by Laura Ann
A broken sob came through Kinsley’s lips and Sawyer put his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll get it all figured out.” He aimed his voice back at Ritton. “What can be done?”
“We’ll get the vet called in, but we need to get Amadeus outside and start walking him.” Ritton shook his head. “It’s the best way to help.”
Sawyer nodded. Kinsley had finally managed to get the halter on, but Sawyer didn’t trust the horse at the moment. Anything in pain is likely to become violent, whether animal or human. He had too many experiences with that to ignore. “Here.” He took the lead rope from Kinsley’s shaking hands. “You tell me where to go,” he said softly, urging Kinsley to leave ahead of him.
“Okay, you need to be on his left.” Her head bobbed and she opened the gate wide. “Come on out here. We’ll walk to the outside arena.”
Sawyer nodded, moved to the horse’s left side, and began to tug on Amadeus’ ropes. “Come on, boy. Let’s go for a walk. We’re gonna help you feel better.”
At first the horse was resistant, but after a moment of tug of war, he gave in and moved out of the stall. His movements were jerky and skittish, but he followed Sawyer’s lead.
Sawyer continued to talk in a low voice to him, doing his best to stay calm and praying they could save the animal. If Kinsley loses this horse, it’ll kill her. His mind whirled as they made their way down the hallway. But how did this happen? How does a horse go from being completely healthy to suddenly sick? Has our saboteur hit again? He’s never done anything at home before. Only at shows.
Sawyer nodded and gave Kinsley a small, reassuring smile as they moved into the sunlight. Amadeus jerked back, but Sawyer held firm, eventually making their way into the paddock.
“He has to keep moving,” Ritton shouted from the side. “Don’t let him lay down. Just keep going at an easy pace.”
Sawyer nodded his understanding and began to move around the fenced area in a circle. A crowd was gathering, but he ignored them. “Nice and easy, boy. Nice and easy.” Sawyer turned himself and walked at Amadeus’ side, patting his neck. “This isn’t going to be fun, but we’re doing it for Kinsley, all right? She loves you, and it’ll break her heart if something happens to you. So we’re gonna keep moving for her, okay?”
The horse turned his head slightly, and Sawyer could have sworn the horse nodded.
“Okay. Glad we understand each other.” Sawyer nodded back, ignoring the feeling of idiocy that came from talking to an animal. “Here we go.”
CHAPTER 15
Kinsley chewed on the inside of her lip to try and keep her tears in check, but it wasn’t working very well. She kept angrily wiping away the strays that were leaking down her cheeks.
“Hang in there, girlie,” Coach Ritton said roughly, rubbing his large hand on her back. They were standing next to each other on the outside of the fence, watching Sawyer walk a still agitated Amadeus around the paddock.
Kinsley nodded, not trusting her voice to speak.
“That man you got there,” Ritton jerked his chin toward Sawyer. “He’s a good one.”
“Yeah...he is,” Kinsley agreed. She had been frantic when she’d realized what was going on with Amadeus. Her hands had been shaking so hard, she could barely hold onto the halter, let alone lead her beloved horse out to the paddock. And then Sawyer had stepped up.
His calm, warm presence had been exactly what she needed. Kinsley knew that Sawyer wasn’t overly fond of horses, but he had taken the lead and was now out there walking with her horse and helping keep him alive. If she hadn’t known before, Kinsley was sure of it now. Her heart definitely belonged to the sensitive bodyguard. Now I just have to convince him we can make it work between us.
Kinsley rested her arms on top of the wooden fence and put her chin on top. “I just don’t understand how this happened,” she murmured.
“What has he had to eat lately?” Ritton asked gruffly.
Kinsley jerked upright. “I fed him an apple not too long ago,” she said in a panic. “But I feed him apples after almost every practice. Just one.” Her eyes darted back to her friend, and her tears began anew. “Could that have done this?” A pinch in her chest grew stronger and stronger until she couldn’t breathe.
“Not likely,” Ritton snapped with a huff. “A single apple isn’t enough to hurt a horse, not unless you gave him a whole barrelful.”
“No, just the one,” Kinsley said, brushing her tears.
