by Abigail Keam
“Like what?”
“Like a rumor that a sheriff in another county was taking bribes to look the other way on smuggling or money laundering through car dealerships or little country stores. Things like that.”
“Why did you do it?”
“I needed the money.”
“You got paid?”
“Of course. I was taking big risks. I wanted money for my trouble.”
“Asa has never mentioned that she knew you.”
“She didn’t. Minor would never have told her about me.”
“I still don’t understand. Minor was stationed in Washington, not here.”
“When I first started, he was in Kentucky. Once he was transferred to Washington, I told him that it was too risky to report to anyone else. I still report to Minor who passes the info on to agents who work this area. They didn’t know who I am. It keeps me safe.”
“You once told me that you knew Brannon. Was it because of Minor?”
“When Minor married Asa, I checked her out. I did a deep background check on you as well as Brannon.”
I felt a shiver go up my spine. Who was this man sitting next to me, munching so casually on French fries? “What did you find out about my family?”
“Asa was the real deal. She bled red, white, and blue. You were respectable–maybe a little too eccentric for this town.”
“What about Brannon? You said you didn’t like him.”
“You remember that?”
“Yeah.”
“He was condescending to his staff, rude to his students, and just a plain ass to everyone else. I know for a fact that his partners were glad to see the back of him.”
I was stunned. Was he describing the charming, intelligent man that I had known as my husband? Was he describing the real Brannon?
“You look like you don’t believe me. You were the only thing that gave Brannon class. He never would have made it big without you. Trust me on this.”
“You’re not describing the man I knew as my husband.”
“Oh yeah? Look how he treated you when he didn’t want you anymore.”
Tears flooded my eyes. “Stop it!”
“You know I’m telling the truth. You just don’t want to admit that you picked the wrong man–that your marriage was a fraud. Brannon was a user and he used you.”
“Are you using me?”
Goetz handed me some paper napkins. “I’m trying to steer you away from danger.”
I dried my eyes. “I don’t think we should see each other anymore. I don’t feel that I can trust you. Everything is topsy-turvy.”
Goetz grabbed my hand in his big paw. “Don’t leave, Josiah. I need something shiny in my life. Too many things have been tarnished for me.”
I shook my head. “I think we need to take a break. I need to wrap my head around this.”
“Would you trust me if I told you something that you could hold over me?”
“What would that be?” I scoffed.
“I killed O’nan for you.”
29
What do you say when a person confesses that he killed for you?
Gee, thanks for telling me and making me an accessory after the fact.
Thank you for saving my life and the life of my friend.
What do you want?
Are you going to kill me now that I know?
Stay away!
All of the above ran through my mind, but I said nothing.
Goetz took me home.
I belted back a few drinks and went to bed. The next morning I did what I always do when feeling discombobulated–I went to see my honeybees.
I sat in my golf cart, watching them fly in and out of their hives, buzzing to the spring flowers in the pastures.
When European settlers first came to Kentucky, they were surprised to find European honeybees making nests in trees. This was unusual as Apis mellifera was not native to the New World.
Native Americans called the bees, “flies with the fiery tails.”
It turned out that the honeybees in Kentucky were descendants of the first honeybees brought to Virginia by European settlers, having expanded their territory by swarming.
The establishment of honeybees in an area was a warning to Native Americans that Europeans were not far behind.
Unfortunately for me, there had been no warning. I never had considered that Goetz had killed O’nan. I had always thought that Asa had one of her minions do the deed. But thinking about it, it made perfect sense.
Goetz told me how O’nan had threatened his grandchildren if he didn’t help take me down. Believing his family was in danger, Goetz killed O’nan with a sniper shot, using me as bait.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want O’nan dead. I never believed I was capable of hating someone as much as I hated Fred O’nan.
But if O’nan really threatened Goetz’ family, why didn’t Goetz have him arrested?
Did he think another judge might be as lenient with O’nan as the first judge had been?
Did Goetz worry that O’nan might hire someone to act for him as he rotted in jail?
It seemed like a piece of the story was missing.
And why did I feel so conflicted?
Was it because Goetz had the guts to do what I should have done, but didn’t because I lacked the courage?
And do I tell Matt? Oh, poor Matt. He got caught in the crossfire.
I felt so bad about that.
I sat for an hour or so, watching the bees fly past me, some lighting on me so they could scrape the pollen off their bodies into the pollen baskets on the back of their legs. If they landed on my arms, I’d coaxed them onto my hands so I could check them for mites or misshapen wings.
Bees can be handled. Like anything, you have to know how.
And like anything, you have to pick your battles carefully. Sometimes bees don’t want to play. Sometimes it’s dangerous to go near them.
I think that was the same with Goetz. I didn’t think he was going to harm me. At least, not for a while.
Shaneika had called in the morning. It seems like the ATF were bent on making her life miserable. They had a search warrant for her office and home.
She wanted me to pick Linc up at school and bring him to the Butterfly where his grandmother, Eunice, and he would stay until Shaneika could clean up the mess the ATF left.
