Fear Familiar Bundle (62 page)

Patrick walked to the window as he waited. The stables weren't visible from the house. The road separated the two properties, but that wasn't nearly enough distance as far as he was concerned. It was bad enough selling the stables, but now that Catherine had expressed her intentions of moving from Dublin to the farm to take a serious interest in the horse business, Patrick knew that she would be too close in every respect. Too close and too pushy. The fact that she was beautiful didn't help matters, either. He found himself reacting with two diverse and contradictory impulses. It was a condition he'd been warned about often enough, by his mother, his friends and his church.

The door opened, and the redhead walked into the room. Light from the windows struck her face, and Patrick almost didn't believe that the woman who stood before him was the same one who'd been in the barn. Hair down well below her shoulders, Catherine wore a short skirt and sweater. Gold earrings dangled from her ears and patterned hose called attention to her long legs. She looked young and adventurous, not the cold and bossy woman he tried to remember. Her first words brought back the chill.

"I hope you've come to apologize for your behavior yesterday." Catherine walked past him to the desk, where she took a seat and motioned him into a chair. She sat because she did not want Patrick to see that she was uncomfortable. He seemed to fill the room, just as he did the barn. The men at the bank where she'd worked were different. They took up their space and no one else's. Patrick took it all, with a casual grace that was unnerving. She had to make him understand that she was in charge of Beltene. If she failed to show her strength now, he would never respect her as his employer. "The way you behaved was rude and— "

Patrick stood. "I did not come to apologize. I came to tell you that Limerick is gone." He'd meant to deliver the news with a bit more finesse, but he had to remember that Catherine Nelson's ignorance and power could ruin the animals he'd devoted his life to. He could not afford to be tender or kind.

"Gone where?" Catherine's furrowed brow was indication that she hadn't yet grasped the situation.

"Just gone." Patrick steeled his voice and his emotions. "I was hoping you'd tell me where he is."

She tilted forward in her chair, bracing her arms against the desk. "Are you telling me that my father's most valuable racehorse is gone? His stall is empty and there's no sign of him?"

"Yes, ma'am." Patrick took a perverse pleasure in his servile response.

Catherine slowly stood up. "Limerick has been stolen?"

"I did not say that. I said he was gone. If you didn't take him, though, then apparently he has been stolen."

"As simple as that, someone walked into my barn and walked out with a horse?"

"It does seem hard to believe."

She leveled a steady gaze at him— a gaze that had made executives in the bank step back. "You're taking this awfully calmly, Mr. Shaw. Aren't you concerned about the horse?"

"As you pointed out yesterday, Limerick is no longer mine to care about." Patrick stared at the floor as he spoke, giving nothing away by expression or voice. "I did want you to know as soon as I was told…so there would be no confusion or accusations."

Catherine found it difficult to absorb the news. Beltene was a big place, with stable hands constantly about. "No one heard or saw a thing?" Her voice registered disbelief.

"That's exactly the way it happened." Patrick watched the beginning of the quiver at the left corner of her mouth. He wasn't certain if she was going to cry, curse, or come out swinging. He dismissed the idea of tears. Catherine Nelson wasn't soft enough to cry. "According to your instructions, I'd spent a great deal of time working with Limerick's loading and unloading. He was awfully well trained about getting into the horse van. He liked to travel."

Catherine ignored the last barb. Her brow furrowed deeper with concentration. "Sit down, Mr. Shaw. We've got to figure out who has Limerick and how to get him back. If it's someone in the barn, acting alone or under your instructions, have them return the horse and all will be forgiven. I'm going to give you that one chance because I believe you could have been motivated by your concern for the animal." She looked at him, her gaze unwavering. "I may not care for you personally, but I don't believe you're a common thief."

Reluctant admiration made Patrick concede to her command. He eased his lanky frame into the chair. Instead of going to pieces as he'd anticipated, Catherine had done the exact opposite. She didn't know beans about horses, but she wasn't a total idiot, either. "There's no need for a general amnesty. There's no one at the barn guilty of any crime."

