“If it will save us time and upfront money, we’re going to do it.” He waved to the clock. “You have time.”
No, actually, she didn’t.
“He said five o’clock.” Richard walked away, putting any argument she had to rest.
She dropped her pen onto the desk and pushed the chair back. A stream of words ran in her head but didn’t escape her tongue.
Not only was she not dressed for an on-site meeting, she hadn’t brought the right coat to be traipsing outside. Especially once the sun went down. Even though she lived close enough to change, there wasn’t enough time if she was going to make it to the site by five. Not during rush hour.
She powered down her computer, grabbed her sweater and purse, and left the office.
Grumbling all the way across town, Grace arrived at five minutes past five. Instead of parking on the street, she pulled into the mobile home complex and parked on the side of the road.
Sokolov’s car wasn’t there.
She removed her cell phone from her purse, glanced at the time to see that it matched her car’s, and swiveled in her seat.
The wind had picked up, and the sun was long past warming up the day.
She was going to give the man ten minutes and then she was out of there.
Two cars drove past. Their lights shined inside her car, but kept going.
One minute to her self-imposed deadline, the dark sedan pulled in behind her. She was actually disappointed. Unable to avoid the man, she stepped out of her car.
It wasn’t full dark, but it was getting awfully close.
Mr. Sokolov pushed out of his car and pulled at his pants as if making room in the crotch. The man was disgusting. “Nice to see the city jumping to meet with me,” he said instead of a simple hello.
She wanted to contradict him, but he had a point.
“Do you have plans for me to look at? Or a contractor for me to meet?”
Because standing in the cold, dark mobile home park with a man she loathed wasn’t going to last long if he was there stalling.
“I had my guy write something up.”
“Let’s see it.”
“You’re an impatient little thing, aren’t you?” His voice felt like acid down her spine.
She crossed her arms over her chest, cell phone tight in her hand.
“It’s late, Mr. Sokolov.”
“Okay, okay . . .” He rounded his car, opened the door to the back seat, and pulled out rolled-up papers she assumed were plans.
He unrolled them on the hood of his car and used his cell phone as a flashlight.
Grace set her phone on the hood and used both hands to hold the plans in place.
Even though she didn’t have her drawings with her to compare, she knew at first glance the scale wasn’t right. “You’ve shrunk the scale,” she said.
“These are almost identical to what you gave me.”
She pointed to the guidepost she used as the cornerstone of the plan. “This is where it needs to start.” She moved her finger to where his plan began. “Not here.”
“That’s not what you told me before.” He was so close she could smell the tobacco on his breath.
“There’s nothing here about material or infrastructure.”
“We’ll get to that later.” He stood too close, so she sidestepped away.
“There is no later. This meeting was to offer a solid plan and the name of the contractor you’re using.” Her gaze moved around the plans. She flipped the giant paper to see an empty one underneath. No name or contractor’s license number anywhere to be seen. It was as if he scribbled the drawing himself.
“We’re negotiating.” He’d moved closer, his eyes kept in constant contact with her chest.
Grace stood as tall as she could and marched in the gravel to the same point she had a week ago. She touched the pole. “Right here. This is where it starts.” She stormed a couple of yards away to where his plan indicated. “Not here.”
“There’s got to be something we can do to make this work,” he said. “Some way to work this out.” He reached for his back pocket and removed his wallet.
Did he really think she’d take a bribe?
“It is the holidays and I’m guessing the city doesn’t pay as well as the private sector.”
Grace shook her head. “Don’t insult me.” She kept her distance. Her heartbeat alone told her it was best to keep the man where