Page 38 of Ms. Fortune
Anger.
Fear.
Sadness.
Relief.
Acceptance.
Each of those feelings assaulted me, right alongside a wicked coughing fit. I noticed that Risky was doubled over and hacking up a lung as well. We had flown too close to the flames for too long, and now we had to pay the price.
I lowered myself to the ground. The wet and slushy surface immediately seeped through my jeans and left me chilled to the bone. I might’ve started crying, but the tears didn’t make it far before they were whisked away by the wind.
Everything I held dear had slipped through my fingers. There was nothing left to fight for.
What was the point of anything anymore?
“Oh my God, Lucky!”
I heard my name being screamed over the sound of everything. I turned my head and saw Banner shoving throughthe small crowd. She rushed to my side, squatting down so she could rub my back as I continued to cough and choke. I saw Risky give her a sharp look, but he wasn’t in much better shape than I was. A paramedic started to make his way over. If I wasn’t mistaken, it was the same one who had picked me up after the truck nearly ran off the road.
“How did this happen?” Banner sounded honestly distraught. I wanted to say it was just my luck, but she didn’t let me. “This has nothing to do with bad luck! This is dangerous, Lucky.”
“I know.” It hurt to talk. Or maybe it was too painful to simply exist at the moment.
Banner turned into a mother hen, making sure I got looked at by the paramedic and ordering me to let her take me home with her. The cabins were untouched by the fire and empty, thanks to her creative cooking in my kitchen. If I hadn’t witnessed Risky’s ruthlessness, no doubt I would’ve crawled back to him and ignored all my mounting problems.
He stared at me with cold eyes when I nodded and agreed to go with Banner.
I didn’t know if she was the lesser of two evils. But she definitely didn’t have a gun hidden at the small of her back, and if it came down to a fight when I confronted her about her lies and deceit, I knew I could take her.
I needed a win in the worst way.
Risky and all that I’d lost would just have to wait.
The sun was coming up when I was finally released from the scene of the fire. I had to answer a million questions from the fire department and sheriff’s office. I could tell the old lawman wanted to take me in for questioningagain.
Fortunately, there was surveillance video evidence that captured someone else breaking into the building and lighting the place up. His image was clear as day, almost like he was taunting whoever watched the footage to catch him. I didn’t question why the feed went black right before Risky ran into the fire. He’d had the system installed, and his buddy’s company handled the monitoring. It was easy enough to wipe the evidence of his intervention away.
Seeing as there was no way to pin the blaze on me, the sheriff came and went quickly, but I’d sweated the entire time he was there.
I knew if the sheriff or one of his deputies stumbled across the snow-covered body halfway between the lodge and the river, it would be the perfect reason for him to lock me up. That was a blazing red flag even the most incompetent cop could ignore.
Even though I was innocent of any wrongdoing other than looking the other way, guilt weighed heavy on my shoulders. I understood an eye for an eye. That guy had burned my property to the ground, probably hoping I would go up in flames rightalong with it. He wasn’t on the mountain to scare me or warn me. He was there to kill me. There was no need to feel bad about someone who could do those things with no remorse getting a taste of their own medicine, but it was the second time I’d watched someone die right in front of me and done nothing to prevent it from happening.
There was no question about what kind of person that made me.
One who deserved all the bad luck I’d already experienced and a lifetime more.
I was loopy and far from thinking straight when Banner could finally whisk me away from the scorched scene. The snow never let up, and the weather continued to worsen throughout the night and into the morning. It took over an hour for her to drive down the pass and into Blue River. She had to stop and pick the baby up from her mother since her parents had to open the restaurant in a few hours. By the time we reached Banner’s small condo, all I wanted to do was sleep for a solid week and pretend like everything that had befallen me since returning home was nothing more than a nightmare. I wanted to forget how warm Risky had made me feel and unlearn how to rely on him.
Banner gave me her room since the apartment only had space for her and the baby. I told her I was happy to crash on the couch, but she insisted on giving me her bed.
If I hadn’t been so sleepy and emotionally drained, I would’ve asked her how she could be so nice and caring when I needed her most, yet had done everything she could to ruin me when my back was turned. The contradictory behaviors were confusing and frustrating. But any confrontation had to wait until I felt like a human, not a lump of coal.
When I woke up, it was dark again. The sun went down early in the winter, but it was well past dinnertime when I crawledout of the borrowed bed and asked Banner to use her shower. She hurriedly found me something to change into and asked if I wanted something to eat when I was finished freshening up. My stomach growled at her words. The only sustenance I’d had the day before were sex and wine. I was definitely hungry.
I stripped the bed I’d left smelling like smoke and hauled all the bedding to the washer that was in the hallway.
