by Lisa Jackson
“What!” Louise was more than shocked.
As the two women walked toward the back porch, Tiffany explained the events of the evening before and Louise clucked her tongue in disbelief.
“But who would do such a thing?” Louise wondered once they were in the kitchen.
“That’s the mystery.”
“You got any ideas?”
“No...but Zane seems to.”
Louise’s eyes sparkled. “That one, he’ll figure it out. Just you wait and see.”
When the telephone rang, Tiffany expected the caller to be Zane, but she was disappointed.
“Hello, Tiff?” Dustin asked through the fuzzy long-distance connection.
“Dustin? Where are you?”
“In Florida and, well, brace yourself for some bad news.”
Tiffany slumped against the pantry, the receiver pressed against her ear. Her fingers curled over the handle until her knuckles showed white. “What happened?” she asked, dread steadily mounting up her spine.
“It’s Journey’s End,” Dustin said.
Tiffany’s heart pounded erratically, and she felt as if her whole world were falling apart, piece by piece. “What about him?”
“He was injured. Just yesterday, while working out. From everything we can tell, he’s got a bone chip in his knee.”
“Oh, God,” Tiffany said, letting out her breath in a long sigh. When would it end? She ran shaking fingers through her hair and wished that Zane were with her now.
“It looks bad, Tiff. I think his career is over—”
“Before it really began.”
“We can retire him to stud.”
“I guess that’s about the only thing we can do,” she reluctantly agreed, her shoulders slumping. “Other than the knee, how is he?”
“The vet says he’ll be okay, but we’d better not count on him racing anymore. It wouldn’t hurt to have Vance look at him when he gets home.”
“How is Bob Prescott taking the news?”
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. “That’s a little bit of a sore point, Tiff. I think Prescott ran him knowing that something was wrong.”
“No!”
“I can’t prove it.”
Tiffany felt sick inside. “Let me talk to him,” Tiffany demanded, rage thundering through her blood. The last thing she would stand for was anyone on her staff mistreating a horse.
“Too late.”
“What?”
“I fired him.”
“On suspicion?” Tiffany was incredulous.
“He’s been involved in a couple of shady things,” Dustin said. “I just didn’t want to take any more chances.”
“But who will replace him?”
“I’m talking to a couple of guys now. Big-name trainers...I’ll call you after I meet with them.”
“I don’t know—”
“Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll make all the arrangements to send Journey’s End home.”
“Wait. Before you hang up.”
“What?” Dustin demanded impatiently.
“Last night someone let Moon Shadow out of his stall.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. “What do you mean ‘someone let him out’?” Dustin asked, his voice cold.
Tiffany gave a brief account of the events of the evening and Dustin’s voice shook with rage. “Zane Sheridan was there again? What does he want this time? Don’t tell me he’s still pressuring you into selling to him.”
“No, Dustin, he’s not,” Tiffany replied.
“Then why the hell is he hanging around?”
“Maybe he enjoys my company—”
“I’ll bet. If you ask me, he’s the culprit who let Moon Shadow out. He’s probably trying to make it tough on you so you’ll sell him the farm.” Dustin swore descriptively.
“I don’t think so.”
“That’s the problem, isn’t it—sometimes you just don’t think. Period.”
With his final words, Dustin slammed down the phone, and Tiffany knew in her heart that everything Zane had said about her brother-in-law was true. A deep sadness stole over her, and she spent the rest of the day locked in the den, going over the books, hoping to block out the bitter truth about Dustin and what he had done.
Dustin would be back on the farm with Journey’s End by the end of the week. When he arrived, Tiffany planned to confront him with the truth.
* * *
FOUR DAYS LATER, she still hadn’t heard from Zane. Things had settled into the usual routine on the farm, and she had spent her time working with Mac and the yearlings.
The fence had been repaired, and there had been no other disturbances on the farm. Moon Shadow was healing well, and Mac had prepared a neighboring stall in the stallion barn for Journey’s End. “A shame about that one,” the old trainer had remarked when he learned about the accident. “Sometimes fate seems to deal out all the bad cards at once.”
