His foreman waited for him. He nodded, smiled in greeting. “Wasn’t sure if you’d make it.”
“I said I’d be here,” Simon said. They studied the building and the blueprints.
“We’re ninety percent complete on stage one. It’s going well.”
“Well enough. Let me know when you get the last of the framing done. Then we’ll get on to the next stage.” Content with the progress on this project, he headed down to the next. Passing the Starbucks, he popped in to grab himself a coffee. At the second project, he once again found problems. This one had been beset by problems since the beginning. Some projects just wouldn’t finish on budget.
After seeing the crap of the existing plumbing in this old building, Simon okayed a complete and full redo. The last thing he needed was ongoing plumbing problems on the many new apartments that would soon be here. Better to fix the issue now, before it caused further damage.
By the time he finished with the third building assessment, a refinish of an old apartment building, his stomach was growling. He looked around for a place to stop and to grab a bite. But not really seeing anything that caught his eye, he headed to the fourth project, and he wasn’t alone. He blamed a lack of sleep and food for his dulled senses. He dealt with the problems at the fourth project and turned around to see somebody in plainclothes approaching him. From all outward appearances, he was a cop through and through.
Simon stopped and waited. “What can I do for you?”
“I’ve been following you all morning, trying to catch you,” he said. “I wouldn’t have to, but you’ve refused to return my calls.”
Simon looked at him in surprise. “So you’ve resorted to following me?”
“We have some questions.”
And, with that, his heart sank, and his jaw firmed. “I don’t have anything to do with anything,” he said, turning his back on the detective.
“You found the little girl on the street and called it in.”
“You guys are a good reason to never do that again,” he said.
“Maybe if you’d called her in earlier, she’d be still alive.”
That was a low blow and wasn’t helpful because that little girl was dead and had been for a while. But it wasn’t for Simon to explain the guy’s job to him. “Nothing more to tell you,” Simon said. “I walked home from a poker game and saw something gleaming in the moonlight, found a little girl. I called it in. That’s the end of it.”
“Where was your poker game?”
He gave him the address. “Just a group of friends but feel free to check it out.” He gave him a bunch of the names of the guys who had been there, carefully avoiding the cheater. So far, no one had said anything to him about that related incident.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll check that out. What are you doing with all these buildings that you keep checking in on?”
Simon stopped, looked at him, and said, “They are my building projects. Is that against the law too?”
The detective just stared back at him, a blank look on his face.
“And how come Detective Morgan isn’t on the case?” Simon asked in a derisive tone. “Or did she get pulled off for being too close to the cases?”
“She is dealing with the children right now,” he said. “Like the little girl you found last night.”
“And you’re not?”
“No, I’m trying to figure out how you came upon the body.”
“Well, I didn’t know it was there ahead of time, if that’s what you’re asking,” Simon said. “And, if you have any other questions for me, call my lawyer.”
“Why do you need a lawyer?”
“Apparently I need a lawyer because of you,” he said. And, with that, he strolled off again. He knew it was the wrong thing to get involved, but how could he not? Every decent human had to have a good side, and he had more than a few good qualities; he just preferred to keep them hidden. And cops had a habit of digging until they found shit that Simon didn’t want them to find. Just another reason to avoid that lovely detective and everything she stood for.
Seeing a lunch spot ahead, Simon quickly dashed across the road and left the detective staring at him. He didn’t care if he followed him all day or not.
From the looks of him, he could use the exercise.
*