Laying a Foundation: Bonus volume: Includes series prequel, The Groundbreaking (The Love Under Construction Series) (31 page)

“C
layton, is everybody okay?” Tony was frantic, and Nikki’s eyes were wide with horror.

“Yeah. I’m in Lexington. Dad, Zio Vic’s totally beside himself. Please, call him and tell him everything’s going to be okay. Then get here, please! I’m here with the fire department.”

“I’ll be there as fast as I can get there.” Tony hit END and turned to Nikki. She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him as hard as she could. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her up against him, and her softness and warmth made him feel safe.

When she pulled back, she looked him in the face. “So, what is this GoGreen and what’s going on? You’d better tell me. If you don’t, Annabeth will.”

“Annabeth doesn’t know anything about this – yet. Now she’ll have to.” Tony looked stricken. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry, but I guess that’s over. We don’t know who they are. Some kind of ecoterrorism group. They’ve flattened dozens of tires on our trucks and equipment, broken glass out of our trucks, ruined some hydraulic equipment. They’ve tried to sabotage a couple of our projects. So far, no one’s gotten hurt, but now I’m getting a little worried.”

“Who is Ziovic?”

“That’s Zio Vic –
zio
is Italian for uncle. My kids have always called him that. He’s my cousin. Long story, but he needed somebody and we were there for him. He wound up working for me, and he was so good that when I opened the office in Lexington, I asked him to head it up. He’s grown that portion of the business from nothing to a full twenty-five percent of our total assets. I’m sure he’s almost in cardiac arrest – that was his baby, and now it’s rubble. Of course, there was nothing there that can’t be replicated or replaced, but it’s just that it will slow us down, you know?”

Concern lined her face. “Why are these people targeting your company?”

“That’s just it. I don’t have any idea. I don’t have any enemies I’m aware of, except for all-bark-and-no-bite Dottie, and there are lots of construction companies out there that aren’t as green in operations as we are. We’re running our localized trucks off of reclaimed French fry oil, we follow a stricter protocol for waste disposal than the government requires, and we reuse and recycle everything we can. But they’re still targeting us and, from what we can tell, only us. It’s a mystery to me. It almost seems personal.” Even though Nikki had managed to get him to talk about it, he still looked shaken and a little pale under his olive complexion.

He broke away from her arms. “I’ve got to go. I’ve got to be there with them.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No! You stay here where I know you’re safe. Do you have to be at work tomorrow?” He suddenly remembered that she needed to get home. “You can drive one of my cars back.”

“Don’t even think about that. I’ll call Marla and tell her I can’t come in, tell her what’s happened. I know she’ll understand. I’m so glad we brought the dogs some food. I’ll just plan to stay here tonight.” She kissed him softly and added, “And you stay in contact with me. I want to know where you are and what’s going on. Mostly I want to know you’re safe, and I want to know when you start back so I know when to expect you.”

“Will do. Get into my dresser drawers and get yourself a tee and some warm socks. I’ll call Helene, ask her to come and help you clean up and find anything you might need.” Tony grabbed his keys, stuck his wallet back into his hip pocket, and shot for the door. But he turned around, walked right up to Nikki, caught her up in his arms, and gave her a big kiss. “I love you, baby. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Be careful!” she called after him as he headed out the door. It felt so good to hear those words and to be able to say them back to someone, especially because the someone was him.

When he pulled the truck in, Tony’s heart sank. The building was completely gone – everything. One exterior wall stood, teetering inward, waiting to fall. The rest was an ashy heap. He found Clayton and hugged him, and Clayton pointed Vic out, standing off to the side alone.

“Hey, buddy, you okay? Everything’s going to be all right, you know? We’ve got really good insurance and . . .”

Vic seemed to almost be in shock. “Man, I’m so sorry, really. This office was my responsibility. And look what happened. I wouldn’t blame you if you fired me right on the spot.”

“Damn, Vic, I don’t hold you responsible for this in any way. No way could you have done anything about this. You’ve got to keep it together – we’ve got to help the police nail these shitheads. I’m just glad no one was hurt, that’s all. It’ll be all right, really.” Tony put his arm around Vic’s shoulder, and the big Italian started to cry like a baby. Vic had been through so much, and now this.

“Come on, cheer up. You hated the color of the walls, remember? Well, now here’s your chance to paint the new ones whatever color you like!” Tony laughed. He heard Vic sniff back a sob and then start laughing too. “That’s more like it! Chin up,” Tony told him, patting him on the back.

“Oh, god, it was so hard to watch and not be able to do anything about it.” Vic still sounded a little shaky.

“Yeah, I know. But everything will be fine, you’ll see. Let’s go talk to the detectives. They probably want to ask us some questions anyway.”

Travis sat on the ground in the brush, watching the fire trucks and knowing there was nothing for them to salvage. He’d chosen Sunday afternoon specifically because the building was in an industrial area and there’d be very little traffic on a Sunday. He didn’t know who’d noticed the flames, but the call hadn’t gone in until the building was completely engulfed.

