The Chase (27 page)

Kendall smiled tightly and took another sip of her coffee.

Jake regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, then took the mug from her hands and placed it on the counter. “You’re not going to go and get all remorseful on me, are you?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him.

He kissed her on the forehead, letting his lips linger, and she caught her breath and closed her eyes.

“I’m just a little overwhelmed right now.”

Jake smiled. “That’s okay. Last night was pretty overwhelming for me, too.”

Kendall slipped her arms around him and buried her face against his chest. “I’ve got to go.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I know. Can I see you tonight?

She remembered her date with Stephen Lloyd to go to the polo match, and frowned. “I can’t. I made plans to get together with a friend tonight.”

Jake didn’t say anything for a moment. “Tomorrow, then?” The warmth was gone from his tone.

Kendall nodded. “I have the field trip all day, but I don’t have any plans tomorrow evening.”

He released her from his embrace. “Great. It’s a date.”

A
nne was catching up on a week’s worth of paperwork when Doug returned from taking Samantha to camp. She scribbled a quick note to Trish Fitzsimmons, the attorney handling her cases while she was on maternity leave, and closed the file folder.

“I’m in the study,” she called to Doug, rising to meet him as she heard his footsteps in the hallway. “What took you so long?”

Doug held her hand and walked to the couch, drawing her down next to him. “I stopped by the barn, or I guess I should say the remnants of the barn, to talk to the arson investigator.”

“Is there anything left to salvage?”

He shook his head grimly. “Not a thing.”

“But the horses are all okay?”

“Yeah, Billy and I checked them all over carefully. Thank God they were turned out in the pasture for the night. They’re all pretty spooked from the fire, though. Huntley won’t stop walking the fence.”

“You’ve had a dozen calls already this morning with offers to put the horses up. The messages are on your desk.”

“I’ve also had several calls on my cell. Richard’s going to pick Huntley up this morning and board him at the Hunt kennels. A staff member will ride him when they exercise hounds, so he’ll be fit and ready to go when hunt season starts. Richard also offered to keep Chancellor at his barn when he’s discharged from the EMC.”

“That sounds like a great solution. Are you going to take him up on his offer?”

Doug nodded. “And Billy is going to help out at Richard’s as long as Chancellor is there.”

“What about Junior and Miss Molly, and the weanlings?”

“Bob Newington called from Rock Hill Stud and he has room for all of them. He’s sending his manager over with the van to pick them up this morning.”

“That’s certainly a relief to have found places for them so quickly.”

Doug sighed wearily. “Yeah, that’s one less thing to worry about.” He hunched forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands knitted together in a fist.

Anne could see his jaw muscle tense as he clenched his teeth, and she reached out and rubbed his back. “Are you all right?”

He closed his eyes for a minute, then turned his head towards her. “They discovered the cause of the fire.”

She could tell by Doug’s expression it was bad news. “What caused it?”

“Someone shot a flare into the barn.”

“
A flare?”

Doug sat back and rested his arm along the couch cushion. “Yeah. They most likely shot it in through the back hayloft door.”

“What distance can you shoot a flare from?”

He shrugged. “A couple hundred feet, maybe.”

“A
couple hundred feet?
How could someone get that close with the guards around?”

“He must have come through the back of the property. He probably watched from the woods and waited until the guard patrol left the barn area, then crossed the pasture, shot the flare, and departed the same way he came.”

Anne took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her belly. “So what’s to prevent someone from doing the same thing with a real gun, instead of a flare gun?”

“Until today, apparently nothing.”

“Until today?” Her voice rose in pitch. “What’s to prevent them from doing it now?”

“Patrick has increased the number of guards, and they’re patrolling the entire perimeter of the property, not just the road frontage.”

“Will that be enough protection?”

Doug lifted his hand in a questioning gesture. “Hopefully.”

“‘Hopefully’?” She studied him. “Are you sure you want to continue using Manse Security?”

He rocked his head back and forth in a yes/no kind of gesture. “I think so. They’re considered the best, and Patrick’s always done great work for me, but I don’t think the protection he’s provided so far has measured up. He should have guarded the rear access to the farm from the beginning. And it really pisses me off that it took so long for a guard to respond last night once the fire alarm went off. Jake was trapped in the barn and almost died. It would have been nice to have had some help down there.”

“I hope Jake’s been cleared of any suspicion in the fire, now that they know it was started by a flare.”

Doug nodded. “He has. I just saw Patrick down at the barn, and when he learned the cause of the fire, he acknowledged that Jake couldn’t have been responsible.”

Anne slid her arm across Doug’s chest and rested her head on his shoulder. “I worry that Patrick doesn’t really buy into the notion that McGraw might be behind these incidents, Doug. I think that’s why he’s grasping at straws, trying to point the finger at someone like Jake. But this whole scenario reminds me of McGraw. The dead deer. The snake. Sneaking around in the woods.” She paused. “
The drawing on your car.”

Doug tensed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the car.” His tone didn’t invite discussion.

She swallowed hard and nodded against his shoulder.

A heavy silence settled over them and Doug stroked her shoulder and the back of her neck. “I agree with you that this stinks of McGraw,” he said after a few moments.

Anne fingered a button on the front of his shirt. “Have Patrick’s investigators come up with anything else about the McGraw family?”

