“Wyatt?” he said in his English accent that immediately sent Wyatt’s mind to Camila and her Irish lilt. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to hire a bodyguard.”
“This is about those blood tests, isn’t it?” Piper asked.
“Come in,” Aiden said, opening the door, “and tell me what’s going on.”
Camila curled up in her sleeping bag atop a thick layer of straw and dozed. The sound of the horses comforted her until she heard an out-of-place noise. A car door closed, and she and Bud sat up quickly. He reached into the straw and pulled out a large hunting knife.
“What are you doing?” Camila gasped.
“I can gut a deer in seconds,” he said as if that explained it. Bud stood up and silently crept to the stall door.
Camila’s breath caught at the soft sound of footsteps. A shadow appeared in the barely-there yellow glow from the parking lot lights. Bud was a silent hunter as he crouched down with the knife held confidently in his hand.
Then everything happened at once. A figure appeared, Bud lunged, Bud and the intruder tangled, and suddenly Bud was flying through the air. He landed in a heap next to Camila. His knife was now in the hand of the person standing by the stall door.
“Well, I think you have better security than I was led to believe.” A petite brunette came fully into view. “I’m Blythe Kencroft. I’m your new bodyguard.”
Bud let out a low whistle. “Ma’am, you’re so pretty you’d make my bloodhound smile.”
The perky brunette smiled. “You’re too sweet. Thank you. But if you ever pull a knife on me again, I’ll cut your balls off.”
“I’m in love,” Bud whispered to Camila.
“Can I see some identification?” Camila asked, still hesitant of the woman in front of them. Even if she was just a wee little thing, she was fierce.
“Here’s my card.”
Blythe Kencroft, Creed Security Services.
“Creed?” Camila muttered out loud as she tried to place the name.
“Aiden Creed is my boss. I believe he’s married to Mr. Davies’s cousin, Piper.”
Camila snapped her fingers. “The scientist.”
Blythe smiled and took a look around. “Mr. Davies hired me to guard you for the next three weeks. I have a connecting room to you at the motel. Shall we go so you can get a couple of hours of sleep before your morning training session?”
“Do you need a roommate?” Bud asked with a funny grin on his face.
Blythe rolled her bronze-colored eyes and shook her head. “If you don’t mind, I will get you a military cot and can turn this into a much better guard station. I trust you with the horses as you have proven yourself capable. We have someone coming to stay the night and relieve you of your duty if you want. You’re welcome to stay, too. His name is Timothy, and he’ll be here tomorrow night at nine. He’ll stay until five in the morning. Try not to attack him with your knife.”
Blythe handed the knife back to Bud before motioning for Camila to follow. Outside was a black SUV with tinted windows. “Let’s get you some sleep.”
“This is all wrong,” Camila said, taking in the black pantsuit Blythe was wearing and the black SUV. “It’s too obvious.”
“I’m adaptable, Miss Callahan. Just tell me what you need.”
“How well do you know the horse world, Ms. Kencroft?”
“Miss. And you can call me Blythe. I know show horses.”
“Similar enough. You have the same kinds of people at both. I don’t want any attention brought to us. If someone really is out there hurting horses, we need to catch them. A show of force might temporarily stop them or move them to target someone else.”
“And that’s not good?” Blythe asked as she closed the door and started the SUV.
“No. Because then we won’t catch them. To clear all suspicion from Wyatt, Carter, and Mo, we need to catch the person behind this.”
Blythe nodded. “Understood. How about an assistant? I don’t know much about training thoroughbreds, but I’m a quick learner.”
Camila eyed Blythe as she drove. “No, you need to know more about thoroughbreds to pass as an assistant. How do you feel about being a helicopter owner?”
“That I know how to do. Plus I have this dress I’ve been dying to wear.” Blythe smiled. Camila sat back in the leather seat and smiled to herself. Wyatt was protecting her both while he was here and while he was away. And now she had a plan of her own.
