Page 18 of Statler

Almost.

He gave an internal chuckle.

Oh, she’d definitely had a reaction to him.

Positive, if he had to guess.

Statler had made it a point to converse with her thereafter, albeit briefly, looking for any additional signs of interest. And yes, she’d seemed flustered by his presence, but also a bit…fascinated? The pulse at the base of her neck had been pounding hard, and the flutter of her hands had given away the heightened agitation she was trying hard to hide.

Statler’s thoughts—which had been focused on a possible attraction—suddenly took a dark turn.

Maybe her agitation hadn’t been because she found him appealing.

Perhaps she was a vigilant gatekeeper, suspicious of all who entered because she was covering for Flazer; fully aware of the arms production that was going on, and what was at stake, therefore making her distrustful of strangers.

Statler gave himself a mental shake.

Nope. He was a decent judge of character, and…

She just didn’t look the part.

So, maybe…

Huh. Now there was an interesting thought.

Could Eliza possibly be the mysterious “Holden” who had alerted Dark to what was going on behind the scenes?

Damn.

Statler was going to have to walk that tightrope very carefully.

Whether Eliza was a good guy or a bad guy, sure as shit, the man sitting across the sarcastically large desk from him, was rotten to the core.

A few more minutes passed very slowly, until Statler was finally done. He was tired of sitting here; tired of a meeting that was less about business than it was about the pompous ass in front of him bloviating on his self-importance.

It was past time to wrap things up.

“What else do you need from me at the moment?” Statler questioned, interrupting the man mid-sermon before he could continue.

Stat purposely looked at his watch. “I’ve got a schedule I’d like to stick to. Which means that as soon as we’ve been shown our new digs, my crew and I plan to do a thorough walk-around and analysis of the site this afternoon before we lose the light.”

And whose fault is that?

If the ass in front of him had signed the contracts way back in the spring like he’d hinted he would, Stat and crew would have already been at the end stages of the job; able to have enjoyed the long work-days of summer.

Now that fall was upon them, daylight in Maine was already at a premium. Statler had checked online. Sunrise here was currently at 6:30, and sunset dropped its shroud of darkness just after six at night. That would only shrink to a tighter window, the later in the season they got.

Certainly not optimum for the large amount of work ahead of them, at least with getting the factory built.

For their covert ops, however? It was perfect. There’d be lots of darkness with which to conceal their extra-curricular activities.

Stat went on. “Just to let you know, I’ve already ordered all the steel framing based on the plans we were given,” he informed the jerk. “But being careful, before I have it delivered I’ll be doing final measurements of the foundation in person in case anything is off.”

Flazer puffed up. “There’s no need for that. I’m sure you’ll find that my concrete crew did a perfect job, along with their plumber and electrician who placed all the conduit for you to use,” he vaunted.

Statler wasn’t going to argue.

There were protocols he followed, and compromising was not on his to-do list.