Horse of a Different Killer (33 page)

“So you asked Logan for help?”

“How many other criminals do I know?”

“The number is growing, if you count us.”

I realized Emma didn't know what really happened the night before. Assuming she'd heard only the official version, I told her the real story.

“Logan was at Boomer's. He and Kai came to save me.”

“Together?”

“Apparently.” I told her about pulling the Logan card, literally, and, that Kai was the only one who knew how to find me.

“I don't know what Logan said to Kai, or how it all played out. He was gone when I woke up.”

“What is it with this Logan guy?” Emma asked.

“I think he feels like he owes me for helping Brooke. I'm guessing after this, we'll be even. As long as I give him the USB stick.”

“He can have it, after I erase the photos. We don't need it anymore.”

“Hey, girls.” My mom slid the door open to stick her head out, and said, “We're ready to cut the cake.”

I looked at Emma as we walked inside. “Cake?”

My sister shrugged. “Mom.”

It was explanation enough.

As I moved through the living room, I did a mental scan to check on the animals. Voodoo was sleeping in the crook of Sonja's arm. Moss was in the kitchen panhandling and Roscoe was snuggled in my dad's lap.

The little papillon had fallen in love with my father. Before my parents left, I planned to ask if they wanted a traveling buddy. Judging from the way my mother had cooed at Roscoe when he did his little pick-me-up dance, I was pretty sure the Winnebago would be getting a mascot.

My phone chimed as I finished off my second piece of cake.

I fumbled it out of my back pocket, hoping it was Kai. The text was from a blocked number. It read:
Beach. Five minutes.

Though I had I feeling I knew, I responded with:
Who is this?

No answer.

Call me paranoid, but I wasn't about to walk out onto the dark beach without knowing the text was from Logan. Hell, I wasn't sure I should if I knew it
was
Logan.

Who is this?
I typed again.

My phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Boo.”

“Logan?”

“Four minutes. Shake a leg, sweetness,” he said and hung up.

Yep, it was Logan.

I caught my sister's eye and she raised her brows in silent question, then followed me out of the noisy kitchen.

“Time to pay the piper,” I told her as we turned down the hallway.

Emma and I ducked into my room long enough for her to plug the USB drive into my laptop and remove the photos from the file.

“Take the mutt,” she said as she handed me the USB stick.

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Hey,” she said. I paused in the doorway and looked back. “Tell him I said thanks.”

I nodded, and with the excuse of taking Moss on a potty break, went to meet a ghost.

•   •   •

Logan stood just off the path, facing the water. The light of the moon made the tips of the waves glow white as they rolled to shore.

I let Moss off the leash. He trotted to Logan, gave him a quick once-over sniff, and moved off to explore the nearby tide pool.

“I guess we need to come up with a code word so I can tell the difference between you and the other crazies inviting me to clandestine meetings,” I said, stopping beside him.

“‘Boo' wasn't a big enough hint?” he asked without turning to me.

“Point taken.”

I followed his gaze to look out at the water for a few heartbeats, then held up the USB stick.

“Are you going to tell me why you want it?” I asked when he took it.

“No.”

Didn't think so.
“My sister wanted me to tell you thanks.”

“For helping her or saving you?”

I hadn't thought about the saving-me part. I glanced up at his profile. “Both, I guess.”

He nodded. “He's a good guy, your cop.”

“I know.”

“I asked him if he wanted me to back off.”

“What did he say?”

Finally, Logan turned to look at me. “He told me he wanted you safe. And if I was a factor in that, he'd learn to live with it.”

The night was turning out to be full of surprises.

Logan lifted a shoulder and turned back to the sea. “He could have just said that because you were being held hostage at the time, but I think he meant it.”

I wasn't sure what to make of that.

Moss splashed through the pool.

“Isn't there a leash law?” Logan asked.

I turned to look at my dog as he jogged away, stopped, and shook. At least he didn't wait until he was standing next to me to throw off the water, which was what he normally did.

“You going to call the cops on me for not having a leash?” I asked, looking back at Logan. He was gone.

“Oh, no you don't,” I muttered. “Moss! Come. Where's Logan?”

My dog responded to my call much more quickly than he would have if I had said, “Let's go inside.” He trotted to where I stood. I clipped on his leash and said, “Where'd he go, huh? Where's Logan?”

Moss sniffed the ground then looked past me, with a swish of his tail.

Kai
.

“No, not Kai, Logan.” As soon as I said it, I understood what my dog had been trying to tell me.

I turned to see Kai emerge from the path between the dunes.

“Kai, hey.”

“Hey.” He smiled, and I knew he hadn't heard me asking Moss about Logan.

And oh, that smile. Even in the moonlight, it was toe curling.

“Your mom told me where I could find you.” He stepped close, brushed a wind-whipped strand of hair out of my face, and studied me. “You look better.”

“Yeah, well I—” I stopped as something occurred to me. “Oh.”

“What?”

“You met my parents.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, it's just, weird. You met them in the hospital while I was passed out drooling on myself. Not quite how I pictured the introduction.”

