Whirlwind (8 page)

Chase stood up just as quickly. A string
bean clung to the front of his T-shirt. “You make it sound like it was your fault, not Hugh’s.”

“It was. I should have known what he was going to do. I should have stopped him.” Tossing down her napkin, she spun to leave the table. Grandfather grabbed her wrist, and she felt his old strength in the grasp of his fingers. “No, Jas, you ’ere just a kid.”

“Your grandfather’s right,” Dr. Danvers said. “If we had known, we would have stopped him. We were adults, yet we didn’t see the signs, either.”

Miss Hahn gave Chase a firm look and then pointed to Jas’s plate. “Sit down. Both of you. If we’re going to find Whirlwind, we need to be thinking clearly. Not emotionally. Okay?”

Jas sat with an unladylike thump. Beside her, Sam slid again to the floor.

“Well, I’d be emotional, too,” Chase said.

She shot him a grateful look for sticking up for her. Picking up her fork, she speared a lettuce leaf. “So, does anyone have an idea how we can find Whirlwind?” She tried to keep her voice from shaking.

“I do.” Miss Hahn dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “I’m thinking that Hugh used an
agent to sell her. He would not have contacted buyers directly. Too risky.”

Jas’s eyes widened. “You’re right. And if we can find the agent, we can find who he sold Whirlwind to.”

“Unless the agent is in on the scam, too,” Dr. Danvers cautioned.

“My guess is the agent would
not
be in on the scam,” Miss Hahn said. “I think that’s one reason Hugh got away with the bogus sale the first time with Aladdin/Shadow. He didn’t want anyone else involved who could implicate him.”

“So the agent believed it was a legitimate sale.” Jas turned toward Grandfather. “Who would Hugh have used?”

Reaching behind her, Miss Hahn pulled out a kitchen drawer. “Let me get a pencil and paper. We’ll make a list.”

“Anthony Bixby.” Dr. Danvers waved his fork in the air. “He’s in Middleburg and was often at the farm.”

“’enny Ferraro,” Grandfather chimed in.

“Enny?” Miss Hahn repeated. “Spell that for me.”

“He means Jenny,” Jas said.

“And Scott Black,” Miss Hahn added as
she wrote. “He’s from Lexington and a big name in the hunter-jumper circuit. He’s been around as long as I have.” While they finished eating, several more names were suggested.

“Let’s start calling them right now,” Jas said excitedly.

“No,” Miss Hahn said. “This list is going to Mister Jenkins.”

“I thought you said the insurance company was dropping the case,” Chase said.

“They were.” Miss Hahn faced Jas. “But tomorrow, you and I are paying Mr. Jenkins a visit. We’ll show him there’s enough evidence to convict Hugh. We’ll convince him not to drop the case.”

Jas nodded eagerly. “Yes! Let’s do it.”

Later, when the others were gone, Miss Hahn washed dishes while Jas wiped off the kitchen table. “Eww. Chase is a pig,” Jas said. “There’s food everywhere. He should eat with Rose.”

“He is messy.” Miss Hahn set the last glass in the drainer. She looked thoughtfully at Jas and then said, “You know, Jas, you don’t have to keep running away.”

Jas deliberately sponged up the last of the crumbs before asking, “What do you mean?”

“Every time we discuss something tough, you want to run from it—and us. Like tonight.”

Jas gave her a funny look. “I wasn’t running away. I was frustrated and upset.”

“I know. But if your grandfather hadn’t stopped you, you would have left the table in a huff. Believe it or not, we share your feelings. If we stick together, we can accomplish something. Like the list we made. That’s a solid start to getting Hugh.”

Jas blinked at her.

“Anyway, I know these past months have been hard. I’m not trying to be critical, but think about it.” Draping the dishtowel over the side of the sink, Miss Hahn turned to put away the dried plates.

Jas plopped the dirty sponge in the sink. Miss Hahn was right. Ever since the day she’d attacked Hugh with the hoof pick, she had been afraid to trust anyone. When she first came to Second Chance Farm, she’d even accused her former foster mother of being in cahoots with Hugh. She thought she’d gotten better about the trust thing. But hadn’t she just this afternoon tried to keep Hugh’s threats a secret? Only Chase’s pigheaded persistence had made her tell Miss Hahn.

