Given a choice, he would have preferred she was anywhere but there. Well, almost anywhere. He wouldn’t have wanted her back at Selby Stables. He wanted her somewhere safe. Unfortunately, after his conversation with FBI agent Kevin Wyatt, Alex was afraid such a place no longer existed.
Unwittingly, in his attempt to find out who suspected what about Brandon Selby, Alex had come upon Wyatt, and inadvertently, he’d banded the agent the potential ally he needed inside Selby’s operation. Alex had wanted only to protect Kari. Instead he was about to deliver her into the hands of a man determined to bring Selby down. Not only for the killing of show horses for a cut of the insurance money, but for the suspected murder of a former assistant who, much like Kari, had apparently stumbled onto the trainer’s little sideline.
Alex wasn’t sure why he hadn’t considered that Selby’s nefarious scheming had begun long before Kari went to work for him. But now, thanks to Kevin Wyatt, he knew the trainer had been connected to the deaths of at least two or three horses prior to Kari’s employment. And shortly before Kari had been hired, her predecessor, a young woman by the name of Amanda Holcomb, had died unexpectedly of a drug overdose. Though it had been ruled a suicide, due in part to Selby’s insistence that she’d been unstable, the woman’s family had believed that she’d been murdered, and that Selby had had something to do with it.
Agent Wyatt had agreed, having traced Selby’s financial gains to the deaths of an unusually large number of horses housed in his stable. But he’d had no proof, nor any way of obtaining it. Until now.
Alex had to admire Wyatt. The man had led him along expertly, asking all the right questions in such a nonthreatening way that he’d answered readily, sure he was getting as much information as be was giving. Only too late did he realize he’d put Kari in a dangerous position.
Wyatt needed someone to help him catch Selby in the act, and he had every intention of using Kari as that someone. And there wasn’t much Alex could do about it. Not without obstructing justice, and thus possibly endangering Kari even more.
Of course, she would be given a choice whether or not to come to Wyatt’s assistance. But were she to refuse, she could be charged with complicity. Or so Wyatt had made a point of informing Alex.
Not that Alex thought for a moment she would refuse. Knowing Kari, he doubted she’d need any coaxing at all. She was out to get Selby herself. And more than likely, brave little fool that she was, she’d be eager to help Wyatt any way she could.
God help him, Devlin was going to nail his hide to the wall. He was supposed to be keeping her out of trouble, not delivering her into the hands of a ruthless FBI agent out for blood.
For one long moment, Alex considered contacting his friend in the hope that he could call off Wyatt. But Devlin had no more authority over an FBI agent than Alex himself did. And Wyatt had given every indication that he wasn’t going to back off for any reason where Selby was concerned.
Alex also thought about hustling Kari out to the car and heading for the Mexican border. With the kind of training he’d had, he could make sure they stayed lost for years if necessary. But she would never cooperate. And he certainly couldn’t keep her bound and gagged indefinitely.
A glance at the clock on his desk warned he had just over an hour until Wyatt was due to arrive from San Antonio. Before then, he had to talk to Kari and prepare her for what the agent was going to ask of her. He was also going to have to think of a way to stay close to her without arousing Selby’s suspicions when she went back to the stable. Because she wasn’t returning alone. No matter what Wyatt had in mind. That much Alex could guarantee.
He found her in the kitchen as he’d expected. She was sitting at the table, spreading creamy vanilla icing over a plateful of cinnamon rolls as the dryer hummed busily in the background.
He halted in the doorway, eyeing her with a hunger that only seemed to intensify with the passage of time. He’d never gotten her out of his system, and he probably never would. The mere sight of her made him ache with desire. A desire he was having more and more trouble keeping under control.
Even now, he ought to be considering how best to tell her about Kevin Wyatt. Yet all he could think about was how much he’d like to come up behind her, cup her breasts in his hands and press his mouth against the back of her neck.
Banishing his lascivious thoughts with a muttered curse, he headed toward her.
