Page 45 of Tracking Safety

In unit three, where the electrical rough-in ran up the back wall, one of the junctions hung open. A wire had been worked loose of its connector and left against the stud, the copper bright where the cap should have covered it.

Luke stopped.

He stood there a moment, running the explanations. Fenn had flagged the electrical. But Fenn had inspected units one and two. He’d never made it back to three. Even if he had, an inspector noted problems. He didn’t create them.

Had his own guys done this?

No. His electrician didn’t leave live-adjacent work undone. Not ever. Not in fifteen years of working together. It was the first thing Luke drilled into every crew he ran. You did not leave a connection open overnight.

He crouched and looked closer.

The wire hadn’t backed out on its own. Something had worked it free of the cap—cleanly, deliberately. The kind of small wrong thing that wouldn’t show up on any inspection and wouldn’t matter for months.

Until one day it would.

For a long moment, Luke just stared at it.

Then he capped the wire, sealed the junction, and told himself it was nothing. He had a dozen ordinary explanations.

He almost believed them.

But the unease that had been riding him all afternoon settled a little deeper. And it didn’t leave when he walked away.

“Hey.”

He turned and saw Caleb approaching, hands stuffed deep into his pockets.

Luke gave him the update on Fenn’s visit and Kori’s assessment of the situation. When he finished, Caleb studied him a moment too long.

“What’s the update on Jenna?”

Luke turned the conversation over in his mind, trying to find the short version. There wasn’t one. Every version was complicated and—unbelievable, he supposed.

So he gave it to him straight. Ellie. The mob. WitSec. Wes knowing the whole time.

Caleb stared at him through all of it. When Luke finished, his brother was quiet for several seconds.

“Wow.” Caleb exhaled through his nose. “I . . . I don’t know what to say.”

“I know.”

“And you believe her?”

“I wasn’t sure at first. Then she told me to ask Wes.”

Caleb froze as realization flickered through his gaze. “Wes knew.”

“He was a marshal. He was aware.”

“I didn’t see that one coming.” Caleb shook his head slowly. “What about the kids?”

“They’re with Mom. They don’t know Jenna’s in town.” Luke’s jaw tightened. “I want to keep it that way until I figure out what’s best for them.”

“Tell me what you need,” Caleb said. “I’m there for you.”

“I appreciate that.” Luke turned back toward the cottages, his eyes settling on unit three a beat longer than the rest. “Right now, I need to check on my guys. We can’t afford to make any mistakes. Because if we do, the county will jump on it and shut this place down.”

He wished his words weren’t true.