by Alison Hart
“I’m glad the annoying thing’s gone, too,” she said. Heckle and Jeckle trotted up, demanding pats. Jas scratched behind their fuzzy ears. As she led Shadow across the stable yard, Earl the rooster strutted in front as if leading a parade. When they entered the cool barn, the other horses whinnied greetings.
No matter how heavy her heart, Jas knew she had made the right decision. For the sake of the farm, she had to quit searching for Whirlwind.
Twining her fingers through Shadow’s mane, she held tightly. The coarse hair bit into her skin. Hugh had told her that Whirlwind was safe and healthy. As much as she hated the idea of trusting him, on this, she had no choice.
“If Hope were a person, I’d say she was depressed.” Chase knelt in the straw in the quarantine stall and snapped a leash to the pup’s new collar. “She picks at her food, doesn’t wag her tail, and ignores her rawhide chip.”
Jas held out a bone-shaped cookie to the dog. Hope was curled in a ball, her eyes shut. “Come on, let’s go for a walk,” she coaxed. But the pup only tucked her nose deeper under her haunches.
“See what I mean? Every dog I know goes bonkers for walks,” Chase said.
“I bet it was her mother’s fault. She needs psychotherapy to uncover her hidden issues.” Jas’s joke sounded strained even to her.
“Thank you, Dr. Schuler, dog psychologist.” When Jas didn’t smile, he asked, “What are you so down about? Does it have something to do with what you won’t tell me? Even though we had a deal?”
“You’re right—I need to tell you.” Jas took a deep breath. “Hugh didn’t just threaten me and you. He threatened Miss Hahn and the farm.”
“What?” Chase jumped up so abruptly that Hope sprang nervously to her feet.
“His exact words were ‘I can and I will destroy Diane and her precious farm.’”
“That jerk …”
“And I think he’s got a spy who’s reporting to him.” Jas held the cookie inches from the pup’s nose. Hope lifted her head and sniffed it. Taking the leash from Chase, she used the treat to lure the dog closer to the door. Then she fed half of it to her. Hope crunched slowly, without any joy.
“A spy?” Chase repeated, sounding unconvinced. “Isn’t that a little James Bond?”
“How else would he know I’m looking for Whirlwind?” She gave him a sharp look, noticing the doubt in his expression. “You don’t think Hugh’s threats are serious, do you?”
“Well, yeah …” Chase had taken off his cap and was running his fingers through his sweaty hair.
“Hugh is serious. Look at it this way—any man who can murder two horses would have no problem burning down a barn full of them.”
“You’re right.” Angrily, he slapped the cap back on his head.
“Don’t say anything to Miss Hahn. She’s got enough problems. We’ll just have to be more careful about what we say.” Jas picked up Hope. “Let’s go for that walk.” She carried the pup from the quarantine barn. Sam and Reese, the three-legged Lab, barked from the gate. “Look, there are some nice doggies who want to be friends.” For a second, Hope’s ears pricked. Then they flattened and she buried her nose in Jas’s elbow.
“I definitely think there was another dog at Hope’s old house,” Jas said. “Maybe it died and that’s why she’s depressed.” She looked over her shoulder at Chase. He was leaning against the doorjamb, frowning. His fingers were stuffed in his back pockets.
“We have to tell Miss Hahn,” he said. “Especially if someone’s skulking around, reporting to Hugh.”
“No! She’s already stressed over hay prices. Besides, it’s not a problem anymore. I’ve decided to butt out and stop looking for Whirlwind. Let the insurance company’s lawyers handle Hugh from now on.”
“You? Butt out? Riiight.”
“As long as Hugh’s convicted of fraud, I’m okay. Hugh told me that Whirlwind is safe. I have to believe him. I’m sure he sold her for a lot of money. That means the person who bought her must value her.”
Chase snorted. “Sure, as long as she can win trophies. Then what? A Mexican dog food factory?”
“Don’t make it worse, Chase,” Jas snapped. “It’s not that I want to give up looking for her. I have to. I can’t put the farm in jeopardy.” She swung around, ending their conversation only to find Miss Hahn striding toward them.
“Jas, Chase, I’m glad you’re both here,” she called, wincing with each step as if her leg pained her more than usual. Her tan face was pale. Her lips were pinched angrily.
