Forever Ventured

by Kathleen Brooks

  “Thank you.” Blythe took a seat next to Veronica. Camila hit Wyatt’s arm when the two began to talk.

  * * *

  “They are so cute!” Camila whispered to Wyatt.

  “Screw cute. That’s a month’s worth of Bud’s salary,” Wyatt said, pulling out his phone and opening the Blossom Café betting app.”

  “Not so fast, Davies. My box, my bet,” Mo said suddenly from behind them as he raced to place the first bet. Veronica was Keeneston’s unicorn. She’d never revealed any of her past dates and wasn’t interested in anyone in town. The Rose sisters were probably hanging on to their very elderly lives just to be victorious in setting her up.

  “Move up the date by a week,” Camila whispered to Wyatt. “She asked about getting a wax.”

  Wyatt placed his bet and high-fived Camila as the horses began their parade in front of the grandstand. Suddenly Camila went rigid. “Something the matter?”

  Mike was furious as the rider of her escort pony was trying to pull Daisy toward him. Wyatt stood up as soon as he saw it. “Mike!” he yelled, but Mike didn’t respond. Wyatt jumped the box and took off for the stairs leading to the rail, but Mike didn’t need him to rescue her. She pulled back her crop and let it fly. The person leaped back and Daisy pulled herself free. Mike wasted no time and set Daisy to a trot, leaving the escort pony and rider to ride off. Only this time they didn’t try to catch up. They slipped from the track.

  Wyatt was stopped by security as the outrider and pony left the track. “I know what you were doing!”

  The man turned his face sharply toward Wyatt, and Wyatt felt the immediate jolt of recognition. “Stop him!”

  But security was too focused on stopping Wyatt to pay attention as the man who attacked Wyatt just yesterday trotted off. “Let go of me. I’m not trying to get on the track!”

  Wyatt yanked his arm free, and as the security guard was calling in for help, Wyatt took off running after the escort pony. Wyatt shoved his way past the people and held up his badge to get into the barn area.

  “Where’s the outrider?” Wyatt yelled at some of the stable hands.

  “He went that way. To the barn.”

  Wyatt pushed himself faster and rounded the racing barns, headed back toward the pony barns. Shouts sounded behind him but he ignored it. He turned the corner and slid to a stop. There was the pony, eating grass with his reins free and not a rider in sight.

  “Stop where you are!”

  Wyatt cursed under his breath as security surrounded him. “Someone get the pony and call the stewards,” Wyatt snapped as he ignored their orders not to move and made his way back toward the track. “The stewards want to see you. They’re right up here,” a security agent said as he came jogging up to Wyatt.

  When he approached the track, he saw the three stewards talking to Mike and then saw a new pony and rider racing toward the track. Wyatt sprinted the rest of the way to the track.

  “Dr. Davies, there’s been an incident,” the steward said.

  “I know there was. I was trying to catch the guy when security tried to stop me. How are you, Mike? How’s Daisy?”

  “He tried to put something in her mouth and that’s when I took the crop to him.”

  Wyatt looked over the replacement escort and breathed in relief. He knew him. “Ricky. How are you?”

  “I’m sorry I was late. I was told I wasn’t needed this race.”

  “We’ll be pulling blood from your horse after the race, but after reviewing footage found, nothing was given to your horse. Michaela stopped him. We’ll also be turning over the video to the police,” the steward told Wyatt.

  “Good. Do you want to race or should we scratch?” Wyatt asked Mike.

  “Oh, we’re racing,” Mike said between clenched teeth. “Daisy and I have something to prove, and we’re ready. Aren’t we, girl?”

  The mare pawed the ground, and with the steward’s blessing, Ricky took Daisy on a loose lead and trotted her toward the starting gate.

  Wyatt noticed the hum of questions coming from the audience, but the announcer wasn’t saying anything except that the horses were about to load.

  When Wyatt made it back to the box, Blythe was sitting next to Camila, her eyes constantly scanning the area. “I’ve got it from here, Blythe.”

  “Is Mike okay?” Blythe and Camila asked at once.

