The Dangerous Gift (9 page)

***

Jennie

Jennie put the last of the documents away. They still needed work, but she knew the basics of how the ranch stood financially. The last box file wouldn’t fit on the shelf. She stood on tiptoes but couldn’t see what was blocking it. She reached up to find the obstruction but couldn’t feel it, either. When she was about to go and get a chair to stand on, her hand located a sheaf of papers wedged up against the back of the shelf. Jennie pulled. It wouldn’t budge. She pulled again. This time, a box file and a pile of papers tumbled down, missing her head by inches. Cross but unhurt, she retrieved the errant folder. An old dog-eared report drew her gaze. She turned it over and read:

Exploratory Geological Survey:

Unicorn and Pegasus Ranch
.

The report was dated two years ago and was authored by a surveying corporation based in Dallas.

“Are you done yet?” Jared’s voice drifted across the hallway and made Jennie jump.

“See you outside in five minutes.” Jennie wanted to have a quick look at the report first.

“I’m timing you.” Jared’s laughter faded as he walked away.

Jennie gathered up the papers and stood up. She lifted the now-restored box file to its new home. It fit in perfectly. She scanned the contents of the old report with a practiced eye, familiar with business reports, even though she wasn’t a geologist.

Page 200—Report in Summary.

Sitting on the edge of the desk, she read the summary. The conclusion jumped out at her.

Substantial viable deposits of oil were found on the land. See the section on the map highlighted in red. Recommendation: exploratory drilling for samples is recommended.

Jennie gripped the table as she turned the page and found the map. The area in red covered the western boundary of the Unicorn Ranch where it met the Pegasus Ranch. Jared had never mentioned the oil survey. Given the report’s age, maybe he didn’t know about it. Jennie hoped so; otherwise, he’d lied to her. But why?

“Jen, it will be too hot to ride soon.” Jared’s voice, now tinged with impatience, made her jump up. She hastily stuffed the report down the back of her jeans and headed quickly up the stairs. At the top, she stumbled, and sharp pain shot up her leg from her ankle. It felt so much better today that she’d forgotten it was still weak.

She grabbed her hat from the wardrobe and stuffed the report into her nightstand drawer. Why was she hiding it from Jared? She didn’t want to upset him, or forewarn him that she had it if he already knew about it.
Enjoy the ride. Forget about it.
It was old news anyway.

A pity she didn’t really believe her own hype.

Chapter 8

“Saddle up Fall and Springtime for me, Joe,” Jared said. Jennie saw his gaze home in on the ranch house as she approached.

“Sure thing, Jared. Who’s riding Springtime? She’s a handful.” The elderly ranch hand looked worried.

“I’m riding her. She did used to be my horse.” Jennie reached Jared’s side and smiled at Joe, who gave her beaming smile in return as he led the mare from the paddock. The palomino blew warm air on Jennie’s hand. “Hi, sweetie, I didn’t think I’d see you again.” Jennie blew softly in return against Springtime’s velvet muzzle.

Jared held the mare’s head whilst Jennie mounted, then rammed his Stetson on his head. He took Fall’s reins from Joe, vaulted onto his horse, and set off down the yard at a brisk trot.

Jennie’s horse easily matched Jared’s stallion’s pace, and as she drew up alongside him, he smiled. “You look happier.”

“Just like old times, isn’t it?” Jennie smiled back, her body transfused with a warm, fuzzy feeling she remembered as happiness. “I’ll race you to the lightning tree.”

Jared urged his mount into a canter. “You’re on. The loser makes dinner.”

Jennie whispered into her mare’s ear, and Springtime eased into the lead. “You’d better hope I win, then. My years away in London haven’t taught me how to cook.”

Jared reined his horse in sharply in mock horror. “You can have five seconds head start for the sake of my digestion.”

Jennie looked back over her shoulder. “You’ll never catch me now.” With the lightest of touches from Jennie’s expert legs, the palomino mare sprang into an effortless gallop, leaving Jared behind in a cloud of dust.

***

Jared

Jared counted to five and gave the stallion his head. Fall’s huge, powerful body and legs ate up the distance between them, and Jared drew alongside the palomino mare, elated at the look of surprise on Jen’s face. She leaned over Springtime’s neck and whispered to her. The mare’s head came up, and she bucked and pulled away from the stallion.

Jared kept up the pressure on his mount but shook his head. She would win for sure. He could see the devastated tree in the distance now, looking bleak and stark as usual. He squeezed his calves into his horse’s sides. Fall whinnied and threw his head up in the air, eager to run as he scented his mate. His stride lengthened, and he once again closed the distance between them.

When he was almost alongside, the mare screamed and half reared before galloping forward at a breakneck speed. Jen slipped in the saddle, the sudden movement almost unseating her. Haunted by a vision of Jen being dragged across the rough ground, Jared pressed his legs hard against the stallion’s sides and gave Fall his head again.

