The Michaela Bancroft Mysteries 1-3 (39 page)

"I think I'll let you do the honors."
Michaela laughed as she got into the passenger seat.

"Can I ask if your ex-wife knew that you and
Audrey had remained such close friends?"

"Oh, ha. No, she didn't. Kathleen has a
horrid temper. Piss her off, she's like a rattlesnake. No one wants to get in
the way of her wrath. I know, because I'm always in it. She is constantly
taking me back to court for more money. Don't ask me what she spends it on, but
the woman can go through cash faster than anyone I've ever known. Everything has
to be first class. And now I've married her younger twin. Kathleen plays up the
martyr act, but it's only an act. Trust me."

Michaela recalled Kathleen's anger toward Olivia
that morning. "Did you see Audrey other than when she came to buy
horses?"

"Now and again. She'd come up to take a look
at horses, or we'd visit over lunch. We talked every week about Olivia or…you
know, life, things." His voice trailed off. "I'll miss her."

Michaela noticed tears in his eyes. "Me,
too."

"I can't believe she's gone. Nor why anyone
would do this. Everyone loved Audrey. Dearly. How could you not? She was kind,
generous, loving, and beautiful. I adored her."

"Sounds like you did."

His words again made Michaela think that there had
been something going on between Audrey and Hugh. This was the second time she'd
wondered about it. "You knew Audrey for a long time, didn't you?"

"More than twenty-five years."

"She worked for you?"

"She did."

"Waitress, wasn't she?"

"She was more than a
waitress
. She and
Kathleen were the entertainment at the original Bowen's in Malibu. That's how
we all met. They worked for me, and one night I overheard them talking about
how they'd like to sing. I asked them if they had any talent and they said that
they did. I told them to put something together and I'd listen, maybe let them
sing at the restaurant. They did, and they were great. Packed them in. Audrey
had a beautiful voice and could play the guitar. And Kathleen, she could sing,
too, and play the harmonica."

Michaela laughed. That one was hard to imagine.

He looked at her with amusement as they entered
the impressive barn, row upon row of horses—some sticking their heads outside
their stalls to see the guests, a few nickers here and there, some pawing at
the ground. "I know what you're thinking—Kathleen playing a
harmonica."

"It doesn't quite fit with the picture of
your ex."

He frowned. "Not today, anyway. But she
wasn't always so uptight. She was a wild one. Audrey had a calming influence on
her. Always the peaceful one, you know."

"I do. Audrey's nature was definitely
gentle."

"I look back on those years and I know that
she was the one I should have married. If I had, she might be alive today, and
I know we would have lasted."

His words took her aback. She decided to take a
chance: "You were in love with her, weren't you?"

Hugh didn't hold back his tears any longer.
"I always was. Always."

"Did she know?"

"Yes. She knew. She definitely knew. I asked
her to marry me last week."

"WH-WHAT?" MICHAELA ASKED, SPUTTERING ON
the question.

Hugh nodded slowly, tears now streaming down his
face. "I've made huge mistakes in my life, and letting Audrey slip through
my fingers was the biggest. And now, she's gone."

"But you're married. I mean, I guess,
um…" Michaela's head spun over this revelation. "Okay, I'm sorry, I
know this is none of my business, but I have to ask: Were you and Audrey having
an affair?"

"No. Audrey would never do that. Never. What
we had was far more special than something as lurid as an affair. We had a
connection
.
A real connection. We may not have ever had anything physical, but we did have
an affair of the heart. In a sense, I suppose that's as bad. But I think it's
worse for the two people who love each other not to figure it out than it is
for the spouses. It's a travesty all the way around. I realized that last week
after we had lunch, so I bought a ring and asked her to marry me."

"Did she say yes?"

"She did. And it was yesterday that I planned
to tell Bridgette." He smiled, but his eyes betrayed his sadness.

Something told Michaela she'd found the reason why
Bridgette didn't think highly of Audrey. Somehow, Bridgette knew about Audrey,
or at least the love Hugh felt for her. How could a woman not sense that type
of thing?

"And, now…now she's gone." He broke
down.

Michaela put her arms around him. "I am so
sorry."