My path was clear. I needed to do more snooping.
30
I stopped off at the Big House with Linc in tow. Going through the kitchen, I left Linc happily ensconced at a table with Charles, who set a roast beef sandwich and a big piece of chess pie in front of him. As I left the room, Charles told me that I could find Lady Elsmere having tea in the library.
I knocked on the library door and then opened it to find Liam also having tea with her Ladyship.
Upon seeing me, Liam rose to leave.
“No, stay, Liam. I might have use for you.”
June ordered Liam to pour a cup of tea for me. “Some cakes?” she asked, looking amused.
I noticed that several buttons on her blouse were undone. Egads! “I’ll have the pink ones.”
Liam filled a plate with little frosted pink cakes and baby biscuits filled with sliced ham.
“Lovely,” I replied, taking a sip of my tea. “I needed something.”
“To what do we owe this visit? Not that I’m not thrilled to see you anytime,” cooed June, looking smug. Liam handed me a napkin.
“I need some information that only you can get for me, and perhaps you too, Liam.”
June leaned forward. “I’m intrigued.”
“For some reason the ATF is still making Shaneika’s life miserable. They searched her home and office today.”
“But why?” asked June, her hand on Liam’s thigh. “I thought you said that Charlie wasn’t in the gondola. It seems like they should be looking for Charlie. He has no connection with Shaneika other than they are in the racing business and committed a social gaffe at my party.”
I noticed that he had had some extensive cosmetic dental work done. No doubt a gift from June. She could not abide the European tendency for having bad teeth, one of her few American prejudices.
June smiled at Liam. “Charlie ruined it. Shaneika was just being Shaneika.”
“I think Charlie specifically targeted Shaneika to make it look like they were having a feud.”
“For what purpose?” inquired June, taking a sip of tea.
I reached for another biscuit. “To create smoke, a diversion. Besides scrutinizing Shaneika, the ATF also searched Charlie’s house and office, taking everyone’s computers. They are systemically going through all their leads.”
“How do you want me to help?” asked June, looking adoringly at Liam who returned a wondrous smile, displaying his new teeth.
“First, put a cap on it both of you, will ya? Sober up. This is serious.”
“Party pooper,” replied June. “Whatever, go on.”
“June, I need you to use your connections to find out if there was anything fishy with Charlie. Was he about to go bankrupt? Did he have a gambling problem?”
“That should be easy enough to do,” mused June. “I’ll make some calls and also ask some of the barn hands if they know something. They are huge gossips.”
“What do you want me to do?” asked Liam, also intrigued.
“I’m sure you have made many nefarious acquaintances since you’ve been here. Make contact and see what they know.”
“I’ve quit my bad ways, haven’t I, Luv?”
I looked at June. “How many watches did he steal at the Derby?”
“Six . . . and two wallets . . . and one pair of ruby earrings.”
“And I gave them all up, I did!”
June laughed. “Yes, after his day of fun, we turned everything in to the Lost and Found.”
Liam looked earnestly at me. “Got to keep my hand in.”
I nodded while rising. Without thinking, I checked to see if my watch was still on my wrist.
“Look, my Lady, she doesn’t trust me.”
“Neither do I. That’s what makes you so irresistible, you bad, bad boy,” cooed June.
Yuck!
I couldn’t wait to get away from those two . . . but not before I pinched some more of those little cakes . . . and some biscuits . . . and some raspberry cookies that I hadn’t tried. I was so laden down I could barely make my escape.
31
Two days later, Shaneika, Asa, and I were seated in the Big House’s music room, sucking down bourbons.
It was eleven in the morning.
The three of us had spent those two days threatening, cajoling, snooping, and bribing anyone who could give us any information on Charlie Hoskins. Basically, we came up with a big fat zero, so we were drowning our sorrows.
Charlie’s business was in okay shape–not great but solid. There were no sordid stories of messy love affairs. He didn’t have an interest in women. And Franklin checked the other side of the fence for Charlie’s love inclination. There was nothing. Charlie’s big love was work.
He had no close friends as he had been an ass to everyone, but Charlie was respected in the community, if not liked, and seemed to be honest.
A big dead end.
June entered the library with Liam, her sidekick. Everywhere June went, Liam was right behind her.
It irritated me. Don’t ask me why. It just did.
I scooted over on the couch to make room for June, but she chose to sit in a leather armchair.
Liam sat next to me. He smelled like expensive cologne and horses.
“We came up with zip,” Asa said. “Charlie has simply vanished off the face of the earth.”
June smiled. “In a week or so, I think you should start having your men check all the international flights, either to Switzerland or to the Caribbean, especially the Cayman Islands.”
“That is where banks don’t ask questions,” replied Asa, “and all accounts have only numbers, not names.”
“So you believe that Charlie is alive and on the run,” I stated, looking between Liam and June.
Liam nodded.
“Why?” asked Shaneika.
