It took over thirty minutes to find Mad Dog. Then another thirty to get him back to the barn through all the snow he’d run through. During all that time, Tabby wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. But she only felt numb.
As Trip had said, Mad Dog’s shoe was missing. But they didn’t find that out until they’d reached the road and could inspect his hoof.
When Tabby and Kas finally made it back with Mad Dog, Tabby saw a police cruiser parked in front of the barn. The ambulance they’d seen speed down the driveway while they searched for Mad Dog out in the field had come and gone. But the police remained. Levon was dead and they wanted to know why.
Caleb Samuel walked up the aisle and met them at Mad Dog’s stall. Tabby had known Caleb for a few years. He’d been on the Sweet Police Department for several years, having joined after his military service.
“Is this the horse?” he asked.
“He’s the one who took off running, if that’s what you mean,” Kas said.
Trip walked up the aisle to meet them. “Is Mad Dog injured at all?”
“It doesn’t seem so,” Kas said. “He’s missing a shoe, just like you said though.”
“Good. Good.” Trip said the last word quietly. He looked beaten down. Tabby knew the feeling. She knew how to dress warm for these Montana winters. But nothing was going to keep the chill from her body today with what had just happened to Levon. She’d gone back to the arena to fetch her jacket and ran to her apartment over the garage to get her warm boots and gloves before looking for Mad Dog. She hadn’t remembered doing it, but as she trudged through the snow following Mad Dog’s tracks in the pasture, she realized she must have done it.
Montana winters were nothing to take lightly. But she had a feeling the chill in her bones would never go away after seeing Levon’s lifeless body.
“I just have a few questions for both of you, if you have a minute,” Caleb said.
“Sure,” Kas said.
“You were both in the arena when you heard the commotion in the barn?”
“Yes, I was just finishing a barrel run with my horse.” She suddenly remembered that she’d left Tenterhook in one of the stalls in the arena. “Tenterhook is still out there.”
“He’s fine. I checked on him,” Trip said. He looked as if he’d aged ten years in the span of hours. Trip had known Levon a long time, much longer than she had. And he was clearly hurting. But knowing Trip as she did, he wouldn’t fully allow himself to feel it until he was alone.
She knew that because that was how he’d been when her father died. She’d known that he’d been hurting, too. But he never showed it. At least not to her. It was just his way.
“Did you see anything or anyone in the barn before you went into the arena to do your run?”
Tabby shook her head. “No, just the other ranch hands. But Dusty and Hal left to head over to the Crow Reservation to visit Hal’s mother and sister right around that time. They weren’t here when…it happened.”
“What about the farrier?”
“Hunter Williams? He was here today. This morning. He came by to change Tenterhook’s shoes.”
“Hunter has been my farrier for years,” Trip added.
Caleb turned to Kas. “How long have you known Levon Taper?”
“I just met him a few days ago,” Kas said. “My understanding is Levon didn’t move to Sweet until after I’d left for college.”
“How long have you known him, Tabby?” Caleb asked.
“I met him when I moved here from Missoula. That was about eight years ago. My father bought Tenterhook from him as a graduation present shortly before my parents’ death.”
Caleb looked at Trip, who nodded to verify her story, and then wrote a few things in his notepad. “Graduation, huh? I just realized you must be around my sister’s age. Twenty-six?”
“Yes.”
“If you’d grown up here you would have gone to school and graduated with her.”
“Does she still live in Sweet?” Tabby asked.
Caleb closed his notepad. “No. She left Sweet around the same time you moved here. Hasn’t been back since.”
“I guess it’s not for everyone,” Kas said.
“Guess so.”
“Caleb, what…happened to Levon?” Tabby asked.
“As best we can tell, he was struck in the head by a thrown horseshoe. Since Mad Dog is missing his shoe and he took off on a pretty good run, I’m guessing something spooked him while Levon was grooming him. He may have started bucking. At any rate, we found the bloody horseshoe in the far corner of the grooming room. Nothing else though.
“The coroner will check him for any other signs of injury. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are bruises or other markings from being kicked. Looks like a freak accident. I’m really sorry for the loss of your friend, Trip. Do you want to contact his family or should I?”
