by Joan Davis
“Yeah, everybody but the kitty cat . . .” someone said sarcastically.
Gabriel’s sharp gaze caught the sidelong glances that everyone made towards Honor. She didn’t react in any way. She just sat there, calm and stoic. Frowning, Gabriel turned and caught Sam’s unhappy look. Buck shifted and swung his gaze towards the man who had spoken and pinned him with a hard stare.
Everyone grew quiet until Buck, ignoring the men behind him said, “Merrick, if you have something to say, why don’t you just come out and say it instead of hiding in the back like a fucking wimp?”
A small, wiry man with ruddy skin and lank brown hair stood up reluctantly. He looked around but didn’t find anyone willing to join him. Not wanting to be seen backing down in front of the head of the company, Johnny Merrick was defiant as he sneered, “Everybody knows that Weston is your little pet, Buck. She can do no wrong. You give her all the cushy assignments and let everybody else clean up after her. Everybody knows it.”
Buck reared back and nodded and then said, “Is that so? Well damn, I don’t want to be guilty of showing favoritism. I say we all do a little a little Q and A. How ‘bout it?’ he asked sarcastically. “Let’s see, oh here’s a good question. How many of you people have called in sick in the last nine months?” Everyone one of the crew raised their hands except for Honor. “Right, and how many of you have needed help on a project and had Honor jump in and lend a hand without being asked? Again, everyone raised their hands, with the exception of Merrick. He just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in a defensive gesture. “That’s fucking correct,” Buck said. “Every last fucking one of you, and that includes you Merrick. It seems to me that you need help every damn time you’re given a job to do.” Not giving Merrick a chance to respond, Buck looked over at his fellow site manager, Jose Rojas, and asked, “Jose, tell me, when Honor came over to your site to dig out those new sections of ground for you, did she help out with anything else while she was there that week?”
Jose nodded and said, “We were down three workers, so she helped us out by laying tile, dry walling, taping and mudding. And she helped the kitchen contractor hang cabinets when his guy failed to show. She pretty much kept us from falling behind until we were back up to full staff.”
Gabriel was watching Honor, and was aware when everyone else turned too looked at her as well. Her expression never changed. Her expression remained bland and almost bored. Everyone then turned collectively to stare at Merrick. His face screwed up and he couldn’t resist the unspoken challenge. “Whatever, man, everyone pitches in and helps out. She’s nothing special.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it, Merrick,” Pete Wilson, a fellow crew member, said. “The moment anyone asks you for help, you suddenly disappear on them.” Knowing laughter rang out among the crew.
Old timer Danny Bets, looked at Honor apologetically and said, “Honor, I don’t mean to talk about you like you’re not here, so please forgive me a moment.” He then turned and looked directly at Merrick. “That girl ain’t never complained about doing anything. She took all our shit when she first got here and didn’t bitch once. She was hired to run the heavy machines. As far as I know, that was the only thing she was hired to do. Who here can run and repair every piece of equipment on the property? I sure as hell can’t. How about you Merrick? Why aren’t you out there running those machines? You bitch about them enough.”
Merrick let out a bitter laugh. “Well, maybe if I was a woman with big tits, all tattooed up and looked like I’d go down on a man for a couple of dollars, Buck would teach me how to run those damn machines, too,” Merrick sneered, but he screamed in pain when Gabriel appeared like lightening and had him by the throat. Gabriel looked into his fearful eyes as he squeezed his windpipe and shook him once for good measure.
“Apologize to the lady,” Gabriel said through gritted teeth. He was barely controlling his rage. Nobody deserved the shit this asshole was spewing, least of all Honor.
Merrick was turning blue and croaked out, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
It took everything in him not to shake Merrick like a rag doll, but Gabriel slowly relaxed his grip and shoved the little man back down in his chair. It almost toppled over from the force of Gabriel’s shove but one of the other crew members caught it before it went down.
With one last look of disgust Gabriel turned and walked back to the front of the room to resume his position next to Sam. He cut his stare towards Honor. There was no reaction, none.
