He shook his head. ‘It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the existence of a black market for horse sperm.’
‘It’s generally centred around the racing world because artificial insemination isn’t allowed for thoroughbred racehorses—any breeding of those horses requires the mare to be covered by natural means.’ She was dimly aware how easily she was recalling all the facts about horse breeding. ‘Normally semen from Midnight Blue would be worth in excess of five thousand pounds a dose, but because of his exclusivity, it would be worth at least twice as much.’
‘That’s a serious amount of money.’ He ran his hand along his jaw line as he considered what she’d told him. ‘Why not just steal the horse?’
Again, she answered with no hesitation. ‘He’s got a tamper-proof, microchip tracker.’ As she spoke, she grew in confidence, thrilled she remembered all these details. ‘It’s sophisticated technology. If he moves within one hundred metres of the perimeter of this property, I get a phone call to tell me. I use the chips in all my more valuable horses.’
‘Which, of course, an insider would realise.’
‘Yes.’
‘If they’ve got buyers waiting, and they expected to be able to supply indefinitely, these guys may be tempted to return—particularly if they think you’re still suffering from complete memory loss and nobody is any the wiser to their scheme.’
‘Unless they realise there are security people all over Herlstone now.’
‘The staff don’t know about the security personnel. Let’s hope the thieves’ greed makes them return for more.’
She held up one palm to her forehead and tried to tease out a remaining question. ‘Hang on, why hadn’t security dispatched someone? It’s why the duke insisted Midnight Blue was monitored by video surveillance at all times. Someone should’ve seen what was going on and raised the alarm.’
‘I’d say we’re talking about a highly organised crime ring.’ Max let out an angry breath. ‘When I found out this morning that you’d been attacked in the grounds of Herlstone Park and you’d been coming from the horse stud, it occurred to me to have the duke’s video tapes checked. I had my security team contact the duke’s video surveillance company and request the tapes from that night. Now you’ve told me what you saw, it’s not surprising the video footage was completely erased.’
‘This is quite an operation then.’ Jenna groaned. The full implications of what had occurred and how it would impact on her contractual obligations sank in. The energy drained out of her as problems with her business operations took precedence in her mind. ‘This is going to invalidate my contract with the duke.’
‘I don’t believe so. For those tapes to have been blank, somebody employed by the security company is involved. The duke was responsible for hiring the security company, so the onus for the wrongdoing is on him, not on you.’
It was hardly comforting. ‘It won’t do the stud’s reputation any good.’ Her lips pressed together tightly and her hands fisted. ‘Damn it all! I should’ve protected my own interests and had my own security. I wonder how long this has been going on?’ She paced to the phantom mare then leant against it as fatigue chased anger and made her legs weak. ‘Are Maree and Bob involved in this?’
‘I doubt it.’
‘You’re right.’ She dismissed the thought as soon as it occurred to her. ‘It’d be easy for them to have collected the semen themselves. They wouldn’t have arranged for someone else to come in late at night when there was nobody else around.’
‘I had my security team investigate further,’ Max said. ‘Both Maree and Bob were away the night of your crash. Once a month, they usually leave late on a Friday afternoon to visit Bob’s mother who lives in Brighton. They’re away the entire weekend. Working with the external security company, my guys looked back through the security surveillance tapes. The tapes for each Friday and Saturday night for the last six months when Bob and Maree have been to Brighton, are missing.’
‘Hell! I’ve been robbed for six months?’ Her jaw clenched and unclenched as her rage built. ‘Somebody at Herlstone Park must’ve been tipping them off about Maree and Bob’s comings and goings.’
‘The thieves definitely had inside knowledge.’ He came over and rubbed his hand over her shoulder, but his comforting gesture didn’t soothe the bitterness that slammed into her and seeped its way through her veins like poison.
There was at least one person on her staff she couldn’t trust. Thinking back to her arrival here, she shivered. ‘Someone here is selling me out, but I think there’s hatred behind the motivation, not just greed.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘I felt like I was being watched malevolently when we arrived here.’
Max looked at her consideringly. ‘We’ll find out, Jenna. The culprits will be caught.’
‘This theft is another betrayal.’ It stung and was becoming a recurring theme. Her shoulders slumped. ‘Obviously, despite your assertions, I’m not a person who inspires loyalty.’
‘You do inspire loyalty. No matter how good the boss or working conditions are, there’ll always be someone who wants more. There’s always someone with less who looks at a wealthy boss and justifies theft by telling themselves the boss won’t miss whatever it is they’re stealing. I doubt the inside informant has a shred of loyalty in his or her DNA.’
‘Perhaps.’ Jenna shifted to put her arms around Max’s neck. Leaning into the heat of his solid frame, she loved that his arms went around her to hold her closer. It was so good to have Max in her life and to know they could work through things together. ‘The thieves may return unless they know your security team is in place.’
‘They’re not only thieves, Jen.’ His chin rested on top of her head. ‘That stallion’s sperm is obviously worth a hell of a lot of money, because they were prepared to commit murder.’
