Page 39 of Into the Lion's Den (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

“The last of the guests was crossing the ladder obstacle,” Sam said, ignoring her.

I nodded, familiar with the series of wooden ladders that were suspended horizontally off the ground. It was the safest section of the lower course, before the participants’ carabiners were attached to the safety wires.

“When the guy stepped on one of the ladder rungs, it snapped in two.”

“How?” I asked. Those rungs were two inches thick.

“Don’t know. But that’s not the biggest problem.”

“It sounds like a big problem.”

Sam shook his head. “He fell through, and Melanie thought it was a good idea to jump off her thirteen-foot platform. Land on the ground. Then catch a one hundred-and-seventy pound falling weight like it was nothing.”

I looked at Melanie. She’d always been reckless, but this was beyond the pale. We didn’t need people wondering how a petite young woman had that kind of strength and agility.

Melanie threw her hands out in an exasperated gesture. “You said the business was struggling!”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.

“What would you have me do?” she asked. “Let him fall off the course, get hurt, and sue us?”

I appreciated her concern for the business but—

“Toby and I were already on the ground,” Sam said. “We could have broken his fall.”

Melanie clenched her teeth. Apparently, that option had never occurred to her. I sympathized with her knee-jerk reaction. I’d been making plenty of my own.

“And even if we hadn’t caught him,” Sam added, “don’t forget, everyone signed a liability waiver.”

A grim thought crossed my mind. “That liability waiver won’t mean squat if someone got hurt because of our poor maintenance.”

“No way,” Sam said. “The inspector examined the course before the start of the season, and I went through it myself just yesterday. There was no ‘poor maintenance.’”

I put my hands on my hips. “Then explain how that ladder broke.”

Sam drew in a breath as if to provide a theory, then his shoulders slumped. “I can’t.”

“The trouble is,” I said, looking down at the invoices on my desk, “even if our defense is rock solid, we’d still have the cost of defending the resort if anyone sued. A trial would cost us tens of thousands of dollars.”

“Then we’d settle out of court and insurance would cover it.”

“Maybe,” I said.

“What do you mean, maybe?” Sam asked.

“Dad let the policy lapse. I did get it reinstated, but just this morning. I bet the insurance company will argue this happenedbeforethe coverage was in place. Or they’ll say it was our negligence and not covered.”

“Then I was right to do what I did,” Melanie said, looking vindicated.

“Did this guy get hurt?” I asked.

“He’s complaining about a sore back,” Sam said. “And he mentioned calling his lawyer.”

I set my hands on top of my desk and leaned all my weight into my palms. “If he sues, we’re screwed. It’s not just employees we’ll have to let go. We won’t be able to afford the horses. Vets, farriers, feed, tack... The horses are our biggest line-item expense.”

“Angel won’t like that,” Sam said.

“No. But right now I’m more worried about the possibility of those inconvenient questions you mentioned. Have you thought about your story?”

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