That meant she hadn’t gotten any better. And if she really wanted to find Whirlwind, she would have to let down her guard. Like Miss Hahn said, she’d have to stop running away.

“I DON’T KNOW, CHASE,” JAS SAID AS SHE FOLLOWED
him and Wonder into the quarantine paddock the next morning. After six days of being at the farm, the colt’s stride was stronger and his sores were healing. On the other side of the paddock, Rand was banging a nail into a board.

“Don’t know what?” Chase asked, raising his voice so he could be heard over the hammering.

“I don’t know if we can convince Mr. Jenkins.” Jas carried an old towel in one hand, a brush tucked under her arm. “Easy.” When Chase halted Wonder, she gently rubbed the colt from his withers to his rump, getting him used to being touched all over.

“Maybe you can’t convince him.” Chase wore baggy cutoffs, and his cap was on backward, looking cute in a grungy sort of way.

“Never say
can’t
. See? He’s standing quietly.” She pointed to Wonder, trying to keep her attention on the horse, not Chase. “I bet I can convince him to stand still if I flap the towel around his legs.”

“No, doofy, I mean Mr. Jenkins.”

“Oh.” Jas laughed. Twirling the towel into a rolled strip, she snapped the end at Chase’s bare calf. Wonder skittered sideways.

“Hey, what was that for?”

“That
was for calling me doofy. And for doubting my powers of persuasion.” She patted Wonder. “Don’t worry, that wasn’t aimed at
you.”

“You were the one who said you couldn’t convince Mr. Jenkins.”

“I’m just afraid we don’t have enough real evidence to change his mind.” Jas ran the towel down the colt’s face. “Hugh knows how to cover his tracks. What if we can’t find the agent who sold Whirlwind?”

“We’re in trouble. And even if we do find the agent, he could be in on the scam. I bet Hugh has partners in crime all over the place.”

“I agree. I know for sure that Jenny Ferraro is a shark. I’d ride Hugh’s horses when
she’d bring clients to the farm. Not only did she order me around, but she was also a barracuda when it came to closing a deal. One day, she was showing a client one of Hugh’s jumpers who had a nasty scar on his leg. She came early. In the trunk of her car, she had a bag filled with cans of shoe polish. She found the right color to match the horse. When she was done rubbing polish on that horse’s leg, the scar had disappeared.”

Chase scratched Wonder’s neck. “This guy would need a whole can to cover his scars.”

“He’s too knock-kneed to be a show horse, anyway.” Jas pointed to the colt’s front legs. “You know, I loved showing. But never once did I wonder if the horse loved it, too.”

“I bet some like it,” Chase said. Jas gave him such a shocked look that he held up his hand in defense. “A few who love trotting around a dusty ring in the broiling heat.”

“You are so busted.” Jas laughed. “I knew you secretly wanted to wear breeches and black boots.”

Chase rolled his eyes. “Give me a break.”

“I bet Shadow would love showing again.”

“He’d probably eat the competition.”

“He’s not
that
ferocious.” Jas snapped him again on the leg.

“What was
that
for?” He grabbed the end of the towel and yanked. She flew toward him, falling against his chest.

“Whoa,” he said, more to her than to Wonder, who jerked backward. Pulling away, the colt trotted across the paddock. Chase, however, didn’t let Jas go. One arm lightly circled her waist. Jas’s cheeks flamed and her heart pounded at his closeness. She pressed her palms against his sweaty shirt, afraid to tip up her chin for fear he would kiss her.

Or was she afraid he
wouldn’t
kiss her?

“What are you two greenhorns doing?” Rand strode toward them, holding Wonder’s rope. Jas and Chase sprang apart. “Trying to teach the new rescue to be a runaway?”

“Uh, no,” Chase stammered. “We were just … um … getting him used to … um.”

“Mushy romance?” Rand guffawed. Jas picked up the towel and brush, her whole face burning.

Rand tossed the rope to Chase. “Don’t worry. I was young once.” He winked, and Chase grinned sheepishly.

Embarrassed, Jas tackled the colt’s mane with the brush.
Thank you, Rand, for interrupting
. She didn’t want to ruin the friendship she had with Chase. They’d kissed once before, but it had been so brief she was sure he at least had forgotten it. A second kiss might mean they were more than friends. And that would change everything.

