Page 2 of My One and Only (Blackhawk Security #10)

Fifteen years later

J o’s plane bumped down onto the runway at O’Hare airport, rousing her from sleep. When she’d been in the Army, she’d learned to sleep whenever she could. Even sitting upright on a plane, she could always fall into a deep sleep.

After grabbing her suitcase and filing out of the plane, she got on a rental company bus and rode to the complex. She rented the smallest, cheapest SUV the company had, tossed her luggage into the back and climbed in. It took about ten miles for the car to lose its January-in-Chicago chill, but the stream of air from the heat vents never got really warm. It was only warm-ish for the hour it took her to get to Ogden, but she didn’t care. She had ten days off, and even though she hadn’t spent Christmas with her family, she’d have some time with them now.

When she got to the tiny duplex her mother was renting, she parked in the driveway and knocked on the front door. After a short interval, she saw her mother’s eye at the peephole and smiled.

Her mom threw open the door and unlatched the storm door. “Jo!” she exclaimed, smiling as she reached for her. “I wasn’t expecting you for several more days.”

“We wrapped up the case and rounded up the bad guys, so there was no reason to hang around. Thought I’d come a few days early. Check on the progress of your house.”

“The foreman said it was coming along nicely,” her mom said, beaming. “It’s framed and the siding goes up next. Once that’s done, they put in the electrical stuff.”

“I’ll take a look at it tomorrow,” Jo said easily. She’d had some experience with construction in the Army. Not a lot, but enough to know what quality work looked like.

When her mother stepped to the side, Jo hauled her bag into the house and closed the door against the cold air. It had been chilly in Seattle, but this was Midwestern, mid-winter cold. Deep freeze temperatures.

“Come have a cup of coffee and tell me all about your assignment.” Her mom poured two cups of coffee and brought them to the small kitchen table. “Were you protecting a good-looking young man?”

Jo almost spit out her sip of coffee. “Actually, Mom, the subject was a young woman. Close to my age.” She curled her fingers more tightly around the mug. “She was almost killed, but she survived and she’s fine.”

Her mother gasped. Pressed her hand to her throat. “What happened?”

Jo smiled at her mother. “You know I can’t tell you any details,” she said gently. They discussed this every time she said anything to her mom about a case. “But she’s fine. And the bad guys are all in jail. A happy ending all around.”

Trying to change the subject of her job, Jo said, “Tell me about the house you’re having built.”

Her mother practically wiggled with delight. “It’ll be small,” she said. “Two bedrooms, a living room and dining area, a kitchen and two bathrooms. And a lovely little patio at the back of the house.”

“It sounds perfect,” Jo said with a smile. “When is it supposed to be ready?”

“Two more months,” her mom said happily. “Not that I don’t like this rental your brothers found for me, but it’ll be nice to be in my own place. And brand new!” She smiled widely. “I’ve never had a brand new house.”

“I’ll take a look at it in the morning.” Stretching out her legs, Jo said, “Right now, I’m thinking about dinner. How about Lou Malnati’s pizza? You know how much I love The Lou.”

“I figured that was what you’d want,” her mom said, practically bouncing on her chair. “I’ll call the Geneva restaurant and have them deliver it.”

Before Jo could tell her mom she’d pick it up, her mom was dialing and ordering. When she ended the call, she said, “Pizza will be here in about an hour.” She tilted her head. “You want a glass of wine in the meantime?”

“Thanks, Mom,” Jo said. “A glass of wine sounds great.”

* * *

The next morning, after breakfast with her mother, Jo had her mom write down the address of her new house, then she climbed into her car and headed for the new development being built. It was a 55-and-older community, and Jo was happy that her mom would have the opportunity to make new friends. She’d worried when her mother had told her she was selling her house and moving to a new development in Ogden. Most of the people on her mom’s block had been there as long as her mom. But Jo had researched the development, and she was confident that her mother would be happy there. They had all kinds of programs and activities for their residents, and her new house was close to Jo’s brothers. One of them lived in Geneva, while the other lived in St. Charles.

Jo hadn’t spent a lot of time with the construction crew in the Army, but she knew she’d recognize quality work. As she pulled into the new development, she saw that work was in progress on a number of houses. She followed her mapping app down the winding streets until she saw a sign with her mom’s address on it in front of a partially built house. A truck sat in front of the house, and as she pulled in behind it, a man opened the driver’s side door and headed toward the house.

