Tough Enough to Tango

by Barbara Barrett

  “A year or so back, I took a course on counterfeit or faulty rigging. Wouldn’t have paid much attention today, except I didn’t recognize the operator, and he seemed real antsy when I questioned him.”

  The thought of being found out so soon paralyzed him. How could he stop this? Although if something really was wrong with the equipment, he didn’t want to.

  Shae shot around the crane to the spot where the company name appeared in small letters. “This a new outfit? I’ve never heard of them.”

  “Guy says they’ve been around a few years, but ownership just changed hands. New owner sent in some of his own equipment.”

  “Have him lower the boom,” Shae said. “Let’s check it out.”

  Once the boom was closer to eye level, Dave ran his work-gloved hands along the wire ropes at several junctures along the sling. Within minutes, he scratched his head, even more concerned than before. “Not good.”

  “What’s wrong?” Shae asked.

  “You know much about this equipment?”

  “A little, but educate me.”

  “Wire rope slings like this one are made from a wire or synthetic core wrapped with several strands of wire rope. Over time, the strength of the rope diminishes due to continued metal fatigue and stress from bending.”

  “Okay. I get that. What’s wrong here?” Shae returned.

  “If not replaced periodically, the individual wire strands begin to break or develop kinks. That’s what I’m seeing here. That, plus corrosion.”

  He motioned for the operator to join them. He checked the pocket tab on the operator’s shirt. “Look, Joe, we got a problem with your crane. Appears the wire rope in the sling could give way and break. We can’t let you proceed.”

  “In fact,” Shae added, “we can’t let you or the crane leave until someone from the state inspects it.”

  God, Farley, we are so screwed.

  “Looks okay to me,” the operator nearly screamed, although the panic in his tone and eyes indicated otherwise. “I done this for years. Never had a bit of trouble.”

  “Been usin’ the same crane all that time?” Dave wanted to know.

  The operator glanced back at the rig, then down at his hands before he muttered, “Well, uh—”

  “The new boss sent this in?” Shae guessed.

  For the first time, the operator noticed Shae. “Look, lady, I got a good record. I can’t afford for the State to cite me or the company.”

  Shae didn’t appear to sympathize. “Then you should have caught these problems. They test you for that when you sit for your operator’s license, don’t they?”

  The crane guy, Joe, took a step back; his eyes grew wide. His lips moved, but no words came out.

  “Or maybe you never got your license?” she speculated. When the operator still didn’t answer, she said, “Call your boss. Who is that, by the way?”

  “I-I don’t know.”

  So far, Farley was safe.

  “Okay, give me the office number.” The operator did know that much. “Hello,” Shae said when someone apparently picked up on the other end. “This is Shae Harriman, acting head of Two Rivers Construction. I want to speak to whoever’s in charge there. Now.”

  “Aren’t you getting a little carried away, Shae?” Ned asked, to call back this runaway train. “Nothing looks amiss to me.”

  “You’re now an expert on hoisting equipment?” she shot back.

  Had him there.

  She continued to wait, far too long for the person who answered to have located their supervisor. “I hear doors slamming in the background. Call the sheriff, Dave. Get someone over there before everyone disappears.”

  Within the hour, the state inspector arrived and verified the sling was indeed unsafe. “Good thing you called, Ms. Harriman. These ropes could have broken, which might have caused no small amount of damage. Possibly injury.”

  “Or…worse?” she guessed.

  He nodded. “I’ve already got the basic details, and my associate will photograph evidence. But it will take us several more hours at a minimum to close out our report. You’ll need to shut down this site, at least for the rest of the day, maybe longer.”

  Shae blinked, like the thought hadn’t occurred to her yet, but her voice remained calm and in control. “Yes, of course. Are you going to cite us?”

  The inspector considered. “They’re on your site. You hired them, supposedly after you did your due diligence. But you also caught it in time and reported it to us immediately.”