***

Jennie

Jennie clung on to the blonde mane, desperate to find her balance as her mare bolted. Springtime galloped faster, driven as if pursued by coyotes. Finally balanced, Jennie gripped the reins tightly and exerted pressure on the mare’s sensitive mouth. The frightened horse raised her head higher and continued her relentless journey.

The skeleton of the lightning tree came closer with every stride, it and Springtime now on a collision course. Jennie cast a frantic glance over her shoulder and saw Jared and the sleek stallion closing on her horse. The dust cloud from the horses’ hooves made it difficult to judge how close Jared was, and Jennie feared he wasn’t close enough to help her avoid disaster.

Jennie abandoned finesse. Crouched low in the saddle, she grasped Springtime’s mane and hauled back on the reins with all her strength. The mare’s gait faltered and slowed fractionally. As the hooves of Jared’s stallion thundered to her left, Jennie pulled the mare’s reins sharply in his direction. The stallion was at her side now, and together they persuaded the mare to turn away from her collision course with the tree. Springtime shivered and shrieked, Fall answered, and the mare slowed gradually and came to a shuddering halt at the side of the lightning tree, its hollow branches brushing against her flank and Jennie’s shaky leg.

Jennie sighed and willed her hands to stop trembling. Jared jumped off his horse as Fall slowed his gait and caught Jennie as she dismounted, all while talking to the frightened mare in a quiet voice. Covered in sweat that bubbled and foamed over her sleek body, Springtime still pranced until the stallion nuzzled her. Calmer then, she bent her head and grazed at the few pieces of greenery that peppered the arid ground.

“What happened? Did something jump out and spook her?” Jared squatted on the ground and ran his fingers over the mare’s legs and hooves. He eased the saddle’s clinches and lifted it from the mare’s quivering body. Blood poured from the tiny holes that peppered her flanks and dripped onto the sandy ground. “Something’s stabbed her. No wonder she bolted.”

“Hell, look at this! She’s bleeding, poor baby.” Jennie’s voice came out in a hoarse snarl. She was disgusted that anyone would deliberately hurt such a trusting creature. Jennie stroked Springtime’s neck as Jared removed some clean rags from his jeans pocket and began staunching the blood flow.

“Let me do that. See if you can see what did this to her, will you?” Jennie took the cloth and gently dabbed the blood from the mare’s body, soothing her with endearments as Springtime nuzzled her in thanks.

Jared turned the saddle over and turned to face Jennie. The piece of rag stuck to the inside of the saddle was covered with sharp tacks. “The saddle must have forced them into the mare’s back when it moved against her.” Jared felt in his pocket and offered Springtime a carrot. “I’ll contact the sheriff. After Harry’s murder, he’ll have to take this sabotage seriously. We often share the saddles between similar horses. An inexperienced guest could have been riding on that saddle.” Jared propped it against the hollow tree trunk. “You’ll have to ride back with me. I’ll tie Springtime on behind, although she looks as if she won’t leave Fall’s side.”

Jennie shuddered as the shock of what could have happened hit her.

“Come here, you must be shaken up. Thankfully, you’re a great rider or…” Jared stopped, but Jennie’s mind finished his sentence. Her body would have been broken and mangled around the dead tree.

“Don’t…let’s get back to the ranch. Springtime needs to see the vet, and I need a long soak in lots of bubbles.” Jennie managed a half smile as Jared pulled her tighter against him and kissed the top of her head. She leaned back against his firm chest and breathed in his spicy, male scent—a hint of designer cologne blended with the smell of horse and leather, the aroma quintessentially Jared.

The accident made sharing one horse a necessity, almost as if he’d planned it. Jennie shivered at her unpalatable thoughts. It couldn’t have been Jared’s fault. He’d chosen the horses, her subconscious suggested unhelpfully. She shook her head, as if the physical action would dislodge the inconvenient idea, but no luck. Now that she’d opened Pandora’s Box, the thoughts kept coming.

Jared resented her legacy, hence the warning in the note. Perhaps he’d staged the intimate scene with Darleen to upset her so she’d leave. Her fevered imagination replayed her fall at the wake—Jared had distracted her before she fell. The incident with her horse was the hardest to stomach. She’d never seen Jared be cruel to an animal. He even put spiders outside rather than kill them. Apart from this last incident, it all made sense in a horrible, twisted way. Maybe Jared hadn’t planned it, but he’d taken the opportunity to use her feelings for him, her anger and her inebriation against her at the wake.

The circumstantial evidence damned him. He wanted her gone.

As they rode into the yard on Jared’s horse, the busy ranch yard stopped. Ranch hands ran over to help and find out what had happened. One of them lifted her from Jared’s horse. Back on the ground, she mechanically unhitched Springtime and walked her to the water trough.

