Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100853 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Prentice had been hiding something.
And we were going to find out what it was.
Chapter Thirty-One
FORD
Iknocked on Griffen’s office door but didn’t wait for a response, just turned the handle and let myself in. I stopped at the threshold, not expecting to see Paige lifting Stella from Griffen’s arms. She froze, her eyes on me, and for a moment, everything spinning in my head stopped.
God, I was an idiot. I hadn’t served any purpose in this last week apart from making both of us miserable. I doubted she was any safer. No one had tried to get to me since we’d sent the sniper off with the information that the bounty wouldn’t be paid. All I’d gained was a week away from Paige—the last thing I wanted.
“Ford, what’s wrong?” Hope asked, reading my face.
Paige gave herself a little shake, breaking her stillness, her eyes narrowing in sudden concern.
“I— I—” I stopped, words piling up on each other in their rush to get out. How to explain?
I looked to Paige and everything settled.
“I got a call back from the concrete contractor,” I said.
Her eyes flew wide. As I’d expected, she knew exactly what I was talking about. I’d mentioned the reappearing concrete invoice more than once over the past few weeks. “What did they say?” she asked.
Realizing Griffen and Hope had no idea why concrete might be interesting, I looked their way. “I’ve been going through the paperwork, you know—” Griffen nodded. “And I keep finding this invoice for concrete repair in the garage.”
“Dad converted that part of the Manor into garages in the late seventies, I think,” Griffen said.
“Yeah,” I agreed, “but this was a repair in eighty-six. Something to do with plumbing. Anyway, the invoice kept turning up.” I shrugged, not sure how else to explain it. “I’d file it with household paperwork, go to another bin, even another room of the attic, and there it would be again.”
“You’re sure it was the same invoice?” Hope asked. “Maybe it was copies that got stuck in different boxes.”
I shook my head. “It was the same invoice. I recognized the way it was folded and the note of payment in the margin. I finally decided to call the concrete company.”
“You know that sounds impossible, right?” Griffen asked.
I nodded. “I know. And I’m sure it was the same. I’d put it away and find it again somewhere else.”
“For a repair that was done more than thirty years ago?” Hope asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s a little crazy, but it kept turning up and all I’ve been hitting are dead ends. At this point, anything feels like it’s worth looking into. When I talked to them, the office manager said no one there would have any idea. I figured that was the end of it, but the contractor called me back a few minutes ago. The office manager is his daughter, and she mentioned it to him. He said no one ever forgets work they do at Heartstone, and he remembered the job.”
I relayed the conversation, Griffen’s gaze growing heavy with understanding by the time I finished. “There’s something under the garage floor,” he said.
“I think so,” I agreed. “I don’t know what, but I think Dad buried something there and tried to cover it up himself.”
“Well, fuck,” Griffen said, shaking his head. “How do we…? Hold on—” He pulled up his phone and sent a text.
Hope leaned over to read his screen. “Do we have a jackhammer? Why would Hawk have a jackhammer?”
“I don’t know,” Griffen said, “but if anybody around here does, it’ll be Hawk, considering his sideline is managing the grounds.”
Griffen’s phone pinged in his hand, and Hope laughed, saying, “Hawk doesn’t have a jackhammer, and he’s on his way here. Clearly, he wants to know what you’re up to. But I know who has a jackhammer. Billy Bob.”
Billy Bob—Billy and Bob—were cousins of Savannah’s and local handymen. Considering they’d also managed to clear Hawk’s security checks, not an easy feat, they were around the Manor more often than not, given the rate at which things broke down around here.
Griffen sent Hawk a text. I’d bet he was asking him to call Billy Bob and get them over here with their jackhammer. If Prentice had hidden something in the garage floor, it was probably family business. But since I didn’t know how to run a jackhammer and was guessing neither did anyone else, we’d let Billy Bob handle that part.
“I’m calling Uncle Edgar,” Hope said. Griffen looked at her and she explained, “If Prentice buried something in that garage and covered it with concrete, Uncle Edgar knows about it.”
Hope set her phone on the desk and opened her contacts list. Before she could tap Edgar’s name and initiate the call, Paige interrupted.
“Should I— Do you want me to take Stella and put her down? This is personal, family stuff and—” Her gaze flicked from me to Griffen and Hope.