Knave of Broken Hearts (5 page)

He dragged himself from the distant alarm clock straight to the bathroom.
Don’t sit on the bed or you’re toast.

Teeth brushed, he wiped a damp washcloth over his dick that had still managed to ejaculate all over his sheets despite his best intentions.
Told you not to think about blow jobs.

He pulled on some clothes and barged out the bedroom door, then stopped himself.
Shh.
He now had a roommate. That felt weird. He tiptoed into the kitchenette, started the coffee, and toasted a piece of bread.
Need to shop today or Ian will starve.

“Man, you’re up early.” Ian staggered through the small living room wearing only pajama bottoms and collapsed on the couch in sight of the kitchenette where Jim stood.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you. I thought teenagers could sleep through anything.”

He shook his head. “I started waking up back when Mom and Dad took to fighting. Hard to stay asleep.”

“Want some toast?”

“Nah. I’m going straight back to bed when you leave.”

“Wise choice. Where’s Anderson?”

“Uninterested in getting up. Told you he’s smart.”

Jim smeared peanut butter on the half-cooked toast. “I left before the fighting got too bad. With the folks, I mean.”

“Yeah. Before Dad started cheating.”

“I guess I really left you alone with those people, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. But you were so much older. What’d you have in common with a pipsqueak like me?”

“I was their worst nightmare. I liked to work with my hands and didn’t want to go to college.” He didn’t mention the other shit.

“Well, as nightmares go, I got you beat.”

“What’s so bad about being gay? You’re their poster-child son. Smart, ambitious, obedient.”

Ian fell back on the cushions, his legs draped over the sofa arm, and flopped an arm over his eyes. “Ass fucking trumps everything.”

“Yeah, the old man’s probably worried you inherited gay from him.”

“I guess.”

“So what do you want to do?”

The kid propped himself on his elbows. “I’ll get a job, sign up for community college. Hell, I got such good fucking grades, I might qualify for a scholarship. Then maybe I can get loans to go to architecture school.”

“Still the dream, huh?”

“Yeah. Building monuments to my ego on the earth.” He sat up. “But I think we can use the earth better, you know? Humans don’t have to live like some cancer or virus. We can do better. Build better.”

“Kid, you’re inspiring. I’m almost twenty-seven, and I just got my first supervisor job.”

“Hell, Jim, that’s great.”

He shrugged. “I only got it because my friend Billy wanted to go on his honeymoon. He had to have somebody take over.”

“I’m sure he had lots of people to pick from. He chose you for a reason.”

“Yeah, I was there.” He laughed. “And if I don’t get to the job, I’ll be an ex-supervisor.”

“Want me to go shopping while you’re gone?”

“Yeah. That’d be great.” He pulled out his wallet and put sixty dollars on the counter. “Don’t get healthy.”

“Thanks, Jim. I’ll pay you back. I promise.”

“Hey, it’s kind of fun to have some family for a change.” That was almost true. He walked over and gave his brother a one-armed hug. “See you tonight.” He headed for the truck.

T
HE
EIGHT
-
STORY
black-glass office building gleamed in the sunrise. His baby. Or at least one of the suites would be his. He parked, pulled his tools and the plans from his truck, and rang the night bell. The security guy buzzed him in, and he went straight from the lobby to the office he was set to demo. His first day as a construction supervisor. The facility had three private offices and a large open space where banged-up cubicles had been abandoned. Soon it would be one big open room, ready to be rebuilt.

He checked his wiring plans as the demo guys arrived. He gave them Billy’s talk about demolition safety and put them to work. Charlie and Raoul came in on time, looking kind of bleary-eyed, but then, he was sure he did too.

In five hours they’d set up the site, pulled plastic sheeting over the door to the hall so they could pass in and out, and torn into the existing cubicles and walls that needed to be changed for the new tenant. They’d be done fast. Jim looked over the approved plans from Billy’s architect. It wasn’t a big job. He’d be able to get far along before Billy got back. Make the big guy happy and maybe get some more supervisor jobs. He smiled.
I love the sound of sledgehammers in the morning.
Jim waved at Charlie on the top of his ladder.

“Yeah, boss.” Charlie grinned.

That had a good ring. “Come down for a second.”

Charlie balanced his bulk on the rungs and made it to the bottom. “What’s up?”

