Blind Date With A Bear(46)

The day was interminable for Quinn. The inspector who he thought had risen straight from hell, demanded to see all of their records. The incident with the concrete mix had been anonymously reported to the city. Now, the inspector was convinced the concrete mix they’d previously used hadn’t been up to code, that the plumbers they’d hired weren’t licensed. The list of deficiencies went on and on. Marcum had gotten his wish. Blackwood Brothers Construction was royally screwed.

He was on the tenth floor with the inspector remembering the day he’d spent there with Paige and contemplating throwing the man over the edge, when Ryland and Ryker stepped out of the elevator. His brothers had left as soon as he’d arrived saying they had something to check out. They’d been very mysterious and said they’d explain if it panned out. He personally thought they didn’t want to get involved in all the red tape of the inspection. They were good guys, they just hated the administrative part of the construction business. That burden fell solely onto Quinn’s shoulders.

The brothers walked toward him, flanking a large, rotund man with a florid face. It was hot out today and the man didn’t appear to be in very good health. He was also someone Quinn had never seen before. He wore a hard hat and a government identification badge around his neck.

“Quinn.” Ryland drew his attention. “I’d like for you to meet someone. This is Joseph Turner. The building inspector for the city.”

“What!” Quinn was incredulous. The man who had been busting his balls for the past three hours started to ease away.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Quinn reached out and grabbed the man by the back of his neck. He lifted him off the floor until only his toes were touching. He sputtered and coughed. Quinn ignored him. He wasn’t hurting the man—yet.

“What’s going on here?” The man Ryland had introduced as the real inspector looked between the three big, bear shifters and the little man swinging from one tree trunk of an arm like a piñata.

“That’s what we’d like to know.” Ryland spoke up “I finally managed to follow some of the tracks Ryker had been having so much trouble with.” He threw his twin a puzzled glance which Ryker ignored.

“And?” Quinn questioned.

“It led me to that man’s house.” Ryland nodded to the man hanging from Quinn’s arm. “The man was hired by Marcum Construction to impersonate the real inspector.”

Just the mention of Marcum was enough to set Quinn’s teeth on edge. Besides just his personal dislike of jackals in general, Marcum cut corners and built unsafe buildings. The man was a disgrace to the building community. Quinn should have suspected something was going on long before the tracks were discovered. The red tape and surprise inspections of this building had been over-the-top since day one.

“Mr. Blackwood—”

Quinn held up his hand when the real inspector tried to speak. He indicated Ryland should continue.

“The inspector,” he pointed to the man at his side, “has been on sick leave for the past six months.”

The inspector nodded eagerly.

“So Marcum took advantage of the opportunity and hired a human to do his dirty work.” Quinn was impressed despite himself. If Marcum had gotten one of his flunkies to take the inspector’s place, all three Blackwood brothers would have known instantly. “Damn Jackals.”

Quinn walked to the edge of the floor, the little man still dangling from his grasp. It was the same place where he’d had the first long drink of his mate. A mate he’d had to leave in order to deal with this piece of scum. Claws sprung from his fingers and he knew his face was distorting. “Did Marcum hire you?”

The man tore at the hand encircling his throat. “Please, don’t kill me.”

Quinn shook him. “I won’t if you tell me what you know.” He turned his head away as the smell of urine permeated the air. The man had pissed on himself. He couldn’t blame the human. Quinn was one angry assed bear. “Tell me!”

“Yes, yes, it was, Marcum. He wants to run you out of business.”

“Not fucking likely.”

“Quinn, you might want to put him down now. The police are on their way.” The voice belonged Ryker. In the distance, he could hear the sirens. The twins must have phoned the police before they brought in the real inspector.

“Call the Council so they can go get Marcum. If they don’t, go get him yourself.” The wolf wasn’t getting another opportunity to shut Marcum down. He turned and dropped the man onto the concrete floor. “Deal with this piece of shit.”