“I want to. That much is obvious, but—”
He moved his mouth a little and nibbled on the end of her fingers.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Unrepentantly.”
She slipped from his hold, and reached out her hand. When he took hold of it, she pulled him away from the ladder. “I won’t sleep if I ask you up. We’re both almost giddy with exhaustion. I think maybe we’d best get at least a little rest.”
He wanted to argue, but clearly, as she was yawning again, she had a point.
“I don’t snore,” he said, trying his best to look innocent.
She laughed. “Go home.”
He stepped out of the way and allowed her to start climbing the ladder. “Good night, mijita.”
“Good night, Rafe.” She paused, looked down. “Thank you. For your help with Springer. And for…well, for being there.”
“Always.”
She nodded and he stood there, long after she’d closed the loft hatch. He listened to the creak of the floorboards overhead as she readied herself for bed. Stood there until the creaking stopped and the light splintering through the loft hatch went out.
“Good night,” he murmured again, and walked out of the barn, knowing that today had marked a profound change in his life. In him.
He was falling for the last person on earth he’d ever have expected to catch his attention. She was contrary, opinionated, and stubborn to a fault. She was both trouble and in trouble. Worse yet, she planned to leave at the first opportunity.
Perfect. Just perfect.
He grinned like a madman all the way back to the pool house.
Chapter 18
“She moved her horse. In the middle of the night.”
Rafe paced inside his office as Mac made himself at home behind Rafe’s desk. “Don’t prop your feet up on—” He sighed and moved the stack of folders out from under Mac’s size twelves. “Yes, she moved her horse. About two hours from here. To her vet’s place. Guy named Kenny.”
“No last name?”
“He’s an old friend, a vet with his own rural practice. Big spread, from what I could tell.”
“Name of the farm?”
“Didn’t get it.”
Mac grinned. “What, no signs anywhere?”
“I was too busy trying to find out what the real story was, okay?”
“And? Stop with the suspense, already—you’re killing me. What is the real story? Is her horse in some kind of danger? Someone from Charlotte Oaks think he’s the babydaddy or something?”
Rafe started to tell Mac what he’d learned, when it hit him. Mac had just been kidding, but Rafe froze as the last pieces finally slid into place. “Holy shit.” He looked at Mac. “That’s it.”
Mac let his feet slide off the desk and leaned forward. “That’s what? What’s it? What did I say?”
“I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out.”
“Figure what out? Come on, help a brother out here.”
Rafe began fishing through the stacks of files piled on one corner. He finally found the report he was looking for and flipped it open, scanning through the pages. “Dammit. Not here.” He kept flipping, scanning. “Fuck. Nothing.” He slapped the file back down. “That’s got to be it, though. The timeline fits. But how in the hell…I wonder if the investigator suspects? Dammit!”
Mac stood up. “Would you tell me what’s going on, for Christ’s sake? Did Elena have something to do with the death of that racehorse? What could she have possibly done? From everything Kate has said about her, no way would she hurt an animal. Was it an accident?”
“It’s not what she’s done, it’s what her horse did. Or, more specifically, if I’m on the right track here, what Geronimo did to her horse.”
“What could he possibly have…oh.” Mac’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”
“You’re damn fucking right, oh shit.”
“But, wait a minute—before we get carried away here, no way in hell something like that happens and no one knows about it. I know his security team ducked out briefly before the fire, but still, a multi-bazillion-dollar, half-ton stud just doesn’t happen to pop his cork unnoticed. When two horses go at it, it’s not just a little slap and tickle in the nearest hay bale—wait.” Now he started digging through the files.
“Already looked for it. And I know more than you do about that night. More than the police-interview reports, more than the fire-investigator reports.”
Mac abruptly stopped, put the folders back down, and turned his full attention to Rafe. “Okay, fill me in.”
Rafe paused a moment before telling Mac what he knew. He’d told Elena he was going to bring Mac into this, but he knew how hard it had been to extend her trust to him. He trusted Mac with his life, but he had to make sure they were on the same page here from the get-go.
“Cat got your tongue?” Mac grinned. “Or maybe it’s Elena who has your tongue? And I’m not speaking metaphorically here.”
“Very funny. It’s just that she finally talked to me last night and I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that.”
Mac looked wounded. “Do you really think I—”
“Of course not. But it’s not about what you or I think, it’s about what she thinks. I don’t want her spooked back into silence.”
“I won’t say a word to her until you give me the green light. Behind-the-scenes man, that’s me. But, for the record, she obviously didn’t tell you everything.”
Rafe looked at his partner and best friend, torn, for the first time, between two people he cared about. “I know. But she did tell me she was out there the night Geronimo died.”
“Out there…as in with Geronimo?”
Rafe nodded and relayed the story. “I’m assuming—now, anyway—she must have ridden Springer out there. It was the only time it could have happened.”
“And no one saw this.” Mac’s flat tone made it clear what he thought of that probability.