  “I’d be more worried about everyone else right now. It was the man who tried to plant the drugs in my truck. He tried to give them to Daisy, but Mike stopped him by hitting him with the crop. Security is looking for him and the track is turning the matter over to the police.”

  Blythe moved to sit next to Veronica, and Wyatt took his seat back. He grabbed Camila’s hand as Daisy was led into the starting gate. One after another, the gates closed behind the horses. Suddenly, the loud ring and the clang of the gates being flung open sounded.

  “And they’re off in the ninety-third running of the Bourbon Cup!” the announcer yelled.

  “She’s being jostled in the middle,” Camila gasped. “Get her out of there!”

  Wyatt didn’t say a word as he watched Michaela maneuver Daisy from the cluster of horses in the middle. They’d tried to pin her to the rail, but as they made their final turn, Mike darted through two horses up the middle.

  “And here comes Picking Daisies up the middle.”

  “Let her go!” Camila yelled. She was training every step of the race and it was as if Mike heard her because she leaned forward and tapped Daisy’s neck.

  “Picking Daisies has found a new gear and is weaving her way up the middle into fifth place,” the announcer yelled as Daisy stretched her stride.

  Mike and the horse became one as they raced across the front of the grandstand. Everyone in the boxes was yelling. The grandstand was a living, breathing mass that was cheering and clapping. Some for Daisy, some for their own horses, and some for the race in general, but Wyatt stood in awe as Daisy pushed her way into third place for the finish.

  Wyatt swallowed hard. He was so proud of his team. “Congratulations, Mo,” Wyatt said, shaking Mo’s hand as Mo and the rest of the Desert Sun Farm team began to make their way down to the winner’s circle.

  “Third,” Camila said with a frown as she sat down.

  “It’s amazing. Third in my first Bourbon Cup with a horse who barely qualified. Imagine what we’ll do next year? Imagine what Daisy can do next,” Wyatt said with wonder.

  “You’re not upset?” Camila asked.

  “No. A month ago I couldn’t even afford the race entry. Look at how much you’ve accomplished.”

  “Wyatt,” Carter called out. He turned around from talking to Marco. “Do you have any breedings lined up for Daisy? What do you feel about a little joint operation between the two of us?”

  “I’d be happy to hear what you have in mind for after the racing season,” Wyatt smiled as he hugged Camila. “Come on. Let’s see our girl.”

  20

  Wyatt held Camila’s hand as they all walked down the grandstand’s outer stairs and headed for the barns. Blythe couldn’t stop talking about Daisy’s late-stretch charge to end up showing. Wyatt couldn’t believe the name of his farm was back on people’s lips as men and women shook his hand.

  “Dr. Davies,” one of the Lexington racing bigwigs called out. “Great-looking filly there. Who’s been training her?”

  “C.C. Callahan,” Wyatt called out as he sent a wink to Camila.

  “Haven’t heard of him. Is he new?”

  “She’s been doing it her whole life,” Wyatt said with pride as Camila held out her hand.

  “I’m Ms. Callahan.”

  The man looked surprised at first as he shook her hand. “Well, maybe you’re just what I need. I have a nice looking filly that is almost ready to start training. I’m Walt Holdings. I’d love for you to stop by my farm in Lexington and take a look at her.”

  Camila took the card Walt handed her and smiled. “I’d be happy to. I’m not taking many new
horses at this time, only the ones with real potential. And if you want me to look at her, I’ll give you the truth about her potential and what I can do with her. If you’re still interested, I can meet you next Friday.”

  Walt looked shocked. No one told him the truth. They told him what he wanted to hear. It was the benefit of being rich and powerful. Then a grin broke across his wrinkled face and his white mustache smiled along with his lips. “I think we’re going to get along very well, Ms. Callahan. I’m interested to see what you do in the Capitol Stakes with Ruth’s Gentleman. I might have a stallion for you as well.”

  “I look forward to it. It was nice meeting you.”

  Wyatt and Camila didn’t say much as they exited the crowded paddock area. Once they were past security, Camila spun in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Oh my gosh! Do you know who that was?”

