Twisted (26 page)

“Are you sure that isn’t just some old wives’ tale, Jeff? I mean, a golden or metallic sheen to a horse’s coat. It sounds kind of far-fetched to me.”

“No, hon, Jeff’s right. I’ve seen Akhal Teke horses before, and they do seem to shimmer like polished metal.” Smitty had jumped in before I could even answer.

“Sandy, it’s not some old wives’ tale. The interesting thing about these horses also is that there are only about forty-two hundred of ’em in the world. I think it would be really great to have a herd of ’em. It would be an additional draw to the dude ranch.” I was sold on the horses, and I couldn’t see why Sandy wasn’t.

“I guess I should just accept that you cowboys are horse crazy.”

“Well, it’s better than alcohol crazy, or drug crazy, or woman crazy.” I looked at Smitty with the last crazy. He turned beet red. Sandy just laughed.

Mike jumped in the conversation and slightly changed the subject. “Jeffy, if there’s so few of them horses, are they weak, I mean ’cause of inbreedin’?”

“Actually, Mike, they do have some hereditary conditions that we’d have to be on the lookout for.”

“Jeff, are you just going to trust the breeder? They want to sell the horses. They might forget to mention a genetic condition, or say they don’t know.” Sandy had a look of concern on her face.

“That’s the good thing. There’s a worldwide Akhal Teke database which shows the history of each horse. I looked up the horses for sale from the breeder we’re goin’ to see, and none of them have any defects, and their bloodlines are clean. So I can be pretty sure in this case, I’m not gonna end up with a lot of stillborn colts.”

“Well, at least you did your research.” She still looked doubtful.

Mike looked at me. “Are you plannin’ on buyin’ mares, fillies, or what?”

“I was thinkin’ a couple of mares or fillies and a stallion. I could always use the stallion for stud service.”

“If you’re gonna build up a herd, you’re gonna want to use another stud service so you have a bit of genetic diversity.” Smitty chuckled.

“Or you could see if there is frozen semen from another stud to use to get some diversity.” Mike spoke up.

“This is all in the future, guys. If I get a stallion and two fillies who aren’t related, then it’s a couple of years before we have to worry about that.” Mike started to say something else about horse semen, but luckily the waitress brought our food just at that moment.

“Jeff, Mike, have you heard anything more about the guy who tried to grab Mike? Was it the Cutter?” Smitty asked between mouthfuls of pancakes.

Mike answered. “The DNA from the ski pole that Jeffy got him with matches the DNA from three of the previous crime scenes. It looks like it was him. Unless there is another serial killer out there copyin’ the Cutter.”

“Now that’s a really cheery thought, Mike.” Mike’s close call had obviously upset Sandy.

“I’m sorry, Sandy. I didn’t mean to get you upset.”

“It’s okay, Mike. I just worry about you guys.”

Smitty nodded. “I do too. First the rustlers, now a serial killer.”

“There’s two things Mike and me are doin’. First, we’re tryin’ to be real vigilant. Second, we’re hopin’ that we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Let’s hope so.” Sandy didn’t look convinced though. “Just promise me again that you aren’t gonna try to hunt this maniac down, Jeff.”

“Darlin’, how could I do that? The FBI can’t find him, for God’s sakes. He’s probably in California by now. When he tried to kidnap Mike, he came awful close to gettin’ caught. Maybe that means he’ll stay outta the area here and go someplace else. Even better, maybe he’ll go somewhere to get his leg treated, and the doctor or hospital will call the police.”

“I’m just worried about you guys, Jeff. You seem to attract crazies.”

“We attract crazies! I don’t understand how you can say that. Wayne was already around. This was just a case of bein’ in the wrong place at the wrong time. Don’t worry, Sandy. That Cutter is no match for me and Jeffy.”

Sandy stared at Mike. “Maybe not in a fair fight, but this guy drugs his victims. He gets off on overpowering stronger and bigger men. Dad told me that several of his victims knew karate or kung fu or whatever. I just want you to be careful, that’s all.”

I decided to change the subject. “So, buddy, your dad told me he’s headin’ back to California in a few days.”

“Yeah, he is.”

“How do you feel about that?” Both Smitty and Sandy stared at Mike, waiting for the answer to my question.

“I don’t rightly know, Jeffy. I did tell him we’re gonna keep in touch. He hasn’t pushed me, and I’m glad of that.”