Jas clutched Hope, her heart thudding. Please, not more bad news.
Opening the gate, Miss Hahn slipped inside the quarantine enclosure without letting the other dogs through. “What’s wrong?” Chase asked, hurrying over.
“Everything. I just got off the phone with Jenkins. The insurance company is dropping its case against Hugh.”
Jas’s jaw dropped. “What? They can’t do that!”
“Jenkins said they don’t have enough proof to win a conviction.” Miss Hahn’s brown eyes glittered angrily. “The National Microchip Registry does not have Aladdin’s microchip number on file. It’s been too long since the horse supposedly died.”
Jas moaned. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“And according to the insurance company,” Miss Hahn continued, “the computer records and hard copies on Aladdin have been ‘lost.’”
“You mean Hugh paid some office worker to destroy the information.” Chase sent dirt clods into the air with a furious kick.
“Why didn’t the insurance company or its lawyer have backups or duplicates or something?” Jas asked.
“They underestimated Hugh. Or, as Jenkins hinted, the lawyers knew from the beginning that they weren’t going to prosecute him.”
“I don’t understand,” Jas said, puzzled. “He committed a crime!”
“It’s all about money,” Miss Hahn explained. “Aladdin—Shadow—was insured for thirty grand. That’s not a lot to an insurance company, especially when Hugh’s lawyers have vowed to fight to the bitter end. The insurance company isn’t interested in a lengthy and expensive case when the chances of winning are slim.”
“So Hugh will get away with it—again.” Jas felt sick. Turning, she dumped Hope in Chase’s arms and started back toward the shed, too angry to talk.
“Jas,” Miss Hahn said, stopping her. “I’m as disappointed as you. I was hoping that we could finally expose Hugh, too. And I know your heart is set on finding Whirlwind. There was a chance that information on her whereabouts might have surfaced during the trial.”
Jas shrugged, pretending she didn’t care, but her eyes were blurry with tears.
“I know Dr. Danvers wasn’t very encouraging,” Miss Hahn continued. “But there must be some way we can find her.”
“No. There isn’t,” Jas said tonelessly.
“You haven’t given up, have you?”
“Tell her,” Chase said to Jas.
“Tell me what?” Miss Hahn looked back and forth between the two.
“If you don’t tell her, I will.”
Jas glared at Chase, her arms folded. He glared back, just as determined. “Okay.” She took a deep breath. “Hugh was at the courthouse yesterday. He threatened you and the farm if I didn’t back off.”
“His exact words were ‘I can and I will destroy Diane and her precious farm,’” Chase said.
Miss Hahn jerked as if she’d been slapped. “That arrogant—! Jas, I don’t care what Hugh threatened. We are not giving up. We’re going to find Whirlwind, and we’re going to convince that chicken-liver Jenkins and his lawyers that they need to prosecute Hugh. If they won’t, I’ll get Officer Lacey and the county to charge Hugh with cruelty to animals. He killed two horses for no reason, and if word gets out, there are enough animal lovers in this area to tar and feather him.”
As Jas listened to Miss Hahn rant, she felt a tendril of hope. Still, she was afraid to even think that maybe they could get Hugh.
Mi
ss Hahn patted her leg. “You know, if I’d dealt with Hugh Robicheaux twenty years ago, he wouldn’t be so cocky today. During a show, he caused me to have an accident. I thought we were friends, but to him, friendship was nothing compared to winning.”
“What did he do?” Jas asked.
“He loosened my girth before a jumping class. The saddle slipped and I crashed into a fence. Broke my leg in four places. Hugh won the class, of course. I had no proof or I would have confronted him then. So if he wants to take me on now, I’m ready.”
“Are you sure?” Jas asked. “This could get ugly.”
“Not as ugly as a bunch of ticked-off horse lovers,” Miss Hahn declared.
Chase grinned at Jas. “See? I told you that you needed to tell her.”
A tiny smile lifted Jas’s lips. “You were right.”
“As always.” Chase shifted Hope in his arms.
“Still, there’s the problem of finding Whirlwind,” Jas said. “I sure don’t have any brilliant ideas.”