From her place at the table, Kari turned to greet him. Her smile faded as she met his gaze.
“Someone knew something,” she said as he took a seat across from her, just out of touching distance. When he didn’t answer immediately, she added, “Something disturbing.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Something damned disturbing,” he acknowledged.
“What?” she asked, setting aside the bowl and spatula, then folding her hands on the table.
Though her voice was steady and she regarded him in a calm manner, Alex couldn’t help but see the glimmer of fear in her pale-gray eyes. Chastising himself yet again for putting her in such an untenable position, he locked his hands together on the table, too. Then, matter-of-factly, he told her about his little talk with FBI agent Kevin Wyatt.
To her credit, she listened quietly, betraying little of the turmoil she had to be experiencing. Only the whitening of her knuckles as she clenched her hands tighter, then tighter still, gave her away.
“So, Brandon has been carrying on his sideline much longer than I thought,” she said when he’d finished relating the information Wyatt bad given him.
“There’s also a good chance his last assistant began to suspect him just as you have. Only she ended up dead before she could do anything about it.”
“But from what I recall, Amanda Holcomb committed suicide. She had taken a bad fall and was having trouble getting her nerve back. Rumor had it she was severely depressed...” Her words trailing away, Kari hesitated.
She didn’t seem to want to believe Selby was capable of murdering a young woman. But from the look on her face, she’d already begun to accept the possibility that he had.
“She took the fall at the stable, didn’t she?’
“Yes,” Kari replied. “And now that I think about it, I remember overhearing Brandon telling another trainer he had to let her go because she couldn’t cut it anymore. There was also talk about her using both tranquilizers and painkillers. Then her parents found her dead of a drug overdose.”
“Wyatt told me they never believed she killed herself. But they had no proof to the contrary. All they knew for sure was that she both feared and hated Brandon Selby in the weeks after she was injured.”
“How did Kevin Wyatt get involved?”
“I gather he’s a friend of the family. Up until recently, he’d been investigating on his own. Then about six months ago he was contacted by one of the insurance companies. An adjuster had become suspicious after paying yet another claim made by an owner whose horse had died while at Selby Stables.”
“And he’s coming here to talk to me.” Kari frowned as she stared at her hands, now twisted together in her lap. “Does he think I’m involved?”
“No, he doesn’t,” Alex assured her.
“Then what could he possibly want?”
“He didn’t elaborate over the telephone, but I suspect he’s going to ask you to help him catch Selby in the act.”
To Alex’s dismay, Kari eyed him eagerly, as if she were actually pleased by the prospect.
“Do you think he has some sort of plan?”
“Oh, I’m sure he does. But there’s a good chance you’re not going to like it,” Alex replied, hoping to nip her enthusiasm in the bud.
“Well, we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?” Pushing her chair back, she stood and picked up the empty bowl and the spatula she’d used to frost the cinnamon rolls. “What time did you say he’d be here?”
As she started past him on her way to the sink, Alex reached out and caught her by the arm. She seemed to have no idea what she cou
ld be getting herself into. Or maybe she was simply choosing to ignore the risks involved.
“You don’t have to go along with Wyatt, you know. He can’t force you to put yourself in a potentially dangerous situation. And any plan that involves your going back to Selby Stables will be just that. If Selby did kill Amanda Holcomb, he’s not going to think twice about getting rid of you, too. Not if he considers you a threat.”
“I realize that,” she replied, her voice low. “But I also know I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t do everything I could to put him behind bars.”
Alex wanted to argue with her, but he understood all too well where she was coming from. Walking away while she still had the chance was something she simply would not consider doing. That she would equate with cowardice. And Alex knew for a fact that she didn’t have a craven bone in her beautiful body.
“Well, if Wyatt wants you to go back there, don’t think I’m letting you go alone,” he muttered, releasing her.
“I don’t see how you could do otherwise,” she retorted as she stepped away from him.