Rafe shrugged. “Apparently not, since it sure as hell would be, or would have been, the front-page story on every major news outlet.”
“Which means she omitted revealing her little visit when talking with the police.”
“She was very likely the last one to see the horse alive. No witnesses. No alibi.”
“Yeah, I can see where that might not be a great thing to share. Worse, even, if her horse happened to get knocked up with million-dollar sperm right before the sperm donor dies.”
“Exactly. Then there is also the little matter of a moved kerosene tank.”
“But there was only one tank in the reports, which is the one that blew.” Mac’s eyes widened. “She handled the tank?”
“No, she saw the tank. Next to the heater, in the middle of the barn.”
Mac flipped open the police report. “I thought it blew up in an attached shed.”
“It did.”
Mac looked up. “Don’t get pissed off, but I have to ask—are you sure she’s not involved? Because this is looking pretty damn shady.”
“As sure as I can be.”
“And which head are you thinking with?”
Rafe gritted his teeth. “The same damn head you were thinking with when you helped save Kate’s property.”
Mac surprised him by laughing.
“What is so goddamn funny?”
“I thought it might be like that.”
“Like what?” he demanded, though he knew damn well where Mac was going with this. Might as well stake his claim now anyway. Let the fun begin.
“You know exactly what. Finn and I knew you had her in your scope a long time before your concerns about her even came up.”
“I didn’t.” Not in a conscious way, anyway. But he had done some thinking about that. And…Mac had a point.
“Not like you do now.”
“No,” Rafe said evenly. “Not like I do now. And, fair warning, you have any problems with any of this, you go through me. If you doubt her in the least, then focu
s on another case and I’ll handle this one.”
Mac just grinned. “Glad to see we’re being objective and open-minded about all this.” He stood up and rounded the desk, clapped Rafe on the shoulder, and stuck out his hand. “Welcome to the club, my friend.”
Rafe shook his hand. “What club?”
“The ‘your life is never going to be the same’ club. Don’t worry, it’s a pretty sweet club to be in.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“Oh, don’t thank me yet. I have a few years of major ragging on your ass to get off my chest. But at least you’ll have a soft pair of arms to cry into every night when I get done.”
“Very funny.”
Mac laughed. “I know. I can’t wait to tell Finn.”
“Can we get back to the matter at hand here?”
“Sure. But, fair warning, I am going to question you on this, just like you did me with Kate. I might not have appreciated it at the time, but it did help me stay objective enough to see all the angles. This looks way more twisted than the situation at Winnimocca. I think you’re going to need all the objective minds you can collect. By the way, no way can I keep this from Kate.”
“I know.” At Mac’s surprised expression, he said, “I already told Elena that. But maybe it might be better coming from her, or me. Before you start gloating all over the place, okay?”
“I’ll give you the rest of the day, since I don’t plan on seeing Kate until tonight. But we don’t keep things from each other.” He caught Rafe’s gaze. “A policy you and Elena might want to consider adopting here real quick.”
“I know.”
“So, does she still think the explosion was an accident?”
“She’s not sure. But she made the observation that everyone who should have been in the building came running from other places when the tank blew. So that tends to lead me to believe whoever was there, shouldn’t have been there.”
“Like Elena shouldn’t have been there?”
“Yes. And maybe they didn’t come forward for the same reason she didn’t.”
“And this mystery person didn’t see her there, or see the whole match-game moment with the horses? Because that would be pretty hard to believe.”
“She said it was about forty-five minutes after she left the stables when the tank blew. Whoever it was had plenty of time to come in after she left. And no one has contacted her, or ratted her out, which you think they would have done if they saw her there. Pin the blame on her.”
“True, true. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless they thought she saw them.”
“We talked about that, too.”
Mac grinned. “Did a lot of talking, did you? Is that all you did?”
“Don’t.”
“I don’t have to. You have that whole ‘me caveman, you mine’ attitude thing Kate says I had after we finally…stopped talking.”
Rafe ignored him. “What we have to figure out now, is what the insurance investigator knows.”
“What was the deal with that phone call, anyway?”
“It shook her up, but he didn’t ask her anything new. It was the timing of it. She’s pretty set on the idea that it was because we did some digging, calling Charlotte Oaks about her, that got them interested in her again. She thinks it’s just a stalling tactic on their part to drag out the investigation that much longer, not pay the claim.”
“And you?”
“The timing suggests she has a point, but with the secrets she’s been keeping, we can’t be too sure. Apparently the guy is going to come out here to talk to her in person. So that leads me to think there is more going on.”
“Is that why she moved the horse?”
“I thought so. In fact, I thought she was running. But it turns out she was just moving Springer for medical reasons.”
“You think the horse was really having problems? Or was it because she thought someone might be on to the babydaddy angle.”