He dialed the phone, and when she answered, he said, “It’s done. It was really pretty too. I left enough calling cards that they’ll know it was us.”

“Travis, we need to talk.” She sighed and proceeded with caution. “I’ve been doing some research. Did you know Adams Construction and Mechanical dumped five tons of asbestos last year without following proper disposal procedures? That’s way worse than anything Walters has done.”

Travis let out an irritated sigh. “Autumn, let it go. We’ve got one objective and only one; make those bastards at Walters Construction pay. Are you with me or not?”

“I’m with you,” she replied. She was too scared of him to say anything else.

W
hen Nikki woke at about three o’clock in the morning, she had trouble figuring out where she was at first. She squinted around the unfamiliar room; Tony’s bedroom. The weight of both dogs was on the bed with her. Looking at the clock, she gasped when she saw the time. Why hadn’t she heard from Tony? She checked her phone – nothing – so she hit his contact and waited.

“God, sweetie, don’t be mad at me, please. I’m just leaving,” Tony said when he answered, adding, “and I’m sorry I didn’t call you before now.”

“I was so scared when I realized what time it is.” Her voice was still raspy from sleep.

“What are you doing up at this hour?”

“I don’t know, just woke up, that’s all. I didn’t know where I was at first. Then I saw the time and got scared because I hadn’t heard from you.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I went over to Vic’s for awhile. Poor guy, he’s really torn up about this, like he could do anything about it.”

Nikki rubbed one eye. “Did you tell him that? That it’s not his fault?”

“Of course. Didn’t matter. It’s his baby and he’s upset. He has a right to be; I’m pretty upset too. This is getting ridiculous – and dangerous. Somebody could’ve been seriously hurt, like an employee who’d stopped in or a firefighter, heaven forbid. It needs to stop. I hope the cops can figure out who these clowns are, but this happened in Lex, and most of it has taken place in Louisville, so I doubt they’ll get much.”

“So, are you headed this way?”

“Yes ma’am. Coming in. Go back to sleep – I’ll be there in a little while,” Tony assured her. “And before you say it, I’ll be careful.”

“You’d better be. I love you,” Nikki whispered.

“I love you too, little girl. See you in a few.”

Tony undressed in the laundry room down to his boxer briefs. Everything, including his hair, reeked of smoke, but he was too bone-weary to shower. He had to have some sleep.

He tiptoed down the upstairs hallway and opened his bedroom door. Bill and Hillary looked up at him but didn’t move or make a sound. Tiptoeing across the floor, he slid under the covers next to Nikki.

Even sound asleep, she instinctively turned toward his weight on the mattress, and he put his arm around her and pulled her to his chest. When she laid her face on his chest and threw her arm across him, he buried his face in her hair; it smelled so sweet, like herbs and sunshine, and he kissed her crown, then put his other arm around her and drifted off.

Bill nuzzled her hand; she checked the clock and saw it was well past seven, then realized Tony was still sound asleep. She picked up the two dogs, set them on the floor, and wrapped the robe she’d found on the back of the bathroom door around her to take them outside, very careful to be quiet so he could sleep.

Tony woke to the smell of coffee and an erection the size of a telephone pole. Did Nikki drink coffee? He wasn’t sure – he’d never asked – but he sure wanted a cup. Looking at the chair across the room, he saw Nikki’s clothes neatly folded and draped across the back. He couldn’t help it; he picked up her bra and looked at the tag. 32D – bigger than a walnut, smaller than a basketball, which made them the perfect size. He chuckled at the thought.

“Doing a little detective work, are we?” Nikki grinned at him from the doorway.

He turned a shade of pale pink under his dark complexion, hoping all evidence of his morning excitement had disappeared. One brief glance down told him she had a full view of every inch of him standing at attention. “Uh, yeah, it’s so, um, pretty,” he said and held up the bra.

“I see. Would you like some coffee, Mr. Walters?” she asked, crossing the room and taking the bra out of his hands. She tossed it onto the chair, then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “This is a red-letter day – the morning after the first time we slept together!” She laughed when she said it, and Tony grinned at her.

“Oh, it was tempting to assault you in your sleep, but I kept it together,” he told her as he slapped her on the butt.

“And I appreciate your effort. Although didn’t your daddy ever tell you – you can’t rape a willing soul?” She kissed him again, harder. He was trying not to force his tongue between her lips, afraid of where that might lead. And he needed coffee; his head was pounding.

“I’ve waited this long. I’m planning to wait until our agreed-upon date.” He kissed the top of her head. “Is there food down there?”

“Courtesy of Helene. I would’ve cooked, but I don’t know where anything is.”

“Well, maybe we should change that, start spending some time here. Whaddya think?”

“That would be fine with me.” She took his hand and led him downstairs.