Exposed in Darkness

by Heather Sunseri

  “What am I supposed to do? Ignore the emails? The texts? You think this source will just leave me alone if I ignore him? He knows my phone number, for crying out loud. And someone is threatening Teddy’s brother. Possibly even trying to kill him.”

  Ty took in a breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, then… what can I do?”

  “I need help monitoring the chat rooms. This person has been known to be vocal. He’s a sleuth with a big mouth. He’s getting information from somewhere. Let’s see if we can get the information before he does.”

  “Could it be that this sleuth—your confidential human source—is involved with the actual crime? How did he get video of the lieutenant governor so quickly?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. He could be involved, sure—or maybe he just knows who is. Somehow, he’s always several steps in front of us.”

  “Okay, I’ll try to find chatter. What will you be doing?”

  “I’m going to find out exactly who Declan O’Roark is.”

  “Doesn’t that feed directly into Mike’s and the director’s hands?”

  “Maybe. But it will be on my terms.”

  “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

  I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “So do I.”

  Not only was I doing exactly what Mike and the director wanted, something about getting close to this Declan character wasn’t settling well deep inside my gut. But if Declan was tied to some group threatening Truman Spencer, I wouldn’t blink twice when I took him and his billion-dollar company down.

  I arrived at Kensington Race Track in the pre-dawn hour Monday morning. I drove around the parking lots until I found a sign directing me toward Barns 31 through 40.

  I parked my convertible Mini Cooper in a lot containing everything from rusted-out beaters to high-end luxury cars. Holding my riding hat and crop under my arm, I found a break in the white plank fencing and weaved my way through the maze of barns until I found Barn 35.

  Men and women buzzed about, prepping horses for their morning workouts. Declan was nowhere to be seen, but I found Aidan barking a series of orders to a farrier at one end of the barn next to a gray, spotted thoroughbred. The farrier’s face turned red, but he nodded wordlessly.

  When Aidan was finished with his verbal assault, I approached slowly. “Aidan?”

  He turned. “Oh. So you were serious.”

  His harsh tone made me straighten. Maybe this had been a mistake. It wouldn’t be my first.

  “I’ll understand if you don’t have anything for me. I just thought…” I tried the wounded animal approach.

  Marti and José peeked around the corner of one of the stalls, where a horse was being prepped for his morning workout.

  “No, I’ve got something for you. I promised the boss I’d give you a chance.” His eyes lowered to where my helmet dangled in my fingers at my side. He laughed. “Wait. You thought I was going to let you ride one of my animals?”

  I looked down at the dirt floor of the barn, then, after rotating my shoulders, I met his arrogant grin. “Actually, I just came prepared for whatever you had for me, but you know what? Never mind. Thank you for entertaining the idea, but I wasn’t looking for charity. I certainly didn’t come to be laughed at.”

  I was about to turn on my heel and stride out of there when a voice spoke from behind me. “Good morning.”

  I recognized the voice immediately. I closed my eyes, embarrassed for having allowed the asshole Aidan to treat me the way he had. And for reacting to it. I turned slowly.

  “Aidan,” said Declan, “I believe you were about to ask Miss Fairfax what kind of experience she has with thoroughbreds.” He was dressed in khaki dress pants, a blue checkered dress shirt, and a tie. His expression was dark.

  “What kind of experience do you have with thoroughbred horses?” Aidan said robotically behind me.

  Against everything in me, I faced Aidan again. “I’ve ridden horses since I was two. Of course, I’m a little too big to be a jockey, but I’ve ridden thoroughbreds since I was sixteen, using the money to put myself through college. I was an exercise rider for Lily’s Blossom the year she won all three legs of the Triple Tiara.” The Triple Tiara was a series of three prominent Grade II horse races for fillies. “I could list the other horses I’ve ridden in training and the races they’ve won if you’d like, but to be honest, I’ve changed my mind.”