Later that night, Tiffany was seated in the den going over the books. The house was dark except for the single desk lamp and the shifting flames of the fire burning noisily against dry oak. Tiffany felt cold and alone. The portrait of Devil’s Gambit seemed to stare down from its position over the mantel and mock her. Where was Zane? Why hadn’t he called?
She tried to force her attention back to the books and the red ink that was beginning to flow in the pages of the general ledger. The farm was losing money. Without Moon Shadow’s stud fees or any income from Journey’s End’s racing career, Tiffany had little alternative but to sell several of the best yearlings.
The rap on the French doors surprised her, but she knew in an instant that it had to be Zane. She saw his haggard face through the glass, she opened the doors with trembling fingers and flung herself into his arms.
He stepped in with a rush of cold air that chilled the room and fanned the glowing embers of the fire and billowed the sheer draperies. “Thank God you’re here,” she whispered against his neck before lifting her head and studying the intensity of his gaze.
The look on his face was murderous. Dark shadows circled his gray eyes, and a weariness stole over his features making the angular planes seem more rugged and foreboding. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in weeks.
“Zane?” she whispered as his dark eyes devoured her.
“It’s just about over,” he said as he closed the door and walked over to the fire to warm himself.
“What is?”
“Everything you’ve been going through.” He reached for her and drew her close to him. “I wish I could make it easier for you—”
“Easier?”
“Shh.” He brushed his lips over hers, and his hands locked behind her back, gently urging her body forward until her supple curves pressed against him and he groaned, as if in despair. She felt her body respond to his and heard the uneven beat of her own heart when he kissed her hungrily and his tongue touched hers. Her fingers lingered at his neck, and she felt the coiled tension within him, saw the strain on his face.
“What happened?” she asked, when at last he drew his head back.
“It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got the rest of my life to listen,” she murmured.
Zane managed a wan smile. “Oh, lady, I’ve been waiting for four days to hear you say just those words,” he whispered, his arms tightening around her. “God, I’ve missed you.” He kissed the curve of her neck, his lips lingering near her earlobe, before he gently released her.
“So tell me.”
He rammed his fingers through his black, windblown hair and poured them each a drink. “I found Stasia,” he admitted roughly, Tiffany’s heart nearly missed a beat. “It wasn’t all that easy, and if she’d had her way, I never would have located her.”
He walked over to Tiffany and handed her a snifter of brandy, before taking a long swallow of the warm liquor and sitting on the hearth, hoping that the golden flames would warm his back.
“How did you find her?”
<
br /> “A private investigator by the name of Walt Griffith.”
His gray eyes searched hers. “I had him do some checking on you, too—”
“What!”
He smiled devilishly and his eyes twinkled. “I didn’t figure you’d like it any more than Stasia did. But it was necessary. To find Ellery.”
Tiffany nearly dropped her drink. Her hands began to shake as she lifted the glass to her lips.
“I’m getting ahead of myself,” Zane said. “Walt found Stasia living with some artist-type in Carmel. When I approached her she was shocked, but managed to fall right back into character—she agreed to tell her side of the Ellery Rhodes story for a substantial fee.”
“You paid her?” Tiffany was outraged.
Zane’s eyes rested on her flushed face and he smiled. “Believe me, it was worth it.”
Tiffany wasn’t so sure. “What did you find out?”
“About the accident that supposedly killed Devil’s Gambit.”
Tiffany’s heart was pounding so loudly it seemed to echo against the cherry-wood walls. “Wait a minute,” she insisted as the cold truth swept over her in a tidal wave of awareness. “What you’re saying is that—”
“Stasia was Ellery’s mistress. Even when he was married to you, he was having an affair with my ex-wife. Seems that they were hooked on the excitement of carrying on when there was the danger of being discovered.”
“I...” Tiffany was about to say that she didn’t want to believe it, but she knew it was the truth. She’d come to the same conclusion herself once she had talked to Dustin. The affair explained so much about Ellery that she had never understood.
