Jacob
It’s been a hellish couple of days.
Giving Rajani space, I’ve kept my distance from the house. Of course, by my own design I’m forced to keep up the ruse of trainer, and have shown up at the stable every day. Mostly I’ve let Joey take Arion’s Moon through her paces, but I’m in no way, shape, or form qualified to handle this horse. Not even with Hamish on speed dial.
I’ve also been keeping an eye on construction at the staff quarters, which started yesterday. Raj insisted we need a separate bedroom and bathroom for Joey, which I’m more than happy to accommodate. The sooner construction is done, the sooner Joey can move out of the guest quarters.
I’ve been toying with an idea, which would require use of the guesthouse. Not for me, but I’m hoping to entice Hamish and Laura to move down here once this case is over. He hasn’t worked since his accident and seems convinced his training days are over, but I don’t think the fact he’s in a wheelchair has to keep him from doing the job he loves. It simply requires creative thinking and perhaps some practical modifications.
The trick will be to be able to show him what is possible, rather than just tell him. All he sees at this point are his limitations instead of his potential. He and Bernie pulled me from a place where I believed I no longer had purpose; I want to return the favor.
Of course, none of that is going to happen until I’ve done what I set out to do. And until I’ve come clean with Rajani, and the rest of the team.
“Moon needs to be reshod and earlier I noticed one of Murdoch’s shoes is loose. We should get a farrier in,” Joey announces when she dismounts the filly.
I guess I’m adding a farrier to my list. Already on there is find a local vet, one who has experience with racehorses.
“I’ll get on it. In fact, I’ll do it right now.”
I walk to the stables where I parked my truck. It is serving as my office for the time being. I get in the passenger side and set my laptop on my knees. I find a farrier located in Dry Ridge, where Opal and Mitch live. His website quotes having worked with one or two well-known racing stables. I leave a message for him.
I’m about to call Rob Sutter, the vet who helped us in Russell Springs, to see if he can refer someone more local to us, when an alert on my phone warns me it’s time for the conference call I set up with the team.
I’m eager to learn if we’ve made any progress. Mitch, Pearl, and Lee are still in the Russell Springs area. Lee is looking to see what information he can get from the locals and following up with the trainer, while Mitch and Pearl are keeping an eye on what is going on at Grandview. Opal is holding down the fort at the office and patching everyone into the call.
“Everyone here?” I start.
“I’m waiting for Janey,” Opal indicates.
I persist in identifying the women by their code name, enforcing a distance I feel is still necessary. That distance is already breached with Raj—the proverbial cat is out of the bag—and it feels almost disingenuous to think of her as Onyx now.
“She should be here any minute,” Mitch volunteers. “She was just printing something out.”
“Lee, can you get us up to speed? I know you didn’t have much luck with the trainer, but were you able to get something from the locals?
“A few things. I spoke to the owner of a cabin rental place a few miles up the road, who says he has noticed a large catering truck, a Lexington company, go through the gate onto the property. He says he’s seen the truck a couple of times since.”
“Check with caterers in Lexington, see if any will confirm having worked at Grandview Estate. If you can’t get someone to talk, get a picture of the catering trucks. See if the neighbor recognizes one of them.”
“That was the plan,” Lee states dryly.
Right. I have to remember this kind of investigating is his bread and butter. Also, there’s a reason he chooses to work as an independent, he’s not a fan of getting bossed around. Something I do well.
“I’ll leave that to you, then. And Olson? Anything there?”
“He has an appearance in front of Circuit Court Judge Severino this coming Friday. Rosenberg must be pulling some strings to get him on Judge Severino’s docket this fast.”
“Whoever’s paying must be in a hurry to get Olson out,” I observe.
“GLAN Investments,” Pearl’s voice comes in. “I just pulled the law firm’s financials.”
“Jesus, Janey,” Raj pipes up.
My eyes are instantly drawn to the back of the house, where I see her standing behind the glass sliding doors, her phone to her ear. I swear I can feel her eyes on me.
“What?” Pearl reacts.
“Onyx means you’re taking risks,” Lee pipes up, sounding pretty annoyed himself.
“Not really. I had to look back a few years but I thought the name of the firm sounded familiar. I set up their cybersecurity in 2014, so it wasn’t too hard for me to circumvent.”
“Good work. That’s the connection we were looking for.”
“Is it?” Raj questions, her eyes aimed directly at me. “It still doesn’t explain Wheeler’s interest in Olson.”
“True. Did we ever do a background check on Olson? Where he’s from, his parents, family?”
“I did,” Pearl volunteers. “But there really is no history until he showed up at the Youth Center in Lanark. There’s a birth certificate naming Britta Olson as his mother, but no father listed. Britta Olson died in a car accident when Jesper was eleven. He managed to evade Child Protective Services, and his whereabouts were unknown until he popped up in Lanark.”
“Dig into the mother. See what you can find on her.”
“I can do that,” Raj offers. “Janey has her hands full with surveillance.”
“Fair enough. Okay, next, the cameras. Any luck?”
