Page 57 of Forgotten Path

His cell phone rang as they filed out of the tight space and clomped down the metal stairs outside.

“Glazier,” he barked.

“It’s me. Chad.”

Hornbill rarely called him directly. That Sharon chick from his office did most of the day-to-day. For half a second, Fred thought Chad somehow knew he’d gone rogue on the white paint. Then he realized how stupid that thought was and shook his head at himself.

“What can I do you for ya?” he asked cautiously.

“We have a problem.”

Fred waited.

“My chief sustainability officer was just in here reading me the riot act. Correction: my former chief sustainability officer. I fired her ass.”

“That sounds like a you problem, not an us problem,” Fred pointed out.

“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you.”

“Is this about the dead fish? For crying out loud, Chad, I told Sharon I took care of that.”

“It’s not about the water runoff. Well, not directly. And it’s definitely anusproblem.”

Fred’s frustration boiled over and washed away what little patience he possessed. “Then spit it out. I have crap to do. I can’t sit here on the phone like a schoolgirl waiting for you to get to the point.”

“I’d be careful how you speak to me,” Chad warned in a voice like ice. Then he launched into his story. “She went to see Ashland on Friday morning to talk about the health issues caused by your dumping.”

“The alleged health issues caused by my purported dumping, you mean.”

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night, Fred. Anyway, she was gone when I got there. But she saw me going inside.”

“Still sounds like a you problem,” Fred told him, but his heart wasn’t in it.

“Come on, Fred. You said you’d help me.”

“And I did.”

“I thought you were going to …”

“We shouldn’t be talking about this, Chad. Not on the phone. The town is crawling with cops and not just the local yokels. The FDLE is lurking around, and there’s some forensic expert from up North here poking—”

“Yeah, Bodhi King. I’m on it.”

“What does that mean—you’re on it?” Fred demanded.

“It means I have a guy on the inside who’s keeping me apprised of what’s happening with the investigation.”

‘A guy on the inside’was a vast exaggeration of Craig Lowell’s access, but Hornbill was rapidly spinning out of control and Fred had to settle him down before he did something stupid.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, your guy should know Brianna’s cooperating with Bodhi King.”

“Cooperating with him? What does that mean?”

“I don’t know all the details. I do know she said if I don’t tell him that I was at the clinic on Friday morning, she would.”