“Oh, really?”
“The man asked me to marry him a couple of weeks ago.”
“So?”
“So...” She gazed at him as if he were dumber than a doornail. “How long do you think he’d keep me around if I came back with a strange man in tow?”
“I hadn’t planned to be that obvious,” he replied, smiling slightly as he thought of the wig, the beard and the glasses.
He’d have to stain his skin a darker shade of tan, use the tinted contact lenses that turned his blue eyes brown and remember to speak mostly Spanish. But he shouldn’t have any trouble at all posing as a stable hand of Hispanic descent.
“What did you have in mind instead?” she prodded.
“Something guaranteed to get me in the door. At least the stable door,” he answered enigmatically.
She glared at him a moment longer. Then, knowing when to quit, she turned back to the sink and changed the subject.
“I found a chicken casserole in the freezer. I thought we could have it for dinner along with a salad. There should be enough for Mr. Wyatt, too.”
“Wyatt won’t be staying for dinner,” Alex stated as the sound of a car coming up the driveway reached his ears.
“But surely the polite thing to do—”
“Right now, I’m not feeling particularly polite,” he shot back. He stood and headed toward the kitchen door. “He can say his piece and go back to San Antonio.”
He couldn’t keep Wyatt away from Kari. But nowhere was it written that he had to make the agent’s job easy. Not when the man was more than likely going to ask Kari to put her life on the line to catch a dirtbag like Selby.
“Well, it’s your house.” Her disapproval evident, she slid the casserole in the oven, then set about washing the pans she’d used to bake the bread and rolls.
Having nothing to say to that, Alex walked out to the deck and waited there as a dark-blue sedan rolled to a stop alongside Kari’s car. A tall, trim man emerged, dressed in a gray suit, white shirt and paisley tie, his dark hair stylishly cut. He strode purposefully toward the house, his attitude all business.
“Mr. Payton?” the man inquired. as he started up the steps.
“Alex,” he replied, grudgingly extending his hand in greeting as he moved to meet the agent.
“Kevin Wyatt.” His handshake firm, he assessed Alex with the same undisguised interest Alex directed toward him. “Thanks for agreeing to let me talk to Ms. Gray.”
“I wasn’t aware I had a choice,” Alex drawled, turning back to the house.
“Look, Payton, I don’t want to see her come to any harm, either,” Wyatt advised.
“But if you think she can help you put Selby out of commission, you’ll use her any way she’ll let you.” He paused and glanced at the other man, making no effort to hide his animosity. Then, in a deceptively mild tone, he added, “Just remember that if anything happens to her, anything at all, I guarantee your life won’t be worth living anymore.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No, Wyatt, I’m making you a promise—government agent to government agent.”
His point made in a way that left the other man no room for doubt, Alex led him into the kitchen, where Kari stood by the counter, drying her hands on a towel. As he did the introductions, she offered Wyatt a gracious smile and extended her hand.
That she seemed glad to see the FBI agent only intensified Alex’s concern for her. She’d made it clear she was fully prepared to cooperate with Wyatt, and meeting the man in person hadn’t put her off in the least. Of course, Wyatt was doing his damnedest to be personable, returning her smile in a way designed to hide the fact that he was actually appraising her with well-trained eyes.
“We can sit at the table while we talk,” Alex directed.
“Yes, please have a seat,” Kari said, frowning at Alex’s lack of cordiality. “Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee, iced tea or a soft drink?”
“I’d love a cup of coffee,” Wyatt replied, gazing at her with appreciation.
“I’ll get it,” Alex growled, refusing to let her wait on the man. “You sit down and listen to what he has to say.”
“Alex,” she said, bristling, her voice low. Then, a little louder, she added, “I’ll have coffee, too. And bring some plates and forks so we can sample my cinnamon rolls.”
Why she was so determined to turn what was damned serious business into a social occasion, Alex didn’t know. Until she looked up at him pleadingly. Then he realized she wasn’t finding it easy to be as brave as she thought she should be.