Her heart spasmed uncomfortably. She’d been so caught up in the memory of what had taken place right in this room, she’d forgotten what had ensued. The second she’d challenged them she’d realised she would’ve been wiser to have backed out of the room quietly and called the police.
Those two men had looked like thugs.
A boulder shifted in her brain, unblocking the memory so she saw their faces clearly. One had a scar running the length of his left cheek. She’d noticed the other was missing a few of his teeth.
‘Oh God!’ Their menacing looks hadn’t been the worst thing. ‘At least one of them had a gun!’
She’d bolted out of the room and slammed the door shut the second she’d seen the weapon. Understanding her life might be threatened, she’d sprinted to the car, flung open the door and wasted no time driving off.
Max hugged her tighter. ‘I’m so grateful you’re alive.’
She placed the palm of her hand over the place where she could feel the strong beat of his heart. She knew how anguished he’d be if anything happened to her because she’d feel the same way if she lost him. ‘They didn’t shoot at me. They were probably worried gunfire would draw more attention to them.’
‘The stables aren’t out of ear shot of the nearest coach house. Had you screamed you probably would’ve had a half a dozen people running to help you.’
Screamed? He had to be kidding. ‘I was too busy running. Too busy filling my lungs with air so I could make it to the car.’
‘Thank God you made it.’
They needed to see the police and figure out how to move forward—how to set a trap for the thieves—but first she reached up to place her hand at the back of his head. Stretching up she urged his head lower. ‘Kiss me, Max.’
He groaned low in his throat and his lips claimed hers in fierce, possessive need. It was a kiss that spoke of his realisation of how easily he could have lost her—a kiss to confirm she was the most important thing in his life. His hunger and the way his tongue plunged urgently into the heat of her mouth sent shards of pleasure coursing through her and Jenna returned his fervour.
Her f
ingers dug into the tense muscles across his shoulder, her body needing so much more than his kisses.
It was only the sound of his mobile phone ringing that made them break apart reluctantly, but Max didn’t answer the call. Instead, he looked into her eyes and her heart flipped as she saw the red-hot need in his.
‘I want to lock the door and have you right here and now,’ he rasped. ‘But we need to let the police know what happened here.’
Regretfully, she knew they’d have to wait to give in to the dictates of their bodies. ‘We’d better go back to the house and call them.’
‘No. I don’t want the police to be seen here again. We’ll go to see them.’
‘Yes. That’s a better idea.’ She slipped her hand into his as they walked out of the room.
‘I need to have a security guard with the horse, Max. The semen can be stored for two to three weeks in the right medium. If they’ve got enough of it, they might come back and kill him to increase the value of their samples. We have to do everything we can to protect him.’
‘Jenna.’ His voice bore the slight rasp of frustration. ‘I know you love your horses and of course we’ll protect him as well as we can, but it’s the threat to you and our baby I’m more worried about.’
A chill trembled down the length of her spine. ‘They’re still coming after me.’
‘And they probably will until they’re put behind bars. We need to make certain nobody realises you’ve remembered any of this.’ He stopped just before the exit from the stables. ‘Do you think you can provide a description of the men, or are they still faceless?’
Determination firmed her jaw before she said, ‘I’ve got them clearly in my head now. I’ll definitely be able to give the police a description. One had a very distinctive scar.’
‘Good.’ He rolled his shoulders a little as he spoke and she guessed the muscles there were tight with strain. ‘We tell the police but we have to keep the information under wraps from everyone else.’
‘When are Bob and Maree due to go away? If the thieves try again we should be ready for them.’
‘My thoughts exactly,’ he said with a grim smile. ‘Luck’s on our side. They’re visiting his mother this weekend.’
‘So they leave tonight?’
‘Late this afternoon.’
‘It’d be so fabulous if we could be married in Jersey without all this hanging over our heads.’
He squeezed her hand. ‘Hold that thought.’
‘We’ll get them.’
He shot her a stern look. ‘We won’t, but the security team will. You’re going to be safely away from here.’
‘I’m not going to argue with you. I’m very happy to let the experts do their jobs. I don’t ever again want to go through, or put our baby through, all the stress of the night I walked in on them.’
He sent her a smile. ‘As stressful as they are, it’s fantastic you’ve got these memories back, sweetheart. Dr Gerber said you might’ve blocked your memories at a subconscious level because you didn’t want to remember.’
‘Really?’
‘Patients with retrograde amnesia often block out memories associated with fear, trauma or betrayal. I can understand why your subconscious chose to block out the fear you must’ve known that night and the trauma of the crash. Now you’ve been exposed to reliving the events of the night, has it unblocked everything?’
‘No.’ Her voice was quiet and distressed. ‘I’ve remembered what I saw that night and it’s like I’ve never forgotten all the stuff about horses and breeding, but I haven’t fully regained my memory.’ She concentrated hard, trying to think back to her school days and back to her parents, but no memories came through. ‘I only remember the horse business.’
Dr Gerber’s opinion hit her hard.
If memories were blocked due to fear or betrayal, what else was she afraid of, or what other betrayal might she not want to face?
