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Crisp winter air layered with jet fumes swirled in, and mingled with the rich smell of horses and hay. Tara was in the crate with her charges, perched on a bucket so she could see through an opening under the edge of the roof while the tiny but mighty tug hauled them away from the aircraft. Shadowy storage aprons and the odd shapes of discarded equipment made the scene other-worldly.
Then there it was. A pale white dome glowing with interior lights. An oasis for weary equines and their escorts awaiting connecting flights. A wide door rolled up as they approached, and the crate was towed inside. Then parked in front of a row of box stalls.
Dayton, Ohio. Her favorite hub and layover barn in America.
She popped open the escape door and dropped to the pavement, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the bright lights. Easy, guys. She reassured the restless horses. It’s all okay.
Adam, a tall, gangly young man who looked fresh off the farm, ambled around the corner from the lounge area just past the stalls. His grin, as always, was welcoming. “Long time no see, Sky.”
Tara answered easily to a name that wasn’t hers. “Been through a couple times, but heard you were off having a baby.”
“Ha. My wife had the baby. We called him Cody and he’s smart as a whip.”
“Takes after his daddy.” She spun the giant wing nuts holding the tailgate in place, loosening them to give the horses their freedom. Of sorts. “Which stalls do you want me to use?”
“Take four and five. Cameras are hinky on the others lately.” Adam rolled the portable loading ramp into place, locked it, then helped her swing the tailgate aside.
She slid in beside the filly on the left, and backed her out when Adam lowered the butt bar. She passed him the shank for the first horse while she repeated the process with the second. No point asking for trouble by separating them now. After travelling together for over six hours, they’d be bonded. Putting too much distance between them would create unnecessary stress.
Once she’d tucked them into side-by-side box stalls with knee-deep straw, she watered them off and tossed fresh hay on the floor to encourage them to lower their heads and relax.
“My connection still on time?” she asked when they’d finished mucking out the crate together and were heading to the lounge.
“Yep, four hours to relax. Eat, sleep, watch a movie, whatever.”
Checking out the well-stocked freezer in the lounge and knowing she needed to fuel up, she chose a mac-and-cheese and stuck the carton in the microwave. While it nuked, she grabbed a bottle of frappuccino from the fridge and set it on the beat-up coffee table.
“So, what’s new?” she asked Adam
“I’m a dad.” Grinning, he pulled out his phone. “Want to see my son?”
She wasn’t into kids, but she liked Adam, so she smiled and nodded while she ate and he scrolled through what seemed like a thousand photos.
Thankful when he got called away to run some paperwork to the office, she stretched out on the couch, closed her eyes, and drifted into that peculiar place between awake and asleep. She could hear the horses rustling around, then the muted thumps as each laid down. Good. They had another long journey ahead of them.
She sat up to make note of the time, glanced at the security screen, and smiled at the sight of them both snuggled into their deep beds. Tara dug a novel out of her bag and tried to read, but something niggled at the back of her mind like a forgotten chore or appointment.
When the door opened behind her, the skin on the back of her neck tingled. She jumped up and spun around. Stared. Speechless. And her heart beat double-time.
There she was. Jake wanted to grin like an idiot and grab her in a hug because he’d finally found her, but she didn’t exactly look welcoming, and why would she? Instead he eased forward, resisting the impulse to reach out and touch her, to try to diffuse the tension radiating from her.
“Mr. Smith?”
“You’re a hard lady to find.”
She swallowed. “Why would you be looking for me? Your airline discontinued the combo flights. I’ve never flown with them again.”
Why was she so nervous? He didn’t bother to correct her assumption that he’d been an airline employee. “I work for my family’s security firm now, and I was hoping to find you so I could get some expert information regarding a case we’re working on.”
She stopped rubbing her hands back and forth on the thighs of her pants. “Oh, well. What kind of information are you looking for?”
“Details about shipping horses long distances, and any industry rumors you may have heard.” He took a step forward.
She took one back. “I don’t gossip.”
“Fair enough.” Again, he moved toward her, and again, she retreated. “You must be tired. Why don’t we sit down?”
She stared at him for a beat before moving to a recliner and perching on the edge. “What’s your case about?”
“A missing horse. A stallion. Apparently stolen.”
Color drained from her face. “Why do you think I’d know anything about that?”
He went to the coffee machine. “You want?”
“No.”
He settled on the long couch and sipped the vile sludge. “I figured having travelled all over the place, you might have heard a few versions of the story. Maybe I’d pick up a new clue. Maybe you’ve met some of the people involved with Vedigan Way.”
“Why the hell would you think that?” She leaned forward, but kept a death grip on the chair, fingertips buried in the vinyl. “Horse-theft is a major crime and I don’t associate with criminals.”
He held up a hand. “Whoa. Relax. I meant you may know the other people involved, not the thieves, for God’s sake.”
She eased back a bit.
“What about the people who bought or sold the horse? Do you know any of them?”