12
“This is the sweetest horse I’ve ever met,” Blythe said as she rubbed the mare’s nose.
“Meet your new horse, Miss Kencroft. This is Picking Daisies. Or Daisy for short.”
Blythe was horse owner perfection in designer Wellies, skinny designer jeans, and a pretty top that drew a lot of attention to just the perfect tease of cleavage. The SUV now had a racetrack sticker on the bottom left of the windshield that indicated she was an owner. It also had a new “I love my horse” window sticker on the back.
“I think you were meant to be my horse,” Blythe said in baby talk to Daisy. “I read all about you this morning and know all about your mommy and daddy. Yes, I do.”
Camila chuckled as she got Daisy ready for a faster workout around the track this morning. “You are frighteningly good at this role.”
“I’m a girly-girl beneath the Kevlar,” Blythe told her as they made their way toward the track. “Don’t you usually have a training jockey to work her out?”
“Bigger farms do. It’s just the three of us right now. After we win some bigger races, we’ll hire more crew. I already have my eye on that guy.”
“Who’s he?” They watched a man go flying by on the back of a horse.
“Bellamy Charron. He’s a training jockey from France,” Camila explained. “I can’t draw too much attention. I saw him grow up in the European circuit. He never paid me any attention, but like Arnold, the trainer for some of Carter’s horses, if they really thought about it, they’d know who I am.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Blythe asked.
“I want to build a name for myself. Not just lean on my father’s accomplishments.”
Blythe looked up at her. “I understand that.”
With a squeeze of her legs, Camila moved Daisy onto the track to begin her warm-ups.
* * *
“I don’t care what the track policy is on armed guards. The Rahmi guards will be armed.”
“Who is that?” Blythe asked about the blonde with the slicked-back ponytail, bright red lipstick, and four-inch designer heels.
Camila dismounted and gave a treat to Daisy. “She works for Prince Zain of Rahmi. They live in Keeneston. Basically, she’s an all-around ballbuster. If you want something done, you put her on it.”
“Looks like she comes with firepower.”
“As if you’re not carrying a gun?” Camila teased.
“Mine’s hidden. She’s carrying a freaking arsenal.”
Camila looked to the row of soldiers who were at least all in matching black suits instead of fatigues. But all of them had a gun openly displayed on their hip and probably at least one more hidden on them.
“Only track employees can be armed,” the poor track security officer said.
“According to whom?”
“It’s the rules.”
The blonde rolled her eyes. “Veronica,” Camila said suddenly. “That’s her name.”
“Well, that’s easy then,” Veronica said, smiling. “We just change the rules.”
Blythe chuckled. “I like her.”
By the time Camila finished exercising the stable, a wall of Rahmi guards were surrounding the barn. Carter had gone with a little less obvious approach as there were four men hanging out at the stables in jeans and flannel shirts that most likely covered weapons.
“Camila!”
Camila turned to see Veronica walking toward them. She wore a tight black pencil skirt and somehow easily stepped over the horse poop in her path without e
ven looking down. It was quite a sight. “Hello, Veronica,” she called out as she dismounted. Instantly Blythe was by her side, smiling.
“You, I don’t know,” Veronica said bluntly.
“Veronica, meet Blythe. She’s my bodyguard and also looking out for the horses during the day. Blythe, this is Veronica. There is nothing she can’t do.”
Veronica smiled, showing bright white teeth against her still-perfect red lipstick before shaking hands with Blythe. “A pleasure. I wanted to let you know that the guys will also patrol your section of the barn. So don’t shoot them.” Veronica winked at Blythe who smiled back.
“One of my men will be here at night as well.”
“Great. I’ll give the guys a heads-up. It was nice seeing you again, Camila. And it was a pleasure meeting you, Blythe.”
Camila watched Blythe watch Veronica walk away. “Did you see anything while I was practicing?” she asked when Bud joined them.
“Saw some stable hands from various barns walking around, but they were mostly looking at Veronica.”