Mentally cursing himself, he reached out and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
“Sounds like a good idea to me. Now, go and sit down.”
Her gratitude almost palpable, she nodded, then turned back to the table.
Wyatt wasted no time apprising them of the situation. After ascertaining that Alex had already relayed the details of their telephone conversation, and assuring himself that they had no questions concerning the results of his investigation to date, he launched into the plan he’d devised to catch Selby in the act of destroying a horse for the insurance money. A plan that involved Kari, just as Alex had feared.
Simply put, she and Wyatt would approach an owner she believed they could trust. They would explain the situation, then ask the owner to talk to Selby—while wearing a wire—about destroying a horse. Then, with Kari and Wyatt keeping watch on the barn after hours, they’d wait to catch him in the act, and with luck, stop him before the deed was actually done.
Alex had to concede that the plan had some merit. While there would be some risk to the horse, with careful monitoring the animal shouldn’t come to any harm. But he had no intention of allowing Wyatt alone to serve as Kari’s watchdog. The FBI agent could stake out the barn at night. Alex, on the other hand, planned to be within shouting distance of her twenty-four hours a day until Selby was behind bars.
Having outlined his course of action, Wyatt turned to Kari. “Can you think of anyone trustworthy who would be willing to go along with us on this?”
He’d polished off not one but two cinnamon rolls with apparent relish, and now sat across the table from her, hands wrapped around his coffee mug, looking at her attentively while all but ignoring Alex.
She hesitated for a minute or so, frowning thoughtfully as she toyed with her fork.
“Actually, I can think of three or four current owners who might be willing to help us, but the one I’d trust most completely is Raymond Fairchild. And his horse, or rather his daughter’s horse, Dover, has been almost as much of a problem as some of the others Brandon has gotten rid of.”
“How is that?” Wyatt asked.
“Mr. Fairchild paid quite a bit for Dover several years ago. His daughter, Melissa, just had to have him, even though he was known to be a difficult mount. She did really well with him, but a couple of years ago she married,
then had twins. She’s given up riding altogether, and Mr. Fairchild has been trying to sell Dover without much luck. The gelding is too hard to handle for a younger rider and too old and out of shape to interest anyone with more experience. Lately, Mr. Fairchild has been bemoaning the fact that he’s stuck with the horse. He’s also been griping about the cost of keeping him at the stable.”
“So, if he agreed to help Wyatt, Selby wouldn’t be suspicious of him?” Alex asked.
“I don’t think so. Brandon has always thought of him as a savvy businessman. In fact, now that I think about it, I’m surprised Brandon hasn’t approached him with a deal already,” Kari admitted.
“For all we know, he might have,” Wyatt interjected. “But that could work in our favor. Your Mr. Fairchild could appear to have reconsidered Selby’s proposition and changed his mind.”
“But wouldn’t that start alarm bells ringing in Selby’s head?” Alex pressed, his concern for Kari’s well-being paramount.
If there was even the slightest chance that being approached by Raymond Fairchild would give Selby pause, then all bets were off.
“Only if Selby made an offer and Fairchild refused him in a way that totally precluded a change of heart. And that we’ll only be able to determine by talking to him,” Wyatt advised.
“He really is our best choice,” Kari said, tentatively reaching out and touching Alex’s arm. “And if, for some reason, he can’t help us, he won’t give the game away.”
Alex knew she wanted to reassure him, but he still wasn’t pleased she was allowing herself to be put in such a dangerous position. Were Selby to get any hint at all that she was setting him up, he’d go after her with a vengeance. And if, by some chance, he managed to catch her alone in some isolated place, there was no telling what the bastard might do to her before Alex could come to her rescue.
But she and Wyatt seemed to have reached a mutual agreement where Raymond Fairchild was concerned, and Alex couldn’t think of any reasonable way to dissuade them.
The Lady And Alex Payton Page 12