  “I do,” Wyatt said, wrapping his arms around her back. “And I’m so proud of you.”

  Camila froze in his arms as he hugged her. “What’s going on?”

  Wyatt turned and saw Arnold yelling at his jockey. “I guess he wasn’t pleased with his fifth-place finish.”

  “I saw he had a horse in the race. Whose was it?”

  “Belongs to a racing syndicate,” Wyatt said with a sigh as some very displeased-looking men in expensive suits joined Arnold. Wyatt then groaned and dropped his hands from Camila’s warm body as Kyle Avery made his way toward Mike, Bud, and Daisy with his medical bag in hand and a track steward trailing right behind him.

  “I don’t get it,” Camila said as she saw what was happening. “Why does Kyle dislike you so much?”

  “He should never have gotten into vet school, but his father was a professor. Then it all came down to rivalry—a rivalry that was completely one-sided until I caught him cheating on a test. I turned him in, but nothing came from it. Can you guess whose class that test was in?”

  “His dad’s,” Camila said, understanding it instantly.

  “He had to have the nicest car, the best test scores, and the most admirers. I only cared about the test scores, and only my own. But Kyle was always cutting corners. I refused to be his lab partner and that made things worse. I was the only one who didn’t fawn over him. Others used him to get good grades in his father’s class, but I never did. I thought we’d left it all behind when we graduated and I opened my own clinic far from where he was working at the time.”

  “What was he doing?” Camila asked as they walked quickly to catch up to the official and Kyle.

  “He worked for a huge clinic in Louisville. He then got fired from the clinic and opened his own practice, which subsequently folded after two years of horrible mismanagement. Then his dad got him this job.”

  “Dr. Davies,” the steward called out, seeing them approach. “Great race.” He shook Wyatt’s hand and then Camila’s. “We’re doing the blood draw like we told you.”

  “Can you have Kyle draw two vials for me?” Wyatt asked.

  “Of course,” the steward told him with a furrowed brow. But when Wyatt didn’t say why, the steward turned and went to instruct Kyle.

  “What’s this for?” Kyle asked moments later as he handed the vial to Wyatt.

  “I have a meeting shortly with the head steward and the track president. I wanted this on hand in case they had any questions,” Wyatt said with a shrug. “Better to be prepared and all.”

  Kyle looked like he wanted to roll his eyes but instead of commenting turned to leave.

  “Would you mind overseeing the testing?” Wyatt asked the steward loud enough for Kyle to hear.

  “Of course,” he said before heading toward the lab with Kyle.

  “Arsehole,” Camila muttered, and Mike laughed before they wrapped each other up in a big hug.

  “I almost had second,” Mike said, but it was clear from her smile she was happy with how she raced.

  Wyatt was soon surrounded by his small team. He looked around at Bud, Camila, Mike, and Blythe. For the first time, he felt what Nana Ruth wanted for him. This was his horse family, and she talked about her own days at the tracks and the special people she had in her life as they raced and knew she was smiling with them.

  “We hate to interrupt, but we’re excited to join the party,” Piper called out to them as she lifted a bottle of champagne. “This is from Miss Daisy. She said you’d know what it was for.”

  Wyatt’s smile widened. Even more family. Miss Daisy knew exactly what his Nana Ruth would have done and had reminded him of it. “Champagne for everyone,” he called out as Piper also pulled out small plastic champagne coupes while Wyatt popped the cork. Sydney held the glasses and passed them out as Wyatt poured.

  “Excuse me,” Sydney called out to one of Carter’s guards, “do you mind taking a picture?”

  The group gathered around Daisy, and Wyatt lifted the champagne glass to Daisy’s lips as the guard snapped the picture.

  “Now, down that champagne and let’s get you changed for the media interviews,” Sydney said to Michaela.

  “I didn’t win,” Mike said, looking suddenly worried.

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re a story.”

  “Who wants an interview?” Wyatt asked.

  “Only the top women’s magazine and the top racing outlet. They both found me down at the box some of us rented.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Mike said nervously.