Trip drew in a deep breath. “He has a brother in Colorado. I suspect that’s where they’ll want to bury him. I’ll call him as soon as I get back to the house and direct him to your office if he has any questions.”
“Okay. Give the station a call when you do so we can release Levon’s name to the papers should they ask for information about his death. I’m real sorry about this, Trip.”
Trip nodded. “Thank you. I best be getting at that.” He turned and headed back to the house. No one would notice the heavy gate of his step except someone who knew him the way Tabby did.
She turned to Caleb. “What happens now?”
Caleb glanced at his notes. “Most of this information is routine for my report. But to me, it looks like a clear case of accidental death.” He picked up the plastic bag with the bloody horseshoe in it from the table in the grooming room. “Levon must have been shoeing Mad Dog, or grooming him and maybe hit a spot the horse didn’t like or the horse got spooked by something. He bucked and threw the shoe. From what I can tell, the shoe hit Levon right in the temple, a pretty delicate place for an injury.”
“A single strike to the temple caused death?” Kas asked.
“He hit him spot on and looks like pretty hard. I’ve seen lots of freak accidents over the years. A single hit to the head can rupture an artery if it’s done with enough force. A horse has that kind of power in their kick. Of course, the coroner in the next county will have to looked at everything and come to a definitive conclusion. But that’s my take based on what I’ve seen.”
“Thank you, Caleb,” Tabby said.
He adjusted his hat on his head and they said their goodbyes.
She smiled, not trusting her voice to cooperate given the emotional surge that struck her. As Caleb walked out of the barn, Tabby turned to the horseshoe over the doorway. It was still turned upside down. Bad luck? Some would say yes. The events of the day certainly gave credence to it.
“What’s wrong?” Kas asked.
She took a deep breath, pulled her gaze from the horseshoe and looked at Kas. “Besides Levon being dead?”
He reached for her, but she put her hand on his chest and pushed, keeping her distance. She wanted his comfort. But she wasn’t sure if she wanted it from him or just wanted comfort from someone. She’d only met the man two days ago. She knew nothing about him except what other people had told her.
“I’m sorry. I know you must be hurting.”
“That pretty much sums it up.”
“I know I grabbed you pretty hard earlier. I just didn’t want you to see Levon on the ground like that.”
He was talking about her arm, not her emotions something that pained her far more than her flesh.
“It’s okay,” she said.
“No, it’s not. I hope I didn’t leave a bruise.”
“You were trying to protect me. I admit it irritated me when you did it. But now I understand why.”
“You…were staring off into space just now. You looked like you were thinking of something important.”
“Important? No. I don’t think it is. It’s just superstition.”
“Superstition? I wouldn’t have thought it was that.”
“What did you think it was?”
His expression softened. “You mentioned your parents. I thought you were thinking of them.”
Her heart hurt with his words. It always did whenever she was reminded of how her parents died. It was senseless and tragic and she’d never come to grips with it. But who did? They were her parents and she’d loved them.
She leaned against the gate to Mad Dog’s stall. “They were coming home from an anniversary dinner about eight years ago. I was home alone. I’d spent some time with friends after graduation.”
She shook her head as if she were trying to get the image out of her head. But in truth, she’d never seen pictures of the accident. She’d only read the police report.
“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s too painful. In light of what just happened here today… You were pretty upset about no one being there to help them.”
She felt the stinging of tears in her eyes. “What can I say? They crashed on wet pavement. The SUV broke through the Jersey barrier and then slid down an embankment about fifty yards off the road. Their headlights were buried in debris from plowing through vegetation so no one saw the lights. Cars passed by on that road every few minutes. Someone must have seen the break in the Jersey barrier, but no one reported it until the next day. By the time an emergency crew got to them, they were dead. The coroner said they’d been alive all night.”
A tear slid down her cheek. She would not cry in front of this man. Tears would come tonight. They always did. She’d cry for Levon when she was alone, just like Trip.
But the tears were there, and try as she may, she couldn’t stop them.
“I’m okay,” she said quickly, before he could reach for her again. She turned and swiped the tears from her cheek and then pointed to the upside down horseshoe. “I noticed that the other day.”
Kas turned and looked at the barn door. “Noticed what?”