Ritton shook his head. “He had to have gotten into something.”
“Ritton.”
Kinsley and her coach turned at the voice. “Doctor Wendt.” Coach Ritton stepped forward and shook the vet’s hand. “Thank you for coming.”
“Dr. Wendt,” Kinsley breathed in relief.
“Kinsley!” The older man took her hand and patted it. “Don’t you worry, hon. We’ll get your beautiful animal taken care of.”
“Thank you,” she said thickly. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
The vet turned toward the paddock and peered through his glasses. “Who’s that handsome man walking Amadeus around?”
“That’s Sawyer,” Kinsley explained. “My...boyfriend.”
Dr. Wendt glanced over with a raised eyebrow. “Well, well, well. Looks like you picked a fine one. He looks like he could bench press the horse instead of walk it around.”
Kinsley smiled and barked out a laugh. “He probably could.”
Dr. Wendt winked and headed over to the gate. “Just give me a few minutes,” he said over his shoulder.
Kinsley watched as the doctor walked around to meet up with Sawyer and Amadeus. The two men spoke for a minute, and then Dr. Wendt began to move around the horse. He felt Amadeus’ belly and walked around, looking at the horse’s eyes and ears before going back to his stomach again.
Amadeus was still skittish, and he shifted sideways as the vet pushed around. Kinsley held her breath, praying that Dr. Wendt would be able to see what was going on.
A minute later, he turned to Sawyer, spoke, and sent the man and horse on their way. The vet stood still and watched them for a moment before coming back to the side of the paddock where Coach Ritton and Kinsley waited.
“It’s just as you thought, Josiah,” Dr. Wendt said as he got close. “He’s suffering from some colic.” Dr. Wendt turned and narrowed his gaze at the horse. “I think a good walk will be enough. He’s not overly bloated, though he is skittish, telling me there’s some pain involved.”
“Any idea what might have caused it?” Coach Ritton asked.
Dr. Wendt looked at Kinsley and Coach and shrugged. “Could be any number of things. More than likely, it was something he ate.”
“I fed him an apple,” Kinsley said softly. She knew Coach Ritton had said that wasn’t enough, but she still feared that she had had a hand in hurting her beloved animal.
Dr. Wendt shook his head. “It would take much more than a single apple to hurt a horse like that.”
She let out a long sigh of relief. “But if that wasn’t it, what could it be? He and I have been training today, so there wasn’t time for him to get into anything. And I’ve only fed him the normal grain he usually gets. I can’t think of anything out of the ordinary that would have caused him to become sick.”
Dr. Wendt rubbed his chin, his lips pursed. “Could be you were sent some bad feed. Should take a look at it.” He tilted his head back and forth. “Or, someone fed him something without you knowing it.”
Kinsley stiffened. Oh no. It couldn’t be. Could the person after me have hurt Addy? Tears once again filled her eyes. They’ve never done anything while we were at home before. Why now? Why— Her thoughts cut off. “Mary Ann,” she growled.
Coach Ritton frowned. “What now?”
Kinsley’s chest began to heave and her fists clenched so hard, she cut off the blood supply to her fingers. “That...tramp came by earlier and was nuzzling Amadeus while flirting with Sawyer.” She shook her head. “She had to have done s
omething to him.” Kinsley spun and began searching for the offender.
“HOLD IT!” Coach Ritton shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders. “You can’t just haul off half-cocked and accuse someone.” He scowled at her. “Mary Ann and her father are respected members of this club and have been for many years. She’s never done anything questionable before, and we’re not about to just send the police her way.”
“But—”
“No buts,” Coach Ritton said harshly, squeezing her shoulders for emphasis. “Let’s talk this out before we go accusing people.” He let go of her, but stayed close as if waiting to see if she would bolt. When she didn’t move, he asked, “Now, what proof do you have that she’s involved?”
“Get Sawyer,” Kinsley said through her clenched teeth, pointing to the man still walking in the paddock. “He was there, too.”
Coach Ritton raised an eyebrow. “Okay.” He nodded slowly. “We’ll get someone to walk the horse, and then we three will have a chat.”
