Concrete Pearl by Vincent Zandri

Author:Vincent Zandri [Zandri, Vincent]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: StoneGate Ink
Published: 2011-05-09T04:30:00+00:00

Chapter 37

I spotted him standing beside my Jeep the moment I walked out the door.

Damien Spain planted four-square in the dirt lot, arms crossed over his ample chest. He locked eyes on me. Didn’t matter that he was wearing sunglasses. I felt his high beams on me from all the way across the lot.

No choice but to approach him.

“Word is you’re going to surrender yourself to Santiago,” he said.

“Stop following me,” I said.

I unlocked the Jeep door, put my hand on the opener, pulled it open.

He reached out, pressed his hand against the door, closed it back up.

I turned to him.

“What do you want from me?”

“Two minutes of your time,” he said. “I knew that if I called, you wouldn’t answer.”

“You find anything interesting inside my project trailer?”

His face turned visibly red.

I stole a glance at my wristwatch.

“One minute, fifty seconds,” I said.

“I told you I’m under the employ of Albany County to look into Farrell’s business practices. I was called to that meeting this morning at the project trailer by Santiago himself. Now that Farrell is officially registered with missing persons, I’ve been instructed to shift the focus of my investigation on behalf of the county. They want me to see if I can find out what the hell happened to him.”

“You and me both…One minute forty.”

“Ms. Harrison, do you have any idea why I haven’t been able to nail Farrell with anything substantial since my investigation switched from Tina Farrell to Albany County a few weeks ago?”

“You’re pacing yourself,” I said like a question.

“Not exactly,” he said. “It’s because I can’t get anyone who’s ever worked for him or with him to talk with me, much less come forward as an expert witness.”

“You ever seen an asbestos removal in progress, Spain?”

He shook his head.

“It’s not brain surgery. Mostly just some taping and prepping. A couple, three people can handle the removals. Farrell hired only temporary help…Transients, probably uncertified, probably didn’t know the first thing about proper removal procedures. Maybe he paid them in cash then fixed the books. It’s a no-brainer even for a genius like Farrell.”

“Transients would give him control of the situation, keep people moving in and out of the revolving door before they had a chance to snitch on his act.”

“Especially if the act involved cheating in exchange for a little under the table cash…Keep your trap shut of course.”

He was quiet for a beat.

Then, “Still, temporary or not, employees have eyes and ears. You would think one of them might poke their heads out from the dirt pile.”

“Spain,” I said. “These men and women are ten dollar an hour unskilled labor. They don’t want any trouble. They go where the work is. There’s no work, they take off. Or there’s trouble sticking to the work, they don’t hang around very long. Now if you’ll excuse me, I—”

“Wait, please, Ms. Harrison.”

One more glance at my watch.

“Fifty-three seconds,” I said.

He cleared his throat.

“You’re about to be indicted by Santiago for asbestos removal negligence and conspiracy to

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