As she killed the engine, she spotted a man walking out of the house. A tool belt hung from his waist, with a hammer hanging through a loop on the right side of his jeans. A leather nail pouch drooped from his belt, which was drawn tight around his lean waist. A cigarette dangled from one side of his mouth.

Shoving his hand through his hair, he shook the newcomer’s hand. They chatted for a moment, then the carpenter pulled out a cigarette pack from his pocket and offered it to the newcomer. But instead of pulling out a cigarette, the newcomer pulled out what looked like a wad of cash. He thumbed through it, nodded, then slid it into his jeans pocket. He slapped the carpenter on the back, then turned to walk to his truck.

Sucking in a breath at what looked like a pay-off, instinct honed in too many war zones had Jo sliding down so that her head wasn’t visible in the car. She stayed there until she heard the truck in front of her start up and drive away. When it turned around and passed her car, she saw the lettering on the side of the truck -- City of Ogden. Building and Permits Department.

When the sound of the truck had disappeared completely, she waited five more minutes before she sat up.

The pick-up in the driveway probably belonged to the carpenter. Frowning, she looked around. Was he working alone? Shouldn’t there be at least a couple more people here?

Stepping out of the car, she walked up the rutted dirt driveway and approached the house. She heard the sound of pounding coming from inside, so she stuck her head into the door. “Hello?”

The pounding stopped, and the same guy who’d given the cash to the man in the city of Ogden truck appeared in front of her. “Help you?” he asked, looking wary.

Jo pasted a smile on her face. “I’m Jo Hatch. Molly Finster’s daughter. I’m visiting her from out of town, and she asked me to check on the progress of her house. Okay if I come in and look around?” She widened her smile. “Mom’s really excited about this house. Can’t wait for it to be finished.”

The carpenter studied her for a long moment, his shoulders still hunched. Finally he said, “Come on in. Just watch where you step. Nails on the floor. Pieces of wood. Don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’ll be careful,” Jo assured him.

He led her around the structure, pointing out where each of the rooms would be. “It’s gonna be a while before it looks like a real house,” he said. “I’m still framing it out.”

“I don’t want to keep you from your work,” she said. “Mind if I look around a bit? So I can describe it to my mom?”

He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “Sure. Just watch where you step.”

“Will do,” Jo said, then frowned. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Billy. Billy Simms.”

“Thanks, Mr. Simms. I promise to be careful.”

“Appreciate that,” Simms said with a nod. “Hate to have to fill out the paperwork if you hurt yourself.”

He watched Jo as she wandered over to what looked like the kitchen. When she no longer felt Simms’ gaze on her back, she checked the studs in front of her.

Full of knots and other defects in the wood, they looked substandard. Jo frowned at them. This couldn’t be the standard for the construction of these houses. The knots and defects made the wood less strong. She was pretty sure no one wanted that in a house they were building.

Some of the electrical boxes had been installed. Almost half of them were crooked. Some of the plumbing pipes had been installed in the kitchen, and they weren’t straight. Jo frowned as she studied them. Maybe they’d be tightened at a later point. But she suspected they wouldn’t be. After all, the drywall would hide them. No one would see the pipes or the studs.

Her neck tingled, and she turned to see Billy Simms standing in the doorway behind her. “Did you have a question, Mr. Simms?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Just looking out for you. Hate to have you trip over something.”

“Neither of us wants that,” she said, forcing a smile for the carpenter. “Everything looks good. My mom told me the name of the company who’s building these houses, but I don’t remember it.”

“It’s PK Construction,” Simms said. “Been in the area for a while. We’ve built a lot of houses.”

God help the people who’d bought them. “Thanks, Mr. Simms. I’ll tell my mom everything looks like it’s moving along well.”

He studied her for what seemed like a long time, then nodded at her. “Thanks for stopping by.”

Jo picked her way out of the house, conscious of Simms’s gaze boring into her back. She shivered and walked too fast down the rutted driveway. She stumbled once but caught herself. As she reached the end of the driveway, Simms was still in the door. Still watching her.