Sandy spoke up. “Do you reckon you’ll go visit him, Mike?”

“Jeff and me were talkin’ about competin’ in the Bay Area Gay Rodeo this summer, and he lives down there. I reckon we could kill two birds with one stone.”

“Jason told me that you said he was welcome to come back up sometime?” Smitty said it more as a question than a statement.

“I did. I did tell him to gimme a bit of time before he does that though.”

Sandy looked happy. “That’s really big of you, Mike.”

I leaned into Mike and whispered in his ear, “I’m proud of you, buddy, and proud to be with you. You’re a big man.” Mike blushed, but it was obvious from his expression he liked the compliment.

We finished up our breakfasts and headed back on the road. Highway 2 through the Cascades is really spectacular. The mountains are high, and there are many waterfalls, and this time of year they were frozen into crystal sculptures. For a good length from Leavenworth to the ocean, the road runs right along a river. As we got to the top of the pass and headed down into western Washington, the change in landscape was immediately apparent. Instead of the widely spaced trees, open hills and ridgetops, and snow of the valley, everything was lush and green. Sandy was the first to comment on it.

“It’s like a completely different world here, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s beautiful, and so green. It seems kinda foreign though,” I answered. It was beautiful, but different. At home I could ride a horse through the forest. Here everything was grown up, and there was a fair amount of underbrush.

“So what’s the plan for the horses, Jeffy? If you like ’em, are you gonna buy ’em today?” Mike squeezed my hand as he spoke.

“I reckon so. That’s why we’re haulin’ the horse trailer behind us. There’s a stallion named Orion, and two fillies that are three. One’s named Bibi, and the other is Scheherazade.”

Sandy snorted at the names. “I hope the horses are more normal than their names.”

“I read about ’em on the website, darlin’. Scheherazade was the lady who told the stories in
One
Thousand and One Arabian Nights
. Supposedly the place she was tellin’ her stories is the same country the Akhal Teke horses come from. And Bibi in their language means ‘lady’.”

“Okay, Jeff, it makes sense, but it did take me by surprise a bit.” We headed down into the lowlands and went through towns that got progressively larger. Finally we got to Snohomish. I’d called and gotten directions, so it was quite easy to find the ranch. We pulled up into a wide area near the pastures and barns. As we got out of the truck, a pleasant-looking lady hurried over to us. She looked to be in her early fifties and was dressed in a thick wool sweater, jeans, and cowboy boots. She had a cowboy hat on. She looked at us and smiled a welcome.

“Jeff? Jeff Connelly?”

“Guilty as charged, ma’am.” I held my hand out, and she took it in a firm shake.

“You look just like your picture in
Cowboys and Indians Magazine
. It looks like you even have on the same Stetson as you had in the picture.”

She turned and held out her hand to Mike. “You must be Mike Guidry.” Mike shook her hand and smiled back.

She turned to Sandy and Smitty. “I’m Lisa McGuire. I’m the owner of the ranch.”

“Sandy Johnston. I’m pleased to meet you.” Smitty then stepped forward and introduced himself. After all the introductions, Mike turned to Lisa.

“How’d you get interested in raisin’ Akhal Teke horses, Ms. McGuire?”

“Lisa, please. It’s kind of an interesting story. I’m originally from the Midwest. We had a small dairy farm there, with some horses. On my way out here to Washington, I took a little vacation and went through Colorado and Wyoming. In Colorado, I went to a local rodeo, and one of the cowboys there had an Akhal Teke. The horse was so beautiful, and gentle too. I was hooked. When I got out here, I began raising them as a hobby, and it’s now turned into a business also. But I guess you want to see the horses. I know you didn’t drive for about four hours just to listen to me jabber.”

“It just feels nice to stand up, Lisa.” Sandy was stretching.

Lisa led the way to a holding pen near one of the barns. As we got close, she whistled, and three horses walked over to the fence from the ramada under which they’d been standing. The stallion was about sixteen hands tall and a buckskin. Both fillies were about a hand shorter. One was black and one a coffee brown. They all shone and glimmered. Their coats really did have a metallic-type sheen.

“Okay, Jeff. I admit it. You were right about the horses shining.” Sandy spoke to me, but didn’t take her eyes off the horses.

“Darlin’, you’d do well to remember, I’m pretty much always right.” I couldn’t help grinning at her when I said that.

