In that second she knew she had fallen in love with Greg and couldn’t imagine not having him in her life. But not having him was a reality she would have to deal with, because a relationship between them would be too difficult to make work with her job and his. Plus, he would be leaving in a few days and she still had her job to do here. A horse smuggling ring to break up.
Too much was happening in her life at the moment to allow herself the possibility of trying to make a relationship work between her and Greg.
That didn’t mean she had to release her hold on him, not right this second. In her job, knowing that a stray bullet could take her life in an instant, she’d always lived in the moment. Made the most of her life.
“Did he say anything else after we left?” she eventually asked, after Eddy cleared his throat for the fifth time.
“Yes. I’ve got some interesting information for you both.” His tone was serious. In an instant he’d gone from gentle lover to hard-ass Navy SEAL.
Faith took two steps back and crossed her arms over her chest. If he could be all cool and collected, so could she.
“What is it?” she asked.
Greg pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket as well as a small rectangular plastic bag which contained pills of some sort.
“I got the guy’s name, it’s Brad Harding. I’m guessing he’s a rodeo hand or something because I don’t think he’s a competitor. No competitor would get as drunk as that guy was.” He paused. “But this is the most interesting bit of information he gave me.” Greg held out the plastic bag and she reached out to take it from him. “He was told he needed to leave these in the top drawer of the table by your bed.”
Inside were a half dozen vials of liquid. She turned them to the light to see if she could make out if they had any markings on them, like what was found on antibiotics. There was something about them that looked familiar to her but she couldn’t work out why. “I wish I knew where I’ve seen these before. I know I have.”
Eddy came over to where she stood and she handed him the bag. He turned the item over before opening and spilling them onto his hand.
Greg’s arm slid around her waist and she leaned against him, exhaustion seeping into her bones. They hadn’t been asleep long when the guy walked into her room. She would give anything to climb into the bed in Greg’s room and snuggle up to him. Unfortunately her job was a priority over sleep.
“Holy shit, these are a stimulant which can increase the horse’s speed.”
“Which are illegal in barrel racing.” Faith said, shaking her head. “Someone is trying to set me up.”
“Looks that way,” Eddy mused as he studied the vials again.
“But why put them in her hotel room?” asked Greg. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to put them in the stuff you take to the rodeo? That way they’d be found.”
“And I’d have to pull out a green chip to have my horse tested. Unless someone would guarantee that I’d get the chip, going to all this trouble is pointless.”
“Unless someone lodged a complaint with the governing body suggesting that you were enhancing your horse’s performance. Considering the speed you did tonight and the fact you were on a new horse, they’d take the complaint seriously.”
Faith pulled out of Greg’s hold and sat on the edge of the bed. She looked up at Eddy. “Do you think my cover has been blown? Do you think this is a message from whoever is behind the ring?”
Silence descended around the room, each person lost in their own thoughts. Faith kept going over everything in her mind. Had she given herself away? She’d been deep into the rodeo world for the last six months. Why now and why here could her cover get blown? She hadn’t done anything different, except be with Greg. But they’d been friends in rodeo before, so there should be nothing strange in that.
He wouldn’t have said anything would he? Anything accidental to his family that may have been overheard?
Had she acted differently? She hadn’t thought she had, but maybe she’d given herself away somehow.
She looked up at him to find him watching her intently. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said quietly. “But it’s wrong. I haven’t said anything to anyone. I wouldn’t. You should know I’d never do anything to jeopardize your job, considering how sensitive mine is.”
Faith nodded, knowing deep in her heart he spoke the truth. “I believe you.” Pushing aside her doubts about her ability she returned to the task at hand—getting to the bottom of why someone came into her room and wanted to plant illegal substances on her.
Who would want to do that?
“Do you think we’re looking at two separate incidents here?” she asked, looking at the two men. Before either one could answer another thought entered her mind. Something Brad said about the woman who was impersonating her. “Sadie has dark hair, but I don’t want to make accusations without concrete proof. I overhead her and Tiffany arguing. She wasn’t happy that I was winning the races. That I was back on the scene.”
“You could be onto something, Faith,” Eddy commented.
“What do you mean?”
“Your comment about it being two separate incidents. Maybe Sadie does want you out, and by having you investigated for suspected tampering would achieve that. Her actions could have nothing to do with the horse smuggling ring.”
Faith nodded. “I agree. I still feel we can’t rule out that it’s part of one and the same plan, but I think the chance of them being two separate incidents is a more likely scenario.”
“What do we do next?” asked Greg. “Talk to the hotel to ask how this person, whoever she is, was able to get a key to Faith’s room?”
Eddy looked at him and placed his hands on his hips. “We handle this. It’s our case. It’s not yours. And yes I plan on finding out how a key was distributed to someone without sufficient identification.”
The two men stared each other down and Faith rolled her eyes at the overabundance of testosterone swirling around the room. “Okay you two, that’s enough.” She turned to face her work partner. “Eddy, Greg helped us. I know it’s unusual but don’t dismiss him like that.”
Eddy huffed out a breath. “Fine. You have a point, but we can’t involve him in our investigation.”