"Then let's get to some facts. When did you discover he was gone?" She took out a pen and paper and began to make notes.

"Just before I walked over here. I mixed his feed and took it to his stall. That's when I noticed it was empty." He watched the way her pen looped over the page. Elegant handwriting.

She looked at her watch. It was still early morning. Just after seven o'clock. "Maybe one of the grooms has taken him for a workout?"

"No one touches Limerick but me." He spoke coldly to crush the hope in her eyes.

"How convenient." The softness was gone. "I want a list of all the grooms who stayed at the barn last night. I want the entire staff assembled in the barn in fifteen minutes. I'll be over there, as soon as I call the police."

Patrick had been ready to rise from his chair when her final words stopped him. "Do you think it's such a good idea to bring the authorities into it?"

"Of course. A valuable animal has been stolen." Catherine felt her exasperation rising. Patrick was looking at her as if she were completely daft. "Why wouldn't I call the police?"

Patrick's jaw twitched once. "Remember when Speedo was stolen?"

Catherine nodded. Who could forget that horrible case? The horse had been held for ransom and then killed. The very idea made her stomach knot.

"It was said the men who stole the horse wouldn't have killed him if the authorities hadn't been called in. Once they were cornered, they reacted badly. It might be better, for Limerick, if we…if you waited to see if there is some kind of demand made."

Catherine put her pen down. "Should I be expecting a ransom demand?" She held her breath.

"I suggest you wait for a call, or at least until the post arrives, before you rush around making any outlandish accusations or riling the staff." Patrick saw the look in her eyes. "All of the grooms have been with me or my father for at least five years. Some over twenty. You can't accuse a man of being a thief and then expect him to forget it the next day."

"I don't believe I asked you for a lecture on the collective ego of
my
staff." Catherine stood. "Don't touch anything near Limerick's stall. I'm sure my father will insist that I hire a detective, and the insurance company will also want to send someone to look into this." She brushed her hair back and set her earrings into motion. The gold glittered in her hair.

Patrick stood, hands clasped in front of him as he watched Catherine begin searching the directory for the appropriate telephone numbers. She looked up. "Is there anything else?"

"I just thought it was worth a mention that you've never once inquired about the horse's health. If he's been taken for ransom, he might be well cared for. If he's been taken because someone knows his potential, he might be dead. But then, he's just another investment to people like you."

"No one would kill such a magnificent animal." Catherine's face blanched. "That's a terrible thing to even bring up. Limerick is extremely valuable. He has the potential to sweep the English and French tracks. No one in their right mind would steal him just to hurt him."

"I wish that were true."

Catherine snapped the pencil in her hand. "You're merely trying to scare me, aren't you? You take pleasure in making me think of the worst things possible."

Patrick could not stop the rush of pity he felt for her at last. Her face was white, startling against the red of her hair. "They can't run him. He's too distinctive in his coloring and his conformation. They can't register the foals if they breed him— unless they falsify his records." He stopped. He'd made his point.

Catherine's green eyes glazed with worry. "We have to get him back. Before he's injured."

For a split second Patrick thought Catherine might cry. The woman was hard as volcanic rock baked in the hot sun for ten thousand years. Tears were biologically impossible for her. Yet they glittered dangerously at her lower lids, threatening to slip down her face.

"I'm sure Limerick will be okay." Patrick was surprised at the tenderness in his own voice. Where had that come from?

"And how are you sure?" Catherine rounded on him with words as sharp as a slap. "Unless you know who has him."

"You're a hard woman to give a bit of comfort." Patrick moved toward the door. He was as mad at himself as at her high-handed tone. "I'll have
your
staff assembled, Miss Nelson. I hope you have sense enough to take their offers of help, if they dare to give any." He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him with a solid slam. She was the most infuriating woman he'd ever met.

When he got to the barn he called up the workers. There were fifteen in all, with one missing. "Where's Mick?" he asked.

"One of the foals stepped on his bad foot this morning. He took himself home for a hot soak," Jack said. He gave Patrick a knowing look. The grooms, trainers and stable hands looked speculatively at Patrick. They all knew that Limerick was gone. They all believed he'd taken the animal.

