“I know I was lucky as fuck to get away with it. Probably only because the other guy kept his mouth shut. I gotta tell you, I walked around fearing for my life for a while, definitely keeping an eye on my back. The only good thing is that since I had no idea who put the stuff there, I had nothing to tell anybody. So, I kept my mouth shut, my head down, and went about my business.” He lifted his head and pinned her with another hard stare. “I’m no hero, Ms. McBride. I didn’t want that shit to affect me or my family.”
Leaning forward, she placed her shaking fingers on his arm, feeling the tension in his muscles. “You know, Russ, heroes aren’t always found in uniforms on the battlefield or escaping burning buildings with a child in their arms. They don’t always show up on a white horse. Heroes are everyday people, going about their everyday business, who step in and do something extraordinary for someone else. And most of the time, we never even know who they are or what they’ve done. You saved that other student, but more importantly, you saved countless others whose lives would’ve been affected if those drugs had gotten out into the pipeline of dealers and users.”
“Ms. McBride, my backpack had been in your car, and the dogs smelled something. Everybody knows you got called down and they didn’t find anything. But I could’ve said something. I should’ve said something. I just froze. Griffin had given me a job that’s going to teach me a trade and make my life better. My mom was happy with the money. And I felt like I turned the corner. And then I thought about you being questioned by the police, and I should’ve fuckin’ said something.”
“No… no. It’s okay.”
Anguish distorted his features. “Why didn’t you say something, Ms. McBride?”
Sighing heavily, she shook her head. “I thought about it. Honestly, Russ, I almost did after agonizing. But there was nothing to tell. There was nothing to find in my car. To have said something could have set in motion things that couldn’t be undone for no reason.”
The two sat, staring at each other, their gazes not wavering as the room filled with heavy emotion. Finally, sucking in a deep breath, she whispered, “Why now, Russ? What’s going on now?”
He swallowed deeply, waiting a moment before speaking, his voice stronger. “I was reading Sister Carrie and at first just saw it as a novel of social commentary on the times it was written. But I came to the passage about only thinking of self until caught… about thinking of the greater good.” Blowing out another breath, he nodded. “Griffin’s had some things taken at his work sites. I know it slowed down for a while, but it’s started up again.”
Griffin had talked to her about what was happening on some of his sites, now having to plan on renting a storage unit where they all took their equipment and tools that didn’t go home with them. It was an added expense, but mostly, it was a pain for his crews.
Nodding slowly, she said, “Yes, he’s told me.”
“I… I don’t know anything… not for sure.”
She wanted to jump up and shout ‘you have to tell him’, but that would be hypocritical considering she’d kept suspicions to herself. “Okay.” Her words were breathy, but the entire conversation had pulled at her emotions over and over.
“One of the… someone… well, someone came to me, probably thinking that since money is tight, I’d be willing to help them…” His face contorted again. “I owe Griffin so much, but I’ve got no proof. And they said for me to keep quiet, or they’d make it so Griffin had to fire me—”
“Oh, hell, no!” Caitlyn jumped up from her seat, her blood firing through her veins as she marched back and forth in front of the desk where he was sitting. “Oh, no, Russ. You aren’t going to be anyone’s fall guy! This isn’t right. You’ve done everything you could to do the right thing, even at personal risk.” Dropping down to squat in front of him, she lay her forearms on the desktop near his. “We have to talk to Griffin.” As indecision crossed his face, she reached out to take his hand. She couldn’t imagine what all he had gone through but knew he was desperate to do the right thing. “Please… Russ, you came to me. You wanted advice on all of this. Let me help.”
27
Griffin sat in the dark in the empty living room of the grand old Victorian house that he’d just taken on from clients who were out of the country, and they wanted the entire house to be refurbished to its original glory before they moved in. He loved a blank canvas, one where he could restore the special woodwork in the stairs, porches, detail work while his crew refinished floors, tile, and cabinets.
Taking on a new client at this time was stretching his crews thin, but the payoff would be worth it. The clients were willing to pay top dollar for his services. Both flattered and humbled that Capella Construction was finally taking off, he would be able to hire more workers. Bob and Jack were ready to become on-site supervisors, allowing him to turn over more responsibilities.
For some strange reason, perhaps the quiet of the night, his father ran through his mind. He had no idea where Gerald Capella currently resided. He also had no idea if his father ever thought about his wife and kids he left behind. What Griffin had become he owed to his mom and the people that had mentored him. But he couldn’t help but spare his father a tiny thought, wishing the man knew that his son had become successful despite his lack of a father. Shoving those thoughts to the side, he glanced around the room lit only by the moonlight filtering in through the windows.
At night, in the dark, the house creaked occasionally, and he wondered about the original owners. Did their spirits live on in their former house? Had they shaken at the audacity of the last owners who’d painted the rooms plum and dark blue, replaced the stair posts with metal, and hung modern light fixtures? Or had their spirits celebrated each new owner and their own personal spin on making the stately home their own?
He scrubbed his hand over his face before lifting his soda bottle to his lips. Staying up late wasn’t unheard of for him, but he’d rather be up late making Caitlyn cry out his name than sitting alone in a dark, empty house. Empty except for the building materials and equipment that had been left inside.
A noise was heard coming from the back of the house. Standing without making a sound, he moved out of sight of the hallway, standing near the mantle of the large fireplace. At another time he would have considered the design of the new mantle that would be built that would more closely resemble what was in the original house. But now, all he wanted to do was set eyes on who was entering the house through the kitchen near the back. Pressing against the wall further, he silently stepped into the dining room so that his presence would not be detected.
Nate had come to him with his suspicions, and Griffin had set things in motion. He’d decided which of their working residences would have materials available for an attempted theft and let Nate know the trap he was setting. It had been hard to believe that Russ was stealing from him after the gratitude the teen had expressed, but Nate was adamant he was sure Russ was up to something.
Barely breathing, he waited, wondering if the person now coming down the hall could hear his heartbeat. Footsteps accompanied the thin beam of light as it approached. Peeking around the corner, he waited as the shadowy figure of a man moved into the room, the beam of light landing on the two generators in the far corner. Knowing he could not expose his hand too quickly, he waited as the figure tucked his small penlight into his front pants pocket, hefted the portable generator onto a small dolly, and rolled it back down the hall. Crossing through the dining room, Griffin was able to watch as the figure moved through the kitchen and out the back door, the now-stolen generator moving along with him.