“What?” Jo spun around as Gil Hamilton screeched to a dust-raising stop. “Oh, for...” She bit her tongue to stop from saying what she was thinking.
“I’m beginning to think this place is cursed,” Gil said as he climbed out. “What’s happened now?”
She filled Gil in on the accident. Even as she ran through the details, she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made a mistake somewhere. “I used your recommendation for the heavy machinery.”
“And?” Gil frowned. “The city’s used the firm for years. They’re a top-five supplier in the construction business throughout the state.”
“Yet something went wrong.”
“And until we know what that was, maybe we shouldn’t jump to conclusions.”
Jo pinched her lips together. He was probably right, but that left her frustration with no place to go.
“If a mistake’s been made—” Gil went on.
“Then it’s on me,” Jo assured him. “The good and the bad, remember? Let’s get through this and see where we are.”
Needing to do something positive, she hustled back to the trailer. She saw Kyle visibly react, sitting behind his added desk, when she came through the door. Jo was rifling through contracts and insurance documents as Gil entered the office. She nearly ripped the report on heavy machinery in two when she found it.
“I went online for the company’s safety record,” Kyle said and handed her a printout. “There’s nothing there, Jo. No red flags or signals of any issues. They’re gold standard.”
“Brake lines don’t just go out,” she muttered. “I suppose we should be grateful this happened now and not when the initial removal was being done.” Given the trees that had been removed previously, if this same thing had happened, the entire vehicle could have gone over, along with the driver. She shuddered to think how bad this really could have been.
Although, until Kenny was back on solid ground and not dangling above a cliff’s rocky base, there was no telling how bad it really was. But Kenny wasn’t the only one out there. Ozzy was, too. She hoped things didn’t get any worse.
Someone knocked on the office door. “Boss?” Kayleigh Prince, one of the welders, poked her head in. Her blue-gray eyes shone with concern. “Jed wants you to see something.”
“Okay.” Jo gestured for Gil to follow. “You might as well stick close. Lead on, Kayleigh.”
She ended up precisely where Ozzy had told her not to go, where the excavator had backed into one of the massive redwoods. The tree had a giant gash in it. Just on the other side, she saw the thick rope, secured around the thickest tree. The line, curving and straining over the cliff’s ledge, was being eased down slowly by four of her workers, with Frankie giving verbal commands.
Sirens blared in the distance as the ambulance made its approach. The remaining crew thinned and shifted, making room for a young man in black BHFD cargo pants and T-shirt.
The impact had tilted the excavator and exposed its underbelly. She found Jed and another of their crew wedged underneath, examining the inner workings. “Jed?” Jo crouched as much as she could and tried to see what the foreman was checking. “What did you find?”
“Not sure,” Jed said as he shifted onto his back and shined a flashlight up and into the workings. “This here?” He pointed to the puddle of liquid darkening the soil “That’s brake fluid. And it trails for quite a while.”
“Couldn’t rocks or debris have done that?” Gil asked.
Jo turned her head and frowned. The mayor had a point. “Jed?”
“Normally I’d consider that.” Jed nodded. “But the cut in the line’s smooth. Wear and tear would make it jagged if it wasn’t well maintained, and this vehicle’s pristine otherwise. I’m no expert.” Jed shoved himself up and looked at the two of them. “But if I had to say?”
“Spit it out, Jed,” Jo ordered.
“I don’t think this was an accident,” Jed told them. “This brake line was cut on purpose.”
* * *
“OZZY? YOU GOT HIM?”
Frankie’s shout faded on the wind as Ozzy’s booted feet hit the ledge. More than a ledge, he thought, with a flash of relief as he was able to pivot and adjust his stance beside Kenny Vogelman. But only barely. He tugged on his line to get some slack. “Hey, Kenny. Long time no see.” Personally, Ozzy could have gone the rest of his life without seeing his former high school classmate. “What are you doing hanging out here?”