  The sheriff, who’d arrived in the middle of this discussion, added, “Your quick thinking helped us gather as much of the company’s evidence as they didn’t carry off. We’ll track them down, but we don’t have much to go on from the neighboring businesses. Though the company has been around for years, ownership changed recently.”

  All these law enforcement agencies involved? Ned’s insides ripped apart. Farley was such a criminal. And he’d been the guy’s accomplice. This nightmare just got worse.

  “Who’d you talk to over there?” the sheriff asked Dave.

  “Ned said the owner was a friend of his. That’s why I called them, even though we’ve never worked with these guys before.”

  “Ned? Who’s that?”

  Aw, Dave, do you have to be such a stickler for the truth? The guy didn’t tattle or even try to cover his own behind. He was just a straight shooter who wanted all the facts to come out. Ned didn’t have much choice but to step up. “I’m Ned. Ned Collier. I’m the developer. The guy you want is Irvin Farley. He lives in Malibu, California.”

  Everyone’s eyes shifted to him.

  He gulped air, which was ironic, since he was about to cut his almost fully recovered throat. “I set up the job with Farley.”

  “What?” Shae’s voice rose.

  Time to face the music. Music? Another irony. His poor judgment had laid the groundwork for this near-disaster. “Farley is a business associate. He wanted in on our project, so when the other outfit had to postpone, I told Dave about my friend.”

  Shae quirked a brow. “The other group postponed?” She looked at Dave.

  Dave swiped a hand across his jaw. “Strangest thing. It was late in the day Monday. I got a call from Jesse Swink, the owner of the crane company we’d scheduled. Said something had come up and none of his people could be here today. Tomorrow, yes, but not today.”

  Dave continued. “Ned had just come into the office and asked what the problem was. When I explained, he suggested this guy. I told him we have a couple alternates we could try, but he kinda, uh, strongly suggested for us to use this outfit.”

  “Strongly suggested?” Shae repeated as she turned to Ned, a brow raised.

  “Why shouldn’t I?” Ned attempted to defend his actions.

  “Interesting,” she commented. “Excuse us a minute, Ned. Dave, follow me.” The two of them headed off until they were several feet away, at which point they stopped and conferred.

  Geez, was she going to ream Dave for this? Hadn’t meant to get the guy in trouble.

  From where he stood, he could see Shae make another call on her cell. At one point, she nodded, then glanced over at him, then quickly away. When she got off the phone, she and Dave returned to him.

  “It seems our friends at Swink Crane Service are to be interviewed by the local news today as one of the groups involved in this very project. Came up rather suddenly, they said. Monday afternoon. Apparently it had to be today, and everyone was needed there for the story. Strange coincidence, wouldn’t you say, Ned? You showed up in our office just when Swink called to postpone?”

  She didn’t say anything more, she simply glared at him and clenched her fists. The space between them seemed to glow with the tension.

  Apparently Swink hadn’t ratted on him. Only that link remained, where the reporter got the idea for the story, and all the dots in the trail that led back to him would be connected. If Shae could call the crane people, she could just as easily contact the reporter
. Might as well save her the trouble. “I owed the guy a favor. Okay? I told you I wouldn’t go behind your back with any more changes, so I had to find another way to make this happen. I suggested the story to the TV station in return for an exclusive with me.”

  Shae’s eyes narrowed to mere slits and her breathing became labored. She was about to erupt. Before she burst, though, the sheriff approached. “Guess we got enough to go on. For now.” He said his good-byes and left.

  Shae turned to the inspector, who’d also come up to them. In what appeared to be a tremendous effort to speak, she said, “I need a few more minutes with my people.”

  The state guy nodded and drew his assistant aside.

  Shae addressed the crew, who’d remained nearby, although they kept their distance from Shae, Dave, and Ned. “Though this incident is an embarrassment for the company, I don’t hold any of you accountable. Dave and I will work with the state people and get this cleared up as fast as we can, so we can all get back to work. Dave will let you know when to return.”