“Jeff’s pretty humble, ain’t he?” Everyone laughed at Mike’s comment. We looked at the horses for a while. I looked ’em in the mouth, inspected their hooves, and talked to Lisa quite a bit about them. We went into her office in one of the barns and went over vaccination records, bloodlines, and the entries from the Akhal Teke database, showing that none of the three came from lines that had known genetic diseases. All three horses were saddle broke and trained. Mike, Smitty, and I had a go on them to see how well they handled. Scheherazade was a bit skittish, while Bibi, true to her name, was gentle and a real lady. Orion needed a bit of tough handling. He tried to bloat when I saddled him, so I waited a few seconds after the saddle was on him, for him to exhale. He did and I pulled the cinch tight. He gave me kind of an appraising look. When I got in the saddle, it was apparent he was high spirited. I had to be a bit forceful with the reins for the first few minutes, but then he settled down. I’d made up my mind. I was going to buy the horses. I headed back to where Lisa and Sandy were standing.

“Lisa, these are damn fine horses. I reckon you’ve got a sale, three sales actually.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Jeff. It’s obvious how much you love horses, and from what I saw in the articles about you, they’ll have a good home.”

“Do you ever get tired of watchin’ ’em or bein’ around ’em? I just can’t stop lookin’ at them since they’re so beautiful.”

Lisa laughed at my question. “Now you understand why I breed them.”

She and I headed into the office to conduct business while Mike and Smitty got the horses in the trailer. Lisa mentioned that we might want to try the pub in town. It was well known for its food and beer, and people even came up from Seattle to go there. She let us leave the trailer at her place while we went to eat.

As we walked in the door of the pub, someone called out a cheery, “Hi Jeff, Mike!” I looked around. In the corner, Bryan and David were drinking beers.

“Hey, guys, nice to see you.” Mike greeted them with a big smile.

“Why don’t you guys join us?” Bryan pointed to several vacant chairs at the table. We shuffled around, getting settled.

Just then Sandy turned to David. “David, your leg is in a cast! What happened?”

David turned red but actually spoke up. “Bryan talked me into trying downhill skiing. He didn’t bother to tell me that the ski boots are much more rigid than cross-country ski shoes. I went one way, my leg went another.”

Bryan laughed and patted him on the back. “Don’t blame me, David. I wasn’t even there.”

“I’m not blaming anyone. My leg ended up having a compound fracture.”

Smitty winced. “I hear that’s painful as hell. How long do you have to have the cast on?”

“I just had the accident a few days ago, so another six weeks.”

“We’re going to stick to cross-country skiing from now on, aren’t we?” David nodded his response to Bryan’s question.

“I’ve never downhill skied. Is it difficult?” Mike asked.

“Not really. It is very different from cross-country skiing though. Like David said, the boots keep your legs locked in place against the ski. It’s a different set of muscles. I used to downhill quite a bit before David and I got together. We ended up going cross-country skiing together and really enjoyed it. I haven’t downhill skied since then. David thought he’d surprise me.”

David nodded. I remembered again how socially awkward he was. He wasn’t making eye contact with anyone.

“What are you all doing west of the mountains? You couldn’t have visited us for our nice, rainy, gray weather.” David let out a laugh at Bryan’s question.

“Jeffy’s been interested in a type of horse called Akhal Teke for a while. There’s a breeder here in Snohomish. When we came, Smitty wanted to come since he’s heard of the breed before, and Sandy just came to keep him in line.”

Sandy punched Mike’s shoulder. “You’d better be careful, Mike, or you’ll be the one I keep in line.” He laughed and turned to Smitty.

“Looks like she might spank me. She spank hard?” Smitty turned about ten shades of red. Sandy blushed too. Mike continued. “I’m just joshin’. I don’t mean nothin’ by it.”

“You know why we’re here, what are you guys doin’ up this way? If I remember right, you live in Seattle.” David nodded at me. Bryan answered.

“We had read about the pub, and we thought we’d try it. We thought we’d have a nice dinner. David’s off to a conference in San José tomorrow, so we wanted to get out together.”

“We’re not interferin’ or anythin’ are we? If you two want to eat alone, that’s fine.”

David didn’t look at me, but actually answered. “No, it’s okay.” He began rocking back and forth. Bryan noticed and put his hand on David’s knee. David stopped immediately. They smiled at one another.

Bryan turned to Mike. “How are you doing, Mike? Your dad told me about the difficulties he put you through as a boy. It’s hard to believe he’s the same person.”