“So Ellery?” she asked breathlessly.
“Was killed in the accident,” Zane assured her.
“I...never wished him dead,” Tiffany whispered, walking across the room and sitting next to Zane on the hearth.
“I know. You just had to know the truth.” Zane looked into her eyes and smiled. “It’s going to be all right, you know.”
“God, I hope so.”
“We’ll be together.”
Tiffany’s eyes filled with tears of happiness. “Then you’re right—everything will work out.”
“Stasia admitted that the horses were switched,” he said, continuing with his story. “Ellery had thought that the insurance forms had already been processed—”
“The ones that were waiting for his signature?”
“Yes. No one but Ellery, Dustin and Bob Prescott knew that Devil’s Gambit had pulled a ligament after his last race.”
“Not even Mac?”
“No.”
“When?”
“While exercising a few days after his last race. It looked as if Devil’s Gambit, the favored horse, wouldn’t be able to race in any of the Triple Crown races. If Ellery could make it look as if Devil’s Gambit had died in an accident, when in fact it was really another, considerably less valuable horse who was killed, he could breed Devil’s Gambit under an alias in another country, collect stud fees and get the insurance money to boot. It was better odds than just putting him out for stud before he’d really proved himself.”
“Oh, God,” Tiffany said with a long sigh. Nervously she ran her fingers through her hair.
“It wasn’t a foolproof plan by any means and it was extremely risky. But Ellery enjoyed taking risks—remember the stunts he and Dustin would pull in Europe when he posed as Ethan Rivers?”
Tiffany nodded, her stomach turning over convulsively. What kind of a man had she married? How had she been so blind?
“There was always the chance that Devil’s Gambit would be recognized because of the Jockey Club identification number tattooed on the inside of his lip. And of course there was the remote possibility of something going wrong with Ellery’s plans.”
Tiffany had broken out in a cold sweat. She wrapped her arms around herself as she relived the horrible night when she was told that Ellery and Devil’s Gambit were killed.
“Everything backfired when Ellery was trapped in the truck and killed along with the switched horse, which, by the way, Bob Prescott supplied. It seems that the trainer was involved in the scam with Ellery and Dustin.”
“And all this time I’ve let him work with our horses.... God, how could I have been so stupid?”
“There’s no shame in trusting your husband, Tiffany,” Zane said softly and kissed the top of her head before smiling. “In fact, your next one will insist upon it.”
She felt his warm arm slide around her waist. “And Dustin—what about him?” she asked.
“He decided to gamble and carry out Ellery’s plan.”
“With Bob Prescott?”
“Right. Stasia claims he was absolutely furious that the insurance forms hadn’t been signed, and that you, not he, as the new forms indicated, would get the settlement.” Zane shrugged and finished his drink in one swallow. “But by that time it was too late.”
“So what are we going to do?”
His arm tightened possessively around her, and his fingers toyed with the lapels of her robe. “For now, go to bed. Tomorrow we’ll deal with Dustin.”
“How?”
“I have it on good authority that he’ll be here with Journey’s End. Come on.” He pulled her gently to her feet and walked her to the stairs. “I haven’t slept in days—” he slid an appreciative glance down her body “—and somehow I get the feeling that I’ll have trouble again tonight.”
They mounted the stairs entwined in an embrace. Once in her bedroom, he let his hand slip inside her bathrobe and felt the shimmery fabric of her nightgown. “I’ve been waiting for so long to be with you again,” he whispered into her ear as he untied the belt of the robe, pushed it gently over her shoulders and let it drop unheeded to the floor.
* * *
TRUE TO ZANE’S prediction, Dustin arrived around nine. He marched into the kitchen and stopped abruptly. The last person he had expected to see was Zane Sheridan. Dustin’s composure slipped slightly and his broad shoulders stiffened. His jeans and shirt were rumpled from the long, cross-country drive, and three days’ growth of beard darkened his chin. In contrast, Zane was clean-shaven and dressed in fresh corduroy pants and a crisp shirt. His hair was neatly combed, and the satisfied smile on his face made Dustin’s hair stand on end.
