Page 663 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

Sydney nodded. She’d been so busy investigating her father’s death that she’d not thought beyond the inspection, had not even considered instituting an incentive program. Rescued by Sean again.

Sydney followed Sean’s lead. “That’s right, Jake. We’ve been talking about a quarterly incentive program where the guys will get a bonus if they go without an accident for a certain number of days.”

“Good. I think that’s what we need to keep people alert.”

“Okay. I think we’re ready to take Jake on a tour of the mill and show him the improvements.” Sean handed Sydney and Jake a hard hat and ushered them toward the door. Sydney turned and mouthedthank youto Sean behind Jake’s back.

He patted his jaw. “Don’t mention it.”

The inspection progressed through the mill where Sean directed Jake’s attention to the men on the green chain, wearing their hard hats, safety shoes, and goggles. He then pointedout the various pieces of equipment where guards had been installed.

Jake turned to Sydney. “Well, young lady, it looks like you’ve done an excellent job.” Before Jake could continue, the sound of a siren blasted through the mill. Several workers rushed past them.

“What in the tarnation is that?” Jake asked, looking first at Sean and then at Sydney.

“There’s been an accident!” Sean thrust his clipboard at Sydney and ran in the direction of the other men. Sydney forgot about Jake Roberts and ran to catch up. Sydney and Sean looked at each other in shock. This couldn’t be happening. Not now!

“What’s going on?” Sean pushed his way through the crowd of workers. Sydney saw Jerrold Melton and Clyde Filmore tangled in a fight. Jerrold had a stream of blood running from his nose. Several of the men were hollering and urging them on.

“Stop it!” Sean broke in between them. “I said stop it right now!” He grabbed Jerrold around the neck and jerked him off Clyde. Then Buck Gibson appeared from nowhere and grabbed Clyde and held him back. Both men cursed each other. Sydney was startled by their savage expressions and the blue veins popping out on their necks. She was jolted back to the cockfight, not seeing the two men, but blood-crazed roosters being held by their handlers, ready to tear each other apart.

“Shut up and tell me what’s going on!” Sean said.

Jerrold’s voice was raw. “He switched on the power while I was lubricating the chain and pretty near kilt me. That’s what’s going on! If it hadn’t of caught my shirt …” Jerrold held up his arm to show that part of his sleeve was ripped out of his shirt. “That would’ve been my arm!”

Clyde went wild, his arms flailing to get at Jerrold as Buck held him back. “You sorry son of a gun! You didn’t have thatpiece of equipment tagged out, and you know it! There’s no way I could’ve knew you were working on that chain.”

“How bad are you hurt, Jerrold?”

“I’m not hurt, Mr. O’Conner, I jest got caught because of that sorry?—”

“That’s enough!” Sean shouted. “Jerrold, you didn’t put up a lockout sign on the switch when you started lubricating the chain, and Clyde flipped it. You better be glad the only thing caught was your sleeve.”

Sydney looked at Clyde and Jerrold. She wondered if Sean was thinking the same thing that she was. There was more to this than someone forgetting to tag out.

Jake Roberts cleared his throat and stepped forward, shoving his clipboard at Sean. “What kind of circus are you running around here? Well, this is just peachy, ain’t it Ms. Lassiter? Exactly what I deserve for sending a woman to do a man’s job.”

The way her name rolled off Jake’s tongue made Sydney feel dirty. Her head was reeling. According to Jake Roberts, her job performance had gone from excellent to substandard in the span of three swift minutes. All she could think about was getting out of the sawmill.

“Wait one minute.” The sound of Sean’s voice made her turn just in time to see Sean take hold of Jake’s shoulder and swing him around to face him. For a moment she thought Sean was going to hit him. “Syd has done an excellent job. She had no more control over what happened here today than you or me. This was strictly human error.”

“Well then,” Jake said, jerking free from Sean’s grasp, “maybe you’re not doing your job!”

Sydney rushed to his defense, the confidence in her voice surprising her. “Sean has gone over that lockout procedure in every safety meeting we’ve had. This is not his fault!”

Jake squared his shoulders. “Then whose fault is it? Maybe you two have been too busy taking care of each other to take care of business at the mill. It’s a miracle that we made it through the OSHA inspection.” He spit out the words before marching out of the mill.

Sydney grabbed Sean’s arm as he started after Jake. “Sean, it’s not worth losing your job over. Just let it go.”

29

“YE SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS …” —MATTHEW 7:16

“Ican’t believe you’re here.” Sydney’s eyes smiled over her cup of herbal tea. She watched Ginger thumb through the collection of videos and DVDs. Ginger called her a week ago to let her know that she would be coming to visit while Mark was out of town.

Ginger’s shiny hair bounced on her shoulders. Her red knit shirt accentuated her ample bosom and tiny waist. She was always complaining about having a size ten top and a size six bottom. If only the rest of us could be so lucky,Sydney thought.

“Let me see what we have here,” Ginger said. “The Pelican Brief, The Fugitive, The Count of Monte Cristo. Hmm, wonder if there’s a clue in these titles.”

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