Purebred (15 page)

And so when the service was over, and goodbyes were being said, he whispered in Cat’s ear, “Can you take Laura and Vincent back to the farm?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll meet you there in a while. I have something I need to take care of first.”

Cat nodded, and he squeezed her arm and then rushed to catch up to Browne before the man could get in Nadim’s car.

“Wait. We need to talk.”

“Tomorrow at the track.”

“Now. Here.”

Browne looked at Nadim. “Can you give us a few minutes?”

“Certainly.” Nadim took his cell phone from his pocket and turned it on. “I need to check my messages anyway.”

“This way.”

Aidan moved away from the vehicles and people on the cemetery road. He stopped in the shelter of a shade tree, several inches of mulch beneath his feet.

“What can I be doing for you, Mr. McKenna?”

“Tell me why you’re here.”

“Out of respect, of course.”

“You knew the deceased?”

“No. Never met the man. But I know you and through you, Miss Clarke.”

“How exactly do you know me? What is it you want of me?”

“I don’t understand.”

The time for pretence was over. Aidan was going to get to the heart of the matter. “I am not one for coincidence. We both come from Ireland and we both end up at the same racetrack in the middle of America at virtually the same time. Explain that to me.”

“I fear I cannot.”

“Cannot or will not?” When Browne went silent, Aidan said, “Then explain why a jockey is working as a hotwalker.”

Browne’s expression tightened. “You know who I am, then.”

“I know you were racing in Southern Australia for the last several years, that you came back to Ireland and left again to come here. But not as a jockey. That takes some explaining.” When the jockey didn’t try, Aidan nearly exploded with frustration. “You came because of me, did you not? What was the plan? To ruin my partnership with Cat? Or to make me look like a murderer?”

“You’re daft, man!”

“Am I? Then explain yourself.”

At first, Aidan didn’t think he would. Browne seemed torn, ready to leave as were the other mourners. Several vehicles passed them on the way to the exit.

And then Browne said, “I came because of Pegeen.”

Which took away Aidan’s breath. That was the last thing he’d expected to hear.

“You knew Pegeen?” Not a stretch, since Pegeen had been a jockey like Browne.

“She was my sister.”

Aidan started. “Pegeen had two sisters, no brother. And her last name was Flynn, not Browne.”

“She was my half sister. Several years after Da died, my mother remarried. She and her new husband had three daughters. Pegeen was the youngest, so there was more than a decade between us. The only thing we shared was our love of horses. I taught her what I could about being a jockey, but I was already in Australia when she got her first ride.”

“I can check on your story.”

“You do that, then.”

Aidan studied the man’s face. He’d thought Tim Browne looked familiar and now he knew why. He saw traces of the woman he’d once loved in the determined jaw and the set of his mouth.

“So you followed me here why?”

“You were leaving Ireland just as I was about to meet you there.”

“You came back from Australia to meet me?”

“To see what kind of a man you were. Whether or not you were responsible for my sister’s death.”

“What took you so long, then? Why did you not come home for your sister’s funeral?”

“I was in no shape to travel. I was recuperating from surgeries to repair my leg and remove my spleen. The more I thought on Pegeen’s death, however, the more I had to find out for myself whether or not you were responsible.”

“I was,” Aidan admitted, because it was true. Guilt flooded him. “I loved your sister, and ’tis my fault she died.”

Browne stared in silence for a moment, then said, “I wanted to know what kind of trainer you were. Whether you would push a jockey to do something careless. I did not accuse you of anything more.”

“’Tis the truth of the matter. I didn’t stop her from riding PushedToTheLimit.”

“So you knew there was something wrong with the colt?”

“There was nothing wrong with him. ’Twas a bad ride and they got caught between two horses, is what happened.”

“Then how was that your fault? How is it you think you killed her?”

“Because I saw it happen and didn’t stop it.”

“Saw it?”

“In a dream.” Aidan waited for a reaction, and when he got none, continued, “Not her dying, but the accident itself. The morning she died, I told Pegeen about it and asked her to beg off the ride. She simply laughed. She didn’t believe in such warnings.”

And undoubtedly neither would her brother, though he noticed Browne didn’t seem in the least amused.

“You have the sight, then.”