“Oh, you know.” Kenny let out a weak laugh, swiped a hand across the side of his head that was caked with blood. “Thanks for the assist.” He shifted, and as he drew in a breath, his face lost most of its color.
“It was a boring day, anyway.” Keep them entertained and the mood light. It was something Ozzy had learned early on in his training. He couldn’t let his own emotions show through; his concern would only make things worse for the people he was trying to help. “You lucked out big-time with this ledge, man.” He shifted, ignored the gravel that broke away and dropped the hundred or so feet beneath them. “You having trouble breathing?”
“Mmm.” Kenny nodded, his jet-black hair falling over one eye. “I’ve got this pressure building in my chest.” He tilted his head up. “What’s that mean?”
“It means you have pressure building in your chest.” Ozzy wasn’t about to speculate, but he had a pretty good idea one of Kenny’s lungs was probably punctured. “Let’s get you up and worry about the rest later, all right? No, don’t move.” He didn’t want Kenny doing anything to make things worse. “I need you to stay as you are. Just give me a second.” He unlatched his radio and clicked for Frankie.
“Yeah, Oz. Talk to me.”
Ozzy would have turned away to keep this from Kenny, but there was nowhere for him to go. “I need you to send the stretcher down. We need as smooth a ride up for him as possible, understand?”
The hesitation was slight, but Frankie’s “understood” had him breathing a bit easier.
“Okay, Kenny. We’ve got your ride coming. I’m going to need a little help from you when it gets here. You up for that?”
Kenny nodded. “So stupid.”
“What?”
“Not you.” Kenny winced. “Karma, man. She came calling for me today. Payback for treating you like crap in high school. Good thing for me you’re half your size now.”
“High school was a long time ago.” Ozzy never thought he’d feel sorry for one of his high school tormentors, but life had a way of doling out what you needed to see. “The past is the past.”
“If I were you, I’d be trying to figure out a way to chuck me over the ledge.”
“There’s still time for that.” The joke was slight and earned a quick smile. “But if you really want to have this discussion here and now, can I finally say I didn’t appreciate you trying to stuff me in my gym locker.”
“Sprained my wrist in the attempt.” Kenny cringed. “Both times.” Fear shining bright in his eyes, he met Ozzy’s far-from-amused gaze. “I’m sorry, man.”
“Apology accepted.” It would have been easy to hold onto a grudge or the resentment he felt for the individuals who had made his teen years far from pleasant, but he knew he hadn’t had it nearly as rough as a lot of other people. “How about when this is all over you buy me a beer and we can forget you beat me up for not doing your algebra homework?”
Kenny snort-laughed, then groaned. “No fair making me laugh.”
“Right.” Ozzy nodded. He saw the bright orange stretcher being lowered, and he stepped back to grab the end. “Okay, Kenny. This is going to go against your nature, but from here on, you’re going to do everything I say, no argument. Do you hear me?”
Apparently out of breath and words, Kenny only nodded.
“I’m going to get this as solid as I can against the cliff wall. After I do, you’re going to have to stand up so I can lash you in.
” Ozzy gave another look at the ledge, which suddenly seemed more narrow than it had moments before. “You lean on me, Kenny, as hard and as tight as you need to, and you let me do the maneuvering.”
Another nod.
“Ozzy? Update, please.” Frankie’s voice crackled over the radio.
“I’m working on it.” Ozzy clicked off, then considered the circumstances. “Give me three minutes, then start pulling him back up.”
“As soon as we’ve got him, we’ll pull you up.”
“Understood.” He hesitated, the thought of Jo and how he’d left things with her sitting heavily in his gut. But now wasn’t the time. “Standby.”
“Copy that.”
Ozzy clipped the radio back onto his belt and shoved the stretcher hard into the cliff wall. He rearranged it a few times, made sure it was steady, then braced his hand on the wall as he leaned over Kenny. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” Ozzy could hear the wheezing in his lungs.
