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“Somebody killed Aaron, right?” Nick asked. “I mean, I can’t forget that morning at the campsite. He almost drowned. And then he electrocuted himself in a bathtub? That’s what they’re saying—that’s what we’re supposed to believe. And changing our lives, going clean, is all about being honest, but there’s no honesty going on here. ”
“And,” Sean muttered, “our parents have all been on the phone with Mr. Osterly. They’re questioning our safety. ”
“I have another six weeks here,” Matt said. “They’re talking about pulling me out. I don’t want to go, Olivia. It’s like this place saved my life and a lot of that’s because of the horses. They taught me about boundaries and respect and they made me. . . they made me want a different life. A good life. ”
“Some of us want to become therapists,” Joey told her. “Equine therapists. ”
Olivia glanced at Dustin, grateful that he’d decided they should come here.
“Listen to me, all of you,” she said. “We will find out what happened. What they’re telling you isn’t a pack of lies—it’s just all anyone knows. But wherever you go from here, whatever you do—nothing changes the incredible strides you’ve made or the wonderful young people you are. I’m so proud of every one of you, and I’d love to see you go forward and get into therapy or working with horses, or whatever you feel is best for you. ”
She felt Dustin’s hands on her shoulders. “You know we don’t believe Marcus Danby fell back into drugs,” he said. “And despite the fact that it appears Aaron was alone when he died, it’s just too ironic or coincidental—or stupid—to believe. Sometimes, though, it takes time to uncover the truth. If you are pulled out of this facility, don’t forget what you had here—your friendships, everything you learned. And you can call on us anytime. ”
The boys nodded.
“Now, do any of you know anything?” Dustin asked.
They looked back at him wide-eyed.
“Like what?” Matt asked.
“Were you all around the day Marcus died?”
“Yeah—until Aaron called Mr. Osterly to have the van come and pick us up because they were all going off to look for Marcus,” Matt said.
“Do you remember anything odd about that day?” Dustin asked.
“Poor Sammy, coming back looking like he’d met up with a bear,” Sean said.
“Before that, did any of you notice if the horses were all there?” Olivia asked.
“I was playing Ping-Pong. I didn’t even see Sammy until everyone started screaming,” Nick said.
Joey frowned, then suddenly grew excited. “I didn’t see the big guy—Gargantua. I like him a lot. Olivia used him now and then, I guess to show us that the biggest, toughest animals—and people—could be the kindest if that was the choice they made. ” He looked at Olivia.
“Something like that,” Olivia agreed. “Did you ask anybody about him?”
“Yeah, I did. Sandra was there, and I saw her heading for Aaron’s office. I asked her if they’d let somebody take Gangantua out. She said he was probably just hanging around by the trees and we couldn’t see him. I don’t think she was paying much attention to me. She seemed distracted,” Joey said.
“She was distracted before Sammy came back injured?” Olivia asked.
Joey nodded.
“But she was there,” Dustin said.
Joey nodded again.
“Who else do you remember being in the office right before you were sent back and everyone went riding off to find Marcus?” Dustin asked.
“I think Sandra’s the only one. And then Aaron, once Sammy showed up. And then everyone,” Joey said.
“I saw Mason. ” Matt grinned. “He was fixing his hair in the mirror in back. ”
“Thanks,” Dustin told them.
“You guys are great, and what you’ve accomplished is great,” Olivia said. “No matter what happens. ”
They wished the boys a good night, thanking Lance Osterly.
“No, thank you. They really respect you, Liv. I’m praying that all this gets sorted out quickly. We offer the kids all kinds of stuff here—group therapy, individual therapy, art therapy, massage therapy—you name it. But there’s nothing like the Horse Farm for most of our boys. ”
“We’ll keep it afloat—and we’ll get our reputation back, I promise,” Olivia said fervently.
When they reached the car, she burst out with, “What a liar I am!”
“You’re not a liar. ”
“An impossible dreamer, then. ”
“I keep telling you, when we discover the truth, the world will spin more smoothly on its axis. ” They stopped by the Horse Farm to pick up Sammy. The stables were quiet; evidently Drew and Sydney had gone to bed for the night.
