Where There's Smoke Read Online Free

their work and what they’ve accomplished.” He knew he sounded like a Baptist preacher, but they’d helped many men and their families over the years and he was proud of that.
    “ You give ex-cons jobs?” The voice came from behind him. He didn’t turn, but nodded.
    “ Of course. Some people make mistakes and deserve a chance. Michigan’s prisons have a decent track record of training their inmates and see fewer repeat offenders than most states.”
    “ So why would someone go through the trouble of framing a construction worker? Why? Is it for money?” The man laughed.
    Smoke stared at him. “If it were just money, I wouldn’t be here.”
    The man sobered and stared above his head.
    Smoke’s heart raced. He’d taken a gamble hinting at his tangible worth. The man’s eyes glittered in greed. He’d sell him out in a hot sec. But for some reason Smoke didn't think he was the person to make the final decision.
    “ Oh yeah?” the man murmured, eyes sly. “What kind of money’s in construction these days?”
    Smoke shrugged. He’d given up all the info necessary for them to make a decision. The ball was in their court, they had to share some data to get more from him. “Where did they take me? A hotel?”
    “ Yeah, a small off brand owned by a local big shot.”
    “ Big fish, small pond, huh?” Smoke nodded, getting the layout in his mind. Somehow this all had to be connected. He couldn’t see all the dots, but they were there.
    The man laughed, “something like that.”
    “ Listen,” Smoke said, sitting forward, “is there any way I can make a call to my partners, let them know I’m alive.”
    “ Why would they think otherwise?” this came from behind him. The voice had a husky quality, disturbing him. He shook it off.
    “ I’m missing. All three of us were at a training session when they left to go to a wedding.”
    “ A wedding?” the man in front asked.
    Smoke smiled thinking of Ross and Cherise, Red and Denise. “Yeah. They left me to take notes for the last five hours of the class. That was on Saturday. What’s today?”
    “ Wednesday.” The man in front straightened as if he realized the seriousness of the matter.
    “ Whew, that’s four days. I've been out of it that long?”
    “ Well, we didn’t see you until Sunday and then you had a fever and was in and out of it for a couple days. Someone beat you pretty badly.”
    “ I feel like it. At any rate, four days is a long time to be missing. No telling what’s gone down since then, but I’d like to minimize the damages.”
    “ Minimize the damages?”
    If they kept parroting everything he said, they’d be here all day. “Yeah,” he said, digging deep into his depleted well of patience. “Imagine what you’d do if your partner disappeared and you were already having problems with the company. What would you do?”
    The man’s eye’s narrowed. “Tell me, mi amigo ; are these partners ex-cons like you?”
    “ Yeah.”

Chapter 3
     
    Ross woke up troubled. Something wasn’t right. He stared at the ceiling, completing a mental countdown. They’d returned from the wedding earlier that day. No problems at the house. Cherise and Lenore were asleep. He stared and deepened his countdown. Smoke hadn’t returned his call. He was probably on a date or something. Still, normally he’d let him know he got the message. He tamped down the rising fear. If there was something wrong, Red would’ve called him, concerned. He had a second sense or something about those things. Cherise rolled over, her hand on his chest. Idly, he stroked the back of her hand. His mind did a ticker tape of the past twenty-four hours, searching for abnormalities. Nothing stood out other than not talking to Smoke.
    Instinct had him easing from beneath his woman’s warm palm, grabbing his cell and heading down the hall. As he walked, he punched the number three, Smoke’s speed dial number. He listened to the answering machine and left a repeat of his