  Sydney smiled kindly at her and held out the bag she was carrying. “Syd, Inc. has your back. And you say whatever you want. I’d recommend talking about how you ended up racing for Wyatt and what you hope to achieve in your career.”

  “I can do that,” Mike said, taking a deep breath.

  “Let’s get ready then.” Syd looped her arm around Mike’s shoulders as they headed for the jockeys’ building.

  “Are you ready for me now?” Piper asked, setting down her champagne.

  “I am.” Wyatt turned to Camila. “Celebrate away. Piper and I have a drug to expose.”

  Camila leaned up on her toes, tilted her head back, and kissed him on the lips. “We’ll be right here waiting to hear how it went.”

  * * *

  Wyatt and Piper entered the track president’s office ten minutes later. They were immediately shown to the conference room where the executives of the track, the stewards, and the racing official were all waiting.

  “If you’re lodging a formal complaint about unfair drug testing,” the steward who had just tested Daisy’s blood started to say, “you should know your horse’s blood was clean and we tested the top four horses as well. You were not singled out.”

  “How many of you have heard of Popular?” Piper asked, setting down the large steel suitcase she’d wheeled in, ignoring the steward.

  “Let me introduce everyone,” the president said as he stood up. “Dr. Wyatt Davies is not only an owner, but also a veterinarian. He came to me after there had been some incidents at the track. He feared there was a new drug on the market hurting our horses. He couldn’t prove anything with available tests, and for months we tried to find evidence. It wasn’t until his trainer was attacked and drugged that we got that evidence. She was attacked as a warning to Dr. Davies to give up his search for the truth. This is Dr. Piper Creed. She’s a world-renowned doctor and inventor in the field of nanotechnology. She’s been helping Dr. Davies. Go ahead, doctors.”

  “The attack on my trainer was actually the break we needed. The hospital and police had seen similar reactions to what I was seeing in horses, only they knew the source—a drug from South America named Popular. I’ll let Piper tell you about it.”

  Wyatt stepped back and Piper explained how she’d developed a blood test for Popular and how it was now ready for mass use between racing and police forces through her lab in Lexington. Everyone was quiet, but Wyatt knew they were listening.

  “So, if you want, I can show you how the test runs.”

  “I’d be interested in seeing that,” the racing commissioner said, lean
ing forward.

  “The blood that you test at the track would have to be sent to me after your initial testing, unless the major doping agencies wish to purchase the test from me. The police are working on getting their drug company to purchase it as well. This is Daisy’s blood from an hour ago. And this is blood after consuming Popular.”

  Piper ran the tests as everyone watched. She’d made it incredibly easy to test now that she knew what was in it. “As you can see, the synthetic toxic lights up neon when present.”

  “Is this like cobra venom?” one of the executives asked.

  “Similar. It’s actually closer to what people call frog juice that releases dermorphin. A Denver lab found a testing procedure for that and so the cheaters turned to a synthetic that they derive from another kind of tree frog found in South America,” Piper explained.

  “But there’s no evidence of this being used here, is there?” the vice president of the track asked.

  “If you’d like, I’ll have my lab here tomorrow. I’ll run a full day’s testing—every horse—for free. My only request is that no one knows. Not even the track vet. What do you have to lose?” Piper asked the room.

  “You have a deal, Dr. Creed.”

  21

  Camila, Bud, and Blythe celebrated Daisy while Wyatt and Piper had disappeared. While she was beyond excited, she also felt her body on edge. She felt as if she were being watched. When she looked around, she saw nothing out of the ordinary.

  “That was so cool!” Michaela yelled as she ran over with Sydney. “They want my picture with Daisy. We need Wyatt to agree.”

  “He’s in a meeting, but I can text him.” Camila saw the photographer setting up and worried about interrupting. However, this could be a very big deal for both Mike and Wyatt Farm.

  Approval granted. I’ll be there in ten minutes.

  “I have written confirmation from Dr. Davies. He agrees to let you photograph Picking Daisies,” Camila said, showing the text to the photographer’s assistant who then got to work setting up lighting as Syd got Mike ready.