AllFreeNovel
Share Us
??Nah.” Vledich waved that away. “It was executed like a hit.”
Like the Donatellas, Savvy thought.
“All right,” she said, closing up her notebook and tucking it away. She started to walk toward her car, then stopped, turned back, and said to Russo, “Sylvie Strahan said she recommended you for the Portland job.”
For the first time he looked cautious. “Yeah?”
“Who was manager here before you?”
Vledich snorted again, and Russo said, “Paulie Williamson. He’s the one who awarded the engineering job to DeWitt.”
“I don’t have him on my list,” Savannah admitted.
“Paulie folded up tent and moved to Tucson. Working on his tan and drinking mojitos now,” Russo said. “He ran like a rabbit after the Donatellas were killed. Told you guys he didn’t have anything to do with the project, which was technically true, other than being friends with DeWitt, and then took off. I think he was scared he’d be sued along with Bancroft Development.”
“Asshole.” Vledich sniffed.
“Do you have a number for him?” she asked.
“Got a cell.” Russo pulled out his phone, scrolled through some numbers, then rattled off Paul Williamson’s number, which Savvy put into her phone list.
She left them a few moments later and headed north and then east across the Willamette again, toward the RiverEast Apartments construction site, driving through a Taco Bell on the way and ordering two chicken gorditas and a water. She ate both gorditas while driving and was sipping the water when she saw the sign COMING SOON RIVEREAST APARTMENTS—which featured a schematic of the ten-story modern glass and steel building in the midst of a parklike setting—coming up on her right. The parklike setting was a dream for the future, apparently, as currently the site sported bare steel rafters and cranes, and men in hard hats walked around purposefully. It was a big project that would probably take years to complete. Savannah parked the Escape well away from the construction zone and walked back slowly.
A good-looking man with dark blond hair and a full-wattage smile approached her, hard hat on his head, his walk a swinging strut, which she’d found common among the more handsome of the male species—or at least the ones who felt they were. He wore jeans and a gray work shirt, and he pointed his finger at her, then made a circling motion with it to encompass her belly. “What are you doing here, Mama?” he asked.
“Are you Henry Woodworth?”
He blinked in surprise. “Why, yes, I am. And who might you be?”
“I’m Detective Savannah Dunbar with the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Department.” She showed him her badge, then held out a hand, but Henry didn’t take it.
“How did you know me, Detective?” he asked cautiously, and she explained about her meeting with Russo and Vledich.
“Vledich,” he muttered. “Bet he didn’t have nice things to say.”
“I was actually hoping to find Nadine Gretz. I was told you and she are friends.”
“What do you want to see Nadine for?”
“I’m doing a follow-up investigation on the Donatella homicides in Deception Bay last spring. Nadine worked for Bancroft Development then, and I understand she’s working for them again.”
“Well, yeah, but just part-time. This isn’t . . . Nadine left because she didn’t want to work with Bancroft and St. Cloud. She—” He cut himself off.
“She what?” Savannah asked, pressing.
“She didn’t think they played fair. She’s not here, anyway.”
“Do you have a way I can reach her?”
“Well, yeah,” he said, but he didn’t offer up her number.
“I’ve already met with Mr. Russo, Mr. Ingles, and Mr. Vledich.”
“What a powerhouse. And you, ready to pop.” His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“I can find her another way,” Savvy said evenly, “but it would save me some time if you could help.”
“Just hold your horses, Detective.” He pulled out a cell phone, checked his call list, then told her Nadine’s number, which she inserted into her own list, just as she had Paulie Williamson’s.