Browne gave it credence, Aidan thought. “Of a sort.” He still couldn’t bring himself to talk about the curse. “I can’t always trust the dreams that come to me. That’s why I hesitated doing what I should have in order to stop the disaster from happening.”

“Pegeen did what she wanted. A more stubborn lass never existed. If she wanted to ride, nothing would have stopped her.”

“I could have pulled the colt. At the last minute, I could have said there was something medically wrong with PushedToTheLimit and pulled him from the schedule.”

“But when the vet checked him out afterward, he wouldn’t find anything wrong. Making the wrong call might have ruined you.”

“Do you think that’s what mattered to me?” Aidan hadn’t even thought of the repercussion to himself. “I cared about your sister. I cared about ending the colt’s career before it even started. I cared about letting down the owner who trusted me. There were too many things to consider. I could have been wrong. I knew that. I took too long to decide.”

Browne stared at him intently, as if he were trying to get inside Aidan’s soul. Though Pegeen’s brother made him uncomfortable, Aidan allowed it. And if Browne wanted revenge for his sister, Aidan wouldn’t stop him.

The man finally said, “It sounds to me like you did nothing wrong.”

“You’re not the one who has to live with the uncertainty.” And the never-ending guilt.

“I came here to see that Pegeen got justice…if I found it was warranted,” Browne admitted. “As I see it, you did nothing wrong, and yet you punish yourself more than anyone else ever could.”

Sensing they weren’t alone, Aidan looked past Browne to see Nadim standing a few yards away. He was wearing an impatient expression.

“Nadim wants to leave.”

Browne glanced back. “I’ll be right there.” To Aidan he said, “Perhaps you should find another hotwalker.”

“I am so deeply sorry about Pegeen.”

Browne nodded. “My sister would not want you to make your life about what happened to her. She would want you to get on with it and be happy.” With that, he left.

Leaving Aidan wondering if Pegeen had sent her brother to ease his conscience and free him to do exactly that.

Chapter Seventeen

Cat had brought the kids back to the farm and had spent more than an hour doing manual labor alongside them. After which, she’d let them take the horses out to make up for the wretched day.

Now showered, her hair washed, she stood in the living room, staring out the window toward the barn.

“How are you, really?” Aidan asked.

“As well as can be expected, I guess, considering the authorities don’t seem to be getting anywhere with this case.”

“Investigations take time.”

Behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders, making her want to melt back against him. She said, “It’s been time enough for a second murder.”

“Pierce has only been at it a few days.”

He should have been at it a few weeks, but there was no use in bringing that up again. “And it’s clear that I’m somehow involved.”

“Not you. Your farm.”

“I’m the one who was knocked out.”

“Because you foolishly went to the barn alone in the middle of the night and interrupted something criminal.”

“That won’t happen again,” she promised. “And whatever is going on there, I’ve got it covered.”

“Meaning?”

“I reset the video cameras, the ones meant to help me keep an eye from the house on the mares ready to give birth. The foaling stalls on the other side of the main aisles are double-size so the mares have enough room. And each stall is rigged with two cameras. I adjusted them to look over the whole barn. I can check on the barn all night from the office next to my bedroom.”

The clop-clop of horses’ hooves and excited voices made Cat turn back to the window.

“Laura and Vincent are back from their ride already.” And they were coming toward the house rather than the barn. “That’s odd. They usually stay out as long as possible.”

“What is that Vincent is carrying?” Aidan asked.

Cat focused on the bulky object he balanced in front of him on the saddle. “Oh, my…I think that’s George’s suitcase!”

* * *

“
S
O
YOU
FETCHED
THIS
from the stream?” Pierce asked.

Cat had called the detective the moment the excited teenagers had brought the suitcase to her. She’d been through this with them while waiting for Pierce to arrive. Now it was his turn to repeat the questions she and Aidan had already asked. They and the kids sat at the kitchen table, while Pierce did a cursory inspection of the rolling case that sat on the floor halfway between them and the back door. She had to keep the dogs in check. As with anything that smelled odd, they kept wanting to investigate for themselves.

“It was stuck on a tree limb,” Vincent said, “like the storm had thrown it there.”

“Where exactly did you find it?”

Vincent and Laura looked at each other, and Cat saw something secretive pass between them.