“Not really. They spent a couple of days tailing Zelda McGraw, but Patrick thinks that’s a dead end. She lives alone and apparently doesn’t do much except hang out at a local bar. She doesn’t even have a car, just hitches rides. They interviewed Mrs. McGraw in the nursing home, but she wasn’t much help. Patrick said she’s pretty out of it. The only piece of information of any interest they gleaned from her was that Zelda has a boyfriend. She apparently mumbled something that implied he was a friend of Zeb McGraw, but they couldn’t get her to repeat it. Anyway, the investigators haven’t seen Zelda with a man or any sign of a man around Zelda’s trailer, so they think the mother was either confused or that was old news and the guy’s out of the picture now.”

“Are they still keeping track of who visits McGraw in jail?”

Doug nodded. “He hasn’t had any visitors since Zelda’s visit about a month ago.”

Anne mulled over what Doug had told her. “What if Mrs. McGraw did know what she was talking about? Maybe Zelda is in cahoots with a friend of McGraw, and he’s the one doing these things.”

“I asked Patrick this morning whether they’d had any luck with their investigation of McGraw’s friends, as well as anyone who may have served time with McGraw, and he said so far they haven’t come up with anything significant.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment, then Anne shifted away from Doug on the couch and lifted her head so she could look into his eyes. “I’m scared, Doug. Every time you or Samantha leaves the house, I worry about you until you’re home again.”

Doug pressed his lips to her forehead. “I know. And when we find the bastard who’s behind this, I’ll make him pay for that.”

K
endall introduced Stephen to some show riders who were having cocktails on the hillside next to the polo arena, and as they chatted about Aiken and people they might know in common, her thoughts drifted to Jake. She’d run into him a couple of times during the day at Fox Run, and it hadn’t been as uncomfortable as she’d thought it would be.

“Come on,” Stephen said, reaching for her hand and slipping his fingers through hers. “Let’s go get something to drink.”

Stephen wasn’t using his crutches, and the walking cast made his gait deliberate and slightly uneven, so Kendall slowed her pace to match his. She tried to pull her hand away, but that made him tighten his grasp even more, so she gave up, not knowing how to extricate herself without making a big deal out of it.

There was a crush of people by the Gazebo, in line for the bar, and Stephen’s brow puckered in a look of annoyance. “This tournament has been going on all week, right? Plus, they have weekly Saturday-night matches? You’d think they’d be able to anticipate the number of people by now and set up more than one bar.”

Kendall gave him a small smile. “You don’t have to stand in line on my account. I can get by without a drink.”

Stephen shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ll fight the crowd.”

“Okay.” Kendall looked towards the arena. “Why don’t I find a place for us to sit? It’s filling up fast.”

He frowned as he scanned the crowded hillside. “All right. What would you like to drink?”

Kendall took a step away from him. “White wine, please.”

Stephen gave her hand a squeeze before letting go. “I’ll see you in a minute.”

Kendall turned to make her way down the slope, and she heard a woman’s voice call out her name. She stopped and looked around, uncertain where it had come from.

The voice called out again. “Kendall, over here.”

She realized the voice came from the throng of people to her left, and she turned, to see Helen Dunning waving furiously at her.

“Oh shit,” Kendall muttered. Helen was the last person she wanted to talk to. She started to wave and keep on walking, but then she realized that Margaret was standing beside Helen, so she eased her way in their direction. She could see the arm and shoulder of a man who stood next to Margaret, but she couldn’t see his face through the crowd.

“Hi, Margaret, I didn’t expect to see you here,” Kendall said, leaning forward to give her a hug. She pulled back from Margaret’s embrace and glanced towards the man standing next to her.

Kendall drew a sharp breath. “
Jake
. What are you doing here?”

Jake gave her a long, steady gaze. “Watching polo. What about you?”

She forced a smile. “Watching polo.”

“Who’s that man you were with?” Helen asked.

Kendall stole a look at Jake.
Had Jake seen Stephen holding her hand?
Jake regarded her with a level look but raised an eyebrow slightly.

She felt her face grow hot. “Nobody.”

Helen laughed. “‘Nobody’? Does Mr. Nobody have a name?”

“That’s Stephen Lloyd,” Margaret said. “He’s a polo player from Aiken, and he’s considering moving his horses up here. When he gets his cast off, that is.”

“A polo player?” Helen regarded Kendall thoughtfully. “That sounds like a good match for you, Kendall. He must be rich, and he’s awfully good-looking.”

“He’s just a friend, Helen. I’m trying to introduce him to some people in the community.”

“Oh, of course he is, Kendall. That’s just how it looked to me.” Helen gave her a knowing smile. “Oh, look, here he comes now.”

Kendall turned, to see Stephen slowly making his way towards her, a drink in each hand. He smiled and handed a clear plastic cup of wine to her. “Whew, they really make you earn your drinks around here.”

Kendall gave him a tense smile. “Stephen, you know Margaret, of course, and Jake. And this is Helen Dunning. Helen, Stephen Lloyd.”

Helen held her hand out. “It’s a delight to meet you, Stephen. I understand you play polo. When are we going to see you down in the arena?”

Stephen gestured at his cast. “Just as soon as I get this off, I’ll be putting my breeches on. I hope I’ll get to play before the season is over.”