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Tate pointed to his truck. “I’ll drive Aidyn, hop in.”
Aidyn grinned. “Maybe day shift won’t be as boring as we feared it would be.”
“So far, so good.”
He climbed into his truck and took another drink from his coffee. Aidyn climbed in and looked in the white bakery bag sitting on the console. “So you stopped by Lara’s Delights this morning.”
“Yep. She makes great cookies.”
Aidyn laughed, pulled his seatbelt across his body and clicked it in place. Tate backed his truck from its parking space and turned toward the construction site at large and waited for Baxter to lead the way.
“How bad do you think it’s going to get here?” Aidyn asked.
“I can’t imagine. But it sure seems the townspeople are gearing up for an all-out war. If they keep fucking with the base, though, they’ll find their diplomatic immunity rescinded in a heartbeat.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” Aidyn ran his hands down his face and yawned.
“Did you sleep last night?”
“Not that great.” Aidyn stretched his shoulders. “New bed. Unknown place. Unfamiliar noises. I hope Spencer gets our security system in place today. It’ll help us all sleep better if we don’t have to listen to every little noise.”
Tate chuckled. “That’s the truth right there.”
The construction site was laid out with nothing but the footings poured. The main building seemed massive. There were several buildings situated around the main building. According to the plans Baxter had shown them yesterday, they’d start with these first eight buildings and add more as it became fully operational.
They laid the main communication infrastructure in the main building and running under the basement area. Baxter’s pickup came to a stop in front of the main building and Tate pulled in alongside him. They exited the trucks and Tate couldn’t help but look down into the basement of the main building. Massive was an understatement.
There were a few men standing in the basement looking over a broken PVC pipe. Temporary stairs were situated to his right. He nodded to Aidyn and pointed to them, and both headed down to the basement of the main building.
The heat dissipated the further down they went, and he had to admit, it felt good. They neared the group of men and looked into the shallow well in the cement reserved for the wiring harnesses. The PVC pipe was smashed with a hammer or other heavy object, and someone had snipped individually the wires but not neatly. They were tugged and pulled in different directions, and it looked to be a mess.
Baxter came to stand near him, and the men stepped back for him to view the damage. His face was unusually red today, and Tate feared he’d have a heart attack if it directly related to stress.
Baxter glanced at Aidyn and him, then casually said, “This is Tate Vickers and Aidyn Dunbar, who are here to keep the BRR off our backs.”
The men nodded or offered greetings, but they each waited for Baxter’s next words nervously.
Baxter knelt by the largest grouping of cut wires, then glanced over at the next grouping and shook his head.
“Finish getting the pictures taken and wait for the sheriff. We’ll need to rerun all these wires.”
Baxter started toward the stairs and muttered. “Get your security guy out here and install cameras. Then, I think we’re going to need to discuss your schedules and how we can all work together. I can’t have any more delays. Especially not because of those bastards.”
Chapter10
She’d call today a success. Yep, a total success. Sometimes it wasn’t the worst thing having people rally around to help you when you’ve been the victim of some horrible, stupid thing. So, the townsfolk came out in droves and the only downside about it all was that she now had to stay here for a few hours to replenish the sales case.
It was a labor of love. She’d always loved baking. It’s what made her open this bakery. But her shoulders ached, and her feet throbbed. Today was one of those days she wished she had a helper. She ran all day long. She bent down to wipe the crumbs from the bottom of the bakery case and spread out the few things she had left inside until she could replenish.
The bell on her door chimed, and she glanced up to see Tate walk in with another man.
“Hi.” She stood. “I have little left, I’m afraid.”
His smile was pleasant. He had the nicest smile, and it reached his eyes. They creased at the corners and added character to his handsome face. Not that he didn’t have character anyway, but this was a lovely touch. Genuine is the word she’d use.
“I’d guess today was a tremendous success for you then.”
“It was. Folks I haven’t seen in a long time showed up to support me.”