“I’ve gotta go have this physical for insurance. Will you keep a close eye on the demo guys? They seem pretty careful, but you know what Billy always says.”

“More guys get hurt in demo than any other time.”

“Right. The doc’s in this building, so I shouldn’t be too long, and I’ve got my cell if you need me.”

“No problem, man. Go do what you need to do.”

“Thanks.” He waggled the cell phone as a reminder and headed out through the plastic sheeting. He was a little dusty, but that probably wouldn’t interfere with his blood pressure.

He took the elevator two floors up and found the suite that said Dr. Haselbaum. He didn’t like doctors. He avoided them like unprotected sex, but this was just routine, so no biggie, right? He signed in and took a seat as the receptionist suggested. Just being in a doctor’s office made him antsy, so he flipped through a copy of
Men’s Health
.
Shit, look at those bodies.
He ran a hand over his own barely realized six-pack.
Bet a lot of guys in this magazine are gay. Good thing I don’t have to compete with those hunks for dates.

A woman and a man also waited, but the door to the inner sanctum opened and the nurse called his name. She smiled as he walked in and led him to an exam room. “Please put this on.” She extended a stack of white paper.

“On?”

She unfolded it into something resembling a short paper coat. “Opening in the front, please. I’ll step out.”

She closed the door behind her. Jim pulled off his dusty jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt, tossed his briefs on top, thought better of it and hid them under the shirt, then pulled on the gown.
Hellfire, not much point in her stepping out. This thing barely covers the necessaries.

Nurse Ratched bustled back in. “All set?”

For the next half hour, she weighed, measured, listened, tapped, prodded, drew blood, and then hooked him up to some sensors all over his chest. He lay on the exam table and listened to the EKG machine go
bleep
and watched a little slip of paper slide through in seconds. The nurse started removing the sensors.

“Is that all there is to it?”

“Yes, it takes a lot less time than it used to. Excuse me while I give this to the doctor.”

The door went
click
as he sat up. Before he could even glance at the credentials on the wall, she came back in, followed by a man with a white coat, thinning hair, and pleasant face. “Hello, I’m Dr. Haselbaum.”

Jim nodded.

The nurse gathered up her vials of blood in a plastic dish like an efficient vampire. “We’re finished, Doctor.”

“Good. Thank you.” The doctor stuck the stethoscope in his ears, pushed it against Jim’s chest, and listened all over, then stepped to the side and pulled the paper robe farther down Jim’s back. The doc tapped a couple of times. “Cough, please.”

Jim coughed and the doctor listened; then he stepped back and looked at Jim with a little frown.

Jim tried to smile. “Something wrong?”

“Has anyone ever told you that you have a heart murmur?”

“Uh, no, but I don’t see doctors a lot. Is that bad?”

“It’s generally benign, but I’d like to have you check it out before we sign off on the insurance papers.” He picked up a prescription pad and wrote something. “I’m going to refer you to a specialist. His office is here in the building. Before you leave I’ll have someone from my office staff call to see if they can fit you in, since we need to get these papers back quickly.”

“Okay, thanks.” Jim slipped a hand over his chest.

The doctor smiled. “No reason to worry. Heart murmurs are fairly common and can be caused by a number of conditions, but it’s good to keep track of them. You can get dressed. Stop at the desk before you go to check on the referral.”

Bam.
Just that fast, the doctor was gone.
Hellfire. Drive-by bad news.
Jim dressed and walked out to the front desk. The lady handed him a slip of doctor paper. “Your company insurance will cover this exam, Mr. Carney. Here’s the suite number of the cardiologist Dr. Haselbaum wants you to see. I called their office, and they said they can fit you in at 4:00 p.m. today. Does that work for you?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Excellent. No need to confirm. Just go to that suite at three forty-five.”

He wandered into the hall with a hand on his chest. Did he feel weak? What about that weird racing he got in his heart? Maybe he shouldn’t be swinging a sledgehammer. What if they didn’t approve him? That would probably fuck up his job chances.
Hell!

When he got back to the job site, Raoul was pulling debris into plastic bags. He looked up and frowned. “Hey, man, you okay?”

“Yeah, fine. I just have another doctor I’m supposed to see.”

Charlie walked over. “Everything all right?”

Raoul nodded. “Jim’s gotta see another doctor.”

