Chapter Three
“Come on, I need a beer. Tomorrow is our last day on this job, so let’s celebrate,” Billy wheedled.
The three other men in the cramped hotel room looked at the young man as if he had lost his mind.
“We’re beat, kid. We all have a few years on you; it’s been a long job.” The men all looked like they had been through a war zone. They had just constructed a building, which should have taken over a year to build, within seven months. Each had worked their ass off to reach their bonus if they completed the job early. They had worked together before on many construction jobs and got along well together.
“Jericho, how about you?” Billy turned to the man lying sprawled on his bed, having just taken a shower.
“I’m out for the night. You’ll find nothing in their local bar except trouble. Besides, I’m headed home after they give our pay. I have a long drive ahead of me. Being half asleep and nursing a hangover is just asking for trouble.”
“Ohio?”
“No thanks, kid.” The oldest member of the team was often the most ready to head out for a cold beer. The fact that he said no in itself spoke of the men’s weariness.
“Well, I guess I’m on my own. See you guys later.” Billy left the room whistling.
The next morning the men were drinking their morning coffee, impatient for the last of the inspectors to finish. Barring any failures, the men would all be paid. Personal vehicles were already loaded and gassed, ready to head out to their various homes. Jericho watched the men talk as he walked with the inspectors. This part always clenched his gut. Sometimes you got some real assholes who only liked the aggravation failing an inspection could cause; others were just looking to get their palms greased for the passing sticker.
The inspector bent and pulled a wire. “The cover’s not right.” Jericho saw the official looking at the men hanging around and trying to estimate how much he could get for holding the job up.
Jericho didn’t argue. “Yes, it is. We passed two other inspections in this state with the same electrical cover.”
The inspector started to argue—money flashing through his mind along with the weekend getaway with his girlfriend that a bribe would buy—right up until the moment he looked into Jericho’s eyes. He didn’t just take a step back, he took two. He had been around a lot of roughneck’s during his work, however none had ever made his blood run cold. You didn’t have to ponder why he was foreman of the job and how he had kept over a hundred men under his control to get a job of this magnitude done without incident and on time. He was a mean son of a bitch. His palms weren’t going to get greased with a bribe; this man was more likely to cut them off first.
Shaking, he bent down to give the cover another cursory look. “It will do.” He hurriedly started writing on his clipboard and then handed Jericho the green sticker showing the inspection had passed before walking quickly to his car. The sooner he got away from him, the better for his health.
Jericho walked over to the men waiting. “It’s a go. Start lining up and I’ll hand out the pay.” He frowned as he turned toward the onsite office, noticing a missing truck. “Where’s Billy?”
Ohio shrugged. “He never returned to the room last night or this morning before we left.”
Rick laughed. “Maybe he got lucky.”
Ohio laughed, too. “It would be a first.”
“I agree. Rick, drive over to that bar he went to last night and see if you can find out where the kid is.”
“Ah, Jericho, Billy can take care of himself. I want to get home.”
“Not a man leaves town until we find Billy. We came into this town together and we’ll leave together.”
No one argued with him as Jericho headed to the office. His desk was by a window so that his eyes were constantly on the site. He had passed out several of the men’s pay when he saw Billy’s truck drive onto the site, parking next to Jericho’s own truck. When Billy emerged, Ohio immediately lit into the kid. Jericho heard the yelling in his office.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I had a flat.” Billy couldn’t hide his guilty expression.
“Boy, if you got laid and overslept, just say so. You don’t have to make up excuses to me. I’m not your mama.”
Billy turned bright red and shook his head.
“You better get to the office. Jericho’s been looking for you.”
Billy got in line with the rest of the crew. When his turn came, he couldn’t look Jericho in the eyes.
“Sorry I’m late, boss.”
Jericho nodded. “Since you’re the last one in, you can do clean up duty.”
“But, Jericho, I really need to get out of town. I mean, I need to head home.”
Jericho studied the young man. His instincts were telling him that Billy was hiding something, but as long as it didn’t involve the job, it was none of his business. There was no quicker way to lose a good crewmember than to stick his nose where it didn’t belong.
“You know the rules; last one in does cleanup.” Billy nodded. Once Jericho gave an order, he expected the job carried out.
“Hurry up, kid.” Jericho watched as Billy left the office and began picking up trash around the site. There wasn’t much as Jericho expected the men to pick up after themselves.
After Jericho paid the last of the men, he did a final walk-through of the building. It was his responsibility to check to make sure all the windows and doors in the building were locked.
He was walking out of the building when four police cars pulled onto the lot.
Jericho tensed. This was not a good sign. When the police sent out four squad cars, you could bet that it was going to be a major fuck up.
Billy caught his attention. He looked like a deer caught under a hunter’s shotgun. Billy, seeing Jericho’s hard stare, bent and kept picking up the trash, hoping to go unnoticed by the police while the other men were loading their tools into vehicles, anxious to head out.
With an experienced eye, Jericho studied the officers as they got out of their cars. He picked out the one with the most pompous attitude. “Can I help you, Sheriff?”
“Who’s in charge?” Giving him a narrowed look, which Jericho bet was practiced in front of a mirror, the officer set out to intimidate. It wasn’t going to work. Jericho had little left to fear in life, and this asshole wasn’t one of them.
“That would be me.” Jericho stared each man in the eyes, knowing that to look scared was like feeding raw meat to hungry sharks. “Can I help you?” Again, Jericho repeated his question.
“We have a report of a missing woman who escaped from the mental facility twenty miles from here.”
“If she’s on foot, then why would you think she would be here? We haven’t seen a woman hanging around. Believe me, my men would have noticed.” The few men who had stepped closer to overhear the conversation started catcalling and whistling.
“Shut up!” one of the officers yelled at the men.
“They’re just letting off some steam. A lot of them have been away from home for a while.” Jericho’s tone warned he wouldn’t let the men be harassed for no reason.
The officer stuck out his chest, which only emphasized his paunch.
“One of your men was seen with the woman last night.” Jericho didn’t have to ask who, but the officer told him anyway.
“The manager at the Stop and Go identified him as a Billy Smith and that he works for this construction crew.”
“He does.” Jericho cursed to himself. The crew often stopped at the convenience store to grab a coffee or a quick snack.
“Is he here?”
Before Jericho could say anything, Billy spoke up, “I’m here.” He walked to stand in front of the officer. The sheriff smiled, showing his shark teeth. Here was a man he could intimidate.
“Did you see this young woman?” The Sheriff produced a picture from the folder he was holding.
“I talked to a lot of women last night.” Billy tried to smile when the men standing around
started to cheer again. When Jericho saw the officers getting angry, he motioned the men away.