“Everything Charlie did those few weeks leading up to and on the day of the Derby was to provide an alibi and focus wrong-doing on others such as Shaneika. Harassing Shaneika was done to provoke her into a public display of anger,” commented June, studying Shaneika.
“Which I fell for,” uttered Shaneika, looking sheepish.
“And then there was all that silly business with the two crews, two balloons, the explosion, and on and on,” continued June. “It was the explosion that really interested me. No person or horse was hurt. Just a few cars dented here and there. The explosion was all smoke and mirrors. A big, loud boom to divert people’s attention from what was really going on.
“What nailed the explosion for us was that most of the metal used in hot air balloons was replaced with plastic or rope. The gondola itself was wicker.”
“Exploding plastic can cause damage,” countered Asa, frowning.
“Yes, but not as much as metal,” replied Liam. “It was the lack of metal that pointed to the explosion as a setup.”
“How did you get a copy of the ATF report?” asked Shaneika. “Even Asa couldn’t finagle a copy.”
“Simple,” stated June. “I didn’t. I just had some of my workers talk with the ground crew at the Downs. I’m telling you that house, hotel, and ground staff are all gossips. They certainly know more about the people they serve than the other way around.”
“Yes,” jumped in Liam, “we had our people talk with workers who were doing cleanup and searching for injured people before the police got there. They told our people that no one was hurt and there was very little debris. They were puzzled about the lack of detritus. The explosion turned out to be a very loud bang and some smoke, but that was all. They never saw anything that remotely looked like human remains.”
“So what are you saying?” I asked, somewhat impatiently. I already knew that stuff. I wanted to move on to something I didn’t know.
“I’m not finished,” fussed June. “I sent some of my groomers and hot walkers up to Pimlico. They found out that Persian Blue is still running in the race, even though Charlie is not around. Apparently Charlie was not the only owner of Persian Blue. There were several silent partners who have now stepped forward. But now, the crux of the matter.”
“Yes, let’s get to the point,” encouraged Asa.
June smiled. “You’re going to love this, Shaneika. My guys took Charlie’s men out to a bar and got them stinking drunk. One of them said that he had overheard a vet tell Charlie that Persian Blue had a serious problem.”
“What was it?” asked Shaneika, leaning forward in her chair.
June smirked. “It seems that Persian Blue had a very low sperm count.”
Liam, positively twitching with glee, interrupted, “In other words, ladies, Persian Blue was shooting blanks.”
Shaneika, Asa, and I looked at each other and muttered together, “Ahhhh.”
32
In the Thoroughbred business, the real money is made from breeding your horse to other horses. The races are a way to increase the breeding fees. Winning more important races with larger purses is the way to increase a horse’s stud fee.
A champion may race for only two or three years, but may live to be twenty years old. He may breed for ten to fifteen years, depending upon his health. And if that horse produced offspring that were winners too, the sky’s the limit for the breeding fee. That sire would stand to make a fortune.
But if the horse’s ability to reproduce is limited, then the horse is basically worthless after he stops racing. He is not worth anything to anyone even though he’s a champion.
If it were true that P
ersian Blue was sterile, then we understood why Charlie flew the coop. He had already sold breeding shares to Persian Blue, which he would have to refund. Besides that, Charlie would be the laughing stock of the horse industry and the butt of many tasteless jokes.
Charlie’s erratic behavior was beginning to make sense.
Asa looked at Shaneika. “Either Charlie has run off with the money or the money is no longer available to refund.”
Shaneika poured another bourbon while directing a question at June. “Why did you say to look for him in a week or so?”
“That’s when the bandages would need to come off,” answered June.
Asa half-rose from her seat in excitement. “Plastic surgery!”
“You got it, kid,” replied June. “His face is plastered on every agency’s WANTED board. He could never get out of the country with that ugly mug of his.”
Shaneika nodded in agreement. “So he would have to have his face altered. Why didn’t I think of that?”
June waved for me to pour her a drink. “If I were you,” she said to us all, “check all flights out. Also I would start looking in Miami. He would need to be close to a port. At this stage, it might still be uncomfortable to travel long distances, even with pain medication.”
“And a cruise ship would be an ideal hiding place,” I concurred. “They wouldn’t be so strict about boarding as an airplane.”
June looked rather pleased with herself. “I think sometime during one of the day trips, Charlie is going to jump ship and get on a little island hopper to some place where his syndicate buddies might not think to look.”
“That still doesn’t explain why the ATF is still after Shaneika,” I said.
June looked at Asa. “I think Shaneika was used by Charlie as a smoke screen and Minor used them both to smoke out Asa. I think he wanted to see her again. Minor knew of Asa’s close relationship Shaneika and used it to get Asa here.”
“I am so tired of being used by people,” snapped Shaneika, glaring at Asa. “You owe me, girlfriend.”
“I acted exactly as Minor wanted,” complained Asa. “As soon as I heard that Shaneika was in trouble, I got on a plane. I can’t believe I was so stupid.”