Page 4 of Savage

Wrong. She stomps her short little legs twenty feet away from the bull elk that’s been fighting all morning. He’s not as patient with her bullshit as I’ve been.

He flattens his head and shows his antlers, letting her know he doesn’t like how close she’s getting. My redheaded boss pays no mind and continues to stomp ahead, careless to the state of nature happening around her.

Damn it!

I lay on the gas and peel forward quickly, then draw my forty-five, putting two shots into the air, scaring the thousand-pound animal back and away from Scarlett before he charges.

You’d think a person would be thankful for help in a situation like that. I’m thinking a medal or a statue in the center of the lodge dedicated to my heroic nature.

Wrong again.She stops in her tracks and turns toward me with the look of the Devil as I pull up next to her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you shooting that thing? Is that the sound I just heard? Are you shooting your gun at my ranch?” Her eyes widen and her stare transforms into something strange, as though I have two headsand a spiked tongue. “This isn’t your personal hunting ground! I have clients here!”

“And you had a bull elk fixin’ to charge you. You’d rather I let you get mauled?”

“He wasn’t going to maul me.”

“Oh, alright. Well, next time I’ll take a wait and see approach.”

She rolls her neck in a circle and narrows her gaze. “I should fire you on the spot. You shouldn’t have that thing out here.”

“This ain’t the city. This is the wild west. We got elk, bear, coyote, wolves, drifters, you name it. They’re all out here. I keep this for protection. Right now, you should be thanking me, but I get it if you’re scared of guns.”

“No, I’m scared ofidiotswith guns. There’s a difference.”

Nice. I’m gonna need a lot of help from the Lord to get me through this day. “Where are you going, anyway?”

A cold wind whips across the meadow and her dark red hair blows back in the breeze. “I need to talk to your men.”

“What about?”

She stomps onward, rolling her eyes.

Jesus Christ.I follow beside her in the Gator. “They’re not going to do well with a lecture from a twenty something playing grown up. Your security measures have to change, or they’re gone.”

She doesn’t bother climbing into the Gator, and she never looks at me. She continues her march all the way to the cabin build site where the guys have stopped packing to stare at the scene we’re causing.

“Huddle up,” she barks toward the guys as melting snow drips from the edges of the wood logs we laid yesterday. “We need to talk.”

This is extremely unorthodox. No one goes above me to talk to the guys. I own the contracting company. Everything goes through me first.

The guys glance toward me, but they politely gather to listen to the woman on a tirade. “I understand you all have an issue with the new security cameras being installed. They are in fact going up and they are high-tech enough that they will pick up on voices and have the capability to record conversations being had.”

The men chatter amongst themselves as she talks. They’re disgruntled, but I give her credit for coming out here to talk to them. Going toe to toe with a group of unhappy, blue-collar workers is a big deal for a woman Scarlett’s age. I’ll make sure they take it easy on her when I’m giving her a lecture about how fucked up all this is.

“You’re not the only ones being recorded. My office will also be tapped. The stream will be live for the security team, and will be saved on recording for seven years. I’ll be sending out a memo and some paperwork for everyone to sign. The purpose is not to invade your privacy, but rather to protect the confidentiality of our guests. We have a high-profile guest here right now and I’ve found that many employees are sharing personal information, which is highly unprofessional and reflects poorly on the ranch as a whole.”

One of my guys interrupts with a comment, but Scarlett mutes him and continues her lecture. “I understand that this is unsettling for many of you. In response, I’d like to up your pay by twenty percent, given you complete the line of cabins you’re currently working on by the end of the week.”

“That’s five days,” I interject. “We need at least a month to finish this safely.”

“Well, I need it done by the end of the week. That’s five days. Let me know by the end of business today.”

The guys chatter amongst themselves, but I feel their buzz from over here. They want to finish the cabins, and they want to finish it on her timeline. Can’t say I blame them. A twenty percent raise for finishing a job is over twenty thousand per person.

Something’s going on here.

I step toward her and stare down at the thick, redheaded girl who’s shivering in front of me. She’s annoying as hell, but she’s beautiful… even with bloodshot eyes. “You alright? You look like you’ve been crying.” I take off my coat and wrap it around her shoulders in an attempt to help the shivering, but she shrugs it off and shakes her head.

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