“I saw a couple of men against the rail talking and watching your workouts. Actually, here comes one now.”
Camila turned to see a sexy man walking confidently toward her. She recognized that walk. It was the walk of someone who had grown up at the track. She took in the designer jeans and boots and the button-up shirt with its sleeves rolled up and already knew this was an owner or owner’s son. He flashed them a smile when he stopped in front of them.
“Hi,” he said in a clear New York City accent. “I’m Marco Strinati of Aces High racing. I’m looking for Mr. Callahan.”
Camila froze. Was her dad here? How did he find out?
“Mr. Callahan?” Blythe asked curiously.
“Yes,” Marco said before raking his hand through his thick dark brown hair. His skin was olive-toned, but his accent said he was from the United States, not Italy. “He is the trainer for Wyatt Farm, isn’t he?”
“She,” Camila said with relief. “I’m C.C.”
The man’s eyebrows rose, but the smile widened. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Are you Irish? Isn’t there a top trainer named Callahan from Ireland?”
“There are more Callahans than fairies in Ireland.” Camila laughed, not really answering his question.
“I’d love to talk to you about your program here. I saw you practicing with your horses, and I like your approach. My cousin asked about you after seeing how you handled that unfortunate event yesterday. I was hoping we could all get together and talk shop. He’s looking into starting his own stables, and we’ve been talking about small stables and their practices.”
“I’d be happy to talk to him. And this is Blythe. She’s the owner of the mare you saw me working.”
“Enchanted,” Blythe said with a giggle that made Camila bite her lip to prevent from laughing. “And where is your little barn? Or is it a big barn?”
Marco chuckled, already completely smitten with Blythe. “It’s right behind you. And it’s a big barn. A very big barn.”
“I look forward to seeing it,” Blythe replied. Her voice was all innocence. The bite of her lip was not.
“Yo! Leo!” Marco yelled with his hands cupped. Blythe and Camila turned to see a guy walking on the far end of the barn toward Marco’s barn. “This is my cousin, Leo Zampa. Leo, this is C.C. Callahan, the trainer of the horse we were watching. She agreed to talk to us about starting out with a small stable.”
Leo bore some resemblance to Marco, but not so much that you’d confuse them for brothers. Leo was shorter and stockier. He didn’t exude the charm that Marco had, but he had his own brand of confidence.
“That’s really nice of you. Thank you.” Leo turned to Marco. “Your father wants us to call.”
Marco gave him a little nod. “It was very nice meeting you both. I’ll catch you later to set up a time to meet.”
Camila smiled in response as the two walked away.
“What do you think?” Blythe asked.
“I know the stable. His father is pretty big here in the States—Mid-Atlantic and New England, mostly. From all accounts, there haven’t been any issues, but I can make some calls to make sure.”
“Any stables here that do have a bad rap?” Blythe asked as they made their way back to the barn.
“Yes. Three of them. White’s Spring Farm is run by Harris White. He’s the patriarch of the very wealthy White family from Florida. Then there’s DP Stables out of New Jersey. It’s a husband-wife team—Dawn and Pauly. But from what I have heard, Pauly runs it and Dawn shops. Last one is Scott Hill Racing. It’s two best friends, Art Scott and Oscar Hill from Kentucky. All of them have some level of bad reputations. Most of it is gossip, but either a trainer, a jockey, or a stable hand have all been fined for infractions ranging from forgetting to report medicine to running their horses into others during a race. Then there’re the accusations without proof, like purposefully holding back the favorite so a long shot won.”
“What’s the point of that?” Blythe asked.
“Money. You place a bet on the long shot and it pays out sixty to one, that’s a lot of money. Especially if you bribe enough jockeys for a trifecta placement, getting the first-, second-, and third-place winners in order. That can be worth tens of thousands of dollars.”
