Page 597 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

Buck watched Sydney make another notation on her clipboard. His face darkened, and he cleared his throat. “Miss Lassiter, I know you mean well, taking all them notes and all, but Mr. O’Conner’ll be fit to be tied when he sees ’em.”

“It won’t matter what Mr. O’Conner thinks if we don’t pass that OSHA inspection. None of us will have a job.”

“Yes ma’am, I see what you mean.” Buck took off his hardhat and wiped his damp forehead. “I think there’s another solution.”

Sydney raised an eyebrow.

“Them guardrails, this escape door. I can git all this fixed, and you don’t even have to write it down. That’s all I’m sayin’.”

Sydney’s eyes widened. “Buck, Mr. O’Conner will have this report by Friday. I plan on talking to him about the guardrails and lack of fall protection today. That can’t wait until Friday.” She looked at his troubled expression. It wouldn’t do to make an enemy out of him. She motioned to the kiln. “This can wait, however. If you get this fixed, it will not be in the report. Otherwise, I’ll have to write it down. Fair enough?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Every time the man spoke those words, they sounded patronizing.

6

“FOR EVERY TREE IS KNOWN BY HIS OWN FRUIT …” LUKE 6:44

Sydney paused a moment outside the door of Sean’s office so she could observe him without being seen. He was studying his laptop screen, his face a mask of concentration. He kept his thick wavy hair too short. It was the kind of hair that was itching to be left unruly. His high cheekbones and strong chin were the perfect match for his wiry muscular body, and she wondered how many hours of exercise it had taken to chisel it to perfection. It was a shame for all those good looks to be wasted on such a jerk. He was perfect until he opened his mouth.

“Honey, are you gonna stand there all day gawking at him or are you gonna go talk to him?”

Thanks to Barb’s constant barrage of insults, Sydney was becoming quicker on her feet. She leveled her gaze at the woman standing in front of her. “I haven’t decided yet, not that it’s any of your business.”

“Humph!” she said and sauntered down the hall.

Sydney nearly died when she looked back at Sean and realized that he’d been watching the exchange with a trace of amusement in his eyes. He lifted an eyebrow. “You wanna talk to me I presume?”

She tromped in and sat down in the chair in front of his desk. She wasn’t going to mince any words. “I went on an inspection with Buck Gibson today. Do you want to tell me why those men working on the lumber sorter haven’t been equipped with fall protection?” Before he could respond, she rushed on. “And why haven’t guard-rails been installed?” She paused to get a breath. “Did you not read any of the citations that OSHA levied on the sawmill?”

“The fact that you did your little inspection today doesn’t give you the right to come barging in here with that haughty attitude. In case you’ve forgotten, I am still the boss. You would do well to remember that.”

His words took her aback, and she realized that it would take all the intestinal fortitude she could muster to go head-to-head with Sean O’Conner on a daily basis. “Is that a threat?” She fought to get control of her emotions.

“I’m sorry. You’re right about the fall protection … and the guardrails. It’s really good that you’re here. Our workers haven’t been given the proper training on the use of fall arrest equipment. I’ve been so busy with all the other tasks, I’m afraid I haven’t devoted enough time to safety.”

“I would think that safety should always be a number one priority.”

“You’re right. Now that you’ve brought it to my attention, I’ll see that those problems are corrected.”

She watched him with an eerie fascination. What had brought about his sudden change in mood? His tone was conversational now, almost charming. He was playing her. That was the only explanation she could think of. “Well, at least we’re on the same page. That makes it easier to discuss my next topic.”

“What’s that?”

“I want to do some research.”

“Research?”

“Yes, I want to study the accident reports for the past ten years.”

“That’s ridiculous. Why do you need to go back ten years? I don’t understand how that could possibly help us now.”

“Don’t you see? I need to establish an accident trend so we can determine where our weaknesses are. There may be some clue. Someone may have found something out then that might help us now.”

“Such as?”

She knew how lame her argument sounded, but she somehow had to convince him. “Take for instance the accidents that occurred over the past year. They’re all so sporadic: one person fell and wasn’t wearing the right equipment, another one got cut on an unguarded piece of equipment. The list goes on and on. I just don’t see any consistency. The only thing they all have in common is human error—carelessness. I can’t predict human error and therefore can’t prevent it.”

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