SAWYER SCOWLED WHEN Tyrone started walking across the dirt to meet up with him. What’s he doing? Although Sawyer had promised Kinsley he would be kind to Tyrone, he still didn’t trust the guy. There was just something about him that made Sawyer uneasy, even if he couldn’t pin any of the problems on the stable worker.
“Coach asked me to take over,” Tyrone said, keeping his head ducked. “He wants to talk to you and Kinsley.”
Sawyer frowned. “Did he say what it was about?”
Tyrone shook his head, then reached out and took the reins. The movement must have startled Amadeus, because he shied back and tugged hard, nearly knocking Tyrone off his feet.
“Whoa, boy!” Sawyer called, grabbing the leading ropes again. Amadeus snorted and stomped, but didn’t pull again. “That’s it. Easy.” Sawyer put his hand out and slowly approached the horse, rubbing Amadeus’ muzzle. “That’s it,” he crooned. “Tyrone here is going to walk you around to help you feel better, all right?”
Amadeus snorted and shifted to the side.
Yeah...the feeling’s mutual, buddy. Sawyer closed his eyes and shook his head. I can’t believe I’m talking to a horse and pretending that he understands me. “Listen.” Sawyer stepped up close and whispered in the large animal’s ear. “I know he’s a little weird, but you need to keep moving or else you’re gonna be sick, and I need to go talk to Coach.” He looked into Amadeus’ large black eye. “Can you handle him for just a few minutes?”
A resigned-sounding sigh seemed to come from Amadeus’ mouth and he began to walk forward.
Sawyer held back a chuckle at the horse’s antics. No wonder Kinsley treats him like she does. He really is human-like. “Okay.” Sawyer carefully handed the lead to Tyrone. “Just walk nice and easy. We don’t want to tire him out, but he needs to keep moving.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Tyrone snipped, then immediately ducked his head. “Got it. Thanks,” he said quickly, then tugged and began walking away.
Sawyer watched them go, the red flags in his mind still screaming. But what could he do? Other than a gut feeling, he had absolutely no evidence that Tyrone had done anything wrong. We’ve really got to get those cameras up, he thought. He’d put in the call to Roman, but they were working on the cameras at the show first, believing it to be the most important since nothing had happened at home yet.
So much for that, he grumbled as he walked over to Kinsley and Coach Ritton. Kinsley’s face was a mask of anger, and Sawyer wondered what had happened. “What’s going on?” he asked as he approached.
“To my office,” Coach said, tilting his head toward one of the buildings. “We need to talk.”
Climbing over the fence, Sawyer easily fell in line beside Kinsley. “Hey. You okay?” He reached out to grab her hand, but she snatched hers away. The rejection hurt far worse than Sawyer wanted it to, but he knew she was upset, so he tried not to take it personally.
“No, I’m not okay. Someone hurt my horse,” she snapped.
“You’re positive another person did this? It isn’t just ‘one of those things’ that happens to horses?”
Kinsley spun on him. “No! This doesn’t just ‘happen to horses’,” she spat. “He had to have eaten something bad or too much of something in order to cause this. Since he’s not roaming a pasture where he can get into something he shouldn’t, it had to have been done by a person.”
Sawyer held up his hands. This was a side of Kinsley he’d never seen before. Although she always stuck up for the underdog, she’d never been quite so volatile before. “I didn’t mean anything by it,” Sawyer reassured her. “I know absolutely nothing about horses. I was just asking a question.”
Kinsley took in a deep breath, then collapsed against him, burying her face in his chest.
Sawyer was slightly hesitant to move, but he eventually wrapped his arms around her. “It’s gonna be okay,” he murmured into her hair. “It’s gonna be okay.”
“I know,” she sniffled. “But it doesn’t feel like it.” She straightened and wiped the tears from her already swollen eyes. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. You’ve been wonderful during this, but I’m just so...” She shook her head. “So angry! How in the world could someone do this to him?” She waved her arm toward the fence where Tyrone was still walking Amadeus. “He’s never hurt a soul! He’s completely innocent, and yet our criminal risked his life.”