Moss chose that moment to ask to be acknowledged, and nudged Kai's hand with his muzzle.

Only having to bend a little, Kai ruffled Moss's furry neck and gave him a pat.

“It was good timing, actually,” Kai said, still talking about the hospital. “They got to there just as I was being asked to go in and give a statement. You'll need to do that, too.”

“Wes already talked to me about it. I know you had to . . . omit some details.”

He nodded. “Adding Logan into the story would only muddy things up.”

“I'm sorry.” I didn't want him to have to lie.

“Don't be. It was probably good that he was there.”

“Really?”

“Logan called me as Charlie and I were going over some of the photos from Dr. Simon's car. I saw what they did to her. They're lucky Logan was with me—I would've killed one of them to get to you. That would have been harder to explain.”

“Okay, that's enough fun for now.” I led Moss and his new biggest fan back to Bluebell. “Ebony and Ivory. In you go.” I opened the rear passenger door so Moss could jump into the backseat. Pretty Girl was close on his heels, leaping up to sit next to him. It had been only a couple of weeks since I'd first seen her, but Janie's black wolf-dog looked like she'd grown an inch.

Part of that was confidence, I knew. Not only did she have a stable, loving home, but once a week she had Moss.

Today, I'd picked Pretty Girl up from Janie's and brought her and Moss to R-n-R to meet some horses and goats. She'd behaved like a perfect lady and as a reward, I'd turned the two dogs loose in an unoccupied, fenced pasture. They'd run and sniffed and played until both of their sides heaved and their mouths stretched in panting wolf-smiles.

I'd already given them water, but put a bowl in the seat anyway. It would get stepped in, kicked, or knocked over, but Bluebell had seen worse.

I gave both canines a pat. Pretty Girl aimed a couple of licks at my mouth, but I managed to press my lips shut and move out of range. She turned her attention to Moss, showering him with half a dozen kisses as her tail swished over the seat.

“She's got it bad,” I told Moss.

Moss, handsome
.

“Yes, you are.” Smiling, I closed the door and turned toward the barn.

The crisp wind sent a flurry of fallen sweet gum leaves dancing across my path.

I hunched into my jacket as I walked.

It was warmer inside the stables but not by much. Hunter was busy mucking out one of the stalls. I nodded to him as I passed.

Heart was tethered in the center aisle near the washstand. The horse had been brushed and groomed until his coat gleamed like satin.

“Minerva, dammit,” Boomer said, appearing from around the corner. “How's it going to look if Heart walks out of here covered in cat hair?”

Minerva was happily settled on Heart's back, doing the kitty impersonation of a loaf of bread. All four feet tucked under her body, she looked like a patchwork muffin sitting in the place where Heart's saddle would usually go.

“Is this your spot?” I asked the cat, remembering what she'd told me about meeting Heart and doing a “spot check.”

Good spot
, she confirmed.

Boomer had continued to grouse at the barn cat; she ignored him.

“Jasmine hasn't seen Heart in months—she won't care about a little cat hair,” I said.

Jasmine had been cleared of any involvement in the LaPointe heist, and was finally on her way to see her horse. Discovering she'd been engaged to a monster had taken a toll on the model, but Mary seemed to think she would rally.

I had a feeling today would help.

I'd missed the goats' reunion, but they looked happy.

I offered Heart a Jordan almond, a favorite treat, according to Jasmine.

Heart took it with a whisper of velvety lips on my palm and crunched away.

“Today's the big day, boy. You ready to see Jasmine?”

Yasmin?

I grinned. A horse with an accent—why not?

A silver sedan pulled slowly through the gates of R-n-R.

“Boomer, you're up.”

He grunted, untied Heart's lead rope, and started walking out the barn's open gate.

Minerva nimbly leapt onto the wall of one of the other horse stalls as they passed.

I followed Heart and Boomer, then stopped just outside the barn.

“You came for the reunion?” Hunter asked, as he moved out of the stall and came to stand next to me.

“Yep.”

I watched the sedan park and the rear door open. Jasmine stepped out. Her face turned to the barn eyes locked on her horse. One hand was pressed to her chest the other came up to cover her mouth. For several seconds she didn't move. She just stared at Heart as Boomer led him forward.

Heart hadn't seen Jasmine yet but he sensed something had changed. The horse shifted his focus from Boomer.

Ears twitching, he cast his senses around in an attempt to discern the cause of the sudden shift he'd perceived. And then, he saw her.

The connection was instant. And though my link to Heart was minimal, the joy that rushed though my chest made me suck in a surprised breath.

Heart quickened his step. Jasmine rushed forward and threw her arms around his neck.

“I heard you're giving the reward to Boomer,” Hunter said. “Even though you found him.”

I nodded. It only seemed right, given that Boomer had saved Heart to begin with.

“So you're not getting anything?”

“I get to see this,” I said as I watched Heart nuzzle Jasmine.

“That's it?”

“Kid, that's everything.”