Her jaw clenched. “Why would I? They’d be upper echelon. I’m a drone.”
“Do you happen to know the van driver? Perhaps you’ve worked with him?”
“I’ve never met him. Heard he was beat up pretty bad and left for dead.” She shuddered. “Poor guy. Tries to help someone in need and nearly gets killed.”
“The doctors are saying he was lucky and should recover completely.”
“Hah. He’ll never be the same. Never trust anyone again. He’ll be looking over his shoulder the rest of his life.” She jumped up and went to the fridge for a bottle of water. “Once a victim...” She took a long drink. “I put money in the fund to help him out.”
“His medical expenses are being picked up by the syndicate.”
“As they should be. But there’s lost wages to consider, and money he’s had to put out for others to look after his own horses.”
“I hear the racing industry’s pretty tight that way. They gather to look after their own.”
“Yep. A bizarre kind of dysfunctional extended family.”
“But it’s yours.”
She shrugged. “I’m only on the peripheral. I fly with horses of any type. Matter of fact, I leave with these two in less than an hour and need to start prepping them, so I really have no more time to chat.” She stuffed the water bottle into the side pocket of her cargos and left the lounge.
“Wait.” He jogged after her. “I need to talk to you.”
“Talk,” she said, slipping into a stall and clipping the horse to a bungee cord hanging on the wall. She came back out to gather an armful of boots and leg wraps—stuff he’d only seen in pictures.
She lifted each of the horse’s feet and cleaned them out with a hoof pick, then fastened on what looked like a short, thick strip of neoprene.
“What’s that for?”
“It’s a belle boot. Protects him from injury if he steps on himself.” She crouched to wrap a leg—from the knee down—with a big white quilt, then rolled a long bandage around and around over it, adding three strips of masking tape as a fastener.
“More protection, right?”
“Yep,” she said, moving on to the next leg. “Mostly in case he gets bounced around or has an accident.”
“Would Vedigan Way have worn something like that?”
Her hands halted in midair. “Likely. At least belle boots if he was travelling shod. Barefoot, they might not bother.” She stood and released the horse, slipping him something from her pocket that left him crunching. Exiting the stall, she refastened both latches.
“Peppermint bribery,” he said, remembering what she’d said on the plane.
She reached into her pocket and held out half a dozen big, round, white candies. “And a handy tool.”
“Why?”
“I use them in the water so they don’t notice a different taste.”
“I don’t understand.”
She made no effort to explain herself, just kept moving, and repeated the leg wrapping procedure with the other horse.
“I need more time to talk to you when you’re not busy.”
“Sorry. I’m leaving shortly.”
“A man was nearly killed. I’d think you’d want to help any way you could.”
She maintained her silence, going from the stall to the crate, stuffing more hay into the nets, then hanging them where the horses would be able to reach them once loaded inside.
“Little details help an investigation. Hell, even seeing how you dress a horse to travel is giving me a picture I didn’t have before.”
Before she could breeze past him again, Jake grabbed her arm and she froze as though every muscle in her body had locked.
“Let. Me. Go.”
Any other time, any other place, he’d have complied, but he was mesmerized by the anger shooting off of her. “Tara.”
“You found me, so you know my name. I don’t know yours.”
“Jake. Jake Meyers.”
“Why me?”
“Good question. I guess you got under my skin. Left me wondering why that was.”
She sighed and lifted her gaze to his. “I don’t know why I want to trust you. I know better.”
Hope shot through him. “Meet me somewhere. Anywhere. You name the city, the place, make it as public as you like.” He had to see her again. Couldn’t let her walk away.
“I know I’ll regret it.”
“I’m harmless. I’ll give you references.”
A half-laugh escaped her lips and her peppermint-laced breath fanned his face. He’d only have to lean down a bit, close the space, and he’d be able to taste—
Taking advantage of his loosened grip, she spun away, and marched back to the lounge area just as Adam came through the door.
“Oh, you’ve met Jake. I guess he told you he’s investigating a shipping incident. Lucky for him, he already had airside clearance, so he could hang about and talk to you and Rudy. Rudy’s due in right after you leave.”
“I’m sorry I’ll miss him. Haven’t seen Rudy in a couple months.” Holding up the coffee pot, she said, “Anyone want to top off before I toss this?”
Adam shoved his mug across the counter to her. “You brewing fresh for your thermos?”
“Yep.” She stood at the counter and wrote in her notebook.
She hadn’t agreed to meet him and apparently didn’t want to talk in front of Adam, so Jake pulled out a business card and passed it to her. “If you think of anything that might help us, you can reach me at one of these numbers.”
“Do ya think they’ll ever find the missing horse?” asked Adam.
“Good question. He could be anywhere by now.”
“Geez, I guess he could have come right through here and I never would have known. That sucks.”
“Hey, Adam, could you grab my thermos out of the crate for me?”
“Sure.”
As soon as his back was turned, she handed the business card back to Jake. “Call me.”