“Criminal, huh?” Sawyer wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her toward Ritton’s office. “What happened to bad guy?”
Kinsley snorted and wiped at her cheeks again. “I’m not so sure it’s a guy.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Oh yeah? Who do you think it was?”
“Mary Ann,” she ground out. “You remember, she was there right before he got sick.”
Sawyer nodded. “I do, but I didn’t see her slip him anything. Did you?”
Kinsley looked over and glared. “I’m not in the mood to be rational right now, Sawyer. I want to be mad. Someone hurt my baby and they deserve to pay.”
“I know, but we need to make sure it’s the right someone.”
She sighed and leaned into him as they walked. “I’m sure you’re right, but I still think she’s involved.”
“She could be. We definitely know she has motive and opportunity.”
Slipping her left arm around his waist, Kinsley whispered. “Thank you.”
Sawyer squeezed her shoulder. “That’s what boyfriends are for,” he joked.
Kinsley stopped moving. “Is that really what you are? My boyfriend?” she whispered so Coach wouldn’t hear.
Sawyer paused and thought over his words carefully. These past couple weeks had shown him over and over again how much Kinsley had snuck into his heart. They’d already acknowledged they were interested in each other, but had never fully defined their relationship, other than the fake one. Is that what he wanted? To be her real boyfriend? Could he do that and still protect her? “There’s only one thing I want more than to be your real boyfriend, Kins,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around her waist.
She frowned and resisted his embrace. “What are you talking about?”
Slowly, he lowered his forehead to hers, taking in a deep breath of that animal and barn smell that she always seemed to carry on her. “I’m falling for you, Kins. There’s no denying it, and I desperately want us to be together. The only thing sweeter than that would be to catch the person who is determined to ruin your life.” He straightened and kissed her forehead. “I won’t deny my feelings for you, but until the...bad guy is caught, I can’t give you more than that. I won’t risk losing you because I’m blinded by you.”
CHAPTER 16
Kinsley was equal parts elated and frustrated with Sawyer’s words. Knowing he wanted a relationship beyond this case was amazing! Knowing he wanted to wait until she was out of danger was depressing. I get it. I really do. But we’ve already struggled to set aside our attraction, and I’m tired of it. She sighed as she sat down in a chair across fro
m Coach Ritton. Doesn’t really matter if I’m tired of it, does it? Addy is hurt and someone is trying to stop me from showing. Sawyer’s right. Solving this problem has to come first.
Coach sat down at his desk and leaned back with his arms folded over his chest. His bushy eyebrows were furrowed and his lips tugged down in a frown. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what happened today?” He directed his question at Kinsley, but Sawyer jumped in.
“Sir, I think we need to start from the beginning.”
Those thick brows shot up. “There’s more than just today?” He narrowed his gaze and leaned forward onto his desk. “Does this have anything to do with you getting sick the other day?”
Kinsley nodded. “We think so.”
Coach huffed and shoved a hand through his thinning hair. “Just what I need,” he grumbled. Blowing out a long breath, he settled back again. “Go ahead. Might as well tell it all.”
For the next several minutes, Sawyer explained the entire situation, answering any questions that Coach had along the way. When they were done, there was silence in the room.
“You mean to tell me that someone has been sabotaging you for the last few months, and you never said anything?” he growled at Kinsley.
She shrugged and looked to Sawyer for help. Just how much can I say here?
Sawyer must have understood her unspoken question because he answered for her. “To be honest, sir, you were on the suspect list.”
“I...” Coach’s eyes were wide as dinner plates. “I was a suspect?” He made a face and shook his head. “After all our years together, you think I would purposefully hurt you?”
Kinsley was shocked to hear a note of betrayal in his voice. For a man who had a reputation for being a brute, it was surprising to note that he actually cared what people thought of him. “I...” She had no words of comfort for him. “I’m sorry,” she finally murmured.
“The list was mine,” Sawyer said, stepping in and saving Kinsley. He met Coach Ritton glare for glare. “While we weren’t sure of your motive, you were one of the few who definitely had the opportunity and easy access to pull this off.” Sawyer shrugged unapologetically. “I have to look at things from all angles. And that included you.”