  Basically, I had a bad feeling about working for Aidan Gallagher. He wasn’t a nice person, and I was pretty sure any job I took from him would be short-lived. I knew I would struggle to answer to his heavy-handed way of speaking to his employees. One could argue that I had issues with authority. I wouldn’t disagree.

  I would just find another way to get to know Declan.

  I turned to go, but Declan was closer to me than I’d expected. He put his hands on my shoulders and turned me back around to face Aidan as if I were a petulant child needing a lecture. “Aidan, tell Miss Fairfax that you’re sorry, and that you’d be honored if she would ride one of your horses to display her equestrian skills.” He squeezed my shoulders a little tighter, holding me a little too close to him for my comfort. I wondered how comfortable he’d be if he knew I could take him to the ground in one second flat. “Besides, you were just telling me you needed a skilled rider for A Fool’s Errand.”

  Aidan leaned his head back and laughed again. “You think this little girl is going to be the answer to our needs for A Fool’s Errand? You’ve lost your mind, Declan. That horse is worth half a million dollars and hasn’t even raced yet! Maybe you need to stop thinking with your—”

  Declan dropped his hands and took two quick steps toward Aidan, his face directly in line with his friend’s. “Don’t be an arse,” he said through gritted teeth. “You will remember that in addition to being friends, you and I own some horses together, and some are one hundred percent mine.” There was a threat behind Declan’s words, and it didn’t appear to be empty.

  “Fine,” Aidan said. He didn’t seem angry at all, but that didn’t stop me from holding my breath to see how this disagreement played out. Aidan stepped around Declan. “Miss Fairfax, we’ll start you out riding A Fool’s Errand. We’ll see how you handle him and go from there. Marti will show you the ropes of how we do things around here.”

  “Thank you.” I nodded to each of them, then, against my better judgment, headed for the stall where I’d seen Marti.

  “Holy cow!” Marti said when the two men were out of earshot. “One of those men hates your guts, and the other one appears to want way more than a rider for his racehorses.” Her brows tilted inward as if she was thinking about her own words. She laughed at her own accidental joke, then linked her arm in mine and shrugged. “Mom said those two gave you a ride home the other night. I want to hear everything.”

  Still reeling slightly from what had just transpired, I wasn’t sure how to answer Marti. So I just said, “How about you show me around this barn for now? I’m pretty sure I’m already on probation with Aidan Gallagher.”

  Marti showed me where I could find any tack I might need and where the other supplies were stored. Then she introduced me to A Fool’s Errand, a tall, lanky bay colt. His brownish-reddish body was shiny, and his black mane and tail were braided.

  “He’s a baby,” I said. “Has he even been in training long?”

  Marti was already placing a saddle on the colt’s back. She didn’t speak while she silently busied herself with the buckles of the saddle.

  “Marti?”

  Marti turned to me, a pained look on her face. “This is his second week on the track. He threw his last rider. He’s out with a broken leg.”

  “Perfect,” I said. So—Aidan was hoping to get rid of me by injuring me. I looked up into A Fool’s Errand’s dark brown eyes and thought: And Declan is letting it happen. “You’re not going to hurt me, though, are you?”

  I’d broken yearlings before, gotten them used to their bridles, bits, and saddles. And I’d trained young
thoroughbreds when they were first introduced to the track or a starting gate. There was actually an article written about me when I was nineteen. They had deemed me somewhat of a horse whisperer. It had been a while, but I could do this.

  “Okay, he’s ready,” Marti announced.

  After placing my helmet on my head, I pulled on the lead and led the horse from his stall. He resisted at first, but then reluctantly stepped forward. When he was out of the stall, I handed the lead to Marti.

  I snapped the chinstrap in place, my ponytail trailed down my back, and I was about to get a leg up from Marti when Declan appeared.

  “A Fool’s Errand is quite the handful,” he said. “Are you sure you want to ride him?” I could see it wasn’t a question he was asking lightly. Lines formed between his brows.

