Page 665 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

Ginger had gotten caughtup in the story and was hanging on every word. “What did you do? Did you go ahead and cheat?”

Sydney smiled. “Emma did.”

Ginger’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“Uh-huh.”

“How about you?”

Sydney laughed. “No, I didn’t cheat, not then or any other time. How could I? Every time I even so much as thought about cheating, a picture of Kendall, with his scathing eyes, would cross my mind. It was enough to keep me on the straight and narrow.”

Ginger chuckled and then grew serious. “It must be hard to pretend that you don’t know any of these people.”

“You have no idea.”

“Do you think any of them recognize you?”

Sydney thought for a moment and then shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I look so different now.”

Ginger turned her attention to the movies. “Let’s watch this one.”

“Okay, I’ll go and make us some popcorn.”

Ginger moved to put the movie in the player but stopped. She went to the bookcase instead. “Where did you get this?”

“Get what?”

“This.” Ginger held out her hand to show Sydney what she was holding.

“Do you remember when I told you about the two men getting into a fight over the lockout procedure?”

Ginger nodded.

“Afterwards, when I was going over the area with a fine-toothed comb, I found this. It was on the ground beside the machinery, buried in sawdust.”

Ginger’s voice grew preachy like she was scolding an errant child. “Do you not have any idea what this is?”

“No, I don’t. What is it?”

“It’s an apparatus used for taking drugs.”

Sydney’s eyes flew open wide. “What?”

“People use this to take meth.”

Hot prickles pelted Sydney. She forgot all about making popcorn and took the device from Ginger and sat down on the couch to examine it. She thought back to the day of the fight and how the men were filled with such violent rage. Her mouth went dry as it all came together. All of the accidents at the mill had been caused by human error. If the men were on drugs … Her mind pondered the possibility. “This could be what’s going on at the mill. This could explain the accidents.”

Ginger frowned. “This could also be dangerous. Who’s in charge of drug testing at the mill?”

Sydney thought for a moment and frowned. “Who do you think? Sean O’Conner.”

Sydney broughtthe drug apparatus to his office at the end of the day. She plopped it on his desk. “You wanna explain this?”

His eyes narrowed. “What’re you talking about?”

“I found this on the ground next to where Clyde and Jerrold were having their fight. You and I both know it can only meanone thing. They were high on drugs. That’s why they were acting so irrational.” She clenched her fist. “I’d bet my life on it.” She leaned over his desk and looked him straight in the eyes. “Sean, is this what has been going on at the mill all along? Is this why we’ve been having all those random accidents? You have to tell me the truth.” Her face was hard but her eyes revealed pain and betrayal.

Sean leaned back in his chair. “Have a seat, Syd. And close the door first, will you?” He waited for her to sit down, his mind going a million miles a minute, mulling over the situation so he could come up with the right words to diffuse this thing. He propped his elbows on the arms of his chair and pressed his fingertips together. “You wanna start from the beginning?”

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