Until I Found You (The Grayson Family Book 10) by Lindstrom Wendy

Author:Lindstrom, Wendy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oliver Heber Books
Published: 2024-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The tall smokestacks of the Pine Ridge Paper Mill towered above a large compound of imposing brick walls, spewing sour-smelling smoke and obscuring the morning sunshine. The plant had been built on the banks of the Androscoggin River at the base of its grand waterfall that powered the mill and provided a means of transportation. It also helped circulate and treat the timber cut from the Maine mountain forests.

Gray could feel the oppressive atmosphere before he’d even set foot on the property. Outside in the muddy, rutted yard, he passed several men using teams of horses to haul logs to a loading dock at the far end of the complex, and more men and boys down at the river’s edge using long metal hooks to sort a snarl of floating timber. Funnels of frosty air spewed from their mouths as they worked, but even in their threadbare clothing, they seemed oblivious to the frigid temperature.

With an empathetic shiver, Gray headed to the plant. The instant he stepped inside, he stopped in stunned surprise as the sheer scale and power of the machines assaulted his senses. Cranes and chains clanked overhead, steam hissed from vents, and the continuous thumping and clacking of machines echoed through the cavernous building. Weak, negligible light seeped in through dingy windows set high in the walls and washed the occupants with a gloomy stain. Everywhere he looked, poorly dressed men and boys labored at noisy machines, already looking beaten and exhausted in the early morning hour. To know these poor souls would still be here laboring long after Gray had left for the day twisted his gut in a knot of empathy.

Fumes burned his eyes as he surveyed the expansive buildings with open massive doors that connected one building to another and to another, far beyond the scope of his vision. He would walk every inch of the place and talk to as many employees as necessary to complete his investigation. First stop, though, was the office where he would find the men in charge of this prison. His years with the Pinkertons had taught him that those with the most power had the most to lose, and that’s where his most likely suspects would be.

After asking directions of a young man who’d passed by, Gray headed toward the main offices in the north corner of the building. He opened a heavy wood door with multipaned glass to find himself face-to-face with a rugged-looking man wearing a white shirt, brown vest, and mile-deep scowl.

“Who the devil are you?” the man asked, using his squat body to block Gray’s entrance. The man looked like a rusty old barrel with his ruddy complexion, round body, and a face that had seen better days.

Undeterred, Gray met the man’s black gaze. “I’m Gray Alexander, the personnel inspector hired by your boss,” he said, using his undercover alias. “And you are?” he asked with as much disdain as he’d been met with.

Surprise flashed across the man’s whiskered face and he seemed taken aback.

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