A Moment in Time (41 page)

"Shut up, Lydia," he cried. "I get the
message, loud and clear."

She stared at him for a minute before
replying. "All right," she said angrily, "but I can't take this
much longer, Teddy. Seriously. I don't like being part of a sinking
ship. And that's what this is. It's the fucking Titanic, and I
think I'm going to have to get in one of the lifeboats."

"Then do whatever the fuck you want," he
shouted. "I don't fucking need you."

"That's all you've got to say?" she cried,
rising imperiously to her feet. "I've devoted myself to you for the
last six years, Teddy de Mornay. Always going to bat for you, lying
for you, cheating for you, and sometimes cleaning up your damn
messes so nobody'd know the real you. And that's all you have to
say?"

"Just get out, if you're going," he snapped
nastily.

Lydia stomped one leopard-patterned stiletto
heel on the floor with rage, then turned and got her pocket- book
out of a desk drawer. She paused dramatically at the door and
glared at Teddy.

He returned her look. "Get out, Lydia," he
spat. "Go get that hot young stud you're so crazy about and get him
to fuck your brains out. I'm sick of trailer trash around here
anyway."

She looked momentarily stunned. "I may live
in a trailer, Mr. de Mornay," she said between gritted teeth, "but
you're the trash." She turned and left, slamming the door behind
her with a resounding bang.

Teddy snatched up his message slips and
stared at them for a moment. He swiveled in his desk chair with
agitation, then started to lift the telephone receiver.

It rang before he could pick it up, and he
waited for the machine to click in so he could screen the call.
When his message was finally over, he heard Tiffani and immediately
answered.

"Hey, babe," he said.

"Teddy, we've got to talk."

"We're talking, aren't we?" he said with
frustration.

"No, I mean in person, Teddy," she replied.
"It's really important."

"Come on, Tiff," he said huffily. "I'm very
busy right now, and besides, we have a big date late tonight.
Remember? A really special date. A special little party, just the
two of us."

"I know, Teddy," she said seriously, "but I
need to talk to you right away. In person. I-I can't discuss it
over the phone."

"Goddamn. Can't it wait till tonight?" he
complained. "I'm really tied up here."

"Teddy," she said in exasperation, "I have to
talk to you
now
. At my place."

She sounded as if she might burst into tears.
What the hell now?
he wondered. Everything was beginning to
go sour. But the game wasn't over yet, and he had to protect his
little investment in Tiff.

"Shit, Tiff," he said, "I've got to do some
really important stuff here. Make some calls and all."

"You'll understand once we talk."

He sighed. "Fuck it. I'll be over in a few
minutes."

He replaced the receiver in its cradle and
sighed again. "Shit," he said aloud. "I knew it was time to unload
her." He got up to leave, then sat back down.
One more call to
make,
he thought.
Do a little potential damage control.
He picked up the receiver and dialed the number.

She answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Marguerite," he said. "It's Teddy."

He thought he heard a sharp intake of breath
before she replied. "Well, hello, Teddy. How are you?"

"I'm fine," he replied. "I thought I might
stop by later and take you out for drinks and dinner. I'd like to
talk to you."

There was a long pause, then Marguerite said,
"I think that would be lovely, Teddy, but why not have drinks and
dinner here. It would be so much nicer than a restaurant, don't you
think?"

"Great," he said. "I have some errands to
run. What if I come on over when I'm finished?"

"Perfect," she said. "It'll be such a
pleasure to see you, Teddy."

He hung up the receiver, then headed out to
the Jaguar.

That takes care of one bitch,
he
thought
. Now to go take care of another one. Tiffani. What's
wrong with her anyway
? he wondered
. Just when I'm about to
get her out of my hair once and for all, she has a problem. Another
problem. Just what I need. Oh, well
, he consoled himself as he
fired up the Jaguar's engine,
I'll be through with the bimbo
tonight. Yeah, late tonight after I'm finished with her, I'll tell
her good-bye forever. Then evict her from the cottage.

Valerie stomped on the brakes at the gates to
Stonelair and reached out and pushed the intercom button in one
swift movement.