“Yes. They’ve been up since last night,” Mitch takes over. “Land access is monitored everywhere, but there’s a way onto the property along the shoreline. The water is fairly shallow and as long as you stay close to the rock wall, they can’t see you from up above. It’s a bit of a climb to get up the ledge but there are no cameras fixed on the cabins. I should say, there weren’t, because there are now. Ours.”
“Excellent. Pearl? Can you patch through the feed so I can access?”
Opal goes over messages that have come in at the office, including a new case of a missing toddler from Louisville. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to take that one on.
“Maybe refer them to one of our contacts,” I suggest.
“I gave them the number for Invenio Investigations,” Opal shares.
Knowing everything is under control, I sign off, so I can have a look at the camera feed. However, first I want to check in with Raj, who still has her eyes on me.
I set my laptop aside and get out of the truck, but when I turn toward the house, Rajani is gone from sight.
Onyx
Call me a coward, but I’m not ready yet.
The moment I see him get out of the truck; I just know he’s coming to knock on the door.
It’s my own fault for gawking at him. I’m not sure what I was hoping to accomplish, but staring at him did not give me clarity.
The therapist in me feels this ongoing need to pick my emotions apart. All it does is make me even more confused. Heart and head seem stuck in a face-off, making me feel unbalanced. Maybe what I should do is listen to my gut. If only I can figure out what it is telling me.
I need to get out of here for a bit.
I grab my phone off the counter and look for my keys in my purse but they’re not in there. I end up locating them on the hall table in the foyer, where I must’ve dropped them the last time I drove the big SUV. I think that was last week.
I rush out of the house, get in the Lincoln, and head for Williamstown and the pint of pistachio ice cream I’m craving all of a sudden.
Except there’s a smell in the vehicle—a rather unpleasant one, like produce gone bad—that doesn’t do much for my appetite. I’m trying to remember what could’ve fallen out of my grocery bags last week. To my recollection I wasn’t missing anything when I put my purchases away.
I’m reaching behind my seat to feel around when Janey calls.
“Hey, are you sitting down?” she asks when I answer her call.
“I am. Why?”
“Lee and I did something…” she drawls.
My mind jumps to fill in the blank.
“You got married?”
She seems momentarily stumped by my guess.
“We did, but that’s not why I’m calling.”
“You got married? Secretly?” I realize I’m yelling.
“I guess, but we didn’t want to make a big fuss.”
“Wow. Okay, I suppose congratulations are in order.”
I realize I sound bitter, petulant, and am instantly ashamed.
“I’m sorry. Of course I’m happy for you. Thrilled. You deserve all the happiness.”
“Thank you, but that’s not why I’m calling. I need you to talk me off the ledge. We got married for a reason, and I need you to tell me we’re not nuts for doing this.”
“What is it?”
Now I’m intrigued.
“It’s Ricky, we’re adopting him. That’s crazy, right? He’s a teenager, for crying out loud. I never wanted to be a mother, Raj. I don’t even know if I’d be any good at it.”
I chuckle, because Janey is one of those people who excels at anything she puts her mind to.
“You’ll be great, and I’m so happy for Ricky. He deserves a loving family, and you’re just the right people to give that to him.”
“I have no experience,” Janey whines, and I don’t even try to hide my laughter.
“No first-time mother has experience, my friend, but the good news is, you won’t be starting with an infant who can’t tell you what they want or need. Your first child will be fully developed, and all he needs is some stability and a lot of love. Whatever you give him will be a vast improvement on what he had.”
“I guess so,” she mumbles.
I get another wave of that god-awful smell and crane my neck to peek in the back seat, but I can’t see anything.
“God, my car reeks,” I comment. “Like rotting food.”
“Well, did you leave something in there?”
“Not that I know, unless something rolled under my seat. It’s like hanging your head in a dumpster. Eww.”
“Where are you going anyway?”
“I’m heading to Williamstown to pick up a few things.”
A bit of a stretch of the truth. What I’m really doing is getting some comfort food for reinforcement, and avoiding Jacob at the same time. But I can’t tell Janey that, I promised not to.
I’m only really delaying the inevitable anyway. I know I have to face him at some point, but I need to make sure I’m clear on what I want, how I want to proceed.
“Why don’t you simply stop and check?”
Of course, logical Janey would suggest that.
“I would if I could. There are no shoulders on this stretch of road, just steep embankments down to the trees.”
I keep my eyes peeled for a driveway, or even a widening of the narrow strip of grass on the side of the road.
“Well, hope you figure it out. I need to get back to work, thanks for the boost. I’m not quite so panicked anymore.”
“I’m glad. There’s no need to panic, you’ve got this. Besides, you’ve got Lee—”
The words get stuck in my throat when I feel something moving over my foot. I jerk my foot as I try to see what it is, but a distinct rattle has me freeze. I’m shocked at how loud it is in the enclosed space.
“Raj…what is that sound?” Janey’s disembodied voice asks.
I open my mouth to answer but not a sound comes out.
“Raj?”
Right then I catch sight of a second snake in my peripheral vision, sliding across the center console.
“Snakes…” I can just manage.
The next moment the Lincoln suddenly tilts sharply to the right, and my eyes snap to the road, except all I see are trees. Before I can make any corrections, the SUV rolls, and I feel myself tossed around as it flips over and over, down the steep embankment.