The differences in the two men were striking.
Dustin cast a worried glance in Tiffany’s direction before placing his Stetson on a hook near the door.
“’Morning, Dustin,” Zane drawled. He was leaning against the counter sipping coffee while Tiffany made breakfast.
Dustin managed a thin smile. “What’re you doing here?”
“Visiting.” Zane took another long drink.
The meaning of Zane’s words settled like lead on Dustin’s shoulders. “Oh, no, Tiffany,” he said. “You’re not getting involved with this bastard, are you?” He hooked a thumb in Zane’s direction.
Zane just smiled wickedly, but Tiffany stiffened. “I don’t see that it’s any of your business, Dustin. Is Journey’s End in the stallion barn?”
“Yes.”
“With Mac?”
“He was there and that veterinarian, Geddes.”
“Good.”
Dustin became uneasy. “What’s going on?”
Zane propped a booted foot on a chair near the table. “That’s what we’d like to know.” Zane’s gray eyes glittered ominously, and Dustin was reminded of a great cat about to spring on unsuspecting quarry. His throat went dry.
“Tiffany?” Dustin asked.
She turned to face her brother-in-law and he saw the disappointment in her eyes. She knows. She knows everything! Dustin’s palms began to sweat, and he tugged at the collar of his shirt.
“I think you need to answer a few questions, Dustin. Did you let Moon Shadow out the other night?” she charged.
Dustin’s gold eyes narrowed treacherously, but he refused to fall into any of Sheridan’s traps. “Of course not. I...I
was in Florida.”
“It’s over, Rhodes,” Zane cut in. “I checked the flights. You were booked on a red-eye.”
“No—I mean, I had business in town....”
Tiffany’s shoulders slumped, but she forced her gaze to bore into Dustin’s. “Zane says that Devil’s Gambit is alive in Ireland, that he’s siring foals while King’s Ransom is taking all the credit.” Dustin whitened. “Is it true?” Tiffany demanded, her entire body shaking with rage and disappointment.
“I don’t know anything about—”
“Knock it off,” Zane warned, straightening to his full height. “You’re the primary owner of Emerald Enterprises, which happens to own a farm where King’s Ransom stands. I saw Devil’s Gambit and I’ve got the pictures to prove it.” His face grew deadly. “And if that isn’t enough proof to lock you up for the rest of your life, Stasia is willing to talk, for the right price.”
“None of this is happening.” Dustin turned his gold eyes on her. “Tiff, you can’t believe all this. Sheridan’s just out for revenge, like I told you.... Oh, my God,” he said as he recognized the truth. “You’re in love with the bastard, aren’t you? What’s he promised to do, marry you?” He saw the silent confirmation in her eyes. “Damn it, Tiffany, don’t be a fool. Of course he proposed to you. He’d do anything to steal this farm from you.”
“The only time I was a fool, Dustin,” Tiffany stated, her voice trembling with rage, “was when I trusted you.”
“I helped you—when your world was falling to pieces, I helped you, damn it.”
“And you lied. About Devil’s Gambit and about Moon Shadow.” Her eyes blazed a furious shade of blue. “You let me think that Moon Shadow was the cause of the dead foals and you leaked the story to Rod Crawford.”
“What are you saying?” Dustin demanded.
“That the jig is up. Vance Geddes has discovered that the only unhealthy foals sired by Moon Shadow were all conceived during one week—a week you were on the farm,” Zane said, barely able to control his temper. “He hasn’t discovered what you injected the mares with yet, but it’s only a matter of time before he knows just what happened.”
“That doesn’t mean—”
“Give it up, Rhodes!”
Dustin turned furious eyes on Tiffany. “You’ve got it all figured out, haven’t you? You and your lover! Well, I’m not going to bother to explain myself. It looks as if I’m going to need an attorney—”