  The group started to disperse, but she added, “Wait. You were all here when this happened, you’re entitled to witness the next part.” To Ned, in a deliberate, even tone, she said, “This is the last straw, Ned. Technically, you may have kept your promise not to make any more changes without our knowledge, but to manufacture this incredible scam to pay off your friend is even worse. You not only destroyed your own credibility and the good name of Two Rivers, you endangered everyone here today.”

  “Let me explain.”

  She held up a hand. “No. The time for explanations is over. We are all committed to your project, Mr. Collier. We want it to be the best of its kind. But with you as the developer, not the project manager. Consider yourself fired.” Point made, she pivoted and walked off toward the mobile office, in her wake, a stunned crew.

  The most surprised of all was Ned. He knew she’d be angry. He didn’t blame her. But to fire him? He was the client, for God’s sake!

  ****

  Shae bounded back to the trailer, all the while biting back tears. She went five feet past the entrance before she realized what she’d done and retraced her steps. That delay was all the time Ned needed to catch up.

  “You can’t fire me.”

  “I just did.” She kept her voice flat, dispassionate. As she started up the steps, he placed a hand on her arm.

  “At least hear me out. I didn’t have a choice. I owed Farley a favor, and when he called it in—”

  She ripped her arm away. “Favor? For what?” Before he could answer, the name clicked in her mind. “Wait. Farley. He’s the backer Mike took issue with and left town because he couldn’t stand the man. You said you lost your voice at this guy’s charity benefit, because he had you sing out on the beach.”

  “Let’s discuss this inside.”

  “Inside, where you can put the moves on me, take my mind off this with your body?” Aå new thought occurred. She froze, her heart turning to stone. “That’s been your plan all along, hasn’t it? Romance me, keep me off-balance enough to dismiss all the problems you’ve caused.”

  “No, of course not. What I feel for you is…never mind. You’ve confused the issue. This isn’t about you and me. It’s about why I didn’t have a choice on this.”

  Her throat constricted. He’d dismissed their affair like it didn’t count. Truth was, it didn’t. It had only been sex. She’d known all along, but she’d still allowed feelings for him to develop. Such a fool.

  “I can’t keep you away from the site when you come to check on progress. But please have the decency to keep your distance until this dies down. For all I know, you may have cost my father his company.”

  “I never intended—”

  “Of course, not! You haven’t thought about anything or anyone else except your project. Go, Ned. Don’t waste my time any longer. Here…or in your bed.” She ran up the steps and entered the trailer, pulled the door tight.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Fired! She couldn’t do that.

  But she had. All the ammunition Ned needed to pull the plug on the contract. Get himself a new contractor who’d listen to him. Understand his money woes. Right. Like he’d now find someone dumb enough to work for a near-broke developer. The only reason Shae had put up with him this long was her need to show her father she could handle the job.

  She wouldn’t give him a chance to explain. Fine. He didn’t want to remain here longer anyhow. He avoided the rest of the crew and thundered off to his car to make a speedy getaway. He no sooner got on the road when his cell rang. “Thanks for ratting me out, Bonneville.”

  Like he planned it? “You sent inferior equipment, Irv. Someone could’ve gotten hurt or even killed.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. I may have acquired older equipment on the cheap, but it remains to be proved that it was unsafe. I expected you to clam up and play dumb about who owned the company.”

  “They would’ve known your identity within an hour anyhow. What’s the big deal?”

  “The sheriff impounded all my equipment and files. They’ve already checked into my other holdings, so I’m unable to go home. In time, my attorneys should be able to overturn the mess you’ve made, but in the meantime, you’ve inconvenienced me considerably. I don’t like to be inconvenienced. Consider our deal off. I’m withdrawing my funding immediately.”

  “What? You can’t do that. The bank already has the money.”

  “Read our agreement, buddy. I can demand payment on my loan anytime I want, bank or no bank.”

