In Too Deep

Ronan gotto the job site, which was one of the worst jobs he’d been given since starting at Cahill. It was an office build-out, but the actual construction was done. His crew was given the task of assembling cubicles and office furniture. He hated every minute of it, but with any luck, they’d be done within a couple of days.

He walked into the open space and flipped on the lights. Skids of materials sat along one wall. Next to the door, they had a table set up with the prints so Ronan could tell his guys where to install everything. Some guys loved these jobs. They required little thought and the work was easy.

Ronan hated it. The monotony was horrible. These were normally staffed by crews of older guys, the ones who couldn’t heft bundles of shingles up a ladder or haul a bag of concrete on each shoulder anymore but still had some years left till retirement. Neither of which described Ronan.

He studied the print and began to question if he’d pissed Cahill off somehow. He’d been given this assignment before Danny spoke to Leroy and Tanner, so it wasn’t that. Knowing the Cahills, this was another test. He’d just make sure there was no question about how good he was.

The door opened and Tanner came in.

“You still got fifteen if you want to grab a coffee,” Ronan called.

“I’m good.” He lifted a cup in response. “I wanted a chance to talk to you before the guys get here.”

Ronan straightened from the print and crossed his arms. “What’s up?”

“Mr. Cahill asked me and Leroy to meet him for dinner yesterday.”

“Okay.”

Tanner shook his head. “I know he’s the boss and all, but he was fishing for dirt on you and I didn’t like it. We told him you were a good boss, but I got the feeling that wasn’t what he wanted to know.”

Ronan already knew the answer, but he asked anyway in case Chloe missed something. “What did he ask about?”

“He wanted to know how you treat the old-timers. How much you talk to them. Whether they get special treatment.”

“Okay.”

“He played it off like he wanted to make sure that you took care of the old guys, but it was like he didn’t trust that they were here. Like why would anyone want to work with them.”

“They have experience and knowledge that can teach young guys like you things you can’t learn in a classroom or from a book.”

“Hey, man, I know. I got no problem with guys on the crew. Mr. Cahill, though, he was suspicious.”

“Thanks for the heads up, but nothing funny going on here.”

Tanner finally cracked a smile. “You might want to work on that because as soon as Cahill walked away, your girl Chloe was on us asking questions, too.”

Fuck. She left that part out.

“Really?”

“I don’t know if she was the second wave of digging for Cahill or if she was worried about you.”

“You don’t have to worry about Chloe. She’s good.” Ronan reached for his phone. “Go finish your coffee. We have an exciting day of office furniture assembly.”

“Yay,” Tanner said with zero enthusiasm.

Ronan walked outside of the small industrial office space to the back of the building and called Chloe.

“Hello?” she mumbled.

Shit. Was she asleep?

“Hey,” he said.

“Ronan?”

“Yeah. Tanner just told me about his meeting with Cahill and he said you started questioning them, too.”

“Uh, not really.”

He heard rustling on her end and he pictured her sitting up and moving blankets around. “Listen, Chloe. That’s all you’re supposed to do. Not ask questions or investigate or any other bullshit you think you’re doing.”

“They’re your guys, Ronan. I didn’t know if they would tell you. I wanted to see what I could find out if they didn’t tell you.”

“Not your problem.”

“Whatever. Danny was already gone, so it was fine.”

Anger bubbled up in his chest because she didn’t get it. “And what if Tanner didn’t come to me about this, but he went to Danny? Then what? You could lose your job.” Or worse.

She sighed. “I heard them defend you as a good boss. I went with my gut. It was fine.”

“No, it’s not fucking fine. This was why I didn’t want you involved.”

“Look. As much as I’m enjoying this reprimand you have going on here, I’m tired and I’m going back to sleep.”

It wasn’t until that moment that he realized that she wouldn’t normally be up at six in the morning making a pot of coffee. She worked nights. She’d gotten up for him. Now he felt like an ass. “Thanks for the coffee this morning. You didn’t have to get up.”