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day?" He deliberately posed his question to the father rather than the son.
"Scott?" Ramsey asked, frowning as he glanced back at Scott.
"He can ask me," Scott growled. "Why is he asking you?" Ramsey continued to frown.
"When dealing with a child you go to the parent," Nik stated softly. "If you're a man, then we can dispense with a third party."
Ramsey glared back at Nik. "I think we're both aware Scott is no match for you, Mr. Steele."
"And I think we both know that the thought of Mikayla's ire is a far better deterrent in smacking that kid upside the head for his negligence than your anger or anything you could do, Mr. Martin," Nik said. "I have some questions, nothing more. But if you feel you must protect him, then neither of you should object when I deal with the matter as one adult to the other, and exclude him as much as possible." It was a tactic Nik's father had used on him, his brothers, his cousins, on more than one occasion.
"I can handle this," Scott protested, his shoulders squaring as he tried to tell himself as well as his father that he was a man.
Ramsey gave Nik another hard, warning look before standing slowly to his feet, nodding sharply, then leaving the room.
Nik remained in his seat, staring back at the young man with knowing mockery. Scott knew he'd just come face-to-face with judgment if he was lucky. A hell of a lot of hurt if he wasn't.
Nik got straight to the point.
"Why didn't you call your sister and let her know you had a ride rather than leaving her to arrive at a deserted construction site where anything could have happened to her?"
This had nothing to do with the investigation and everything to do with the primitive protectiveness rising up inside Nik for her.
"I forgot." Scott crossed his arms over his chest before tucking his hands beneath his armpits defensively, his shoulders hunching as though he carried the weight of that decision and it didn't sit well. "I was on the phone with Dad when she called. My phone was dying. I asked Dad to call her back. By then, she was already there and it was too late."
The boy shook his head before swallowing tightly, his gray eyes darkening with remembered fear. "I almost got her killed."
"Let it happen again, and it won't matter where I am, or what I'm doing. I'll come for you, Scott. You got that? I'll kill you."
The boy paled. "Yeah, you and the rest of the family."
"Your family will leave you breathing. I won't," Nik told him before gesturing to the chair next to the desk. "Tell me what you know about Eddie Foreman." Scott blinked but did as he was ordered. He sat down slowly, the awareness that he had gained no more than a reprieve from Nik evident in his gaze.
"He was an asshole," Scott breathed out heavily. "Always cutting corners, always trying to make deals and earn an easy buck."
"Mikayla said you witnessed an argument between him and Maddix Nelson?" Nik reminded Scott.
95
Scott nodded. "I don't know exactly what it was over. I only caught bits and pieces. Maddix was accusing him of something from what I heard. I heard Eddie yelling from the construction office that he didn't do it, and that Maddix was crazy. I heard Maddix yell back that he'd pay for it, if he did."
"And you told the police this?" Nik pressed.
"Hell yes, I did." Scott frowned, anger darkening his gaze. "Bastards just blew me off. Said it didn't matter because Maddix didn't do it. My sister doesn't lie--" Nik held his hand up, recognizing that Scott was in danger of losing his temper. He needed Scott calm. This information wasn't in the police report. There were too many holes, too much information missing.
"Anyone else?" Nik asked. "Who could have wanted Eddie dead beside Maddix?" Scott shook his head. "Hell if I know. Probably everyone. Like I said, he was an asshole. . . ."
"What about that evening?" Nik asked. "Who else knew Mikayla was picking you up?"
Scott snorted at that. "Everyone. The guys like Mikayla, but she was late that day. I caught a ride, thinking maybe she had forgotten about me while she was sewing. She does that sometimes. Me and the boys I left with were the last ones out. Even Eddie had left before us. I have no idea why he came back to the job site." To meet with someone, evidently.
"What about Maddix?" Nik asked. "Did he come out to the site often?"
"Always after everyone else left," Scott replied. "And yes, I tried to tell the police that, and they still wouldn't listen."
But Nik had something to start with now. Unfortunately, that something was against Maddix himself.
Nik didn't trust anyone unconditionally, especially a man he owed a favor to. The suspicion had been cast, and now Nik had to figure out where it went.