He gently pulled away from her and wiped his face.
"Please don't tell anyone. You're the only one who knows. I know what she
meant to you and I had to tell someone. We were getting ready to tell everyone
after I ended things between me and Bridgette. I wanted it to be as amicable as
possible. I wasn't out to hurt anyone; I just didn't want to live a lie any
longer. I've been doing it for years. And, even though she's gone and we won't
ever be married, I have to divorce Bridgette. That's what I meant when I said
that I needed to make changes. I also need to find out who murdered
Audrey." The lines in his forehead creased deeply. "I'll kill whoever
did this!" he exclaimed.

Michaela wanted to ask him why, if he'd loved Audrey
for all these years, had this revelation not dawned on him earlier, causing him
to pursue Audrey sooner than later. But he was so upset that she decided not to
say anything further about their relationship for now. The man was distraught
and it didn't feel right to delve into his or Audrey's personal life any more
than she already had.

Hugh seemed to want to change the subject as he
stopped in front of one of the horse's stalls. "Geyser. Good boy, he is.
Audrey loved him. Wanted to take him to her place, but with the changes we were
about to make that wouldn't have been necessary. She would have moved in here
with me and sold her place in Indio." Geyser stuck his head out of the
stall. Hugh patted the handsome dapple gray. "Hey, there." He looked
back at Michaela. "Won a lot of races. And, he's sound."

"Rare," she replied, referring to the
horse's legs. Soundness in a horse signified that they weren't lame, which was
hard to come by, especially in a retired racehorse. These were animals that for
a time in their life went at full speed, with all one thousand pounds or more
beating down on their fine legs. "How old is he?"

"Eleven now. I've had him all his life, and
he likes it here, but he's a real social guy. He'd love the attention that kids
would shower on him."

"I can see that," Michaela said and
laughed as the gelding nudged her hand, wanting a pat.

"But there are no kids around here, and when Audrey
called me to ask if I might have a good horse for a kid, my first thought was
Geyser. I have to tell you, he's not one I want to let go of. But when Audrey
told me that he'd be for you, I knew he'd have a great home. Plus, she wanted
you to have him."

"You know how I feel about my animals. They come
to stay."

"That's a good thing. I don't know how
profitable it is, but it's a good thing. You want to take him out, give him a
go?"

"Yeah."

Hugh led Geyser from the stall. One of the grooms
came by and offered to saddle him up. Hugh said that would be fine, and he
finished showing Michaela around the barn.

When Geyser was ready, she put him first through
some basic paces and then challenged him some. He still had his get up and go,
but was responsive and definitely good natured. He'd be perfect for what she
had in mind. "I love him. How much do you want for him?"

"He's yours."

"What?"

"Take him. My gift; but if you ever want to
get rid of him, you bring him back here."

"But why? Why would you give him to me?"

"Because I know how much Audrey cared for
you, and I want you to have him. And as I said,
she
wanted you to have
him."

"I can't do that."

"Fine. Give me a dollar and we'll call it
even." He smiled and it was warm, kind—just as Audrey had been.

God, she wished they could have been together.

"Please, Michaela. He's a good boy. He'll
make the kids you're working with happy. I want you to have him."

The kids. Joe's proposition of working with his
daughter and more autistic kids crossed her mind. Geyser would be perfect for
the children. Was she really thinking about accepting the position? Maybe so.
As Hugh had told her, Audrey would have wanted her to enjoy her life, and the
joy she got out of working with Genevieve was evident.

She finally agreed. "I'll pick him up later
this week, if that's okay. I need to get back home, check on things. And I
don't have my trailer with me. Day after tomorrow work for you?"

"Works great."

"Good. But you have to promise me that you'll
come out and visit. Watch him with the kids."

"You can count on it. Like I said, I hate to
see him go, but know he'll be in a good place. I will be out to see him. He'll
be great with the kids. Won't you?" Hugh rubbed Geyser's face.

Michaela hung his bridle back up in the tack room
as Hugh put him back in his stall. Turning around, she bumped into a slightly
built Mexican man. "Oh, excuse me. I didn't know anyone was there."