Reaching across the table to give Laura’s hand a squeeze, Vincent continued to do the talking. “Downstream from the ravine.”

“And you just rode by and saw it?”

“Well, not exactly.”

The kids exchanged another look.

Laura made a face and admitted, “We were, uh, swimming.”

Pierce gave them a once-over. “But your clothes are dry.”

“Yeah, well, we weren’t exactly wearing them,” Vincent said.

“We weren’t naked!” Laura was quick to add.

Cat noted the teenager’s face flushed with embarrassment, but she said nothing.

“So, do you think you will get fingerprints from the case?” Aidan asked.

“The outside? Doubtful. It’s been through a lot of weather, a lot of water.” The detective turned to Cat. “You can identify this case for certain as belonging to George Odell, though, right?”

“If I’m wrong, all you have to do is open it to find out.”

“At the lab. You never know what we might find inside.” He picked up the filthy wet case with gloved hands and headed for the door. “You’ll be hearing from me.”

“I’m sure I will.” She waited until the detective left before giving the kids her fiercest expression. “Skinny-dipping?” Not that she was a prude, but while they were here, whether working for her or otherwise, she was the responsible adult. “What do you think your parents will say about that?”

Laura squealed. “You can’t tell them!”

“I wasn’t planning on it…as long as you tell me you won’t do that again, not while you’re taking my horses out.”

“We won’t!” both teenagers promised.

Aidan said, “That does not speak to Detective Pierce’s discretion, however.”

“Oh, great, Vincent.” Laura sounded as if she were ready to cry. “I told you we were going to get in trouble.”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t take long to convince you to take that chance.”

Her face deepening to a beet-red, Laura smacked Vincent in the arm, and when she ran out of the kitchen, he was directly behind her.

“C’mon, I was just teasing you!” he yelled as he went out the back door.

Apparently thinking they were playing, the dogs squeezed out the door before it slammed.

“Young love,” Aidan said.

“Love has no age limit, and I fear it never gets easier.”

Or so it seemed to her. Though she’d tried to put Jack out of mind, he kept inserting himself back into her life, reminding her of how gullible she had been, how willing to accept what he’d said on faith.

And now her growing feelings for Aidan scared her silly.

What if she was wrong about him, too?

She was giving herself a hard time for nothing—it was far too soon to decide where their relationship was or was not headed.

“I wonder how long it will take Pierce to have his people check out the suitcase.”

“Even if he learns something, he may not tell us until he has enough to arrest the murderer.”

“If it even gives him enough to go on. Fingerprints. Hair. Whatever. If the person responsible has never been arrested, he’ll never make a match.”

“’Tis the only thing we have to go on.”

“For now. I’ll just have to be patient.” She sighed. “And keep busy.”

“Do you not think you have done enough for the day? Perhaps you need to take it easy.”

“And go crazy thinking about it? I need to check on the mares anyway. I no longer have a vet, so until I have time to get a new one, it’s up to me to decide when a mare is pregnant and whether or not it’s time to breed one.”

Cat didn’t want to think about having to repeat today’s experience. At least Helen’s family was planning the wake and funeral, but Cat would of course attend both. Helen had been not only her vet, but a friend.

“What can I do to help?” Aidan asked.

“With the mares? Nothing. But you could do something about dinner.”

“You want me to cook? ’Tis a request you may regret.”

“Actually, I was thinking of takeout. There’s a place in town just off the square called the Italian Villa. It has great pasta and even better pizza. If you like Italian.”

“Sounds grand.”

She told him how to find it. “Take your time. I should be done in an hour or so, but sometimes checking on the horses takes longer than I expect.”

“I’m familiar with that particular problem.”

Cat was glad to see him go. She needed some time alone to process. It had been quite a day. She’d bred a horse. She’d buried an old friend. She’d possibly identified the link to the murderer.

If only she could do more to nail whoever had killed George and Helen. It had to be the same person. The same person who’d been doing something secretive in her barn and had knocked her out. Someone who’d come to the gravesite to look innocent?

Moments flitted through her mind. The cast of mourners, for example. Aidan had never told her what he’d had to say to Tim Browne, or what it was he’d wanted to tell her when he’d arrived.
More than a backstretch worker
—what did that mean? He’d never explained. Afterward, he’d merely said Browne had come to pay his respects.