The room was deathly silent, and no one would look at Johnny Merrick. He realized he had gone too far, but it was too late. “Look, I just got pissed about . . .” Merrick started but his voice faded as Sam Knight stepped forward and said something quietly to Buck. Buck smiled in satisfaction and said, “Merrick, you’re out of here. Pack your shit up and get out. Bets and Wilson, why don’t you escort him out and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Merrick, you step foot on any of our sites again and I’ll personally kick your ass,” Buck said and watched as the three men left the building.
Buck finally resumed, saying, “Unless anyone’s got anything else they’d like to add, I’m calling this meeting over.” Dead silence. “Good, go home and think about what I said over the weekend. I want the mistakes to end starting on Monday,” Buck finished, and everyone, including Honor, started filing out of the room.
“Honor could you hold up for a second?” Samson’s low voice stopped Honor’s exit, and Gabriel watched as she turned and walked back into the room.
“What can I do for you?” Honor asked politely.
“Well, actually I wanted to apologize on behalf of the company for the shit that just happened in here. That’s not how I run my company or expect my employees to behave,” Sam said apologetically.
Honor look from Sam to Buck, and back again and with a shrug she said, “Apology accepted. Is there anything else you need?” Honor stared at Sam calmly without expression.
Sam frowned at her lack of reaction, but he just said, “No, you have a nice weekend Honor and we’ll see you on Monday.”
Nodding politely, Honor turned and left the building.
Buck slammed his fist on the table and swore profusely. “That little prick! If he wasn’t already gone, I’d kick his ass.”
Jose walked over and said, “Man, that ain’t what I was watching. Did you see that chick during the meeting? I’ve seen stone cold killers with more emotion in their eyes than that girl. I ain’t seen that kind of chill since my gang days,” Jose said with a dramatic shake of his body.
“Well, if you had to put up with as much shit in your life as that girl, you’d have the hide of a damn rhinoceros, too. She seemed a little less closed off than when she first got here, but lately that’s started to change. I can’t figure out what changed,” Buck sighed in frustration. “As far back as I can remember she has always reacted that way when shit like that starts coming at her. People take one look at her and make assumptions, so she just cuts it off and closes down. Nothing gets through.” Buck shook his head sadly.
Jose nodded but said, “Well, she’s a beautiful woman in a tough business, and you’ve got to admit that when you choose to use your body as a canvas you have to expect reactions like that, my friend.” He spread his arms to display his own tattooed body.
“Who said she had a choice?” Buck growled before he thought and then ran he hands roughly over his face. “Forget I said that,” he grumbled.
“You’re saying someone tattooed her against her will?” Gabriel asked with deadly calm. “What the hell? How could that happen? Did someone force her?”
“I’m not saying anything, damn it. Look, I met her when she was just sixteen, when she walked onto my site asking for a job. I asked her why she let someone do that to her and that was her answer. She said, ‘Who said I let them,’ and then she walked away. She never said another word about it and I never asked. That’s all I know,” Buck said in frustrated anger. Gabriel could see he regretted saying anything at a
ll and watched as Buck packed up his papers and left in a rush. His gut twisted as thoughts started churning in his mind.
“Damn man, can you imagine going through life being forced to bare a mark like that because someone forced it on you?” Conner asked.
“No, I can’t, but Risa can,” Samson said darkly, thinking about the multitude of scars that littered his wife’s back after years of torturous beatings.
Looking at his friend with regret, Conner said, “Damn Sam, I’m sorry I didn’t even think about that.”
“Well, at least Risa can hide her marks. If what Buck is saying is really true, then Honor has had to display her mark every day, knowing people are judging her for something she had no control over.”
“How could you be tattooed like that against your will? Drugs, alcohol? It makes me wonder how old she was when it happened. Buck said she had it when she first met him, at sixteen. What the hell, man? Why would anyone do that to a kid? Who would do it?” Mik asked, speaking for the first time.