"Is okay," he replied curtly.

Hugh walked in. "Oh, I see you've met
Enrique."

"Sort of," Michaela replied and laughed.
Enrique didn't smile.
Jeez, lighten up
.

"Enrique Perez, this is Michaela Bancroft.
Enrique is my jockey. The best around."

"Thank you, sir."

"It's true. Won the race on Chico
yesterday."

"Good horse. Nice to meet you,
señorita
."
He warmed slightly.

"You, too," she replied.

"
Señor
, I need to leave a bit early.
It's my brother. I have something to take care of with him."

Hugh frowned. "Is he in trouble again?"

"No, no. He promise me no more problems
especially now that you give him a job. He real happy about it, and me, too. No
problems at all, just need to go with him to an appointment."

Hugh slapped Enrique on the back. As the jockey
left the barn, they returned to the golf cart. "Man works so hard with
these animals and he's got this brother—Juan—who has had some troubles with the
law, but Enrique assures me the man is turning his life around. Sure hope so. I
took a chance on him because of Enrique and hired him to take care of the
mechanical stuff around here. So far so good. He does do a good job, but the
jury is still out, if you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean. Family can be
difficult."

"Yes, they can."

"Before I head out, do you think your trainer
might be back?"

"Josh? I'm not sure. He may be with a horse
on the exercise track. I know that he got a late start this morning. Why?"

"I…have some technical stuff to ask
him." She didn't know if Hugh was aware that Josh had brought Olivia home,
that the girl and her mother had already had quite an argument that morning.
She decided to find out if he knew the answer to the burning question.
"Hey, did you ever locate Olivia last night?"

"Yes. I sent Josh to pick her up. That idiot
Steve Benz convinced her to go out with them."

"Them?"

"Him and his manager—Marshall Friedman. Don't
trust either one of them as far as I can throw them. Friedman has been trying
to get Olivia to sign with him and leave Audrey. Sure, the guy can boost her
career, but I don't like it at all. The guy is a jerk."

"Was she here then, last night?"

"By the time I located her it was almost one
in the morning. I told Josh to pick her up and take her to her mother's, who I
figured would be worried sick to death about her. She's recently moved into her
own apartment, but I knew with what had happened yesterday that Kathleen
would've expected Olivia to come home."

Michaela decided not to tell him that Olivia
hadn't made it to Kathleen's until after seven that morning. Where she'd been
with Josh for those six hours was a question. Her mind wandered—could the two
of them have simply been comforting each other all night?

Or did they have something to hide?

AFTER SAYING GOOD-BYE TO HUGH, MICHAELA found Josh
down at the exercise track, dismounting a beautiful sorrel horse. She called to
him. He waved at her. She walked up and the horse turned his head, taking
curious note of the newcomer. "Gorgeous animal."

"Chapman's Lightning. We call him Chappy around
here. A lot of heart, but not so fast on the track. The lightning part of the
name is kind of a joke. He'd rather be back in his stall finishing his
breakfast. But they all need their exercise. Personally, I think Hugh should
sell him and a few others. Racing is a money-making business, but Hugh has a
philosophy: Horses come here to stay and if they leave, he knows where they're
going. It's either on their way to heaven or to the barn of someone he knows
and trusts."

"Like Audrey."

Josh nodded and looked down at the ground, digging
his paddock boots in. "Like Audrey. Can't believe what happened. She was a
nice woman and good with horses."

"I know."

"I thought coming out here this morning that
maybe I'd be able to erase some of yesterday from my mind, but it's not
possible."

"For me either," Michaela replied.

"I'm guessing you're here to look at some of
Hugh's old guys. He mentioned to me that you had an interest in lesson
horses."

"I already had a look. I'll be picking up
Geyser later this week. I wanted to talk to you before I left, though."

"Ah. Geyser, huh? Good boy. He'll be great
with kids. Look, I can figure out why you wanted to talk to me. I'm sorry about
that scene this morning with Kathleen and Olivia. I wish you hadn't seen that.
Kathleen is difficult to deal with." He shoved a hand into a pocket of his
breeches and pulled out a can of chew.