“You’re going to reach up and lock your hands around my neck.” Ozzy kicked his boots hard into the rock, partly to test its stability, partly to lock himself in place. “I’ll do the lifting, Kenny. I’ll get you where you need to go. Just push up with your legs for a few seconds. It’s going to hurt like anything, so be prepared.”
“Just tell me when.” Kenny pushed the words out through gritted teeth.
Ozzy leaned down to give Kenny the space and time he needed to raise his arms. The moment he felt Kenny’s hands lock at the back of his neck, Ozzy slid his arms under and hauled him up to his feet.
He felt it the second Kenny passed out. Instant deadweight. His arms dropped and his head fell to the side. Ozzy was ready for it. His legs and thighs burned as he kept his feet in place. He pivoted slightly and pushed Kenny into the stretcher, moving one of his own feet back so he could shift the base of the stretcher out slightly. Kenny’s body slid into place. With brutal efficiency, Ozzy connected the harness and strapped him in, waist, then chest, then thighs.
“Frankie?”
“Here.”
“Bring him up. He’s out cold. Possible punctured lung. Have a neck brace standing by.”
“Got it ready and waiting. EMTs are here, as well.”
Ozzy double-checked the straps, then reached up and gave a hard tug on the line. Slowly but as smoothly as he’d advised, the stretcher made its way up and over the ledge. When it was clear, Ozzy ducked his head and let out a breath. His arms and legs throbbed as the adrenaline leeched out of his system.
He turned, kicked a few rocks aside, and as he moved to lean back against the cliff face, he heard—no, he felt—the ledge crack beneath his feet. While he had no doubt the rope was secure, he was about to become dead weight for those ready to haul him up.
He grabbed for his radio. “Frankie! Drop another rope.” He wanted something to brace himself against the rock face with. “The ledge is—”
“Oz? You—”
“Now, Frankie!” The ledge crackled and crumbled. “Drop one now!”
He looked up as a second rope came flying out and down. Ozzy reached for it, twisted one gloved hand tight and high as the pressure holding the ledge released. He hoisted himself up as the rest of the ledge dropped away.
Ozzy was jolted upward, the ragged cliff stone cutting through his shirt. He could hear Frankie shouting even as he felt himself being dragged, far faster than the stretcher had gone. He tightened his grip, shifted and pivoted, though he knew it would make it more difficult for the people pulling him up. At last he was able to get his boots into the stone and walk up the final stretch.
Hands locked around his wrists as he was hauled forward and collapsed on his stomach, face in the dirt. He panted, coughed, and spit out soil and gravel. “Okay.” He shoved himself onto his back and stared up at the faces crouched around him. He gave them a thumbs-up. “It’s okay. All good.”
“You sure?” Frankie pressed a hand against his chest. “I can have the EMTs—”
Pride had him rising up. The roar of applause and cheers barely registered. He bent over, planted his hands on his thighs and drew in long, steady, painful breaths. “I’m fine,” he said again as Frankie bent over to meet his gaze. “Thanks, boss.”
She caught his face in her hands. “You did good, Oz. You did really, really good.”
He offered her a smile, and then his gaze caught Jo’s as she stood by the construction vehicle, her brown eyes wide with shock and relief. His impulse was to go to her, but he had work to do first. “How’s Kenny?” he asked Frankie.
“En route to the hospital. Battered and bruised. The EMT agreed with you about the punctured lung. They’ve got him on oxygen.”
“Pure dumb luck he hit that ledge,” he told Frankie. Even more luck Ozzy himself hadn’t dropped like a stone.
“We all know there’s a bit of luck and magic around these cliffs.” She slapped a hand on his back. At his wince, she shifted into chief mode. “Okay, Oz, I want you to get checked out at the hospital.”
Ozzy shook his head. “It’s just a few scrapes. Nothing—”
“That wasn’t a suggestion, Oz. I’ll meet you back at the truck.” She walked away, then said over her shoulder, “Jasper will drive you to the ER.”