“Her mare was having problems, but now…I’m thinking it was both.” Rafe swore under his breath and wished Elena had told him the rest. It definitely changed things. This wasn’t just about her innocence now and making sure she didn’t get railroaded if the truth came out. Now—hell, he didn’t know what to think now. “I don’t even know the legal ramifications of her horse carrying Geronimo’s offspring.”
“We need Finn. He would know where to dig, who to ask.”
“It would be helpful. You hear anything from him?”
“Not a peep. But he said this might take a while.”
“I sure as hell wish we knew what ‘this’ was all about.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure he’ll fill us in when he can.”
“Which does jack for me now. I’ll see what I can dig up.”
“I’d ask Kate, but her knowledge of horses is strictly about using them with the kids. I doubt she knows anything about breeding them or the legalities of it all. She might know someone who does know, though. She has a lot of contacts.”
“Wait on that. Let me see what I can dig up. And I have to talk to Elena first. This is still all supposition on our part.”
“You think we’re on the wrong track?”
Rafe sighed. “I wish we were.”
“Do you think maybe she bred them on purpose?”
“If I believe that, I almost have to believe she had something to do with the explosion and Geronimo’s death.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I don’t know that I do, either, but it’s just too damn big a coincidence otherwise.”
“But something like that couldn’t happen by accident, could it? I mean, unless he got loose or something, but surely someone would have noticed a million-dollar stallion charging around.”
“It was the middle of the night.”
“How would one person catch him and get him back in his stall?”
“Well, if it was anyone else, I’d say I don’t know. But if that one person was Elena—”
“Our resident horse whisperer…” Mac trailed off and fell silent while they both thought over the situation.
“What would the scenario be for her not being involved?” Rafe asked. “If her horse got knocked up by the same stud that miraculously dies in a horrible fire hours later…what scenario works where she’s still innocent?”
“If it truly was an accident.”
“We’ve already established someone moved the tank. Someone who didn’t come forward with that information after the fact. So that brings reasonable doubt.”
“Based on her word.” Mac lifted a hand. “Playing devil’s advocate. Of course she’d say someone else was there, someone she conveniently didn’t see, who conveniently didn’t see her. Or two horses going at it. It doesn’t play well, even if it is the truth.”
“That much is the truth. I was the one she told the story to, and I believe her on that and that she wasn’t involved with his death. At least she believes that she wasn’t.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning, she didn’t have anything to do with the fire that she knows of. The facts are still that she was there and her horse got knocked up, and the horse that did it died an hour later. It just seems too probable that those two things are connected, but if she didn’t connect them, who did?”
“Okay, accident or planned conception, maybe someone saw what happened. The same someone who was out there for whatever reason, the guy who moved the tank. Maybe the fire wasn’t the plan at that point—could be just a barn worker—but then he sees this happen and decides to take out Geronimo, knowing Elena’s horse carried the only heir to a triple-crown champion. Wouldn’t that make the baby that much more valuable?”
“Yes, but he would have no way of knowing if the mating took or not. Kill the fatted calf too soon and lose everything.”
“Maybe it was his only chance.”
“So…where is he?”
“Hiding, waiting for the baby to come?”
“Why
not steal Springer?”
“Maybe that was the plan, but then she left and he didn’t know where she went off to. She moved around quite a bit that first month or so after she left.”
Rafe thought about it, then shook his head. “I can’t see someone just rashly killing off a famous horse like that, not without some guarantee.”
Mac leaned back and folded his arms. “I agree. You got any better scenarios?”
Rafe swore, hating every second of this. “Maybe it is just what it looks like. There was a guy out there, with plans to blow the place up, for some other reason entirely. Elena went out on the spur-of-the-moment—no one knew she’d be there. It could be as simple as that. She came and went, the other plan was already in motion.”
“And the miracle conception?”
Rafe shrugged. “All we know is that it was forty-five minutes after she left that the tank blew. And since the tank was moved after she left, then whoever came to set it up could have missed the whole thing, never known she was there. It could be coincidence.”
“If that’s the case, she’s lucky she didn’t blow up with him.”
Rafe shuddered at the thought. To think he’d never have had the chance to meet her, to know her, to—He looked at Mac as another thought occurred to him. “Except, what do you make of this sudden interest in her? Simple as me digging around, making calls?”
“Could be. Probably is. Is there anything else going on back there that would make you think otherwise?”
“We have the most recent reports and they show a stunning lack of evidence, so it looks like the insurance claims will have to be paid. So it could be them stalling.”
“Maybe it was all an accident. The guy was just a worker who put the tank away, maybe damaging it in the process. Maybe nothing was planned.”
“Maybe.”
They waited two beats, then looked at each other.
“Yeah,” Mac said. “I don’t think so, either.”
“I wish like hell I did. So now what?”
“Now we at least figure out what her culpability is, in terms of her horse carrying a million-dollar baby that may or may not be her property.”
The Black Sheep and the Hidden Beauty Page 23
