a look that said she clearly thought I was crazy for even asking the question.

  “Don’t blame Jane,” Niall said calmly.

  “I don’t,” I said, with an apologetic smile. “It’s my own fault anyway. I shouldn’t have gone up on my own, but we were just so curious.” It sounded like a lame excuse, even to me.

  “We’ll have a look tomorrow,” he said.

  “Sounds good.”

  His smile faded. “I’m truly glad you weren’t hurt.”

  “Me, too.” Without thinking I rubbed my shoulder.

  He frowned. “Ach, you didn’t escape pain-free, I see.”

  “Are you okay, Shannon?” Jane asked.

  “I’m fine.” I waved away their concern. “Just a little soreness. On a bright note, you won’t have to remove all those bricks from the wall, Niall.”

  “So I heard.” He chuckled. “I’ll clear the rest of them away tomorrow.”

  “Thanks. And when you’re finished we can get a better look at that chamber and see what’s behind that door.”

  “I’m weel chuffed to do it, but I’ll be arriving late in the morning.” As he glanced at Jane, I tried to translate some of the words he’d just used. But then he turned and gave me a somber look. “So you’re to wait for me. Promise.”

  “I’ll make sure she waits,” Jane said firmly.

  “Good,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of fellows coming first thing to help me unload the flagstone from my truck.”

  “No worries,” I said lightly. “I’ll just take a peek at the damage and then when you get there we can—”

  “No,” Jane said, scowling. “I don’t want you going near that brick wall without Niall around.”

  “Nor do I,” the man himself intoned with a hard look at me.

  “Fine, okay, I get it,” I said, then gave them a weak smile. “But really, what’s the worst that could happen? Most of the bricks have already fallen down.”

  “There’s still a third of a wall standing,” Jane said. “And I don’t want you trying to jump over it by yourself.”

  “All right.” Silently I admitted that she might have a point. “But I recall a certain hotelier was just as excited to explore the hidden doorway as I was.”

  Jane sniffed. “I was only there to support you.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, right. Okay, Niall. I’ll wait for you to get there and we’ll explore together.”

  “I want to be there, too,” Jane said.

  “Aha!”

  She lifted her nose in the air. “As the new owner of Hotel Hennessey, I feel a responsibility to my staff and crew.”

  I gave Niall a look. “Oh, we’re her crew now.”

  Niall kissed Jane soundly. “I’m fine with that.”

  I laughed again. “Okay. But Jane, if you’re not around, we’re going ahead without you.”

  Jane leaned in close and jabbed her finger at me. “I’ve got three little words for you. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart.’”

  “Ooh.” I frowned. “That’s cruel.”

  She just grinned.

  Mac joined us then, setting down my glass of wine and his bottle of beer on the table before sliding into the booth next to me. Eric followed him over.

  “Hi, Chief,” Jane said. “I hear you took care of those rabble-rousers this morning. Thank you.”

  He gave me a steady look. “We had to release one of them earlier today, but we held the other one up until a half hour ago.”

  “Which one did you release earlier?” I demanded.

  “The one wearing the orange ball cap.” Before I could protest, he held up his hand. “He didn’t do anything but yell out some protests. I had a uniformed officer drive him home, so we know where he lives now.”

  “Well, that’s something.” I took a quick sip of wine. “What about the other one? The skinny redhead?”

  “That guy actually caused some real damage.”

  “But he was still released?”

  “Yes. He got in touch with a lawyer this afternoon and he’ll have to appear in court next week, but he was free to go for now.”

  “Darn it.” I scowled. “So I guess they didn’t kill any animals to get that bucket of blood?”

  “No, it was a homemade concoction. Something we call Halloween blood. Basically corn syrup, chocolate sauce, and red food coloring.”

  Jane made a squinchy face. “Yuck.”

  My shoulders fell. “That’s disappointing. I mean, I’m glad they didn’t kill any animals, but I’m sorry they’re free to cause us more problems.”

  “Let me remind you that we’ll have a couple of officers assigned to your construction site, so if there’s any more trouble, just yell for them. And I might try to swing by tomorrow, too.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Mac said. “I think it’ll help calm down Rachel, the woman in charge of the project.”

  “She’s the one who got slimed?” Eric said.

  “Yeah. She was pretty shaken.”

  “Tommy took her statement today,” Eric said. “But I’ll be sure to pay a call on her tomorrow.”