“The horseshoe. Does it seem out of place to you?”
Walking over to the door, he inspected the horseshoe, pushing at it with his fingers and then letting it go. It swung back down.
“You mean because it’s upside down?” he asked.
“A few days ago I noticed it was upside down.” She shook her head. “It’s not that big a deal by itself. Just…don’t you think it’s a coincidence?”
“What, that Levon was killed by a horseshoe? Tabby, there are horseshoes all over this ranch. Look, the nail holding it upright probably rusted and broke off.”
“Both nails?”
Kas shrugged. “Could be. Are you superstitious?”
“Yes. And no.”
He grinned. “Well, which is it?”
“Yes, I guess. An upside down horseshoe on a barn door and then Levon is killed by a horseshoe strike to the head. Doesn’t that sound funny to you?”
“You heard Caleb. Levon’s was an accident.”
“I know. I…never mind. I heard what Caleb said and I know it’s plausible. Freak accidents happen. It’s just…”
“What?”
“I’m superstitious, I guess. I’ve always been told a horseshoe should hang right side up to catch luck. An upside down horseshoe means that whatever good luck you had will spill out. You’ll have financial trouble, suffer infertility if you are looking to have a baby or whatever else that’s important in your life. Bad luck.”
“You make your own luck.”
She shook her head and felt her cheeks flame. “It’s stupid. It’s just a horseshoe.”
“Is that all?”
She glanced at him and saw that he was genuinely interested. “You should know this. Everyone knows about rodeo folklore.”
“Yeah. Some of the bull riders I knew on the circuit used to say it offered protection. I knew one bull rider who kept a horseshoe in his duffel bag when he traveled, just in case.”
“It’s just superstition and…I just still can’t believe Levon is dead. I guess I’m looking for a reason why.”
He reached for her again. This time she didn’t protest. “I don’t blame you. But there are some things in life you just don’t get answers to. They just happen.”
The randomness of life had always confused her. Maybe because Tabby had searched and wanted answers to how her parents had died eight years ago. Everyone wants answers to things that seem so incomprehensibly painful. Some answers never came.
* * *
Something had nagged at Kas since the moment Tabby started talking about horseshoe superstition in the barn. He wasn’t a superstitious person by nature. But he did know a lot of people who were and took it seriously.
One of the reasons he’d come back to Sweet was to check on his investments. He had investments in breeding, both in stud fees and finding the right mare to mate. He envisioned himself one day leaving New York and coming back to Sweet when he found the right spread of land to buy and build a ranch. That was still a long way off. To do it right, he had to plan and wait for the right property to become available. Until then, he’d continue investing in stock and building his reputation in the Western Rodeo Circuit.
The day he’d arrived at the ranch, Trip had been agitated by complaints that several of his studs failed to produce pregnant mares for his clients. Tabby had said that infertility was one of the “bad luck” things resulting from an upside down horseshoe. If his clients’ mares failed to become impregnated by next spring, Trip would lose business and his reputation as a breeder.
He drove home from the Lone Creek Ranch and headed to his childhood home. His parents had become snowbirds and spent their winters in Arizona. But his sister, Katie, still lived in the family home. She was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher when he walked through the door. She stopped what she was doing when she saw him.
“Hey, there was a lot of commotion over at the Lone Creek Ranch today, huh?”
He shouldn’t have been surprised that his sister had already heard the news. She worked at a bank and news traveled fast with so many people coming and going there.
“How’d you hear about that?”
“Harper Madison came into the bank right after Caleb got back to the station.”
She made no apology for talking gossip at the bank. Katie once told him it was part of her job to listen and make small talk while transacting bank business. A lot like a bartender or hair dresser.
Kas pulled his jacket off and hung it on the hook in the mudroom like they always did as kids. He slipped out of his boots and placed them on the rubber mat by the door and walked into the kitchen in his stocking feet. His parents hadn’t updated the house in over thirty years. His childhood home was so unlike the modern apartment he kept in New York. But this was home. Every kitchen chair with places that had worn polyurethane and every scratch on the kitchen counter was home.
“Levon Taper was killed.”
“I know that part. He got hit in the head with a horseshoe.”
