Page 31 of Load Bearing
“Where’s Trixie?”
“Back at the site,” Dylan said with a shrug, getting out of his truck. “Her partner Jay is there swinging his dick around and taking credit for everything. She said she’d take us out to dinner on Monday to celebrate.”
Hunter was already pulling himself up into the cab of his truck, swearing.
26
TRIXIE
For the third time in not even as many days, Trixie realized that her life was in peril. The first time had been prevented by Keith and Kyle. The second time, Hunter had rescued her from an ill-considered encounter with a moose.
This time, she was keenly aware that she was alone on the jobsite with someone who despised her, who was bigger and stronger than she was, and could probably make her death look like a tragic accident. Especially if he was willing to burn down the evidence.
“Look, you can take all the credit you want for this job,” she said coaxingly. “Take the extra overtime out of my share, if you want. I was never in it for the glory or the money.”
Jay was advancing on her, and Trixie had nowhere to do. He could beat her to the ladder, and the only other way out was through the open doorway onto the unfinished porch with no rails. Did he have a gun, or had he trusted his superior strength to take her out and wanted to make it look likean accident?
There was a screech of tires from the highway, and then the spit of gravel as someone took the drive too fast. Hunter? Trixie clung to the belief that he might get there in time. She just had to delay Jay.
Unfortunately, Jay had also heard the truck and knew his window of opportunity was narrowing. He darted forward to grab Trixie, and Trixie stomped on his foot with all of her weight.
He wasn’t wearing steel-toed boots, and he howled in pain and rage as Trixie darted to the side, trying to get to the ladder. She made it to the stair opening and leapt for the top rung recklessly. It rocked in place and Trixie had a moment of hope before Jay caught up with her and hauled her back by the arm, knocking the ladder over altogether at the same moment that a truck door slammed outside. He punched her hard in the side and she gasped for breath.
Trixie struggled, kicking at Jay and trying to twist free. “You’re not going to get away with this!”
She heard Hunter curse and holler her name, and she shrieked his in return.
His footsteps were heavy on the floor below them and Trixie heard the scrape of the fallen ladder. Trixie fought with all her might as Jay twisted her arm painfully behind her and dragged her to the gaping hole in the wall.
“Let her go!” Hunter roared. He was on their floor, however he’d gotten there. Maybe he’d climbed up as a bear, but Trixie’s eyes were blurred with tears. Her shoulder and elbow felt like they might be twisted right out of their joints and her whole side was hot with pain where Jay had punched her.
“He plans to burn it down!” Trixie shouted. Jay had rightly expected to be able to overpower her, but he hadn’t countedon Hunter.
“You come close and she’s over the side,” Jay said, twisting Trixie’s arm until she had to cry out in pain.
This,Trixie thought furiously,is why you always have safety rails up. So that crazy business partners can’t threaten to throw you off of buildings.
“You’re a shifter,” Hunter snarled, keeping his distance. “You know that I am too. I could tear you into pieces.”
“Yeah, but she’d hit bottom first.”
Trixie was in agony, but she wasn’t willing to let Jay use her to manipulate Hunter. She fought him furiously until she could twist in his grasp and bite down on his shoulder. She might not be a shifter, but she still had teeth.
“Shit!” Jay flung her away from him and Trixie reeled, straight for the edge of the porch.
Trixie heard thundering steps and Hunter launched for Jay. For one dizzy moment, Trixie was not sure who was who or where she was. Her foot fell on open space and she was in a cartoon moment of pinwheeling arms before Hunter’s big hand caught her by the wrist and pulled her in, even as he swung his other fist towards Jay.
The porch trembled under Trixie’s knees and she turned to see them tussling at the edge. Jay was hopelessly outclassed, and for one awful moment, Trixie was sure that Hunter was going to drop Jay right off the building. It might not kill him, but it would definitely be something they had to explain to a trooper, and it would probably be a worker’s comp situation, since they were on the job site. Trixie found herself caring more about the paperwork hassle than Jay’s health.
Before she could intervene, Hunter was hauling Jay up onto the deck and then holding him down by the neck. Jay lay still.
“Why’d you do it?” Hunter demanded. “What do you gain from stopping the house from being finished?”
“I thought she’d give up,” Jay whined. “I figured she’d take the buyout I was offering if it was hard enough.”
Trixie felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. “If you hated working with me so much, why didn’t you just say so?”
“It was never working with you,” Jay snarled. “It was workingforyou. Everyone says what a great foreman you are, how amazing you are. Great boss, perfect leader. It wasn’tmybusiness anymore! No one ever said anything aboutmebecause you were hogging the spotlight!”
