opened and another group filed in, unbuckling their harnesses and offloading helmets. Two tall, muscular men, both of them displaying buzzcuts and Army tattoos on their arms, assisted the second group.
"Thanks," I said but it was lost in the cacophony of the new group chattering while clattering their discarded equipment on the desk. As I waited, I grabbed a magazine, idly browsing the workout plans and reading an article about a woman who climbed what looked like sheer cliff faces without any climbing gear. Just reading the article terrified me.
I barely noticed the door banging open and shut as several people strode past. I looked up to see a man in blue jeans and a black Sky Outdoors hoodie, a helmet in one hand and a loop of rope in the other. His hair was shaved short at the sides, longer on top and flattened from his helmet. A few days beard growth only added to his handsome ruggedness. He walked over to Vanessa and leaned in and kissed her on the lips, a display that was a little too public. I stuck my head back in the magazine until two feet stopped within my line of sight. "Vanessa said you're looking for me," he said.
"Zach Gallo?"
"That's me. And you are?"
I stood up, reaching into my pocket for a business card. "Lexi Graves, Private Investigator. Is there somewhere we can talk?"
"A PI?" he asked, taking my card and studying it. "We can walk outside." He sidestepped me and made for the door before I agreed. Shrugging off his impatience, I hurried after him, turning my head away from a sudden gust of wind as we exited the building. "So, what's this about?" he asked when I caught up.
"Your sister, Sophie. Her husband, Austen, hired me to investigate her accident."
Zach stopped and looked down at me. "Her accident? Why? She fell through a freaking banister when she shouldn't have even been up there. I told her it wasn't safe to live on a construction site. Austen should have sprung for a hotel room instead of making her rough it like that. Cheap bastard."
I fought to keep my face impassive. "There's evidence to suggest it wasn't an accident," I told him.
Zach snorted. "What kind of evidence? Are you implying someone hurt Sophie deliberately?"
"I think that's a definite possibility. Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt her?"
"She's a sweet girl. Kind of na茂ve. She lets people take advantage of her so I suppose it's possible. I always warned her not to spend too much time with those Puerto Ricans Austen hired."
I winced at Zach's blatant racism. "You mean Mr. Ortega? He isn't Puerto Rican. He's Mexican."
"Whatever. Those immigrants know how to spin a sob story just to tap Sophie up for more money like she's an ATM. I don't even know if they're legal," sneered Zach. "Maybe she refused. Did one of those bastards hurt her?"
"Did one of the work crew ask her for money?" I inquired. Neither Manny or David gave me the impression they would do that but I hadn't met the rest of the work crew. Clearly, I needed to, if only to confirm Zach was a racist bigot.
"Probably. I think Austen usually handles that stuff. Sophie doesn't have a head for figures but she wouldn't hesitate to give money to someone with a pathetic story. Like I said, super na茂ve."
"She sounds kind to me."
Zach snorted again. We were moving so fast with his quick gait that I didn't realize quite how far we walked. Now we stood near what looked like a rope climbing frame that went up at least ten feet at a forty-five degree angle. A log the size of a tree trunk spanned the apex, with the same rope frame coming down the other side. "This is the start of the assault course," said Zach. "Makes our clients feel like commandos. Climbing over frames, crawling under netting, and splashing about in mud. Nothing like a real war zone." He rolled his eyes.
"You were in the Army?"
"Did two tours in Iraq."
"Must have been tough."
"About as hard as listening to the clients here whine over their prissy nails getting dirty. Listen, I don't know what to tell you about Sophie. I can't imagine anyone wanted to hurt her. She's sweet but like I said, she's na茂ve and she has a lot of money. Or access to it anyway. I don't know if Austen approves of how she spends it but he does a good