Page 53 of High Side
“Oh, good. In person is much better. And we have a ton of documentation.” Police reports, camera feeds from before he painted them customer statements.
“We do. You did a damn fine job, girl.”
“Thanks.” She kept it casual, but pride and relief warred from prominence in her chest. She was just glad she’d buckled down and done what she could do.
“I’m sorry that it had to happen when we were gone. It sucked.”
“It was a trial by fire.” She scratched her chin. “I told Brittany about how we’re related.”
“Yeah? Good. How’d she take it?” Liz didn’t seem terribly concerned.
“Good. I was a little worried, but she just was like, cool.” She waved a hand. “I think I made a way bigger deal about it in my head.”
“Don’t we all? Seriously. To me, you were a huge deal.”
“Hey. I’m glad. You blew my mind.” They shared a grin. They didn’t have a mother/daughter relationship at all, but they were close, and they did love each other, in their own way.
“Anyway, the police reports don’t have a lot of helpful information. No prints they couldn’t rule out accidental contact on. No one saw anyone because everyone but you was out with guests, and you were in here, head down.”
“Dammit.” She shook her head. “I’m so sorry, lady. I should have been more careful.”
“What? How were you supposed to know? I did hire a security firm to come in and give us an assessment and make some recommendations. The insurance guys suggested that in the email they sent, so I used that as an in with them and arranged it before I called.”
“Do you need me to walk them through the place?”
“Yeah. Please.”
“Of course. Anything. Absolutely anything.” She felt so bad that this happened on her watch.
“It’s good that you’re conscientious, but let me tell you. Shit happens. The first time I lost someone out of a raft I beat myself up for days.”
Kylie snorted. “So did I.”
“Well, then you know not to get too bent about this.”
“I’ll try.” That was all she could promise.
“Good. Gimme a fritter.”
“Hey!” Kylie clutched at the bag. “There are doughnuts in the staff room.”
“I brought you one back, amor,” Lupe said, coming back in. “It must run in the family.”
“It must.” Liz winked. “Okay, here are the raft assignments for the day. You want to go check in with the kids?”
“Sure.” She wasn’t going out with them today; Joe had this. But she could just kind of get the feel for what the mood was.
She headed out, glancing up at the sky. Looked like there were storm clouds gathering up to the north, but nothing that was going to hit this morning.
That would work out okay. They’d be off the river before it rolled in. She wouldn’t let the teams go out if she thought that was dangerous.
“Hey.” Joe met her at the shed. “Want to go over the checklist with me?”
“Yeah. That sounds good, hon.” She gave him a smile. “Thanks for hanging out and watching everyone.”
“Of course. This is part of my life, right?” Joe grinned. “I’m counting on you to make me general manager someday.”
“Yeah? Well, you’d be a great one, so I imagine it will happen if you stick around.” She clapped him on the back. “We work well together.”