"Don't touch anything near Limerick's stall. Miss Nelson is calling the police. There will be an investigation, so I suggest you all try to remember where and with whom you spent the night last night."

"And what about yourself?" a trainer asked, grinning. "I hope you have an alibi, Patrick. You'll be the first they suspect. You went up against her royal highness and you'll pay the price."

"They can suspect me all they want. I don't give a damn for their suspicions. When they can prove something on me, then I'll have a worry."

Patrick shifted his attention to the barn door. Catherine had slipped up on him once, but it wouldn't happen again. He was watching for her. She arrived promptly, already changed into riding breeches and a sweater, her long hair pulled into a severe chignon. Patrick expected Catherine to be on time. What he didn't expect was Kent Ridgeway to still be with her. The British trainer had undoubtedly spent the night at the country house.

That idea made Patrick's temper flare. Ridgeway was a successful trainer, but then no one kept statistics on how many of his horses broke down after a short racing season. No one but him and a few other trainers who abhorred Ridgeway's practices. Ridgeway's horses ran and they won. And then they suffered the consequences of his win-at-any-cost program. With leg injuries and temperaments spoiled by mistreatment, many had to be destroyed. Yet Ridgeway was an honored guest of Catherine Nelson. The fact rankled.

"Miss Nelson, I would appreciate it if we could keep this meeting among the staff." Patrick shot a pointed glance at Ridgeway. "A stranger will only make a bad situation worse."

"Mr. Ridgeway has an interest in this matter." Catherine's tone was glacial. Her fury at Patrick's suggestion was plain for all to see.

"It isn't a good method of doing business," Patrick insisted. "An outsider will only heighten what's sure to be an emotional meeting. We're all very concerned about Limerick."

"Mr. Ridgeway may not be an outsider for long."

Even expecting the worst of Catherine, Patrick was stunned. He looked away from her, dropping his gaze so that she could not see the emotions in his eyes. His vision chanced upon the black cat sitting sphinxlike down the barn. The strangest feeling that Familiar was drinking in the entire scene gave him the distance from his anger that he needed. He struggled for composure and finally won.

"Is Mr. Ridgeway coming to work here at Beltene?" Casual interest was all he dared express.

"That's really not your concern, but the answer is no. I'm considering sending some of the two-year-olds down to his training facility. He can condition them faster than we're doing here. They'll also be convenient when the English racing season opens. I want Beltene to hit the next racing season with a horse in every major event. But none of this is relevant now. We're here to discuss Limerick."

"Not relevant!" Patrick shouted. He couldn't help himself. He'd rather see them sold for plow horses than crippled by Ridgeway. "You'd give that man my horses to break down. I— "

"They are no longer your horses." Catherine's calm voice cut through his outrage. It stopped Patrick in midsentence.

"A fact I won't forget again." Patrick matched her, glare for icy glare. He could only be thankful his father was not alive to witness this moment. Thomas Shaw would surely be turning over in his grave at such a tragedy. And there wasn't a damn thing Patrick could do. If Catherine decided to put Ridgeway in charge of every horse on Beltene, Patrick could not stop it.

"If Mr. Shaw will allow us, we'll get on with this. As you all know by now, the most valuable horse at Beltene has been…taken."

Mumblings swept among the men. Several looked at Patrick, some with glee and others with worry.

"I want the grooms on duty last night to come with me. Everyone else will remain here. Use the time to try and remember anything that might be of help in locating Limerick. If he's still alive— " Catherine's voice trembled slightly "— we want him back." She turned abruptly and walked toward the barn office where Patrick kept the records on each horse. Ridgeway followed.

Five men in the group shifted uneasily and started forward. "I knew there was going to be hell to pay for this," one of them said. He swung his gaze around the cluster. "If one of you has taken that horse, I hope you bring him back before we all lose our jobs. I've got a family. My children need shoes and books. In case you haven't noticed, jobs are scarce."