  “That’s the job, right?” I asked with confidence. It had been a while, but I knew I was capable of riding any horse they asked me to. I’d been thrown before. If A Fool’s Errand threw me, it would be embarrassing, but it wouldn’t be the first time I’d eaten mud. I met Declan’s hard look. “Yes, I can handle this horse,” I said, answering the real question he was asking.

  “Okay then.” He stepped close and offered me a leg up. Once there, his hand lingered on my thigh a little longer than necessary.

  Marti led me from the barn toward the path that would take us to the track. I glanced back once at Declan, who was watching us go with an expression I couldn’t quite decipher.

  I suddenly felt like such a fraud and a liar. This was the first step into Declan’s life, a life I needed to learn more about if I was going to find out why the FBI was so interested in him and his businesses. But at the same time—

  I pushed that thought out of my head. I was doing a job. That was it.

  And right now, I was on top of an animal that, if I didn’t concentrate, could cause me great harm.

  Marti handed me the lead rein. I gripped the reins and my riding crop, feeling the leather against my fingers and the palms of my hands. I was comfortable atop A Fool’s Errand. It was as if I’d never stopped riding. As if I hadn’t left my grandfather’s racing stable after college to enter the FBI Academy—a decision he hadn’t agreed with at the time, and probably still didn’t.

  Marti still had a grip on the bridle when we approached Aidan at the entrance to the track.

  “You doing okay?” he asked. “How’s the animal feel?” His voice was professional when he spoke this time. And I heard concern—the concern he should have any time a new employee was atop one of his prized animals.

  “Good.” I wanted to add that I felt at home on top of this thoroughbred. Invigorated, even. Like it was a calling I was always supposed to answer. But it was best Aidan Gallagher and I kept the words between us to a minimum.

  “For today, I want you to take him on an easy ride. Stay to the middle of the track, away from the inside railing where horses will be training harder. Let’s get one lap in. Then we’ll reassess.”

  “Got it.”

  Marti stepped back, but not before giving me a worried look like I was about to bungee jump for the first time.

  I directed the horse out onto the track and took him to a gallop. By the first turn, I had the colt running at a decent clip, and had to pull back slightly to keep him at the easy pace Aidan had requested.

  But when we were coming down the stretch, A Fool’s Errand insisted on picking up speed. When I tried to rein him in, he ignored me. In the distance up ahead, I saw that Declan had sidled up to Aidan. Their heads were angled directly toward me and A Fool’s Errand. Aidan held both hands in front of him, motioning for me to slow. Not wanting to defy him, I pulled on the colt’s reins again, harder this time, forcing him to slow to a gallop.

  The horse did as I asked. But when I got closer to Aidan and Declan, and pulled back harder, asking him to stop, he reared up in defiance of the order. My heart raced. I leaned forward while gripping the reins until he landed back on all fours. “Don’t do this to me,” I said softly to the animal currently trying to make a fool of me. I continued to grip the reins firmly as he danced around, refusing to stand still, until I gave him one final order and tug against his bridle.

  He whinnied and then mercifully stopped.

  “I asked you to take it easy,” Aidan chastised. “You went at a full sprint down the back side and again after the fourth turn.”

  “With all due respect, Mr. Gallagher, this animal wants to run. He’s defiant because he’s got pent-up energy.”

  Declan smiled triumphantly, like he’d known I wouldn’t be able to keep this horse at a slow pace, but said nothing. Aidan was the trainer, and Declan obviously left training decisions to him. There was definitely an interesting dynamic between these two men.

  “Take her on another lap,” Aidan said. “This time, let her decide the speed.”

  I smiled at the small victory and did as he asked. A Fool’s Errand was appreciative of the hard run, and rewarded me by listening better when we slowed after the second lap.

  When I was back at the barn and down off the horse, I handed him over to a hot walker, then approached Aidan. Declan was nowhere to be seen.

  “You’ve got yourself a job,” Aidan said. “You can start tomorrow, after you’ve completed all the employment paperwork. Be here every morning by five thirty.”