Camila stopped at the barn and turned to Blythe. “That’s why this doesn’t make sense. Ashton Farm and Desert Sun Farm have the money behind them. They don’t need to fix a race. They have Derby contenders and winners and sure, they have some slower horses like the ones that were investigated, but they don’t have everything resting on those two horses. I’ve seen their favorites practice. They don’t need any enhancement.”
“Well, one thing I know. Money can lead even the best of people into crime.”
True. Camila just hoped that wasn’t the case with Carter and Mo.
* * *
Darkness came to the track at the same time exhaustion did. Camila and Bud finished feeding the horses and got them all tucked in for the night. Blythe loved up on Daisy as she kept an eye out. Bud was putting in fresh hay for the night and Camila was filling up their water when her hose stopped working.
She turned off the nozzle so it wouldn’t start spraying when she got it turned back on and walked to the end of the barn. The spigot was still running, but the hose had fallen off. While she couldn’t see it, she could hear the water hitting the dirt.
She rounded the corner of the barn and turned off the water. The water turned to a drip and a shiver ran down her back. There was someone watching her. Instead of staying around, she hurried back into the yellow glow of lights at the barn.
“Camila, what is it?” Blythe asked, running toward her. “Your face is white as a ghost.”
“I think someone pulled the hose off the spigot. When I went to put it back on, I would have sworn I felt someone nearby watching me.”
Blythe had her gun in hand and was racing down through Carter’s end of the barn before slipping into the shadows. Rahmi guards and Carter’s private security both took notice. A member from each team ran toward Camila who quickly filled them in. The Rahmi guard and the private security guard slipped into the darkness. One Rahmi guard and Bud stood on either side of Camila as they stared into the blackness waiting. It seemed like forever, but finally all three people came back around the barn.
“There was evidence of someone standing no more than five feet from you,” Blythe told her. “We followed the markings in the dirt, but then they got lost in the area between the barns. Too many hoofprints and boot prints to tell the difference.”
“What could they want?” Camila asked as she wrapped her arms around herself.
“We’re on high alert, ma’am. We’ll make sure nothing happens to your horses,” the soldier told her.
The private security officer nodded. “Mr. Ashton told us to take care of you. And we will. I got the water turned back on.”
“Blythe, why don’t you take Camila back
to the hotel and I’ll finish up here. I’ll meet your guy soon and stay here tonight,” Bud said. Camila felt weak, but that had spooked her and right now all she could see in the shadows of the barns was danger.
“Call me if anything happens.”
“Of course. Good-night,” Bud told her as he walked her to the SUV.
It all suddenly felt very real as Blythe set a handgun in her lap as she drove them from the track.
13
It was race week. Wyatt had spent every night with her since she felt someone watching her. He’d come up every night by midnight and was gone by five in the morning. He must have been exhausted. But since it was a feeling she hadn’t been able to shake the entire week, she was thankful for the few hours of sleep she got every night feeling safe in his arms.
Now she was dressed in a pantsuit getting ready for the first race. Wyatt was examining Picking Daisy with a track representative as Bud got her ready for her upcoming race coming.
“C.C.! You look beautiful today. Is there anything better than the start of the circuit?”
Camila turned and smiled at Marco. She’d gotten to know him over the past week and enjoyed talking to him. He knew his stuff and she was actually learning about American horse dynasties from her talks with him.
But then his eyes narrowed as he looked over her shoulder. Camila turned and saw Wyatt taking a vial of blood with a track rep next to him. He took two. One he handed to the rep. The other he kept.
“What is that about?” Marco asked.
Camila shrugged. She knew what it was about: Dr. Kyle Avery. Somehow he was behind this. They went one by one down the stalls collecting blood from every horse as Kyle watched from his parked pickup truck.
“What do you have going today?” Camila asked, walking up to the track as the first race took off.
“I have horses in the third, sixth, seventh, ninth, and twelfth races today,” Marco responded. “I saw you have Daisy in the race coming up. Anything else?”
Forever Ventured Page 10