Free Hard Irish by Jennifer Saints

needed to take his bodyguard comment seriously.  He would call Jesse at Sheridan-Weldon Solutions ASAP to see about doing just that.
    Something sinister was up.  It was likely rooted in her ex’s rage.  The man didn’t necessarily have to be on the jobsite to be behind the planter incident.  The man had worked for the company for a number of years and odds that one of the crew might be more loyal to the ex than to their current lady boss were good.
    Roxanne completely removed the lace from his boot then eased the tongue as loose as possible.
    “Wiggle your toes and tell me what you feel.”
    “My sock.”  He winced.  A wet one at that.  She was about to get a face full of work-boot BO. 
    “No time for smart ass remarks.”
    “If you’re asking if I can move my toes then the answer is yes.  If you’re asking if it feels good, the answer is no.  I don’t think they’re broken though.”
    “Good.  I’m going to pull now.  Let me know if I need to stop.”  She inched his boot off.  It was already much tighter than usual.  The pain shooting up his leg had him fisting his hands.  He sighed once free of the boot, but then gasped as he looked down.  The blood soaking his sock gave him a shock.  Maybe he was more injured than he thought.
    Riley returned with a tackle-box-sized first-aid kit and with him a crowd of men and the clipboard carrying woman Jared had run into earlier.
    “What in the bloody hell happened?”  The woman knelt beside Roxanne.
      “Planter fell.”  Roxanne pulled some supplies from the kit.  “Maggie, help me by holding his heel up off the ground.”
    The Maggie woman eased her hand under his heel. “Damn.  These old places are a hazard.” 
    “Or haunted,” Riley added, causing a stir among the gathering crowd.
    Jared would have argued with them both but was in too much pain at the moment.
    Roxanne didn’t respond as she peeled the leg of his jeans up.  Blood had completely saturated his sock.  Her complexion had paled and Jared couldn’t blame her.  It wasn’t the simple little scratch he’d first thought.  “I’m leaving your sock on and going to wrap your calf and foot in gauze and an ace bandage, which should stop the bleeding until we get you to the ER.”
    He nodded.  With adept efficiency, Roxanne had him wrapped in minutes then stood and glared at everyone.  “There’re no ghosts and the show is now over.  Everyone needs to get back to work.  We can’t afford to lose a day on this job,” she said.  “Mack you’re in charge.  Maggie, give him the assignment list and call me if there are any problems.”
     Everyone hopped to work.  Before Jared could think much less say Jack Rabbit, he found himself loaded into the backseat of her truck and Roxanne climbed into the driver’s seat.  The sharp edge of his pain had eased some with the bandaging and Jared welcomed the respite.
    Mack came up to her and whispered into her ear as she put the truck into gear.  She nodded then hit the gas as Mack backed away.  A deep frown creased her brow.  “I’m thinking you need to go to the hospital.”
    Jared shook his head.  “Jackson specialized in Emergency Medicine just out of med school, so I’m sure he can handle this.”  He gave her directions to the Midtown Clinic then waited until she was on the road before he brought up the subject of the planter fall and his concerns for her safety.
    “What did he find?”
    “Mack?”
    “Yeah.”
    “An empty sixth floor.  None of the crew had made it to that floor yet.  On the balcony he found the base cementing the planter in place was cracked in half.  All it needed was a hefty push.”
    “A crime of convenience or was it preplanned?”
    “Preplanned?”
    “Yes, as in someone cracked the base before you were onsite.”
    She shook her head.  “On the off chance that I’d just happen to stand underneath it?”
    “You did.”
    “I wasn’t alone.”
    “You would have taken the full force