  “Yes, sir.” I stopped short of actually saluting him, then turned to gather my equipment and leave before he could change his mind.

  When I moved to exit the barn, Aidan called after me. “And Brooke, Declan won’t always be around to soften my bite.”

  Chapter 7

  Declan

  I sat in the back seat of the SUV, using my iPad to flip through the documents Maggie had sent me.

  Brooke made her way to her little convertible. She couldn’t see me through the dark windows, but I watched her throw her riding equipment in the back seat. After closing the door, she leaned against the car and looked down at her phone.

  Her long, dark ponytail snaked around her neck and hung halfway down her chest. I thought she was sexy in the strapless number she’d worn to the governor’s party, but the way she looked in tight riding pants and a form-fitting shirt gave my imagination a nice workout.

  And the way she handled A Fool’s Errand was enough to make me want to ignore everything else I’d read about her this morning—information that had nothing to do with her ability to handle an untrained thoroughbred.

  Fortunately though, Maggie had dug up enough information about Brooke Fairfax and her family to make me comfortable setting her atop of one of the wildest beasts in my stable. I was still a little surprised at how Aidan didn’t blink an eye putting her in danger without the knowledge I had, but I was confident she could handle it. And she did.

  I smiled.

  But now, as I stared at the very little information Maggie had drudged up about Brooke’s most recent career as an FBI special agent, my smile faded.

  “David,” I said to my assistant and driver, “we can go now. I have an eight thirty meeting downtown.”

  “Yes, sir,” David responded.

  I decided I’d interrogate Brooke another day. I’d let her dig around in my life a little first and see what she unearthed.

  Could be interesting.

  Chapter 8

  “I’m in.” I threw my keys on the dining table and set bags of takeout on the kitchen counter.

  “With the billionaire?” Ty asked, not removing his eyes from the computer screen.

  “Indirectly. With his trainer. Who hates my guts by the way.”

  My cell phone rang, and I picked it up. After looking at the caller ID, I glanced across the room at Ty. “It’s Mike again.”

  “You can’t hide from him forever.”

  I pressed a couple of buttons, placing Mike on speaker. “Hi, Mike.”

  “The director wants to know why you haven’t called in.”

  Ty joined me in the kitchen.

  “I don’t work for the direct
or,” I answered defiantly.

  “You took the job when you went to work for Declan.”

  Ty’s brows shot upward.

  “You’re having me followed?”

  “What did you think we would do?”

  My eyes rolled to the ceiling, and I squeezed the bridge of my nose. “Mike, I’m just a girl who’s been out of work for a year. I love riding horses, as the director is well aware, so I decided to get a part-time gig. Aidan Gallagher runs one of the most successful training stables around, so I got a job with him. That’s all.” I shrugged when Ty chuckled under his breath as I skirted around the truth.

  “And it’s mere coincidence that Aidan Gallagher trains horses exclusively for Declan O’Roark—the person I asked you to get closer to?”

  “Does he? I had no idea.” I examined an annoying hangnail, pretending to be bored. “Mike, it’s just a job.”

  “Brooke, I know that you and I haven’t been close in a while, but I want you to know—”

  “Haven’t been close?” I laughed, not even trying to hide my amazement at the ludicrous understatement. “Mike, you made it clear to everyone on our team last year that I was responsible for Teddy’s death. We haven’t been ‘close’ because you and I are no longer friends. And we never will be.”

  “Brooke…” He paused briefly. “I didn’t mean to—”

  “You didn’t mean to what, Mike? To hurt me? To accuse me of murdering my own husband? You and your director can take your job and shove it. Brooke only works for Brooke now.”

  I hung up the phone and began serving up the takeout. I hadn’t realized I was slamming dishes around until Ty came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. I breathed hard, swallowed through the angry lump in my throat. Ty placed a hand over one of mine and directed me to set a dish down gently on the counter.

  “It’s okay,” he said calmly.