“Javvan, you better get in here.” Kevin’s standing on the top step of the trailer. He waves me inside.
I don’t like his tone, like he’s about to give me bad news. “Okay.” I rush up the steps, but my anxiety is making my legs feel like rubber. “What’s going on?”
“Just wait.” He closes the door. Leans against it.
I sit.
“You’re on the clock,” he says. “Phone off?”
I nod.
“You sure?”
I pull it out and show him.
“Good. Remember that house we did yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“The wife phoned. Says they’re missing some stuff from the home office.”
It’s enough to make me almost throw up. “Kevin, I was on the phone with you. Whatever they say is missing—”
“Some money and a watch.”
“You know I didn’t take it. I don’t even remember seeing anything like that.”
He watches me for a minute, then smiles. “Yeah, I know you didn’t.” Kevin walks over, puts his hand on my shoulder. “But the problem is your fingerprints are on the drawer handle, aren’t they?”
“Yeah.” I twist in my chair so I can see his face, but he’s already moving to stand in front of me. “But you can explain that. I mean, I was just doing what you told me to.”
He leans against the desk, crosses his arms. “I could.”
The way he says it—like he knows something I don’t—makes my stomach churn. “Kevin?”
“You’ve been convicted of theft, and now stuff’s gone missing.”
“But it wasn’t me!” Panic turns my voice thin and high. “You know I wouldn’t do that kind of thing. You know I didn’t do it!”
He shrugs. “We hung up. You could’ve done something after we’d finished talking.”
My brain is spinning, but I can’t make sense of it. “I don’t understand.” Then it comes together. Alphabet. He’s the one who’s stealing. My palms are sweating, and I feel like a rat, but it’s either him or me. I’m not screwing up my probation. I blurt out everything to Kevin, finishing with, “I don’t want any trouble. But it’s Alphabet. Not me.”
Kevin shakes his head. “I wish you hadn’t said that.”
“I’m not lying.”
“I know.” He takes a breath. “That’s what makes this so difficult.”
“Makes what so—”
“You walked into our little arrangement, and now I have to figure out what to do with you.”
The words are English, but they make no sense. “What?”
His face is still smiling, but it’s giving me no comfort.
“You know what the trick is to running a great business?”
I stare at him.
“The problem with construction is that it’s a feast-and-famine industry. Some days you’re rolling in dough, other days you’re stopping at the instant-loan places for a quick infusion of moola.” He pushes off the desk. “The trick to making it in this business is creating your own work.”
He waits for my reaction. I think about Alphabet—messing with the plumbing, the floors. “You damage the houses, then get hired again to fix the mess you created,” I say.
He continues to smile.
“But that doesn’t make sense. People would know you’re scamming—”
“I’m an excellent contractor. I know how to…fix things just right. So does my crew.”
“You set it up so the damage happens later, when they won’t connect it with you.”
Silence fills the trailer. Then it hits me, and I start laughing.
Three wrinkles form in Kevin’s forehead. “You wanna let me in on the punch line?”
“You. This.” I stand. “It’s another test, right? Like with Alphabet? He was setting me up, wasn’t he? Checking to see how honest I am.”
He gives me a pitying look.
My smile fades. So does my hope. That’s why he was asking about my phone. He wanted to make sure I wasn’t recording anything.
“I don’t want any trouble,” I tell him. “Just let me finish my work—or let me go, but don’t tell Mary I stole something when I didn’t.”
“You’re not going to be a team player?”
“Please.” I’m desperate now. “I can’t screw this up.”
“Too late. I hate having to go to your probation officer on this.” He pulls out his cell. “Maybe we should see what she has to say about the homeowners’ complaint.”
“No! Wait! I’m thinking!” But it’s too late. He’s already dialing Mary.