Chapter Sixteen

Damian

The Naked Brews crew milled around the tasting pub, talking in low tones, but their focus stayed on the three guys from packaging who’d been there when the equipment had exploded.

The police and fire department had immediately been called. That was fifteen minutes ago. Detective Murdock ushered in a uniformed police officer and K9 through the pub without looking at any of us.

My stomach clenched.

“Why do they have a dog?” Melissa asked as the animal crossed into the brewery.

“I’m guessing it’s trained to sniff out bombs,” I answered.

Alex shivered and took a step closer to my side. I had to force myself not to reach for her and bring her into the comfort of my arms. At this point, I wasn’t sure which one of us I’d be comforting, her or me. I’d completely lost it when the bottler exploded, but like with my nightmares, she managed to pull me out of the flashback faster than any other method ever had before.

We’d already posted a sign closing the pub and brewery for the day due to “unforeseen difficulties.” The police were back in the packaging room, examining the equipment for visible signs of tampering. They had asked for the employees to stay out of the brewery so we’d all be out of the way.

All the construction workers had been sent home, although we’d written down the names of every one of the guys who’d been on the premises...just in case. The issues within the brewery had begun before construction had begun, so the odds of them being connected were fairly slim.

I watched the faces of the Naked Brews employees, trying to see anything that might look like guilt, but generally the mood was simply worried. There had already been too many incidents like this, costing the brewery money. None of these guys wanted to lose their jobs.

Twenty minutes later, Detective Murdock strode into the pub and beelined straight toward the girls. Before he had a chance to say anything, a pounding erupted on the front door. We all turned.

“Anthony.” Melissa rushed toward the door, unlocking it and letting him in.

He swept her up in his dark, muscular, thick arms, kissing her fiercely before setting her down and looking her up and down searching for signs of any injury.

“Why didn’t you call me? Are you okay?” He gently brushed a lock of her hair off her face.

“I’m fine. I was nowhere near the equipment that blew up.” She ran a soothing hand up and down his arm. “Everything’s fine, Anthony.”

Fury brewed in his fierce gaze. “No, it’s not.”

If I couldn’t see the tender way he continued to touch her, I might have been worried for a moment for her safety. But instead of turning that anger on his girlfriend, he aimed it straight at the detective. “What are you doing to catch this maniac? This has got to end.”

The detective lifted both hands in supplication. “I agree, and we’re investigating.”

He turned his focus toward Alex, Melissa, and I. “It looks like the machine imploded. Right now, we can’t find any evidence of tampering, but we aren’t ruling it out yet. You all have had too many things happen here to think this is just a coincidence in timing. The guys are fingerprinting the equipment right now. Hopefully, we’ll catch a break or a clue there. There are no other indications of imminent danger right now. In the meantime, I need to interview everyone here.” He focused on the girls. “Do you have a place where I can do that?”

Alex took charge. “We’re in the process of relocating our offices into the second floor above the new Brew Pub. You could work up there or in the old office. Your choice.”

He nodded. “I know you have a business to continue running here. Where do you need to be able to work? I don’t want to get in your way any more than necessary. I’ll probably be here the rest of the day.”

“We finished switching over the main computer system this morning. So, how about you set up camp in the old office?”

The detective nodded, his lips compressed in a tight line. He stepped a bit closer and lowered his voice. “We can talk more later when we have better privacy, but I highly recommend you put off the opening of the Brew Pub until this situation is resolved.”

“No!” Alex shook her head emphatically and squared her jaw in anger. “We’re Americans. We don’t bow down to any coward who wants to use terror and intimidation to make a point. The Brew Pub will open, and we’ll celebrate the Fourth with the best damn beer made in the Rocky Mountains. And if anyone has an issue with that, they can suck my dick.” The Naked Brews crew whooped, hollered, and clapped. Someone yelled out, “Hey, you don’t have a dick, Alex.”

“It was figurative, Colby. Work with me.” But her face flushed red with embarrassment. “It means the same thing, regardless.”

Detective Murdock nodded, but he didn’t look happy about it. He turned with a sigh and took a moment to look over the employees. “Warner, let’s start with you. Come on. I need to ask you some questions.”

I didn’t know if being Warner’s brother made questioning easier or harder.

As they walked away, I pulled Alex to my side. “That was hot,” I whispered quietly into her ear.

She shivered and her eyes darkened.

I wanted to explore that more, but first, I had a responsibility to keep everyone safe. “I understand what you were saying, but maybe we should take a bit more time to consider the detective’s advice. This could be really dangerous, Alex, and not just to everyone who works here.” Although that was bad enough, the thought of her getting hurt made me feel physically ill.

She nodded. “I get that. I do, but this has been going on for months. We can’t stop running Naked Brews because of fear. As it is, I have no idea how we’ll recover from this. We can’t fulfill half our orders without bottling capability. We can still deliver on the kegs, but bottling by hand is just too time consuming. I don’t know what we’re going to do. Damn, I don’t want to cancel those orders.” She gazed over at the workers who counted on their Naked Brews employment to survive.

Knowing families counted on the business was a lot of pressure. There was really no debate here.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” I led her up the stairs to the new office area and pushed her toward the computer. “I know you’ve been involved with the brewery long enough to have a good idea of the needs for equipment. Think expansion, because the brewery is already stretched to capacity with the equipment that just imploded. Find me a new bottling system to order. I’ll pay for it and deal with the fallout from Lake when she gets home. We’ll work it out. Right now, the most important thing is keeping the brewery up and running. While you do that, I have a couple of calls to make.”

I pulled a business card from my wallet. They needed more security around here especially for the opening. Money brought power, and in situations like this, I wasn’t afraid to use it or my name. I would do anything and everything to keep these people safe. No one could stop me.