Building Blocks of Murder by Vanessa Gray Bartal Read Free Book Online Page A

assured her. “Just enjoy your food until we get your life figured out. It should only take another minute or two.” He smiled at her and winked. “Speaking of your life, my brother is being a real drag and dumping me off to fend for myself tomorrow. Why don’t we go see your building?”
    “That would be perfect,” Lacy enthused. “The roofers are supposed to give me their estimates tomorrow. Maybe you can help me choose one.”
    “Sounds good,” Keegan said. “Too bad we don’t live closer, or our company could do it.”
    “Do you take on little projects like mine?” she asked. When she pictured Tosh’s family’s company holdings, she imagined them doing things on a grand scale, like building skyscrapers.
    “Not usually, but for a friend we might make an exception.” He gave her another wink, moved closer, and rested his arm on the back of her chair as he launched into another narrative about construction. It wasn’t until Lacy was lying in her bed that night going to sleep that she realized Tosh hadn’t said another word the rest of the evening, not even a goodbye when she left his house.

Chapter 5
     
     
    The next morning, Lacy ran into a problem. Randy Stone, the first roofing contractor to call her, told her that he couldn’t do the estimate for the Stakely building because someone had put a stop-work order on her property.
    She sat up so abruptly she almost fell out of bed. “What? How is that possible? I’ve owned it exactly two days.”
    “I did some checking,” he said sympathetically. “The order was placed by Ed McNeil. He was the previous property manager, and he says you owe him money. I’ve heard that he does this type of thing a lot because he figures people will pay him off rather than go through the hassle of trying to fight him. The good news is that I think he’s performed some legal cartwheels to make this thing stick. If you found another lawyer, you could probably have it undone.”
    “He thought wrong this time because I am going to fight him,” she said, so furious she was practically shaking with anger. “I’m not going to find another lawyer; I’m going to track him down and make him remove it myself.” As soon as Ed McNeil handed over her inheritance, she promptly transferred her holdings to another law firm. She had paid him for the work he did on her behalf, as well as the work he did for her grandmother. His fees had been exorbitant, but it had been worth it to get her grandmother out of jail so promptly. Lacy was sure, however, that she owed him nothing else.
    She was glad for the procrastination that had prevented her from erasing his number from her phone. Now with the touch of a button she could gain verbal retribution without ever getting out of bed.
    “Mr. McNeil’s office,” an official-sounding voice answered. Lacy was momentarily puzzled before remembering that Mr. McNeil’s secretary had been out sick during Lacy’s interaction with the man.
    “May I speak with Mr. McNeil, please?” She tried to be polite; no need to take out her frustration on his hapless secretary.
    “Whom may I tell him is calling?”
    “Lacy Steele.”
    “He’s out.”
    Lacy pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it, trying to determine if she had imagined the abrupt change in tone. “May I leave a message?”
    “I’ll tell him you called,” the secretary replied, and then the phone slammed hard in Lacy’s ear.
    “What was that about?” Lacy muttered. Determined to try again later, she set the phone aside and burrowed out of her covers. It was early, but any future chance of sleep was over.
    Jason popped into her head while she was showering, which was unfortunate timing. After she was thoroughly dressed and fed, she called him and reached his voicemail.
    “It’s Lacy. I just wanted to say that…” She broke off, realizing she had no idea what to say. After a few seconds of thought, she decided to be honest. “I don’t like it when things are like