Fists propped on his hips, Rand appraised the colt. His one cheek bulged with tobacco. “What a sorry-looking critter,” he finally said. “Here I’m volunteering at the farm to pay penance for the bucking horses I spurred. But in all my rodeo days, I never intentionally abused a horse.”

“Obviously the meth dealer’s first priority wasn’t his pets,” Chase said.

Jas nodded in agreement, her attention riveted on a burr in the colt’s mane. Her pulse had slowed. Her brain was returning to normal.
Not that I am ever normal around Chase
. Which had to stop if she was going to find Whirlwind.

“No excuse.” Rand spit tobacco juice to the side. “The druggy’s wife could have called and told us to pick the horse up before it
starved. Second Chance Farm is practically right next door to them. We would have gladly hauled the colt out of there.”

Hauled the colt out of there
. Jas inhaled sharply as the words hit her. “That’s it!” She spun to face them.

“What’s it?” Chase asked.

“That’s how we can find Whirlwind!”

Chase and Rand gave her blank stares. Wonder lowered his head to grab a bite of grass.

“Someone had to haul her from High Meadows that day,” she explained excitedly. “If we find that person, we can find Whirlwind.”

“Couldn’t Hugh have hauled her?” Chase asked.

“No. Phil Sparks and Grandfather had the stock trailer. Hugh wasn’t licensed to drive the big van.”

Taking off his cowboy hat, Rand scratched his head. “You lost me.”

Jas froze, suddenly realizing how much she’d just blurted to Rand. He knew about her arrest and about the insurance scam. Neither were a secret. But secrets
were
leaking to Hugh.

You’ve got to stop searching for Whirlwind
, Hugh had threatened. What if it
was
Rand tipping him off?

Jas eyed the grizzled cowboy. There were at least a dozen volunteers. Should she be suspicious of all of them? Or should she follow Miss Hahn’s advice:
If we stick together, we can accomplish something
. Rand had worked around horses all his life. What if he knew something that could help? And hadn’t Jas decided just last night that she needed to be more trusting?

Rand whacked the dust off his cowboy hat, waiting for a reply. She cut her eyes to Chase. He was bent over, picking out Wonder’s front hoof, no help at all.

Taking a deep breath, Jas decided to trust him. She hoped she wouldn’t regret it.

“Last night we made a list.” Jas told Rand about the half-dozen agents who might have worked for Hugh. “Miss Hahn and I are seeing Mr. Jenkins this afternoon. We’re going to convince him that we can find Whirlwind. One way is through the agent who might have sold her. Another is finding the person who hauled her from the farm. Does that make sense?”

He nodded. “Yup.”

“Makes sense to me, too.” Chase set down Wonder’s hoof and straightened. “I say we go through the Yellow Pages and start calling, right now.”

“Nope.” Rand settled his cowboy hat back on. “Person you’re looking for ain’t going to be listed in the Yellow Pages.”

“What do you mean?” Jas asked.

“A reputable hauler has to keep tidy records for taxes and insurance. This Robicheaux guy doesn’t want a record of where his mare went.”

“Good point. How do we find him, then?” Jas asked.

“Ask around. I know a few guys who haul horses as a side job. And I bet your grandfather knows some, too.”

Jas smiled. She’d been right to trust him. “Thanks.”

“Anything to help a lady.” He touched his hat brim before striding back to his fence-patching job.

“A
lady?”
Chase snorted. “That old man needs glasses.”

“Oh, shut up.” Jas elbowed him in the ribs.

“You know …” Crossing his arms, Chase
studied Rand, who was pulling his hammer from his tool belt.

“You know … what?” Jas asked, panicking. Did Chase think Rand might be the spy, too?

“My idea is better,” he finished his thought. “About the Yellow Pages.”

“Oh.” Jas blew out a relieved breath. “I thought you were going to say Rand was the person reporting to Hugh. Now I realize you’re just jealous of him.”

Chase gave an exaggerated shrug. “Nah.” Turning, he bent to pick up Wonder’s left hind foot. The colt swished his tail in annoyance. “Rand’s no spy.”