Miss Hahn’s eyes brightened. “It just so happens that Dr. Danvers is coming over tonight for fried chicken. He’s bringing your grandfather. So if we put our five heads together …”
Jas reached for Hope. “Four heads,” she corrected. She glanced teasingly up at Chase as she took the dog from his arms.
“Four?” Miss Hahn crooked her brow.
Jas burst out laughing, suddenly feeling hopeful and downright giddy about finding Whirlwind. “If we’re trying to come up with brilliant ideas, then Chase’s head doesn’t count!”
Eight
“HUGH ISN’T THE FIRST TO KILL A HORSE FOR money,” Miss Hahn said. She passed the platter of fried chicken to Jas, who sat next to her at the kitchen table. Grandfather was on Jas’s other side so she could cut his food. Across the table, Chase and Dr. Danvers attacked their food as if starving. “One of the worst cases of fraud happened in the early 1990s.”
Jas placed a thigh on her plate. It was already filled with potato salad and green beans from the garden. “What happened?”
“Some of the top riders and wealthiest owners in the business paid a lowlife named Tommy Burns to kill their horses.”
Chase nodded as he shoveled a forkful of beans in his mouth. “I memember.”
“How could you memember?” Jas asked. “You weren’t even born.”
“Read about it.”
Jas feigned shock. “You read?”
He tossed a slice of carrot from the salad at her. “Hey!” She picked up a chunk of celery, ready to retaliate. Sam, who had been sleeping quietly on the floor, perked up.
“Manners, children,” Miss Hahn warned.
“I read about it, too,” Dr. Danvers said. “The case was tried in Chicago in a federal court.”
“Will someone tell me what happened?” Jas repeated.
“Will someone pass me the ’icken.” Grandfather looked pointedly at her.
“Sorry.” She put a drumstick on his plate.
“In a nutshell, nineteen people were indicted for killing at least thirteen horses for insurance money,” Miss Hahn explained.
“How’d they kill them?” Jas asked.
“Electrocution mostly,” Dr. Danvers said. “In one case, a horse named Empire was galloped until sweaty. Then he was put in a clean stall and electrocuted. Based on the sweat and clean stall, the vet ruled colic.”
Jas set down her fork, suddenly not smiling. She thought of the dead horse in Whirlwind’s paddock.
“What I don’t understand is why they would risk their reputations for money,” Chase said, adding, “This chicken is delicious, Miss Hahn.”
Grandfather waved his drumstick. “Greed.”
“You’re right,” Miss Hahn said. “They needed cash, they had an insured horse that wasn’t performing, and they knew a guy who could kill it, no problem. And they were pompous enough to think they’d never get caught.”
“Like Hugh,” Chase said.
Miss Hahn set the salad bowl next to Jas. “All the people charged were prominent in the horse world. George Lindemann Jr. was a former member of the United States Equestrian Team. Barney Ward was a grand prix rider. At the time, those of us who loved horses couldn’t believe they’d actually done it. Jas, more salad?”
“No thank you,” Jas whispered. She’d lived at High Meadows Farm for five years. Not once had she suspected that Hugh was capable of murder. “How did I not know?” Raising her eyes, she looked around the table. “How did I miss the signs?”
“What signs?” Chase asked.
“That Hugh could kill a horse. They were right in front of me. One, he bought and sold horses only for profit.” She counted off on her fingers. “Two, I never saw him actually pat a horse. Three, a horse to him wasn’t a living, breathing animal, it was a dollar sign.” She laid her hand on Grandfather’s arm. “Remember Little Bit? The two-year-old with the bad feet? Hugh sold him for some ridiculous amount to a family with more money than sense. The daughter was going to train him to be a jumper. Later you told me that the family put the colt down because he was constantly lame. If Hugh had sold him for a pleasure horse”—her voice grew angrier—“that never would have happened!”
“Jas, I vetted the horse for the family,” Dr. Danvers pointed out. “I told them he wouldn’t stay sound for jumping.”
“But Hugh convinced them otherwise,” she said. “I was there. I should have said something.” Pushing back her chair, she jumped up. Sam scrambled to his feet with a startled woof. “I could have saved Little Bit. I should have saved Whirlwind!”