  “But…but if you do, the bank will call in the rest of my loan. I’ll be ruined.”

  “Shoulda thought of that when you dropped my name.” He clicked off.

  No more Farley money. No more bank support. He was a dead man.

  His hands shook so much, the car swerved several times before he got it under control. He pulled to the side of the road, turned off the engine, and slumped over the steering wheel. As a young teen, he’d ridden his first and last rollercoaster. He was barely off the machinery before he regurgitated his last three meals. He felt worse now. In fact…

  He sprang from the car, fell to his knees at the ditch that bordered the road, and heaved. He remained in that position even after he’d emptied his stomach, until the onset of nausea threatened to topple him. To straighten, Ned grabbed for the car and leaned against it to steady himself. As the countryside stopped spinning, he stumbled back inside, though he didn’t turn over the ignition.

  Damn Farley! And his throat. Damn his life in general. This project had been well within his grasp and then everything conspired against him. He would lose it all. His reputation, his money, his mother’s respect…and Shae. No, he’d already lost her.

  He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. God, he looked terrible. Pale, eyes watery, hair disheveled. How had his life sunk so low?

  Who was he kidding? He was the source of his problems. He had only himself to blame. He leaned back in the seat, rubbed his neck. His attention went to a nearby billboard that extolled a diet product. “Stop kidding yourself,” it read. “It’s time to get real and lose that weight.”

  He didn’t need to shed any pounds, but the rest of the message resonated.

  “Stop kidding yourself.”

  “It’s time to get real.”

  Okay. He’d finally stopped kidding himself about his finances. Get real? He’d just acknowledged he’d reached the end of the road that led to Sullivan’s Creek.

  What would he do? His life wasn’t worth the crap he’d just upchucked in the ditch. His gut ached like someone had ripped away part of it.

  To climb under the covers and stay there for the next month sounded pretty appealing about now. But before that, he needed to make one stop.

  ****

  I will not cry. I will not cry. Shae repeated the mantra all the way to her father’s swiping at her eyes. She’d done what she had to—fired Ned and broken things off with him. But that was just half of it
. They faced possible charges and fines from the State, and now that she’d let Ned go, they could also lose his contract.

  Sullivan’s Creek could have been the company’s financial salvation and their showcase for years to come. It could have been her chance to show her father she could run the company. At the moment, it appeared to be their downfall. She’d let her father down as well as herself. Moreover, the results of her poor judgment might be more stress than her father could handle, despite the apparent strides he’d made in his recovery.

  Try as she might to put him out of her mind, her disobedient brain, or was it her heart, continued to think about Ned. How could he disappoint her so much and at the same time make her almost cry from his misguided intentions? Because she cared for him, dammit! Cared way too much for her own good.

  She’d remained at the site only as long as it took to send the crew home and turn things over to the state people. She raced for home now, because she wanted to be the one to tell her dad about the crane incident. Dave assured her he wouldn’t call, but she couldn’t be sure about the crew.

  Fortunately, no one had gotten in touch with her dad. The briefing about today’s incident was all hers. After she hit the high points for him, the first thing he asked was, “No one was hurt?” His voice was unusually low.

  “It never got that far, thanks to Dave’s keen eyesight and odd feelings about the operator. The rig made it on-site but no farther.”

  “Why’d you decide to go with that outfit? Never heard of ’em.”

  “Nor I. The Swink people cancelled two days ago. Dave called this group on Ned’s recommendation.”

  “Ned? How the hell did he know about ’em?”

  “The new owner of the crane company was a friend.” She didn’t want to tell him the rest, but he deserved to know. She stuck with the headlines.

  “So, Collier’s money problems are worse than you led me to believe?”

  “I just found out myself. Had this incident not happened, we still wouldn’t know.”

  His telltale intake of breath, then several snorts sent a shiver of ice up her spine. Warning signs of a pending outburst she hadn’t heard since his hospitalization. No! This couldn’t be happening again.