“Slave traders or sex traffickers. . .” Gabriel said in a deadly voice. He felt like throwing up. His head started pounding as his own words penetrated his psyche. Not again. His instincts were roaring in his head.
Conner reared back slowly. “Gabriel, don’t go there man. You don’t know anything about it. Buck could be wrong about what he heard. It could be something totally different, and it’s really none of our business,” Conner said. He didn’t want his friend to suffer any more than he already had in the past three years.
Gabriel turned his grim stare on Conner. “What if it’s exactly what I’m thinking? What if she is connected to Maximus Dunn? It’s my goddamned business if she’s a threat to my family. I need to pull all that research we have on that bastard,” He said even as Conner shook his head in denial.
“Damn man, where’d that come from? I know you want to protect Lela, but you can’t just make assumptions about Honor because of what Buck said. I thought you liked the woman. Wasn’t that you who almost took Merrick out just now for insulting her? Sounds like you’re doing the same damn thing. Hell man, Buck has known her for years. He was her mentor. Don’t you think he’d know if something was wrong with her? Think brother, we don’t know anything for sure and I can almost guarantee that Honor isn’t going to volunteer any information. You’ve got to rein it in before you cause yourself, and her, a lot of grief,” Conner said, hoping his friend was hearing him.
“And what if Dunn sent Honor here to get close to us? That’s how that bastard operates. You saw what he did to my sister. Damn it. You think I’m going to just sit back and let that happen? Fuck you, Conner. I’ll find out what I need to know with or without your help.” Gabriel’s stomach protested even as he spoke. Honor couldn’t be involved with Dunn. Jesus, please don’t let it be true.
“That’s enough!” Samson growled. “Gabriel, you know we’ll back you up without question, but Conner is right. You need to take a breath. Remember, Honor came here at Buck’s invitation, and again, they’ve known each other for years. Buck can spot trouble from a mile away and I trust his judgment. Honor is a good person. Keep that in mind before you go and start something you may regret.”
Gabriel knew he wouldn’t rest until he knew for sure. He looked at Conner and said, “I need time to look into this. If you have to fire me . . .”
“Damn it, Gabriel. You know all the resources I have are at your disposal. Take the time you need, but brother, you better make damn sure of your facts before you go accusing this woman of anything. You just saw the kind of shit she puts up with on a daily basis displayed here in this room. Don’t add to it,” Conner said in frustration.
Gabriel nodded slowly. “Hurting Honor is the last thing I want to do and I don’t want to suspect her, but right now red flags are going up all over the place and I need to make sure. I have to think of Lela and her safety.” Breathing heavily, he walked out of Knight Construction, but had to stop when he got to his truck. Flashes of his sister Dianna’s bloody body and Lela’s still form lying in an overheated shipping container staggered him He had to lean against his truck to try to regain his equilibrium.
The memory of his sister’s pain-filled eyes staggered Gabriel. Tears filled his eyes as he remembered rushing her to the hospital in an impossible bid to save her from hemorrhaging to death. All the blood and he hadn’t gotten her there in time. She had died in his arms.
Three men had beat, raped and sodomized his sister after her lover had left her in their possession when he kidnapped her daughter, Lela.
Maximus Dunn, the name was forever seared into Gabriel’s brain. He had lured Dianna into an affair soon after she had lost her husband to the Afghanistan war. She had been vulnerable and needy. Dunn had taken advantage of her with promises of marriage and a blissful life for her and her little girl. Instead, Dunn’s true intent was little Lela. He wanted her for the child slave trade. He knew he could sell her easily on the black market. Were it not for Dianna giving Gabriel vital information with her last dying breaths, he would have never gotten Lela back.
Gabriel remembered his sister’s screams as he raced through the abandoned warehouse to get to her. What he saw sickened his soul and nearly brought him to his knees. Three men were beating and using her so cruelly that blood was streaming from her mouth and from between her legs. Killing them hadn’t brought Gabriel any satisfaction because in the end his sister had still died.