Chase stood up just as quickly. A string bean clung to the front of his T-shirt. “You make it sound like it was your fault, not Hugh’s.”
“It was. I should have known what he was going to do. I should have stopped him.” Tossing down her napkin, she spun to leave the table. Grandfather grabbed her wrist, and she felt his old strength in the grasp of his fingers. “No, Jas, you ’ere just a kid.”
“Your grandfather’s right,” Dr. Danvers said. “If we had known, we would have stopped him. We were adults, yet we didn’t see the signs, either.”
Miss Hahn gave Chase a firm look and then pointed to Jas’s plate. “Sit down. Both of you. If we’re going to find Whirlwind, we need to be thinking clearly. Not emotionally. Okay?”
Jas sat with an unladylike thump. Beside her, Sam slid again to the floor.
“Well, I’d be emotional, too,” Chase said.
She shot him a grateful look for sticking up for her. Picking up her fork, she speared a lettuce leaf. “So, does anyone have an idea how we can find Whirlwind?” She tried to keep her voice from shaking.
“I do.” Miss Hahn dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “I’m thinking that Hugh used an agent to sell her. He would not have contacted buyers directly. Too risky.”
Jas’s eyes widened. “You’re right. And if we can find the agent, we can find who he sold Whirlwind to.”
“Unless the agent is in on the scam, too,” Dr. Danvers cautioned.
“My guess is the agent would not be in on the scam,” Miss Hahn said. “I think that’s one reason Hugh got away with the bogus sale the first time with Aladdin/Shadow. He didn’t want anyone else involved who could implicate him.”
“So the agent believed it was a legitimate sale.” Jas turned toward Grandfather. “Who would Hugh have used?”
Reaching behind her, Miss Hahn pulled out a kitchen drawer. “Let me get a pencil and paper. We’ll make a list.”
“Anthony Bixby.” Dr. Danvers waved his fork in the air. “He’s in Middleburg and was often at the farm.”
“’enny Ferraro,” Grandfather chimed in.
“Enny?” Miss Hahn repeated. “Spell that for me.”
“He means Jenny,” Jas said.
“And Scott Black,” Miss Hahn added as she wrote. “He’s from Lexington and a big name in the hunter-jumper circuit. He’s been around as long as I have.” While they finished eating, several more names were suggested.
&nbs
p; “Let’s start calling them right now,” Jas said excitedly.
“No,” Miss Hahn said. “This list is going to Mister Jenkins.”
“I thought you said the insurance company was dropping the case,” Chase said.
“They were.” Miss Hahn faced Jas. “But tomorrow, you and I are paying Mr. Jenkins a visit. We’ll show him there’s enough evidence to convict Hugh. We’ll convince him not to drop the case.”
Jas nodded eagerly. “Yes! Let’s do it.”
Later, when the others were gone, Miss Hahn washed dishes while Jas wiped off the kitchen table. “Eww. Chase is a pig,” Jas said. “There’s food everywhere. He should eat with Rose.”
“He is messy.” Miss Hahn set the last glass in the drainer. She looked thoughtfully at Jas and then said, “You know, Jas, you don’t have to keep running away.”
Jas deliberately sponged up the last of the crumbs before asking, “What do you mean?”
“Every time we discuss something tough, you want to run from it—and us. Like tonight.”
Jas gave her a funny look. “I wasn’t running away. I was frustrated and upset.”
“I know. But if your grandfather hadn’t stopped you, you would have left the table in a huff. Believe it or not, we share your feelings. If we stick together, we can accomplish something. Like the list we made. That’s a solid start to getting Hugh.”
Jas blinked at her.
“Anyway, I know these past months have been hard. I’m not trying to be critical, but think about it.” Draping the dishtowel over the side of the sink, Miss Hahn turned to put away the dried plates.
Jas plopped the dirty sponge in the sink. Miss Hahn was right. Ever since the day she’d attacked Hugh with the hoof pick, she had been afraid to trust anyone. When she first came to Second Chance Farm, she’d even accused her former foster mother of being in cahoots with Hugh. She thought she’d gotten better about the trust thing. But hadn’t she just this afternoon tried to keep Hugh’s threats a secret? Only Chase’s pigheaded persistence had made her tell Miss Hahn.