Unbidden, the sense she’d been angry with Max the night of the accident rose again to the fore. He’d said they hadn’t fought, but had something happened to make her feel betrayed by him?
Had they been going to have a fight when she drove to London?
Don’t be ridiculous. Max has already proven I can trust him with my life.
But the sense of unease continued on and off throughout the afternoon—niggling away at her even as she sat with the police sketch artist and he created the images of the thieves that she saw in her mind’s eye. Jenna couldn’t help think that she was still missing some important detail about the night of her accident.
Chapter 17
‘Everything’s set.’ Max turned his laptop around on the top of the bed so the screen faced Jenna. A live video recording was being streamed from the stable block to Max’s computer via some additional, discreet cameras Hans had installed. ‘If the bastards come back, you’ll see exactly how things play out.’
Despite being keen to see the sting go down, Jenna stretched her arms up as she yawned. ‘I don’t think I’ll be awake much longer.’
‘Then you should sleep for yourself and our little one.’ He reached out to frame her face in his hands. ‘If anything happens, it’ll all be recorded and you can see it in the morning.’
‘Let’s hope there’s something to see.’ She longed to have the crooks caught and have this behind them. When she and Max returned from Jersey, she wanted to focus on organising the nursery. As it was, she was going to have to make a court appearance at the trials of James, Sally and David. If the men she’d witnessed with Midnight Blue were arrested, there’d be another court case where she’d have to give evidence.
Max leaned over the top of the laptop and gave her a kiss that chased away all thoughts of sleep and had heat pooling low down in her pelvis. He broke away with a sound of regret. ‘I’m going to head to the security room before I give in to the temptation of staying with you. I want to check in with Hans and make certain everything’s in place at the stables.’
Damping down her desire, she placed her hand on his arm. ‘You won’t put yourself in any danger, will you?’ Even though he’d told her he’d be watching from the security room, she needed reassurance.
He stood and walked to the door. ‘No need to worry. I’d no sooner meddle in their business than they would in mine. They’re the best in their field, which is why I hired them.’
Jenna nodded. ‘I love you.’
‘I love you too.’ Before he closed the door behind him he said, ‘I’ll hang around for a few hours. If nothing happens by midnight, I’ll be back.’
She knew the plan. The moment the thieves entered the stables, the building would be surrounded by members of Max’s security team, and the police would be called. The police would then hang back from the property in case they were spotted by the insider. They’d be radioed when the thieves emerged.
This afternoon, after looking at the police artist’s sketch, the detective in charge had confirmed that the two men were known to him. Unfortunately, he hadn’t moved to bring them into the station for questioning. He’d said that due to Jenna’s amnesia, the defence lawyers might be able to cast doubt on the accuracy of her memories. Her testimony against the men may not hold up in court, so a sting was all-important for a case to be brought against them to eliminate all reasonable doubt.
The video surveillance would provide irrefutable proof of the theft. If all went according to plan, the men responsible for stealing would be caught leaving the premises with the sample. It was less certain they’d be able to nail them with attempted murder, but they’d chased and had motive to kill Jenna.
Gathering up a couple of the baby nursery decorating magazines Max had delivered to her, Jenna settled back against the pillows and started flicking through the pages in an effort to stay awake.
Every now and then, her gaze flicked to the laptop screen.
It was ten o’clock before she sat up straighter, her attention riveted to the screen as two men appeared in the stables. Her heart skipped a bea
t when the camera zoomed in on their faces.
The fine hairs at the nape of her neck prickled as remembered fear consumed her.
These were the same men who’d chased her to her car. Although she didn’t remember getting a good view of the person who’d been driving the car that ran her into the tree, it stood to reason it must’ve been one of these ugly thugs.
The camera zoomed back out and showed one man leading Midnight Blue from his stall towards the collection room. The other walked through to the adjoining stables, where the mares were stalled.
A few minutes later, the second man emerged with her mare Honey.
Jenna clenched her molars together. These guys definitely had inside information. She’d checked with the stables this afternoon and Honey was the only mare currently in estrus.
Fine. Let them proceed with their crime. This time they’ll be caught and it’ll all be over.
The police hoped that once these two were arrested, they’d agree to a plea bargain for the theft and sing their hearts out in return for the names of the insider who’d helped them, and the crime bosses they worked for. There would, however, be no plea bargain for the attempted murder of Jenna.
Jenna’s fingers curled, scrunching up the top of her bed sheet as she watched these low-life bastards proceed to get what they’d come for. The sheer audacity of them to return to the scene of the crime! How long did they think they could get away with it before they were detected?
The camera view changed and showed a couple of the security team entering the stables. Those men would be hiding inside ready to intervene if the criminals had anything nasty in mind for Midnight Blue. Jenna was still concerned they might harm him to make his sperm more valuable.
Less than forty minutes later, the sample had been obtained.
Arrogantly cool, the men returned both the mare and Midnight Blue to their stalls, then returned to the collection room to make certain nothing had been left out of place.
Come on. Come on. Take the sperm and go, Jenna urged under her breath.
Seduced by the Stranger (Billionaires & Babies, #2) Page 21