Breathing heavily, Gabriel got into his truck and slowly drove until he pulled up in front of Honor’s home. He sat in silence and stared at the house. The living room lights were on and he could see the shadow of movement through the blinds every once in a while. This was not the first time Gabriel had sat like this and watched Honor’s house, but it was the first time he wondered about her tattoo. It was the first time he wondered who she really was and why she was here in Dalton.
He had known from the very beginning that Honor wasn’t happy with her face being tattooed, but he had put it down to buyer’s remorse. He actually thought the tattoo was beautiful because it accented her eyes, so he never saw it as an issue. No asshole, thought Gabriel, you were too busy trying to get her pants off to worry about her tattoo.
Gabriel’s thoughts returned to his recent conversation with Buck O’Leary and the guys. Buck suspected that Honor didn’t get the tattoo voluntarily. Gabriel’s mind was spinning with the possible implications. But he had no proof. He had to find out what happened to Honor before she met Buck, but he also knew Conner was correct. Honor would never tell him anything, especially now.
Determination burned in Gabriel’s gut. If I can’t get her to tell me then I’ll have to find someone who will. Gabriel started his truck and drove slowly away.
*****
Wiping her hands, Honor turned the key to the little Bobcat and it started right up. “Good girl,” she muttered. Having to go to Buck about replacing a large piece of equipment after last week’s meeting was not her idea of a good time. So she had spent most of the morning tinkering with the cantankerous machine until she found a way of salvaging it for a little while longer.
“Little girl, got someone for you to meet,” Buck bellowed from across the garage where they stored the large equipment when it was not in use.
Honor turned and watched Buck march towards her with an enormous man by his side. Damn, he’s a fucking brick wall, she thought. The man had long, thick red hair that was pulled back from his face with some type of tie. Everything about him was harsh. Veiny muscles bulged from under his black T-shirt, jeans and enormous work boots. His hands looked like small hams. Big square jaw, high cheekbones, and wide forehead- he had a face that seemed to be carved from sheer granite. There was nothing small about the man. And if his sour expression was anything to go by, he looked like the last thing he wanted was to meet her. Fine, I don’t want to meet you either, asshole.
“This is Fergus Sinclair, I hired him to replace that little bastard, Merrick. He was just signing some paperwork in the m
ain office, and since I knew you were here, I thought I’d get at least one introduction out of the way,” Buck said.
Nodding, Honor stuck out her hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”
Ignoring her gesture, Fergus said, “Ain’t got much use for women on construction sites, but as long as you pull your weight, I ain’t got no problem with it.”
“Well, how generous of you,” Honor replied coolly, after dropping her hand and turning back to the Bobcat. “I have to get back to work. Anything else you need, Buck?”
“You got the Bobcat working?”
“Yep.”
“Good, I’ll see you back at the site on Thursday,” Buck said, and without another word he marched off towards the exit.
When Fergus remained in place, Honor turned to him with a raised brow. “Something else you need?” she asked, and a sudden shiver of caution ran up her spine when his eyes ran over her body from head to foot.
“No, I don’t need nothing, for now,” he said with a smirk, before he turned and followed Buck.
Honor waited until both men exited garage before she relaxed. “Okay, now that was definitely creepy. Thanks Buck, another idiot I’ll have to deal with,” Honor muttered to herself.
With a resigned shrug Honor went back to work. She didn’t mind the days that she worked alone in the garage at the home office. She could work in peace without interruption or well-meant questions. All she wanted was to do her job, get paid and go home. She wasn’t interested getting involved in gossip or drama that was always part of working with a large group of people. It was easier to keep her distance- from everyone.
*****
CHAPTER 4
Honor decided to stop at Maybell’s Diner and pick up some takeout. Everyone was working overtime to meet the latest deadline. She was tired, hungry, and irritable. Soup from a can or salads were the only things she had mastered in the kitchen, and today they held little appeal. She wanted to pick up something rich and satisfying, and then she just wanted to go home and relax.