  Mac nodded. “That’s probably a good idea, if you can make the time.”

  “Would you mind telling me those two protesters’ names?” I asked. “I’ve been calling them Orange Cap and Carrot Head.”

  “Creative,” he murmured. Pulling out his notepad, he flipped to a page. “I assume Carrot Head is the red-haired fellow. His name is Judson Killian. The other guy in the orange cap is Ricky Patterson.”

  “Okay, good to know.” I pulled out my phone and made a note of the two names.

  “I’m going to take off,” Eric said. “Shannon, if Chloe doesn’t call you on the way into town from the airport in the morning, I’ll be sure to remind her to get in touch about that dinner.”

  “I appreciate it. See you tomorrow, Chief.”

  As soon as Eric left, we ordered food and another round of drinks. We tried to avoid talking about the Gables project and concentrated instead on personal stuff, like Chloe’s impending visit and Mac’s new book. We had to gush about Niall’s sister—our good friend Emily—getting engaged to our friend Gus Peratti. And then Niall showed us pictures of his adorable new niece back in Scotland and we all oohed and ahhed over her cuteness.

  We were halfway through our dinners—cheeseburger and fries for me, chopped salad for Jane, fish and chips for Mac and Niall—when I glanced up and almost dropped my wineglass. Whitney Reid Gallagher was actually standing at the bar talking to Orange Cap. What was his name? Ricky Patterson.

  “Unbelievable,” I muttered, and scanned the room for Tommy but didn’t see him anywhere. I figured Jennifer must have gone home, otherwise she’d be right there with her BFF.

  “What is it?” Mac asked, sipping his beer.

  “Check out who Whitney’s talking to.”

  Mac swung around to see who it was. He whistled as he turned back to me. “Now that takes some brass ones.”

  I smiled at him. “Are you referring to Whitney’s or the protester’s?”

  He chuckled. “The protester. He spent the morning being interrogated and now he’s drinking a beer and chatting up the wife of the assistant police chief.”

  Jane took another quick look back at Whitney. “I’m willing to bet that Whitney was the one who initiated the conversation.”

  “That’s probably true,” I said, glad that Jane had brought it up first. “She’s naturally attracted to all the worst people.”

  “Shannon speaks the truth,” she insisted. “We’ve both known her since high school.”

  “But what about Tommy?” Niall asked. “He’s a good man. Friendly, too. How did he and his wife get to
gether?”

  “A question for the ages,” I muttered.

  “Long story,” Jane whispered loudly. “I’ll tell you later.”

  I just rolled my eyes and sipped my wine.

  It was true that except for Tommy, Whitney always seemed to attract the jerks. Even her girlfriends were jerks.

  I didn’t know Ricky so I couldn’t say whether he was really a jerk, but he sure was angry. I would hold my final judgment because he could have a personal reason why he was so outraged with the Gables renovation.

  Now that I got a good look at him, he looked like a regular guy, hanging out and having a beer. He had lost the orange baseball cap and I saw that his hair was light brown and wispy thin, matching his beard. He had seemed young when he was protesting, but now I could see that he was probably in his midthirties. He would’ve been too young to be a patient at the Gables, but maybe one of his parents had been stuck there for a while. Knowing what Jane had been through with her mom, it couldn’t have been easy for anyone.

  Mac frowned at the two of them by the bar. “Do you really think Whitney knows that guy? Maybe they just happened to meet here tonight.”

  “I’ll call Eric and ask,” I said. “It could be important.”

  “Let me do it,” Mac offered, knowing how Whitney might react if she found out I was checking up on her. “That way you won’t get stuck in the middle of things. I’ll ask him to talk to Whitney about the guy.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “That would be great.”

  “Why does it matter if she knows him?” Niall asked as he dipped a chunk of his fish in tartar sauce.

  “If she knows him she might be able to share some useful information about him,” I explained. “I want to find out his connection to the Gables.”

  Mac shrugged. “I could go over there and ask him myself.”

  “Mac, no,” I said, grabbing his arm. “I don’t want him to see you.”

  He grinned. “Worried I can’t defend myself?”

  “Of course not. You can obviously kick his butt.” I gazed across the bar at the guy in question. “But he was so angry this morning. I’m concerned that he’ll do something stupid, like come after you with a knife. Or worse.”