“All right.” Arguing with Frankie Salazar was a master class in futility. He glanced back at Jo, but she was gone.
“Jed?” Ozzy made his way through the group of workers, who were filtering through the trees, returning to the site. “Where’d Jo go?”
“She and Gil headed back to the office. I’m meeting her at the trailer in fifteen.” The relief Ozzy expected Jed to display was nowhere to be found. In its place, he saw uncertainty and more than a bit of anger.
“What?”
Jed’s eyes took on that steely, determined gleam. “This wasn’t an accident.”
“Who was driving the machine?” Ozzy rounded the excavator. “Kenny rile someone up?” Even as he said it, he realized what a ridiculous notion it was. Kenny may have been a bully years ago, and sure, there were times he drank too much and did his share of pain-in-the-butt foolishness, but a deliberate attack by someone?
“Steve Plunket.” Jed waved off Ozzy’s second question. “They’re thick as thieves. I don’t think any particular person was the target. I bet the site was.” He gestured for Ozzy to come closer and lowered his voice. “You did your time with the sheriff’s department. Luke got you up to speed on basic scene examination, right? What does this look like to you?” He clicked his cell phone app and shone a light into the shadows.
Ozzy pulled off his gloves, checked the line Jed pointed to. “It looks like a line’s been cut. Smooth edges. That’s not wear and tear.”
“Exactly. But these machines weren’t even supposed to be used until next week. This work we were doing? It was spur-of-the-moment.”
“Not to mention that by the time we did use this vehicle, all the brake fluid would have been gone. Someone did this on purpose.”
“But what does this get anyone?”
“Delays? That’s all that’s going to happen while Jo arranges for a replacement, not to mention the state’s going to be sending someone in to investigate.”
“They’ll be quicker due to the last accident,” Ozzy said. “Or they should be. Might reduce the delay getting back to it?”
“You think?”
“I do. I’ll call Luke about the cut line. Or maybe Jo should—”
“Already took pictures,” Jed said. “Jo insisted.”
Of course she did. “Okay. We’re going to need to get this entire area roped off. It’ll be quicker to make a call to Gil, tell him you want those security cameras back in place. Immediately.”
“No need,” Jed said. “That’s what he and Jo were talking about before Gil left.”
“Well, that’s good news, then.” Apparently his
conversation with Gil the other day hadn’t fallen on deaf ears.
He left Jed and moved toward the trailer to talk to Jo, who was giving instructions to the rest of the crew. “Ozzy!” Frankie called. “Let’s go! Hospital!”
“Give me five.” He picked up the pace and jogged to the construction trailer just as Jo opened the front door. “Jo, hang on.”
She slammed the door in his face.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” He swung the door open and stepped inside. He found Kyle sitting behind his desk. The young man’s gaze darted from Ozzy to Jo, who stood beside her own desk looking only slightly less furious than she had before he’d dropped down the side of the cliff. “Kyle, I’m sorry to have to ask, give us a second, would you?”
“Uh, sure.” He scooped up his crutches and made his way toward the door. “I’ll go check in with Jed.”
When the door closed behind him, the trailer dropped into silence.
“Okay,” Ozzy began. “I know you’re ticked—”
“Ticked?” Jo gaped, then snapped her mouth shut and waited. “Okay, we can go with ticked.” She tossed her cell onto her desk and planted her hands on her hips. “I have work to do.”
He didn’t like the idea of her being irritated with him, but he wasn’t going to apologize for doing his job. He wanted her to understand. “Jo, what I said back there—”
“I don’t need a replay, thanks.” Anger sparked in those amber-tinted eyes of hers. “Don’t you ever do something like that to me again. Not in front of other people and especially not in front of my crew. You weren’t the only one doing their job.”
“Your job was not on that cliff, mine was.” When he took a step forward, she held her ground and inched her chin up. “There wasn’t anything you could do except get in the way.”
“So you said.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Message received, Ozzy. You stay in your lane, I’ll stay in mine.”
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