Placido being there had confused her, as well. He might have met George when he’d come to see his brother, but he hadn’t really known the barn manager. Undoubtedly, he’d simply wanted to impress Mac’s owner. Or at least to become more visible to Aidan.

What was Jack’s reason for showing up to the burial of someone he didn’t even like? Quite possibly he’d simply wanted to torture her. Or to somehow impress his future father-in-law. Unless, of course,
he
was the murderer, there to see what people suspected, something she really didn’t want to believe.

And then there was Martin’s argument with Bernie. Had Bernie done something with Martin’s horses that the owner hadn’t liked? Bernie had denied being in the barn late at night when she’d asked, but he’d raised her suspicions. And Jack had used him to establish how long he’d been in the barn while she was in Ireland.

She might call Martin to feel him out about the argument, but she couldn’t forget that he was a suspect, as was every other person at the burial.

Other than the kids, of course.

The thought stuck with her. Bernie was always friendly with both Vincent and Laura—perhaps because he was the youngest full-time employee and had gone to high school with their older siblings.

So when she was done in the barn and went back to the house, and Aidan and dinner were nowhere in sight, she decided to call Vincent.

“Hey, Miss Clarke, sorry about before—”

“That’s not why I’m calling.” Despite her worries, Cat kept her tone as even as she could manage. “I wanted to ask you about Bernie.”

“Why? What did he do?”

“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to find out. At the cemetery today, he and Mr. Bradley were having words. I’m worried Bernie did something to make Mr. Bradley angry.”

“That wouldn’t be too hard.”

“Bernie doing something he shouldn’t have? Or Mr. Bradley getting angry easily?”

“Both, them being related and all.”

A statement that shocked Cat into silence for a moment. Then she asked, “Related? How?”

“You didn’t know Mr. Bradley is Bernie’s uncle?”

News to her. “No.”

“Mr. Bradley is the one who told Bernie about the job. But he makes Bernie miserable anytime he’s around. I guess he’s pretty critical.”

“You’ve heard them argue before?”

“Only once. But Bernie said his uncle was on his back a lot lately, making him do stuff he didn’t want to do.”

“Like what?” It was getting harder to sound normal. “Things around here?”

“He didn’t say.”

“Thanks, Vincent. Do me a favor and don’t say anything to Bernie about this. I wouldn’t want to embarrass him.”

“Well, yeah, I guess I owe you one,” he said, lowering his voice. “Since you’re not going to say anything to Laura’s and my parents and all.”

“And I won’t, since you’re going to keep your promise not to skinny-dip again and all.” Hearing the truck coming up the drive, she used it as her excuse to end the conversation. “Ah, dinner has arrived. I’ll see you tomorrow, Vincent.”

When Aidan entered the kitchen, his arms and hands were full. “I hope you’re hungry.”

Hoping they were in for a treat, the dogs crowded them.

“Good grief, you bought out the restaurant. You must be starving.”

“That I am. Truthfully, I could not decide what to get, so I just bought everything that appealed. And I know how to use a micro to warm up leftover food.”

Cat smiled for the first time that day. “A good talent to have.”

When they set out the food on the table—stuffed-sausage pizza, calamari, fettuccini alfredo with shrimp, gnocchi in marinara sauce, Caesar salad and garlic bread—there was hardly room enough for them. Smokey and Topaz sat between them, hopeful gazes going from one human to the other.

As they ate, Cat allowed herself to enjoy the food and Aidan’s company. She was getting used to having him around. Having him in her bed. Not the night before, though. He’d said she needed to sleep without him disturbing her, but was that really it? Something had been bothering him, was bothering him now. She saw past the banter and the smile.

His eyes told of a different mood.

A mood that carried through the evening as he helped her clear the table and then escorted her to the barn for a good-night check on the mares.

A mood that followed him back into the house where he announced his intention to sleep on her sofa again.

Feeling vulnerable, Cat wished him into her bed. But still, he never appeared. Alone with only the dogs to keep her company, she stared up into the dark, wondering what had changed between them.

Had her growing feelings for Aidan scared him away?

She was scared, and not only of a murderer being on the loose. Had she been wrong about Aidan’s feelings for her in the first place?

She couldn’t stand the thought of being broken by love again.