by Nora Roberts
Kelsey stared at the entrance to the barn. She wanted to be in there, to hear what was being said, to know what was being done. “Gabe and I found him,” she murmured. “I feel like I should help.”
“Then go help Naomi.”
Kelsey let out a long breath. “All right. You’re right.” But it was hard to walk over, to face that blank look in Naomi’s eyes. “Here.” She held out her untouched coffee. “Brandy’d be better, but I don’t have any handy.”
“Thanks.” Naomi accepted the cup and forced herself to sip. It had nothing to do with her, she reminded herself again. The police wouldn’t come, they wouldn’t take her away this time. “Poor Mick.”
“Did you know him very well?”
“He’s been around a long time.” She sipped again. No, it didn’t have that slapping warmth of brandy, but it helped. “He and Boggs played gin rummy once a week, gossiping like little old ladies. I guess Mick knew as much about my horses as he knew about Gabe’s. He was loyal.” She drew in a shaky breath. “And he was harmless. I don’t know who could have done this to him.”
“The police will find out.” After a moment’s hesitation she laid a hand on Naomi’s shoulder. “Do you want me to take you home?”
“No.” Naomi reached up, covered her daughter’s hand with hers. They both realized it was the first time they’d touched without reservation. “I’m sorry, Kelsey. This is a horrible experience for you.”
“For all of us.”
“I would have spared you from it.” She looked up, her eyes meeting Kelsey’s. “I’m not much good under these circumstances.”
“Then I’ll have to be.” Kelsey turned her hand so that their fingers meshed. Naomi’s were stiff with cold. “You’re going home,” she said firmly. “The police may want to talk to me, so Channing will take you.”
“I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
“I’m not alone. Gabe’s here, and Moses. Boggs.” She glanced over to where the old man stood alone in the rain, grieving. “It’s pointless for you to stay when you’re so upset. You go home, take a hot bath, and lie down. I’ll come up as soon as I get back.” She softened her tone, leaned closer. “And I don’t want Channing here. He’d feel as if he was doing some manly act if he took you away.”
“That was a nice touch.” Hating herself for the weakness, Naomi rose. “All right, I’ll go. My being around a crime scene only causes more speculation in any case, but please, don’t stay any longer than you have to.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry.”
Alone, Kelsey settled down on the barrel her mother had vacated and prepared to wait.
It didn’t take long.
A uniformed officer stepped outside, scanned the groups of people, and focused in on her. “Miss Byden? Kelsey Byden?”
“Yes.”
“The lieutenant would like to speak with you. Inside.”
“All right.” She ignored the speculative looks and slid off the barrel.
Inside, the routine of death was already under way. The last police photos had been taken, the yellow tape cordoning off the far end of the barn was in place.
Gabe’s eyes blazed once when he spotted her. “I told you there was no need for her to be here.”
“You both found the body, Mr. Slater.” Lieutenant Rossi stepped over the tape and nodded to Kelsey. He was a twenty-year veteran of the force with a craggy, handsome face and sharp cop’s eyes. His hair, dark and thick and streaked with dignified gray, was only one of his many vanities. His body was a temple, fueled with vitamins, health juices, and a stringent low-fat diet, and honed by exercise.
He might spend most of his time behind a desk with a phone at his ear, but it didn’t mean he had to go to seed.
He loved his work, and thrived on procedure. And he hated murder.
“Ms. Byden, I appreciate your waiting.”
“I want to cooperate.”
“Good. You could start by telling me exactly what happened this morning. You were here since dawn.”
“That’s right.” She told him everything, from unloading the horses through the morning workouts. “We stayed down at the track awhile. It was my stepbrother’s first trip, and we decided that he might like to watch the horses being prepped for post time.”
“And that would have been about what time?”
“Close to noon. Things are quiet between about ten and noon. We walked up here from the track and ran into Gabe. He was in the shedrow, talking to his trainer.”
She glanced over Rossi’s shoulder to look for him, and saw with dull horror the shiny plastic bag being carried out on a stretcher.
Cursing under his breath Gabe ducked beneath the tape and blocked her view. “This doesn’t have to be done now. And certainly not here.”
“No, it’s all right.” Gamely, Kelsey swallowed her nausea. “I’d rather get it over with.”
“I appreciate that. So, you ran into Mr. Slater just outside here?”
“Yes. We talked for a few minutes, ragged each other because we had a horse running in the same race. I came in with Gabe to look at his colt. My mother and stepbrother were a little behind us.”
“Your mother?”
“Yes. It was actually her horse that was to run against Gabe’s. She owns Three Willows. Naomi Chadwick.”
“Chadwick.” It rang a distant bell. Rossi jotted it down. “So the four of you came in.”
