by Toni Leland
The feeling that he was missing something still bothered him. He needed to find out where the horse show was being held. Opening the slider on his phone, he hooked into the Internet to do a search. The show was in Burbank, about twenty minutes away. Was there much point in going there at night? It was after eight. No, his body was saying it was actually after eleven. Jet lag suddenly caught up with him and he decided to put everything on hold until he’d had some sleep. Jasper wasn’t going anywhere.
~~
Kim arrived at the Burbank show grounds about six the next morning. As she walked to the show office, she thought about Jasper Martin. His stalls had remained empty all afternoon. If he planned to show any horses, wouldn’t he want them settled in to rest through the night? She shrugged. They’d probably be there this morning.
At the show secretary’s desk, she picked up the current version of the class list, scanned it for changes, then headed for the stabling area to check Jasper’s stalls. Miss Kitty would be proud of her. Insatiable curiosity had been Kim’s biggest ally—and downfall—all her life. No way could she start the grueling day without knowing Jasper’s whereabouts.
Inside the main barn, the air fairly crackled with anticipation. Kim walked through and continued on to the last barn. Her step slowed, then she stopped. Jasper’s stalls were still empty.
A man came around the corner leading a horse. “Heads up!”
She moved out of the way and said, “Do you know if this exhibitor is here yet?”
The man glanced at the name on the stalls, then shook his head. “Nope. Been nobody at this end since yesterday morning.”
Kim looked at her watch. Did she have time to go back to the show office to see if Jasper had scratched? The speakers overhead hummed. “First call for class 101, youth hunter.”
Perplexed, Kim hurried from the barn. Jasper obviously didn’t bother to bring horses until closer to the time of his class. If she knew anything about showing horses, that meant he didn’t care whether he placed or not. So, why bother?
She moved into the arena and found the best vantage point. Lens cover came off as the in-gate opened to a string of young riders on beautifully groomed show ponies. Kim lost herself in the moment and entered the world of competition.
Twenty minutes later, she positioned herself and focused on the eight-year-old girl grinning broadly from the back of a shiny chestnut gelding sporting a large blue ribbon.
“Okay, honey, smile real big. You did good.”
By midmorning, the temperature had risen considerably and Kim had consumed three bottles of water. The announcer called a fifteen minute break and Kim headed for the restrooms. Such would be the rest of her day, but maybe she could grab a quick nap during the lunch break. As she blotted her forehead with a wet paper towel, she overheard two women talking between bathroom stalls. Kim didn’t pay much attention until she heard one woman mention Jasper’s name.
The other voice sounded disgusted. “He doesn’t deserve to even have those horses. I hope the Feds take them away from him.”
“I heard they were all registered in the sister’s name.”
Kim held her breath, but no more information was forthcoming other than catty remarks.
Stunned, she left the restroom and walked slowly toward the arena. The IRS had found money in the sister’s bank account, but no mention had been made of the horses being hers. If they were, Jasper wouldn’t be able to sell them without her signature. Another piece of the puzzle?
~~
Quaid made short work of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, biscuits, and the strongest coffee he’d ever tasted. The waitress came by to top off his cup.
“Say, do you know the best way to get to Burbank?”
She grinned. “You goin’ to that big horse show today?”
“How’d you know?”
She winked. “You look like a cowboy.”
Heat spread across Quaid’s cheeks.
The waitress gave him simple instructions to avoid the most traffic, then topped off his coffee and walked away. Quaid stared at the steaming brew, thinking about how best to approach Jasper today. Maybe being away from his own turf would put him off guard a little. Or maybe he’d be so busy that Quaid would simply be wasting time and removing the element of surprise. Whatever. He’d at least go have a look, decide after he got there.
The equestrian park was huge, nothing like he’d expected. His mental picture had been a dirt rodeo arena with portable bleachers. This place was more like a movie set. He parked the car and headed toward the building with a “Show Office” sign.
A man leaned over the desk, marking something off on a large chart. He looked up when Quaid entered.
“Hi, can I help you?”
“Yes, can you tell me where Jasper Martin is stabled?”
The man came to the counter and ran his finger down a long list, then turned the page and did the same.
“He’s not listed as an exhibitor. Are you sure you have the right show?”
Quaid kept his expression neutral. “Is this the regional qualifier show?”
The man nodded and Quaid shook his head.
“Maybe I have the wrong dates. Well, sorry to bother you.”
“The only other possibility would be that he’s helping a client show, in which case the horse owner would be listed, but not the trainer.”
“Thanks, I’ll ask around.”
He headed for the door, anger pounding through his chest. The sister had screwed him.
An announcer’s voice drifted on the air, and Quaid thought for a minute. Was it worth asking around the grounds to see if Jasper had actually come here? It looked like there were at least eight barns on one side of the show rings and four large ones on the other. Where the hell would he start? The announcer’s voice rang out again and Quaid headed toward the arena. At least he could take a look. Truth be known, he missed being around horses more than he’d realized.
He found a spot on the rail near a group of people watching the riders sail effortlessly over the obstacles.
“Boy, they sure make it look easy,” he said
The man next to him nodded. “Yeah, makes me wish I’d learned to ride when I was a kid.”