“I know, Eddy, I know. Besides you’ll be gone in a couple of days won’t you, Greg?”
His eyes narrowed at her words, a flash of hurt flitting across them before disappearing. “Yes, I’ll be going soon. Until I leave, though, I’m happy to help out anyway I can. I have a friend who can also provide help if we need it.”
Now Faith bristled. “We work for the FBI, Greg, we have our own resources.”
“I know, but this guy is a computer whiz. He can find out things that even the highest classified person can’t get. He’s helped my team on missions, not to mention helped my teammates when their partners needed help.”
Eddy walked up to Greg. “I don’t care if he’s the fucking President of the United States, we have our own resources. Now, if you don’t mind, I think it’s best you leave.”
When Greg looked her way, she nodded. No way would Eddy say anything more now about the case, even though Greg had helped them.
“All right then, but seeing as you’re in my room, I think it should be you who leave.”
How could Eddy have forgotten they were in Greg’s room? She hadn’t. His spicy scent was the first thing she noticed about the room when she walked in. The room was neat, not a piece of clothing out of place or lying about.
Faith walked to Greg, went up on tiptoe and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “I’ll see you later, yes?”
She hoped so, even though Eddy had told him his help wasn’t needed. She still wanted him by her side. Wanted to see him in the tunnel when she’d completed her run. Wanted to be able to celebrate a victory or loss. Wanted to spend the night in his arms again.
Greg pulled her close and she sighed against his chest. “Yeah, call me when you can meet up.” He kissed her softly on the lips
and if Eddy weren’t watching them she would’ve deepened the kiss.
Reluctantly she pulled away from him. “I’ll message you.” She picked up her bag that she’d grabbed on the way out of her room and headed for the door. “Let’s go, Eddy.”
Three hours later, Faith walked Smokey out of her holding stall in preparation for her first practice run. After the previous evening and the way her horse had performed, she wasn’t going to work the animal hard. She, herself, didn’t want to work hard. She planned on heading back to her room to catch a nap before tonight’s events.
As she got closer to the training area, she noticed Sadie standing off to the side. She wanted more than anything to go up to the woman and ask what the hell she was playing at, but that wouldn’t be a good idea. She and Eddy had formulated a plan and for that to work out she had to act as if everything was normal.
“Hey Sadie, how are you?” Faith watched her carefully, looking for any signs or tells that Sadie was perturbed by her appearance. If there was anything like that, then she’d report back to Eddy and Sadie would shoot to the top of the suspect list.
Eddy was convinced the two incidents were separate, but even though she suggested it, Faith wasn’t convinced.
“Hi Faith, I’m good, how about you?”
Well, she certainly didn’t seem upset that Faith was getting prepared to train. Perhaps it wasn’t Sadie who’d been in the bar. Still she wasn’t going to completely disregard her as a person of interest. The list she had was very small. “Good. A little tired.”
Sadie laughed. “Did you party hard to celebrate your big win? I didn’t see you at the bar, maybe you celebrated in private with that hunky cowboy I’ve seen hanging around you.”
Back to being a major of person of interest for Sadie. Was she trying to see if Faith would jump at the bait?
“I didn’t celebrate too much. Many more days of competition to go, don’t want to burn out too quickly.”
As she spoke, Sadie’s demeanor didn’t change at all. Her eyes didn’t slide away from Faith’s. Her body didn’t tense. Either she had absolutely nothing to do with giving Brad a key to her room to plant banned substances there, or absolutely everything to do with it.
“You’re right. I was only at the bar for about half an hour before I went to bed too.”
The more she talked to Sadie, the more she was beginning to think that she didn’t have anything to do with the events from the previous evening. But her argument with Tiffany was still fresh in Faith’s mind.
This case was becoming more and more confusing by the second. If only it was a book and she could skip to the end to find out “whodunnit.” Never before had she felt with this way working a case. Normally she was all in and determined to solve it—which she was, but this case had so many other factors to it.
Smokey stamped her hoof beside Faith and shook her head, as if to say, I’m done standing around, can we get moving please. “Well, I need to get to the practice ring. I’ll see you tonight, Sadie.”
“Sure, Faith. Have a good practice.” With a wave of her hand she walked away.
Faith climbed on Smokey and the horse pranced around a little bit. She tightened her hold on the reins and the horse settled down. Leaning forward she patted the mare’s neck. “Good girl, we’re just going to have a light run. You did so good last night, girl.”
Smokey tossed her head in appreciation to the praise and with a gentle nudge to her flanks the horse trotted toward the practice ring.
The morning sun shone brightly and the air was thick with humidity. She wanted to make sure the horse was in peak condition for when she competed again in a couple of days.
Breaking into a lope Faith, circled the route slowly, warming both of them up so they’d be ready to do a couple of course runs. Eddy stood off to the side and she raised a hand to acknowledge him. She caught sight of his return wave a second before she pushed her hat lower down on her head.
“Righto, girl, this is it. Let’s go.”
She kicked hard and the horse sprang into action. As they swiveled around the barrels, Smokey dug her hoofs in and barely kissed the sides of the round obstacles. Urging the mare on, Faith allowed herself the pleasure of doing something she loved.