"Val?" It was Wyn's voice, not Santo
Ducci's.

"Yes," she replied.

"Down at the stable," his disembodied voice
said.

The gates immediately started opening, and
she inched the car forward until she could finally race between
them and on down the lane that led to the stable. She pulled into
the parking area, braked with a screech, and cut off the
engine.

She jumped out of the Jeep and grabbed her
gear. She could already hear noise coming from the stables. The
horses, whatever might be the matter, sounded very disturbed. She
saw Wyn coming toward her. His face was still partially bandaged,
but his body language did enough to convey his worry.

"Hey," he called to her, "slow down. I don't
want you to kill yourself."

"I'm okay," she said, approaching him now.
"I've never had an accident."

"And I don't want you to start now," he said.
He kissed her lips and put an arm around her shoulders.

She was thrilled by his touch and couldn't
ignore it, despite the fact that she was intent on getting to the
stable and the horses. She smiled up at him. "I'm glad to see you
even if the circumstances aren't the best."

"Likewise, Doc," he replied. "Why don't you
let me carry that bag for you?"

"No, it's okay," she said. "I'm used to it,
Wyn."

"Okay," he said.

"Is Santo with the horses?" she asked.

"He is now," Wyn replied.

"Uh-oh," she said. "Do I detect a note of
anger in your voice?"

"Well, a little," he admitted. "I was up in
the library and thought I heard noise from the stables. I called
down there, and nobody picked up. Nobody! The Reinhardts had gone
into town to do some shopping, that I knew. The girl who works
part-time here had just left, I guess, because it was quitting time
for her, but Santo should've been down there and he wasn't."

They reached the door to the office in the
stable complex and went in.

"Anyhow," Wyn continued, "I called his
cottage over and over. He wasn't there. Finally, he picked up and
came running down here and saw that all hell had broken lose.
That's when I called your office. That girl Tami gave me your cell
phone number."

They went through the tack room and on into
the stables, and Valerie was shocked by the state of panic among
the horses. She turned to Wyn. "Does one of them seem to be more
affected by whatever it is than the rest?" she asked.

"They're all spooked, some of them more than
others," he said. "But they're all acting so crazy it's hard for me
to tell. I guess I overreacted a little when I saw what was
happening."

Santo appeared from the other end of the
stable, walking toward them. Even from a distance, Valerie could
see that he looked very worried.

He nodded to her as he drew up to them.

"Hi, Santo," she said.

"Hi," he replied, then looked away,
shamefaced.

Valerie went to the first stall, set down her
carryall and medical kit, then approached the barred door. The
horse, Clever Cookie, was highly agitated, rearing and snorting and
twitching, his eyes enormous with fear. It was almost as if there
were a fire in the stable, she thought.

"There hasn't been any smoke they could
smell?" she asked.

"No," Wyn said. "None at all."

"Any loud or strange noises?"

"Nope," Wyn said, shaking his head. "I've
been here, and I would've heard it, too."

Valerie looked back into the stall. "Hey,
Clever Cookie," she cooed through the opening. "Hey, buddy, what's
troubling you?" She reached one of her hands past the bars to let
the horse smell it, but Clever Cookie didn't even make an effort to
approach her. He was totally spooked by something. She noticed the
electrical conduit running through the stall.

She turned back around. "Wyn," she asked,
"does the electrical conduit run through all the stalls?"

He nodded. "Yes," he said, "why?"

"Is it possible," she said, feeling that she
was grasping at straws, "that there's a short or something running
through that line, and the horses could've been shocked?"

"I don't think so, Val," Wyn replied. "The
lights are on those lines, and there's nothing wrong with them." He
turned to Santo. "Just to be sure, Santo, why don't you throw the
circuit breakers for this building?"

Santo nodded and set off toward the office,
where the circuit breakers were.

"I guess we can give it a few minutes and see
if there's any change in their behavior," Wyn said.

"It's a long shot," she said, "but this is
really strange. I've never seen anything like it, except where
there's smoke."

"Me either," Wyn said.