Quaid glanced at the guy and an uneasy feeling passed through his head. The man looked a little familiar, but Quaid knew he’d never met him before. Probably just one of those faces that seemed common. The man turned and said something to a dusky-skinned woman next to him, then they moved off toward the parking lot. Quaid watched them, then turned back to the arena. The only people left were the ring steward, a judge, and the show photographer. The announcer called for the lunch break and the arena crew came in and began rearranging the jumps. Quaid watched the photographer leaving the arena. There was something familiar about her walk and the set of her shoulders. He left the rail and headed in the same direction. A few minutes later, he lost sight of her, but he had the weird feeling that he’d just seen Kim Kovak. Seemed impossible, but she had said she was on her way to a show.
~~
Kim climbed into her car and turned on the AC, then sank back in the seat and set the phone to wake her in thirty minutes. In seconds, she was sound asleep.
Chapter 21
The woman had disappeared, but Quaid was near the horse barns. He entered one of the buildings and was immediately taken back to happier times, a period when he’d lived and breathed the atmosphere of stalls and fragrant hay and the warm scent of horseflesh. His gut tightened and he took a deep breath, shrugging away the sadder memories. He walked slowly down one of the aisles, stopping occasionally to inspect a bright-eyed horse peering out between the bars of a stall door. He touched a whiskery chin, let soft lips nibble his fingers, then moved on.
A woman sitting on a wooden crate rubbed a soft cloth over a shiny bit. Quaid stopped.
“Do you know if Jasper Martin is in this barn?”
She glanced up. “Haven’t seen him, but that don’t mean much. It’s been a zoo here all morni
ng.”
“Thanks.” Quaid walked on.
A man at the corner stall was just sliding the door shut. Quaid tried again.
The man thought for a moment. “I heard he was going to be here, but I haven’t seen him yet. I don’t think he’s in this barn, but you can check with the show office. They’ll tell you exactly where he’s stalled.”
“Thanks, appreciate it,” said Quaid, moving toward the exit.
So Jasper had made it known that he would be at this show, but he’d not registered. Why would he do that? To give him time to be somewhere else? Quaid’s step picked up as he headed toward the parking lot.
“I’ll bet the son-of-a-bitch is planning a disappearing act!”
~~
Kim awakened suddenly, hot and sweaty, her hair plastered against her sticky cheek, and cotton clogging her thoughts. Her phone vibrated softly in her lap and she blinked the sleep away. Grabbing her camera bag, she climbed out of the car and inhaled deeply, still fighting the cobwebs. Locking the car, she headed toward the arena, then collided with someone walking past.
“Oh, sorr—. What are you doing here?”
Quaid cocked his head, narrowing his eyes. “I thought that was you.” A slow grin spread over his face. “I’m working, same as you.”
Kim stepped back and scowled. “Well, I’m late, so excuse me.”
“See you around.”
Kim strode away, stunned by Quaid’s presence and more than a little annoyed that he was infringing on her investigation. Her investigation? She chanced a quick look back and her face flamed. He was still standing there, watching her. Grinning. How long had he been here? What had he learned? Did he know anything about Jasper’s whereabouts?
The announcer made the first call as she scurried toward the gate.
Damn it, I want to know what he’s up to.
~~
Quaid worked hard to keep from laughing out loud. Rather than being pissed because she was there, he was surprised to realize that he was glad to see her. Even though she was officially working the show, he was positive she was also up to something else. Her reaction to his presence was proof. And that “something else” most assuredly had to do with Jasper Martin.
He suddenly remembered what he’d been doing before he ran into Kovak. He hurried to his car, dialing Jasper’s farm as he walked. After four rings, the answering machine picked up, but he didn’t leave a message. He’d be willing to bet money that Jasper had been at the ranch the whole time Quaid was there, and the horse show was simply a way to be officially “gone.” Though he hadn’t seen any other vehicles or trucks, or even a horse trailer, that didn’t mean anything because he hadn’t seen the back of the barn, an easy place to hide that stuff.
He made the drive back to Jasper’s in record time. As he approached the driveway, he scanned what property could be seen from the road. Still no sign of a horse trailer or truck, and the black car wasn’t there either. The front pasture was empty and the barn doors were closed. A coil of excitement ran through his gut as he turned into the drive.
He parked near the front of the barn and got out, standing by his car long enough that anyone nearby would have the chance to approach him. After about five minutes, he slowly walked past the front of the barn and peered around the corner to an area used for storing farm equipment. A tractor, hay wagon, and old pickup truck sat near the back end of the barn, but a large spot was empty, just about the size of a large rig. The grass was recently flattened by tires. He walked back toward his car, wondering if he dared go inside the barn.
Why not?
He slid the door back and looked inside. A couple of horses poked their heads over stall doors and watched him. One of them was the palomino mare he’d seen yesterday. The other was a loud pinto with blue eyes. The rest of the stalls were empty.
He walked to the back barn door and peered out. Two chestnut horses nosed through the dust in a small paddock, but he didn’t see any others. Interesting. There were seven last night. Maybe the other three are at the show.