Faith pulled on the reins and Smokey slowed to a trot, both of them breathing hard.
“Jesus, Faith, I don’t know what you’re doing but you’re getting some remarkable times here. Smokey just clocked the same time she did last night.” Eddy was shaking his head in disbelief.
“Yes, Ms. Timberly, how is a replacement horse getting these remarkable times?” Another voice joined the conversation and a shiver of apprehension rippled down her spine. It seemed part of their speculation from the early morning meeting was coming true—someone had reported her.
Faith dismounted gracefully and kept a loose hold on Smokey’s reins. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met. Who are you?”
The gentleman wore neatly pressed blue jeans, black western shirt with silver embroidery on the shirt cuffs and front pocket. He had a black cowboy hat on and Faith didn’t need to look at his boots to know they’d match his hat. He held a card out to her. “I’m Gerald Dougherty from the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. We’ve received a report about some of your practices. We’d like to talk if you have a few minutes.”
She grabbed the card and confirmed his identity. Across Smokey’s back, her gaze connected with Eddy’s. He gave a slight nod of his head. They needed to play this as if it they were really competitors and not undercover agents.
“Certainly, Mr. Dougherty, we can talk over there if you like.” Faith pointed to an area away from the main practice arena. A quick look around confirmed they were garnering a lot of attention from the other participants.
Out of the corner of her eye she spied someone striding up to her, she didn’t need to have a good look to know that person was Greg.
Geez, he was always turning up and it was starting to piss her off. She’d solved many cases without his help. She didn’t need his help with this case.
“What’s going on?” he asked the second he reached her side.
“And who are you?” Gerald asked, tilting his hat up a fraction. His blue eyes were darker than the ocean on a stormy day. His lips were set in a firm line. The man’s face was so serious Faith wondered if it wouldn’t crack if he smiled.
“I’m Greg Robertson, I’m with Faith. And wherever she goes, I go.”
Faith resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his assertion. He was acting like she was famous and needed a bodyguard or something. Eddy grabbed Smokey’s reins and handed them to a passing hand.
“Can you deal with Smokey for us?” Eddy asked.
The other guy glanced between them all, and looked like he was about to question why Eddy couldn’t do it. “Umm, ah, sure,” he stammered. Clearly Eddy had given him an ask no questions look.
“Thanks.”
“Look,” Faith stated, before an argument could get started about who should and shouldn’t be around when questions were asked. “We can all have a discussion and get this matter resolved quickly and then get on with our own business.”
Gerald shook his head. “This is no trivial matter that can be dusted away quickly, Ms. Timberly. We’ve received a very serious allegation and we will investigate it thoroughly.”
Faith had no doubt that would be the outcome, but once Dougherty found out just who she and Eddy were, then the likelihood of her being suspended would be slim. “Fine. Let’s go gentlemen.”
People turned as their group made their way over to the shade of a tree where they could speak privately. They weren’t screened from view, but everyone should get back to doing what they were doing before Gerald’s arrival.
“Now, Mr. Dougherty, can you please advise me what I’ve been accused of?”
“Certainly.” He stood a little straighter. “Last night, after your win, we received a report from a fellow competitor that they believed you were injecting your
horse with a stimulant to increase their performance. Given that your first horse has allegedly gone missing, and you have a replacement horse, one that is reputed not to be as fast or efficient as your first horse, naturally we have to wonder if there is some truth to the allegation.”
Even though she knew she’d done nothing wrong, guilt punched her in the gut. A silly reaction, but a genuine one just the same. Greg’s arm slid around her waist, and the guilt eased a fraction. Again, he managed to know the exact moment she needed support. He was so attuned to her it should frighten her, but it didn’t. It made her feel safe and protected.
“There are things happening here that you don’t know anything about, Mr. Dougherty.” Eddy interjected. “There’s no way Faith could possibly be involved with anything illegal. It’s not who she is. It’s not who we are.”
“You’re her trainer, of course you’re going to say something like that.”
Faith bent down and lifted her pant leg. Reaching into her a specially designed pocket in her cowboy boot, she extracted her badge. Looking around to make sure no one would see she held it up to show the man. Greg moved to block her action from view as well. “Mr. Dougherty, Eddy and I are undercover FBI agents and we’re here working a case. Normally we are required to keep this information quiet, but given the circumstances of a pending investigation by your organization, I’m telling you who we are. There is no way either of us would do anything illegal. We’re in the business of solving crimes, not conducting them.”
“How do I know that’s not a fake badge and this isn’t all a ploy to put me off from investigating you,” Gerald blustered.
“There are a select few committee members who are aware of our presence here at the rodeo. They don’t know the full details of what we’re working on and we can’t share that with you, but I can assure you I would never do anything to enhance a horse’s performance.”
Greg’s hand moved up and down her back in a soothing manner and she fought against relaxing into his touch. She was so tired, all she wanted to do was go back to her hotel room and curl up and sleep the day away. But she couldn’t, there were too many factors of the case that needed to be solved. And this investigation was an impediment they didn’t need.
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