“Yes, but they were behind us a bit. They didn’t get to the box until after—after we did. I guess Gabe and I saw the wound on the colt’s left flank at the same time. He went in, and stopped, tried to block me. But I was worried about the colt, so I followed behind him. I saw the blood, and the body in the corner. I held the horse’s head because he was starting to rear, and Channing and Naomi came up. She went right away to call an ambulance and Channing went into the box, thinking, I suppose, that he might be able to help. I thought—I suppose we all thought for a moment—that the horse had done it. Until Gabe turned the body over, and we saw . . .” She would never forget what she’d seen. “We saw he hadn’t. Gabe told Channing to call the police.”
“And there was no one around the stall when you and Mr. Slater came in.”
“No. I didn’t see anyone. Some of the grooms were inside, of course. But it was still a little early for prepping.”
“Did you know the deceased, Ms. Byden?”
“No. But I’ve only been at Three Willows for a few weeks.”
“You don’t live there?”
“No, I live in Maryland. I’m just spending a month or so there.”
“I’ll need your permanent address for the record, then.” When she gave it to him, he slipped his pad back into his pocket. “I appreciate your time, Ms. Byden. I’d like to talk to your mother and your stepbrother now.”
“I had Channing take her home. She was very upset.” In an unconscious move, Kelsey shifted her stance, placing her feet a bit wider, straightening her shoulders. “In any case, they were both with me all morning. Neither of them could have seen anything I didn’t.”
“You’d be surprised what one person sees that another doesn’t. Thank you.” He dismissed her by turning back to Gabe. “My information is that a man named Boggs might have been the last person to see the victim alive. Does he also work for you?”
“He works for Three Willows.”
“He’s outside,” Kelsey informed Rossi. “I’ll tell him to come in.” She hurried out, eager to be away from the flat-voiced questions and shrewd eyes. Boggs was where she’d seen him last, simply standing in the rain. “There’s a Lieutenant Rossi who wants to speak to you.” She took his hands, vainly trying to warm them between hers. “I’m so sorry, Boggs.”
“We was just talking. Just sitting over there and talking. We had a card game on for tonight.” Tears streamed down his face along with the rain. “Who’da done that to him, Miss Kelsey? Who’da done Old Mick that way?”
“I don’t know, Boggs. Come on, I’ll go in with you.”
She slipped her arm around him and guided him back toward the barn.
“He don’t have no family, Miss Kelsey. A sister, but he hadn’t seen her in more’n twenty years. I’ve got to take care of things for him, see that he gets buried proper.”
“I’ll take care of it, Boggs.” Gabe stepped outside, intercepting them before they entered. “You tell me what you want him to have, and we’ll arrange it.”
Boggs nodded. It was only right. “He thought high of you, Mr. Slater.”
“I thought high of him. Come and see me as soon as you’re able. We’ll set everything up.”
“He’da appreciated it.” Head bowed, Boggs walked inside.
“The lieutenant says you’re free to go.” Gabe took Kelsey’s arm and steered her away. “I’ll take you home.”
“I should wait for Boggs. He shouldn’t be alone now.”
“Moses will see to him. I want you out of here, Kelsey. Away from it.”
“I can’t be. I’m as close to it as you are.”
“You’re wrong.” He half dragged her across the muddy shedrow. “The box is mine. The colt is mine. And, dammit, Mick was mine.”
“Slow down!” She dug in her heels and managed to grab him by the jacket. He might have shown little more than a flare or two of emotion inside the barn, but he was on slow burn now and ready for flash point. No cool gambler’s eyes now, she thought. They were hot and lethal.
“You’re getting out of here now. And you’re staying out of it.”
She could have argued. She certainly could have struggled against the grip he had on her arm. But she waited until they’d reached his car.
Then she simply turned and wrapped her arms around him. “Don’t do this to yourself,” she murmured.
He held himself rigid, prepared to jerk away and shove her into the car. “Do what?”
“Don’t blame yourself, Gabe.”
“Who else?” But his body relaxed, and curled itself to hers. He pressed his face into the cool, damp comfort of her hair. “Jesus, Kelsey, who else am I going to blame? He was trying to protect my horse.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I feel it.” He drew her away. His eyes were calmer now, but whatever was going on just behind that deep, cool blue had Kelsey trembling. “And I’m going to find whoever did this to him. Whatever it takes.”
“The police—”
“Work their way. I work mine.”
CHAPTER
TEN
DEATH COULDN’T INTERFERE WITH THE ROUTINE OF A THOROUGHBRED farm. Not the death of a horse, or a man. Dawn still signaled workouts. There were races to be run, legs to be wrapped, coats to be quartered and strapped. Talk around the paddocks or shedrow at sunrise might have been of murder and Old Mick, but the pace didn’t flag. It couldn’t.
There was a foal with a case of eczema, a yearling filly who still refused a rider, and a colt competing in a maiden race. Grieving and gossip had to be accomplished while filling feed tubs and walking hots.