~~
Kim’s feet burned and her back ached. The camera bag seemed to weigh fifty pounds, and she tried not to think about spending another day doing this. But more than the rigors of the show, the shock of seeing Quaid was giving her the biggest fits. She was dying to know what he’d learned. By now, he’d probably found Jasper and was one step ahead of her.
She focused her lens on the line-up of riders waiting for class results. She framed and captured each one, then her finger froze on the shutter button and she stopped breathing for a second. In the viewfinder, in perfect focus, the mystery man and woman leaned on the rail. Kim zoomed in and clicked off several shots, then watched them through her pseudo-binoculars. The couple seemed to be watching one horse in particular, a good-looking dark Thoroughbred with no white markings. The couple leaned together, talking and occasionally gesturing toward the animal. Kim shivered. Were they choosing their next target?
The announcer began calling out the results and a moment later, the Thoroughbred moved to the ring steward to accept the blue ribbon for the class. Kim kept her camera trained on the man and woman at the rail, seeing the satisfaction on their faces. If she didn’t know better, she’d think they were the owners. That would make their presence at these events seem natural to anyone else.
The announcer called a ten-minute break and Kim hurried toward the barn to check Jasper’s stalls again.
~~
As he sped back toward Burbank, Quaid worked out the logistics that made sense for Jasper’s disappearance. Tell everyone he’d be at a big show for four days, load some horses and take off. No one would even know he’d skipped town until he didn’t return from the show. Maybe someone at the event would wonder why he didn’t appear in classes, but with the chaos at the show grounds, anyone would think it possible that he’d scratched. With a four-day lead, Jasper could put a lot of miles between himself and the law. Quaid frowned. He hadn’t seen anything in the article about criminal proceedings, but the charges against Jasper certainly warranted some jail time. So, why hadn’t that happened?
Quaid headed for the arena. Time to confront Kovak about her involvement in this case. Whatever she knew, he had to find out. Time was now critical.
He arrived at the arena just as a new class began. Kovak stood in the center of the ring, panning shots of horses as they trotted past. Quaid walked around to the long side of the arena, hoping to catch her eye. He glanced at his watch. Three o’clock. How long would this thing go? Surely they’d break for dinner. He turned and headed for the show office to pick up a program, deciding to question the show secretary a little more about Jasper’s non-registration.
He gave the guy his friendliest smile.
“Say, I was in here this morning looking for Jasper Martin, Rocking J Ranch. You said he wasn’t registered, per se, but would his name be listed if he was showing a client’s horse?”
“Usually, provided the information was sent by the deadline. Lots of folks decide to show at the last minute, so they aren’t included the program.” He opened the booklet to the back pages. “You see how the entries are listed? Just find the ‘shown by’ column to see if he’s here. But like I said, there’s no guarantee.”
Quaid scanned the list over four pages, but Jasper’s name was not there.
“What about late entries?”
“We don’t allow them.”
Quaid closed the program. The entire thing had been a ruse so everyone would think Jasper was at the show. Did that charade include the sister?
Quaid headed back toward the arena. He’d just have to wait until he could talk to Kovak to find out what she knew.
Two hours later, he exhaled in relief as the announcer called the show for the day. Kovak remained in the arena, writing something in a notebook, then she put her camera into a big black bag and hoisted it onto her shoulder. Quaid quickly moved down the steps of the grandstand, keeping her in sight the whole time. He had no idea if she knew he wa
s still around or not, but he didn’t want her to ditch him.
When he reached the ground, he hesitated. She wasn’t headed toward the parking lot, but rather toward one of the horse barns. He followed, staying back just enough that he wouldn’t show in her peripheral vision. Suddenly, she wheeled around and glowered at him.
“You want to tell me exactly what you’re doing?”
He chuckled. “Sorry, just habit.” He walked up to stand in front of her. “You done for the day?”
Her brown eyes had flecks of gold in them. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?
She gave him a weak smile. “Yeah, thank God. I just might be getting too old for this kinda thing.” Then she frowned. “You still haven’t said why you’re following me.”
Quaid contemplated her for a moment, then decided to just play it straight.
“I was sent out here on a wild goose chase, thinking I’d be able to talk to Jasper Martin. Hah! I think he’s long gone from these parts.”
Kim’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean? He’s here. Or at least he has stalls here.”
“You’re kidding! The show secretary said he wasn’t registered for the show. How could he have stalls?”
Kim didn’t hesitate. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
Quaid followed her into one of the last barns, down two aisles, and around a corner. She stopped and gestured at three empty stalls. Each stall had a handwritten index card with Jasper’s ranch name.
“I don’t understand why he’s so late bringing horses,” she said. “He’s missed the first day of qualifiers, so I’m guessing he doesn’t care about winning anything.”
“Or he just needed a way to be in two places at the same time.”
Kim narrowed her eyes. “Not registered, huh?” She moved toward the doors at the side of the building. “There are eight barns on this side of the facility. No way would a show this small fill them all.” She turned and looked at Quaid. “I’ll bet he just came in here and put his name on these stalls with no intention of ever bringing horses. But why?”