Jared stopped Jennie as she walked the horse to the stables. “Joe will do that. Let’s make dinner. I hope you’re not hurt. You didn’t speak on the way back.” His concerned expression made her think she must be mistaken about him. He wouldn’t hurt her.

Jennie needed time alone to think, and dammit, it would have to be later. If she refused to eat dinner, he would be suspicious. She loved this man, her subconscious reminded her. How could she believe he was capable of such deceit?

“Jen…Jen, let’s go in.” Jared put his arm around her shoulders and turned her in the direction of the house.

“I want to check Springtime over,” Jennie said and slipped out from under his arm.

“Joe, if you check Springtime over, I might overlook the fact you sent Jennie out with faulty equipment.” Jared’s face was an angry mask.

“Jared, please, it can’t be Joe’s fault.” Jennie instinctively knew the old, loyal ranch hand wasn’t involved.

“I’m sorry, Jennie. The saddle looked fine when I put it on.” Joe looked upset but not at all guilty.

“I know. Take care of Springtime and we’re good.” She glared at Jared, daring him to contradict her. He shrugged and walked towards the house. “Let me know if you find anything wrong with the horse, and when the sheriff arrives, send him to me. I’ll be at the house.”

“Yes, of course.” Joe patted the mare and walked her gently towards the stable. “Shall I call the vet?”

“If you can’t fix her up, yes,” Jared said as he grabbed Jennie’s hand, and she walked reluctantly at his side towards the house.

Jared blaming Joe deflected suspicion from him. Sick with doubt, Jennie struggled through dinner. She could barely eat a lettuce leaf. In the end by mutual consent, they’d made a quick salad and eaten it with some crusty bread defrosted from the freezer. Every mouthful stuck in her throat as Jared downed several thick slices of bread with chunks of cheese and handfuls of salad.

“Do you want dessert?” Jared opened the freezer.

“No thanks.” Jennie stood up and reached for their plates to load the dishwasher.

“I’ll clean up here and then call the sheriff. Although I suspect he won’t be out here until tomorrow, as he’s involved in a murder case.” Jared’s gaze filled with sadness.

Jennie seized the lifeline he threw her. “I have a few things to do upstairs.”

“I might not see you until the morning. I’m heading over to Pegasus later. I’ll ask Darleen if she knows why Ryder was at the restaurant. I’m sick of him stalking you, and I want to see how she reacts before I share my suspicions with the sheriff.” Jared loaded the dishwasher.

“You’re spending the night there?” Jennie couldn’t keep the incredulity from her voice.

“No, of course not, Jen. It will be late when I get back, that’s all. You may be in bed.” Jared frowned as though she was being unreasonable.

Jennie’s face heated. “I just don’t want to be here alone, not after the incident this afternoon and Ryder’s strange behavior yesterday.”

“You won’t be. Go and see Rod and his wife if you’re scared,” Jared suggested reasonably.

It hurt that he wouldn’t change his plans for her. “Don’t worry about me. See you in the morning.”

Jennie escaped upstairs and closed her bedroom door. The house without Jared might be safer for her. She wouldn’t intrude on the ranch manager and his wife. She watched out the window until Jared’s truck was out of sight. Looking for a distraction, she picked up the old geology report and began to read it. Sooner than she would have liked, she felt her eyelids drifting shut. She rubbed them but couldn’t ignore the headache, which worsened as she considered why Jared hadn’t told her about the report. The best-case scenario was that he didn’t know of its existence when he’d mouthed off about the oil company last night. She would mention finding it tomorrow and see how he reacted.

Her thoughts about Jared’s possible involvement in her accidents wouldn’t crystallize. Her mind refused to consider the next logical step. Whoever hurt her had also murdered Harry and probably Annie and Ralf. Instinctively, she knew that couldn’t be Jared; he’d loved his parents, and he was now actively trying to clear his father’s name with the Federal Aviation Administration. Or was it all an elaborate act to hide his guilt?

Sleep made any further debate impossible.

Jolted from her deep sleep by a loud noise, Jennie turned over and opened her eyes, but nothing looked out of place in her room. She slid off the bed and put the report back in the nightstand drawer. A thud of a door shutting somewhere in the house proved she didn’t dream the sound; someone was moving around downstairs. The last remnants of sleep disappeared with her increasing fear. It could be Jared, of course. Rex would have barked at a stranger. Her fragile assurance shattered then as she remembered Rex running up to the truck as Jared was leaving. He’d patted Rex’s head and opened the passenger side of the truck, and the dog had jumped in, tail wagging. So there was no Rex to warn and protect her, and more importantly Jared couldn’t be back yet, so it must be someone else.

The acrid smell of burning filled her nostrils. She opened her bedroom door and rushed downstairs before she lost her nerve and appreciated the danger she faced.