Page 15 of Ms. Fortune
“If you think someone deliberately sabotaged the deck, we should have it on camera, right?” I looked to the corner of the overhang where he’d installed the security camera.
Risky cleared his throat and rose to his feet. He held out a hand to help me up, and I noticed his cheeks looked pink under his beard.
“I messed up when I first installed them. They didn’t start recording correctly until this morning.” He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck, looking properly sheepish. “I’ll poke around and see if I can find anything that might point us in the right direction. I have to say, you’re alarmingly calm about all of this. I would think being shot at and nearly falling to your death would rattle the average person.”
I groaned and rubbed my tailbone as all my aches and pains made themselves known. “I am rattled.” And worried. But myconcern was focused more on how all of this was going to affect the lodge than what it meant for me personally. “But I can’t let whoever wants me to stop what I’m doing get their way.” I brushed the dirt off my palms. They were scraped raw from my rough landing.
“You said your previous career involved fixing problems. How about I start paying you to help me fix this mess instead of giving you money to mess up tasks you clearly have no experience with?”
He had to be better at his earlier career considering he’d told me he’d been trained to do it since he was a young boy.
Through the big windows, I saw several members of the large family help the older couple through the massive front doors as a law enforcement vehicle parked in front of the building. The first responders couldn’t be too far behind them. I needed to be present for all the questioning and make sure the grandmother was carefully checked out. Even though Risky had given them a rundown of why they would never launch a successful lawsuit against me and the property, knowing my luck, they would still try to cause trouble.
Risky watched me carefully and muttered, “Didn’t I tell you I retired?”
Even though his gaze was on me, I felt like the reminder was for himself. I still wasn’t clear what his prior occupation entailed, but the bits and pieces he’d let slip gave the impression that it wasn’t a cut-and-dry type of job. He was obviously left with a lot of misgivings and reservations after walking away from what he’d been trained to do.
I snorted and waved a hand at the broken piece of decking. “Patch that up after the police have a look at it. I doubt they’ll take this incident any more seriously than they did the gunshots.” I frowned and looked at the cameras again. “Makesure all the new cameras are working. If not, let me know so I can hire a professional to take a look at them.”
Security was moving to the top of my priority list of things that needed to be handled before high season started.
“Lucky …” It sounded like Risky wanted to apologize or make excuses as to why he wasn’t willing to dive back into whatever business he’d left behind when I found him on the mountain.
I waved him off, figuring it was none of my business, and I owed him more than one for having uncanny timing and saving my ass repeatedly. I warned him, coldly stating, “Keep in mind that if something happens to me or the lodge, the job you currently have goes away.”
He opened his mouth to retort, but I ignored whatever he had to say. If Risky didn’t want to be part of the solution, in my mind, he was part of the problem. Regardless of how helpful he’d been up to that point.
I shook off the aches and pains while making my way to the front of the building. A paramedic was checking out the grandmother while several of her family members crowded around. Before the angry family could outnumber me, I was pulled aside by the sheriff. He was nowhere near as easygoing as he’d been during our previous meeting.
When he grasped my arm and pulled me to the side of his large SUV, I followed willingly, not even complaining that his hold on me was harsh enough to leave more bruises. I was going to have quite a collection by the time winter rolled around.
“You’ve been causing quite a commotion lately, Ms. Fortune.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I crossed my arms over my chest defensively and took a few deep breaths to keep myself calm. “I didn’t cause anything. I had the deck marked off as an active construction area and made sure the family knew it was off limits at the time of booking. If they had abided by the rules,no one would’ve gotten hurt.” I made sure my voice was loud enough that any of the eavesdropping family could overhear. “The entire incident today was recorded by one of my staff. I’ll make sure you get a copy for your report.” I lifted my eyebrows. “Youaregoing to take a report this time, correct?”
He scratched his cheek and narrowed his eyes at me. “Yeah. The family will need what happened today documented. You are fortunate no one was seriously injured.”
I let out an ugly laugh and gave my head a shake. “I’d say what happened today is on par with my regular level of luck, Sheriff. The deck didn’t break because it was old and in disrepair. I’ve been renovating the area, so I’m well aware of the condition of every single piece of wood I’ve had to replace. The railing snapped because it was tampered with. I’m pretty sure I’m the one who was supposed to fall headfirst into the valley.”
His bushy white eyebrows twitched, and his weathered face pulled into a glower. “You’re really good at pushing the blame off to others, Lucky. I know damn well your granddad taught you to be more accountable than that. If you plan to run this place like your grandparents did, you need to understand you’re responsible for every single thing that happens on this property. It’s your job to keep everyone safe.”
Equal parts dread and irritation swirled around in a heated mix underneath my skin. I had no issue being responsible for things that were within my control, but when someone blatantly ignored the warning signs, I failed to see how I was liable for anything that followed.
“Was she supposed to tackle someone’s grandmother to the ground and sit on her until she came to her senses?” The heated conversation was interrupted by a chilly voice.
I hadn’t heard Risky come up behind me, and neither had the sheriff if the way he bristled at the interruption was any indication.
“If you look at the lodge’s liability insurance, Lucky did everything by the book to prevent a construction accident. She went above and beyond to avoid any possible guest injury. She even has it in writing that the group knew there was no access to the area during the deck repair. She’s as far from at fault as one could be in legal terms.”
I felt the weight of Risky’s gaze even though he was standing behind me and I couldn’t see his face.
The sheriff puffed out his chest and did his best to appear intimidating. He should’ve known all his posturing was wasted on Risky. The handyman wasn’t moved and had no patience for someone who spent their career ruling over a small town because he couldn’t cut it anywhere else.
“Who are you?” The bushy eyebrows furrowed into a scowl. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around Blue River before.”
I stiffened at his tone, not willing to let Risky get dragged into my ongoing feud with the law enforcement officer. “This is Declan Risk. He’s my new maintenance man.”
The sheriff made a noise of disdain. “Does your maintenance man have a law degree?”