Kas’s sister was so unlike him in so many ways. She liked to dig for answers. It was how she found out her ex-husband had been cheating on her before they were even married and had a child on the way. She knew how to find things out. Their mother used to say she missed her calling as a bank teller. She should have been a detective.
Katie had been shattered by her ex-husband’s betrayal. It had been a whirlwind courtship and a quick wedding. It didn’t take much to figure out why. Within the course of a few months, the SOB drained her bank account. Katie had tried to find a possible excuse for his actions that seemed understandable. The more she dug, the less she found that was forgivable. The marriage ended before the first anniversary and Katie moved home.
She was looking at him as if either she didn’t have enough people to talk to today or the story had become so salacious that she needed to know details to see if it were true.
“There isn’t much beyond what Harper would have told you. I was checking on some investments, or possible investments, and the accident happened. We found him in the barn.”
“Poor Trip,” she said, pulled a kitchen chair away from the table and sat down. “He must be devastated.”
“He is.” He went to the refrigerator and opened it. “Did you make dinner?”
“And when would I have done that? I just got home.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. She was giving him that look. The one she used to give him right before she pounded him for saying something stupid around her friends.
“I can call for a pizza.”
She crinkled her nose. “No, I’ll make something. I know you’ll eat just about anything so don’t ask what it’s going to be. You’ll know when it’s done.”
“Fair enough.” He chuckled and shut the refrigerator door. “I’ve got to make a phone call and then I’m going to take a shower. Give a holler if you want me to help.”
He went to his room and shut the door before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. He checked for service. In Sweet, cell phone service was non-existent in most places. You had to be in the bigger cities to get something reliable. He didn’t have a good enough signal to place a call, but he used the wifi on his phone to search for a number in the hopes that he could catch Sean Knight, a veterinarian who was well-known on the rodeo circuit, at his office in Las Vegas. He found the number and then picked up the house phone in his bedroom and dialed.
Sean answered on the first ring and said hello.
“It’s Kasper Dobbs, Sean. You may not remember me from—”
“Sure I do,” Sean said. “You were bull riding when Jesse was still competing in the circuit.”
“If memory serves, you’re based out of Montana, aren’t you?”
“Was. My mom is.”
“Really. Where are you now?”
“Married. My practice it just outside of Las Vegas.”
Disappointment filled him. “Oh, congratulations.”
“Thank you. Was there something I could do for you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, now you have me intrigued.” Sean laughed. “What’s on your mind?”
“It may be nothing. I’m investing in some stud stock and trying to breed some horses in Sweet.”
“Okay.”
“But there is an unusual problem happening with some of the animals that has me a bit concerned there may be a problem with infertility.”
“Widespread?”
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I just want to look at every possibility.”
He blew a breath out that sounded distorted over the phone. “I’m heading over to my mother’s house for a family thing in a week or two. “I could stop by while I’m in Montana and we could talk more about it.”
“I’d like that. It may be nothing,” he said quickly.
“Or it may be something serious. Better to check it out.”
“Thanks.”
He hung up and stared at the phone wondering how Tabby was making out tonight. It was going to be a hard greeting when Dusty and Hal came back to the ranch to the news that Levon was dead. He wanted to go back over there to see Tabby, but he was not part of them. He wasn’t family. They were even if they weren’t blood related. It was best to leave them be and let them grieve alone.
He’d overstepped his bounds by calling Sean Knight. As he grabbed some fresh clothes from his drawer and headed to the bathroom, he reasoned that he was only doing it to protect his investments. But something in the way Tabby had looked at that horseshoe still gave him pause. She’d been frightened by it, as if it were a sign of impending doom or the cause of it.
And something about the way Tabby looked at him at all gave him pause. She was a pretty girl with her long dirty blond hair and carefree way about her. There was sass underneath all that beauty. She didn’t wear makeup. She didn’t need to. She was authentic in every way, more naked than anyone he’d known in recent years.
“Kas! Dinner is ready!”
He hadn’t taken his shower, and he knew enough not to make his sister wait. He’d take his shower after and then do a little research on the computer. Maybe that would take his mind off Tabby Swanson and how much he wanted to drive over to the ranch and see her again.