“Maybe you want to see to strapping Pride now that he’s been cooled, Miss Kelsey.” Though his eyes were shadowed, his face drawn, Boggs was up and about his duties. He offered Kelsey the reins. “He always seems happier when you do it.”
“All right, Boggs.” Her hand covered his gnarled one. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
His eyes drifted past her as they focused on something private. “Ain’t nothing to do, Miss Kelsey. Just don’t seem right, that’s all. Don’t seem right.”
She simply couldn’t turn away. “Would you mind coming with me? I’m still a little nervous about grooming the next Derby winner.”
They both knew it was an excuse, but Boggs nodded and trudged along beside her. It was raining again, the same slow, incessant drizzle that had marred the previous afternoon. Though it was closing in on ten A.M., the mist hung stubbornly. Inside the barn, stableboys were busy mucking out, so the air was perfumed with the smells of manure, hay, and mud.
At Queenie’s box, Kelsey paused and handed the colt’s reins back to Boggs. “This’ll only take a minute.”
She took a carrot out of her back pocket, offering it to the mare while she nuzzled the soft ears. “There you go, old lady. You didn’t think I’d forget, did you?” The mare nibbled the carrot, then Kelsey’s shoulder, curving her neck in response to the caress. Though she was aware of Boggs’s interest, Kelsey completed what had become a daily routine with a kiss on Queenie’s cheek.
“I know, I’ve already taken plenty of ribbing about female equiphilia.” After a last pat, Kelsey turned back to Boggs and the colt. “And maybe I’m hooked, but I’ve caught more than one male groom cozying up to a horse.”
“Your granddaddy loved that mare.” Boggs led Pride to his box where Kelsey had already cleaned out the soiled night bedding and replaced it with clean wheat straw for day. “He’d sneak her sugar cubes every afternoon. We all pretended not to notice.”
“What was he like, Boggs?”
“He was a good man, fair. He had a quick temper in him and could crack like lightning.” As he spoke, his eyes scanned the box, noting that Kelsey had seen to the colt’s fresh water and hay net. His job usually, but he was sharing it with her, as he shared the colt. “Wouldn’t tolerate laziness, no sir, but if you did your work you got paid well and on time. Known him to sit up all night with a sick horse and to fire a man on the spot for a shoddy grooming.”
Kelsey crouched down, running her hands down Pride’s legs to check for swellings or injuries. Boggs had already washed the leg wraps and hung them with the clothespins he kept clipped to his pant leg.
“Sounds as though he was a hard man to work for.” Satisfied, she rubbed the light dampness of rain from the colt with straw.
“Not if you did what you was hired to do.” He watched as she took the dandy brush from Pride’s grooming kit. “You’ve got the touch, Miss Kelsey,” he said after a moment.
“I feel as though I’ve been doing this all my life.” She soothed the colt with murmurs and strokes as he shifted and shied. His temperament, like most aristocrats, was high-strung. “He’s a little restless this morning.”
“Sharp’s what he is. His mind’s already at the starting gate.”
Kelsey continued to remove mud from the colt’s saddle area, belly, and fetlocks. “I’m told he ran well yesterday.” She set the dandy brush aside and took up a hoof pick. “I guess it seems cold, thinking about races and times after yesterday.”
“Can’t be no other way.”
“You were friends with him a long time.”
“About forty years.” Boggs took out a tin of tobacco and helped himself to a pinch. “He was already an old hand when I come along.”
“I’ve never lost anyone close to me.” Kelsey thought of Naomi, but it was impossible to remember whatever grief she’d felt at three. “I don’t want to say I can imagine what you must be feeling, but I know if you want some time off, Naomi would give it to you.”
“No place else I’d rather be than here. That policeman, he had a look about him. He’ll find who done that to Mick.”
Kelsey dampened a sponge and wiped the colt’s eyes, outward from the corners. She enjoyed the way he looked at her while she tended to him, the recognition and the trust they’d begun to build between them. “Lieutenant Rossi. I didn’t like him. I don’t know why.”
“Well, there’s cold blood in there. But cold blood means he’ll think, and keep thinking step by step till it’s done.”
Kelsey set the sponge aside and picked up the body brush and currycomb. She remembered the light in Gabe’s eyes. There had been a need for revenge there, she decided. And she understood the sentiment too well. “Will that be enough for you, Boggs?”
“It’ll have to be.”
“There you are.” Channing leaned against the box door. He watched her a moment, the steady hands, the new muscles working in her shoulders. “You look just like you know what you’re doing.”
“I do
know what I’m doing.” And the fact never failed to delight her. “Missed you at breakfast.”
“Overslept.” His grin was more charming than sheepish. “My body clock’s not used to eating at five A.M. Listen, Matt dropped by. I’m going to go hang out with him on a couple of house calls. Barn calls. Whatever.”
“Have fun.”
He hesitated. “You’re okay, right?”
“Sure, I’m okay.”