Giving him what she hoped was a friendly wave, she slid into her car. She felt his gaze on the back of her neck until she’d turned a corner and the house disappeared behind her. She drove until she found a nearby strip mall, where she parked and pulled out her phone. Searched for PK Construction. Found the address of the company headquarters. Geneva. Not too far away.

Squaring her shoulders, she entered the address in her mapping app, plugged it in and saw the company headquarters was only fifteen minutes away. Then she turned onto the street in front of the strip mall and headed for Geneva.

When she reached the office, which was in an office park, she studied the sprawling two-story building. It looked prosperous enough. Unlikely that the company had to skimp on the building materials. She parked in front of the building, locked her car and went inside.

A woman sitting at a desk looked up and smiled as Jo walked in. “May I help you?”

“Is the owner of the company here today?” Jo asked, forcing herself to smile.

“Mr. Pierce is here, yes. Do you need to speak to him?”

“I do,” Jo said.

“May I have your name? I’ll see if he’s available.”

“Thank you. It’s Jo. Jo Hatch.”

“I’ll be right back, Ms. Hatch.”

The woman disappeared into the door behind her, and Jo looked at the photos hanging on the walls. They were mostly houses of various sizes and designs. A few of the photos were commercial buildings. She assumed these were buildings that PK Construction had built, and she wondered if their work was as sloppy as the work she’d seen in her mother’s house.

Several minutes later, the receptionist stepped through the door. “Mr. Pierce has time to talk to you now. If you’ll follow me?”

Jo followed the woman through the door and down a corridor. She saw a few more offices, with men and women working at desks. A few of the offices had large desks tilted at an angle. She wondered if those were the architects who designed the buildings.

Finally, the receptionist stopped in front of a door. She opened it, revealing what looked like a small waiting area, and stepped to the side. “Go on in, Ms. Hatch. He’ll be with you in a few minutes. He’s just finishing a phone call.”

“Thanks,” Jo said with a smile. “I appreciate it.”

“Mr. Pierce makes an effort to talk to his customers,” the woman said brightly. “He’s always happy when people stop by.”

Jo dropped her smile as she slid into a chair. She wasn’t so sure Mr. Pierce’d be happy about her visit.

She picked up a battered, six-month-old copy of People Magazine and began paging through the dated stories. After about five minutes, the door opened and she set the magazine on the table beside her chair. “Ms. Hatch,” an oddly familiar voice said. “Come on in.”

She looked up at the man speaking. He was tall and broad-shouldered. Well-muscled, with impressively big arms. A wide chest. And his face was familiar. Too familiar.

“Cam?” she said. “Cam Pierce?” Her heart raced as she stared at her old high school friend, unable to believe the coincidence of seeing Cam running a construction business in Geneva, Illinois.

Surprise was quickly chased by guilt. She’d visited Cam in the hospital after the damn party at the park, but he’d been sedated and she doubted he remembered her visit. She’d sat next to his bed and held his hand for about a half-hour. His eyes had fluttered open at one point, and he’d stared at her, but hadn’t said a word.

She’d visited a couple more times, but each time, Cam had seemed sedated. Out of it. A week later, she’d left Ogden and enlisted in the Army.

Guilt for not following up on how Cam was doing swept over her.

Pierce stared at her for a long moment. Sucked in a breath. “Jo? Jo Finster?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah. My God! What are you doing in Geneva, Illinois?”

“Building houses,” he said. He stood away from the door. “Come on in so we can catch up.”

She stepped into his office and saw that it was what she might have expected from Cam. No frills. All business. Except for the desk. It was a work of art. Oversized, made out of what she was pretty sure was cherry wood. Polished until it glowed. And the bookcases along one wall matched the desk. She wondered if he’d built it himself. He’d always been drawing pictures of furniture he wanted to build.

Cam frowned at her. “Maisy said you were Jo Hatch.”

“I am. Married name.”

“You’re married?” he asked.

“I was,” she said and didn’t say anything else. She never did when discussing her husband. It wasn’t anyone’s business. Thinking about Mike was too painful.

Cam studied her for a long moment, and she saw the questions in his eyes. But she simply returned his stare and didn’t say a word.

Finally Cam waved at the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat and catch me up on what you’ve been doing for the last fifteen years, Jo.”