Bunny and the Beast(Divine Creek Ranch 22)(19)

The soft breeze rocked her in the sling until she was facing his direction and saw him over the dormer, and she had to grin. He was so authoritarian, standing there in his dark gray suit, the coat unbuttoned and his hands on his hips.

Batting her eyelashes, she said, “Now, Sir. We had an agreement, didn’t we? I promised I would be careful up here, and I am. See?” She lifted her hands, staying in position perfectly balanced on the balls of her feet and pointed at her gear. “I’m harnessed into the sling, and I’m also wearing my climbing gear.”

His eyes bulged, and he took a step forward. “Bunny…” He sounded breathless. “God, you scare me every time you do that.”

“You gonna spank me?” she asked as she pulled her wrench out of her tool belt and went back to tightening the bolt on the dish.

“Not for doing your job. But I do have a question. When were you planning to tell me there was a drive-by shooting in your neighborhood last night?”

She shrugged and kept working without looking away, “Why? It was next door. That house is owned by one of Grinnie’s oldest friends. I think her grandsons are involved in some iffy stuff, and it blew back on the neighborhood last night. No one was hurt, thank goodness.”

In her peripheral vision, she saw his jaw drop and knew this was going to be a lengthy conversation. “It wasn’t just next door, Bunny.”

“Huh?”

Joseph said, “Hank was at the scene this afternoon. Not only was that house hit, there were bullet holes in your siding as well. Hank told me this sort of thing is becoming a regular occurrence in that part of town. All you can say is you’re on friendly terms with the people who were being shot at?”

A blush filled her cheeks with heat. “Until I can get us on better footing financially, that’s where we live. And the fact I’m friendly with the neighbors doesn’t mean I’m not worried. It just means I don’t worry quite as much about getting broken into.”

“What? Can you please explain that logic to me?”

The wind picked up a notch and her sling swung around so she was looking down at the ground thirty feet below before she pivoted so she could scowl up at him. “Really? You wanna have this conversation with me now? Louisa’s grandsons have gotten mixed up with a gang that has ties to the Mexican drug cartels. Am I complacent about it? No! I’m pretty much terrified, but it’s my reality right now. I can’t help it, except by working harder to get us out of that neighborhood. I don’t mean to be a brat—not really—but there’s a storm on the way and I have another dish to adjust, if you’ll—” As if on cue a cold rain drop hit her cheek. The scent of rain filled the air but she hadn’t heard any thunder yet. If she hurried, she might be able to at least check the dish before going inside to finish their conversation.

She was lowering herself to the roofline the bucket was located under when the rope connected to her rappelling gear by D-rings suddenly went slack. She hit her knees on the roof and froze, unsure of how much traction she had on the slate tiles.

“Shit!”

The wrench in her hand slid down the slate tiles until it dropped from sight.

“Bunny!” She’d dropped out of sight of Joseph, and she heard the fear in his voice.

Afraid to move or even breathe for fear of slipping, she said, “I’m here.”

“Bunny, are you okay?”

“Um, there’s something wrong with my rope,” she said as she watched the frayed end of it slide past her and off the roof edge behind her. “It broke.”

“Can you reach the chimney?”

“Umm…” She glanced over it and was afraid to move. The scent of rain thickened as fat rain drops began splatting on the hot slate tiles. The only thing keeping her on the roof was the traction with her boots and her hands. If she slid, she wasn’t sure she could overcome the momentum on the roof gutters.

“Bunny, listen. Where were you tied on? I’ll go there and pull you back up.”

“Your suite. I tied up to your balcony railings. I’m not sure if there’s enough rope there to—”

“Okay. Hold on. Can you get to the chimney?”

“Trying,” she said.

She inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to get her shoulder and leg muscles to unlock. She couldn’t let fear make her freeze. A door slammed somewhere close by and Joseph’s running footsteps echoed through his suite as she reached for the chimney and grabbed on with one hand. She was grateful for her gloves when the toes of her boots slipped out from under her on the dampening tiles. She slid a few inches before grappling on to the dish with the other hand, thanking God that she’d finished tightening the bolts and praying the brackets anchoring it to the chimney were as solid as she hoped. If not, she was screwed.