"I'm going to walk past all the stalls,"
Valerie said, "and try to spot the horse that's the least
spooked."

She began going from stall to stall, Wyn
following along with her, looking into each one, watching each
horse for a minute.

Suddenly the lights went out, and they both
flinched. They stopped in their tracks but recovered quickly.

"That was pretty crazy, knowing that it was
coming," Valerie said.

"This whole situation is pretty crazy," he
said.

There was sufficient daylight coming in from
outside, so they continued walking down the length of the stalls,
looking in on each horse. When they arrived at Demon's stall, they
both noticed that the immense stallion was definitely agitated, but
he seemed relatively calm compared to most of the other horses. Wyn
began talking to him quietly and reached in, trying to stroke his
neck. Demon seemed to want the attention, but he was reluctant.

Wyn turned to Valerie. "Do you think the
lights have been off long enough?" he asked. "Should they've calmed
down in this length of time if it had to do with a shock or
something?"

Valerie looked at him and shrugged. "I don't
know," she said, "but I would think so. It's been several minutes,
and you're here with them. They know you and trust you, so I would
think that if that were the problem they would've calmed down by
now. But there hasn't been any change, has there?"

"No," he said. "I'll go tell Santo to turn
the power back on. Be right back." He dashed off in the direction
of the office.

Valerie went back to Clever Cookie's stall to
retrieve her carryall and medical bag, then walked back down to
Demon. She would begin her work with him.

Wyn and Santo returned from the office,
hurrying to where she stood.

"What're you doing?" Wyn asked.

"I'm going to need you and Santo to help me
tether Demon to the stall," Valerie said. "I've got to get blood
from one of the horses for toxicology. Quite frankly, I don't know
what else to do. Demon seems to be the least disturbed, so I think
he's our best bet."

Wyn and Santo both approached the stall. Wyn
opened the door slowly, and he and Santo eased themselves inside.
In a flash, Wyn caught Demon's bridle, and before the horse managed
to rear away, Santo clipped on a rein and snapped it to a ring in
the stall wall.

They backed away as the big horse tried to
rear. "Demon," Wyn whispered. "It's okay, boy. It's okay." He
stroked Demon several times, trying to calm him. Santo left the
stall, stepping outside and watching.

Valerie had retrieved a syringe from her
medical bag and slipped into the stall with Wyn.

"You sure you want to do this, Val?" Wyn
asked quietly without turning around. He continued stroking
Demon.

"I have to get some blood," she said, "and
I've done it many a time. I'll just stay clear of his
hindquarters." She sidled up next to Wyn and began her rhythmic
cooing to calm the agitated horse. She reached up and began
stroking Demon's neck, locating the jugular vein. She concentrated
on stroking him there, then, when he seemed somewhat distracted by
their strokes and whispers, she quickly plunged the syringe into
the vein and began drawing blood.

Demon reacted instantly, shifting his feet
and trying to rear, but she managed to get enough blood for
toxicology, then gingerly backed out of the stall.

Wyn joined her after a moment. "You're a
brave woman, Doc," he said.

"It's my job," she said, taking the needle
off the syringe and leaning down to put it in the special container
in her medical bag. She straightened back up.

"I'm going to call the clinic to come pick
this up for immediate testing," she said. "I think it would be best
if I stayed here for a while and watched them. See if I can get any
inkling of what's going on."

She slipped the cell phone off her belt,
flipped it open, and dialed. "Tami, it's Val. I need somebody over
at Stonelair right away. I've got a blood sample that needs a
toxicology screen ASAP, and I mean ASAP."

She listened a minute, then said, "Oh, great.
I'd forgotten that you know where this place is. Tell Daphne I want
you to pick it up. Somebody will be waiting with the blood at the
front gate. Got that?"

She listened for a moment longer, then
pressed the end button, snapped the phone shut, and replaced it on
her belt. "Santo, do you mind waiting up at the gate with this for
me? It'll probably take Tami about fifteen or twenty minutes to get
here, so you don't have to leave quite yet." She held up the vial
of blood.