Sloan and Jane Everett were still up, though. Of course, sleeping on couches couldn’t have been conducive to going to bed early. Jane had been looking through Aaron’s correspondence. “I found an offer from a firm, sent to Aaron. He must’ve ignored it and shoved it in his desk,” Jane said.
“What kind of offer?” Olivia asked.
“An offer for the property. It’s from the offices of that Nashville attorney Delilah mentioned. Henry Whittaker. And it came last week. ”
“He wanted to buy the Horse Farm—and went straight to Aaron?” Olivia asked, puzzled. “But an attorney would know, or could easily find out, just how tied up the place was! Why didn’t he go directly to Fairchild?” When she saw Jane’s puzzled look, she explained. “Fairchild was Marcus’s attorney, and he’s been dealing with everything concerning the Horse Farm. ”
“Well, this is a friendly letter. It just says that if the Horse Farm is ever in trouble, he’s willing to pay a more-than-fair asking price for the property and buildings, and to see that the charities nearest and dearest to him received the greatest benefit,” Jane said.
She showed them the letter.
Olivia said, “I can’t imagine that an attorney from Nashville would be able to manage any of this without insider assistance. ”
“No, I don’t think that’s possible, either,” Sloan agreed. “But it does speak to the theory that someone is trying to ruin the Horse Farm rather than take it over. ”
“Maybe we’ll head back to Nashville in the morning,” Dustin said. “But right now. . . we need to let Sammy search Liv’s house before we go inside!”
They left the Horse Farm, with Sammy happily back in the car, sticking his nose between them. When they reached the house, Sammy showed no sign of fear or suspicion.
Olivia let Dustin and the dog search for evidence that there’d been any sign of invasion in their absence and went up to shower. She didn’t bother dressing; she went straight into the bedroom and waited.
Twenty minutes later, Dustin came to her room.
She saw him in the doorframe for a moment, and the longing and anticipation she’d been feeling seemed to overwhelm her. She loved his analytical mind, his concern for others, his kindness. . . .
She also loved the way he looked, so tall and powerfully built. She loved the scent of him when he walked in, and she loved the feel of his naked flesh when he lay down beside her.
Their mouths met in a kiss that seemed desperate. But she had to touch him, all of him, taste him, feel his heat and passion rush through her. She felt his lips, his tongue, move over her breasts and down to her belly and below, felt his vibrant life and strength. The pulse of the world became that of her heart as she kissed and teased and stroked him in return. She crawled atop him and looked into his eyes, and he smiled and grasped her, and then he was in her. . . . The first time was frantic.
The second began slowly. . . and became frantic.
They lay together, panting, slick and sweaty and still entangled, and she breathed again.
“Hot enough?” he asked, his voice a teasing whisper in her ear.
“I feel like an infe
rno,” she whispered back.
She felt her heart begin to slow. She touched him again. The third time their lovemaking remained slow for long enough that she kissed nearly every inch of his flesh, felt his fingers touch her everywhere, felt the passion in his kiss. They spiraled out of control and lay entwined together once again.
She nearly dozed and then realized he still lay awake, staring at the ceiling.
He sensed her movement.
“I was just thinking about what Jane and Sloan told us,” he said. “I still can’t believe a Nashville lawyer could have pulled any of this off without insider assistance. I somehow doubt he’s really involved, except in a nominal way. Besides, there’s other property available in the Tennessee hills. It has to be more personal and yet. . . that might well be the key. ”
“And I thought you were dreaming about hot and sweaty. ”
He grinned and pulled her close. “We’re almost there,” he said.
“Almost?”
“No, no, I meant almost as in discovering what’s going on. ”
“How do you figure?”
“We know it’s someone who has something to do with the Horse Farm—”
“You’ve said that from the beginning. ”
“But. . . now I’m positive that two people had to be involved. ” He rolled over to look at her. “Two people—that means each of the killers can have an alibi. For instance, we wouldn’t think it was Sandra because Joey saw her. We wouldn’t think it was Sydney because he was watching over the Horse Farm while we were out camping. We wouldn’t think it was Mariah—because she was screaming while Aaron was on the verge of drowning. ”
“So where does that get us? We wouldn’t think it was Aaron—because he actually wound up dead?”
“There’ll be a way to trip someone up,” Dustin said. “Now. . . ”
“We’ll trip them up now?”