“Yeah, they say I have a heart murmur.”

Raoul smiled. “No worries, man. My wife’s sister has one too. She just has to take some kind of medicine before she goes to the dentist or something.”

“The doc said it’s no biggie.” Jim forced a smile.

Charlie nudged him. “Always thought you were healthy as a horse, man.”

“Yeah, well, I am. Get back to work.”

He tried not to think about it. Worked, ate a hot dog and Coke for lunch, and worked some more. About three thirty, he started gathering up tools.
Go face the music.
“Hey, Charlie, I—”

The plastic covering the construction area pushed aside and a woman burst through. Blonde hair, pretty face, and formal business suit. “Hello. Where’s Mr. Ballew, please?”

“He’s not here. I’m his construction supervisor.” That made his heart pound. “Can I help you?”

She started at his dusty boots and traveled up slowly, frowning like there’d been an election and he’d lost. When she made it to his face, she suddenly smiled. “I’m Constance Murch. I own this building. You’re working for me.”

Holy hellfire.
“I’m so pleased to meet you, uh, ma’am.”

“So Mr. Ballew is—” She waved a well-manicured hand.

“On his honeymoon, ma’am.” Shit, maybe he shouldn’t have said that. “Uh, I expect he let you know about the time off.”

“Oh yes, I guess he mentioned being gone. I forgot. What’s happening is that I may have a change of plans on this build-out.”

“Oh?” He tried not to choke.

“Yes. A different tenant might take this suite, and I’ll put the tenant that was to occupy this one on the eighth floor. We would need to alter the plans.”

Sweet Jeez.
Billy was design/build, and Jim only occupied the build half. “We might need to get new permits.” That sounded authoritative. His heart hammered.
Damn, slow down.

She scowled. “If we can’t move fast, I could lose the second tenant. Is Mr. Ballew being gone going to be a problem?”

No way was he losing Billy’s big job. “No, ma’am. I’ll stop work after we’ve finished demolition today. You let me know if you’re changing tenants and I’ll have, uh, my designer here to discuss the improvements.”

“Good. Give me your number.”

No cards.
“Uh, I left my cards at home, but if you’ve got something to write on and with?”

She produced a pen and a business card from her purse. He jotted his name and cell number on it and handed it back. She nodded. “Thank you. I’ll let you know within twenty-four hours.” She handed him another card. “Here’s my card.” She smiled slowly. “In case you need it.”

“Thank you?” His brain whirled. He barely knew the architect Billy worked with, but if Billy trusted him, he must be good.

“Unless you might have a moment to discuss it now? Like over coffee?”

What?
He looked at her and smiled automatically. “Oh, actually I have an appointment in a couple of minutes.” He glanced at his watch.
Almost late!
“Sorry, I’m supposed to finish my physical for an insurance report. I need to get to the doctor’s office.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t that leave me with no one in charge, Mr.—” she glanced at what he’d written. “—Carney?”

“No, ma’am.” He waggled his fingers to Charlie, who was obviously listening as hard as he could at the top of the ladder.

Charlie lumbered down.

“Ma’am, this is Charlie MacIntosh, as reliable a foreman as a guy could ever have. He’ll be in charge while I’m away for a short time.”

Charlie’s eyes widened at the word
foreman
; then a slow smile spread across his face. “Yes, ma’am. May I show you the details of the demolition?” He glanced at Jim like
Get out of here
as he led the pretty woman farther into the suite. “We gotta be careful. Demo is the most dangerous time on a job. We take lots of precautions.”

“I’ve been to many demolitions, Mr. MacIntosh.”

Charlie smiled. “I’m sure you have, ma’am, being an entrepreneur.”

Jeez, the man was a miracle worker. Bonuses for Charlie. Jim glanced at his watch.
Late.
He could lose the appointment. He pushed through the plastic and took off at a trot.

Where is the damned elevator?
The indicator looked stuck on nine.

Hell, if he blew this physical, he couldn’t work for Billy. He ran down the hall, threw open the hall door, and hit the stairs. Two at a time, he climbed one flight, then had to switch to one stair at a time for the other three. He ran the last flight, pushed open the door, and, gasping for breath, turned left and found the suite number the receptionist had given him. By the time he got inside, he had to stop, lean against the wall, and grab his chest.
Out. Of. Shape.