The Door at the Top of the Stairs (25 page)

He jumped into his old Chevy pick-up, slammed the door and shoved the key into the ignition. The starter clicked once, then stopped. He hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand.

“Fuck!” The starter had always been temperamental so he re-clutched, turned the steering wheel a quarter turn to the right and tried again. The engine jumped to life and the tires spun out as he threw the truck into gear and gunned the engine, heading toward town.

He figured his friends would be in Harley’s, and when he pulled into the parking lot, he was relieved to see their cars parked in their usual places. When he walked into the bar, Kai and Jason were shooting pool. Kai saw him and lifted his chin in greeting.

“What’s up, Cody?”

“Fuck you, Asshole.” Cody ordered a longneck from Andy and took it back to the pool table.

Jason grinned at Kai, who shrugged. Jason leaned over the table and sighted down his stick. “Six off the two, side pocket.” The cue ball nicked the six, sending it into the left side of the two ball, where it ricocheted off and rolled into the side pocket. Jason picked up the chalk and centered it on the end of his stick. “So, what’s eating you? You’re dad buggin’ you ‘bout gettin’ fired again?”

Cody put the longneck to his lips and guzzled half the bottle.

“Fuckin’ bitches won’t get away with it.” Jason lined up another shot and pointed to the corner pocket with his stick. “Two into the corner.” He leaned over the table to sight his angle. “My dad says you’re old man’s siding with Morgan. That sucks.” He stepped to his left to get a different line.

Cody threw the bottle, grabbed a pool cue from the wall rack and swung it at Jason’s head. Jason blocked the blow with his stick, then rammed the end of his cue into Cody’s stomach. Cody doubled over, but brought his stick up hard between Jason’s legs.

Jason dropped like a stone.

Kai grabbed Cody by the hair and threw him up against the wall. “What the fuck, Cody? He didn’t do nothin’ to you!” Cody let out a strangled roar and swung his cue at Kai’s head.

Kai, who was three inches taller and weighed a good thirty pounds more than Cody, ripped the pool stick out of his hands, lifted Cody off his feet and threw him onto the pool table. He’d just drawn back his fist to knock some sense into his friend when he caught sight of a small baggie sticking out of Cody’s pocket. “Well, well, well.... What do we have here? You holdin’ out on us, Code?” Cody tried to roll away, but Kai put his fingers around Cody’s throat and held him down. He reached down with his free hand and tugged at the corner of the baggie. “Let’s see what you got—weed or blow?” Cody tried to kick Kai between the legs, but Kai turned sideways, pushed down harder on his throat, and pressed his elbow hard against Cody’s chest. “Uh uh uh, that don’t work twice.” Jason gradually rolled to his knees, then reached up to the edge of the pool table and pulled himself to his feet. Kai grinned at him. “Shit Jason, your face is white as a chunk of fish flesh. You gonna live?”

Jason motioned to the baggie in Cody’s pocket. “What’s he got?”

Cody grabbed Kai’s lower arm and tried to hyper-extend the elbow with his other hand. “Let go of me, you fuckin’ asshole!” Jason tugged Cody’s hands off of Kai’s arm and held them down on the table while Kai pulled the baggie all the way out. The bag was half-full of a fine white powder. Kai rolled the outside of the bag with his fingers. “What’s this? Looks like some fine blow to me.”

Jason let go of Cody’s arms, grabbed the bag and turned his back to the bar so he could hide the baggie from the rest of the drinking crowd. “Shit, Cody! Where’d you get this much coke?

You get caught with this, your ass’ll be sittin’ in Blackburn State Prison until you’re an old man!”

Kai let got of Cody and whistled. “No shit, Cody! I didn’t think of that. Where’d you get so much blow?” Cody sat up, snatching the baggie away from Jason and pushing it back down into his pocket. “It’s not coke, you idiots.” He glanced nervously around the room to make sure no one else had seen the bag. “I’m makin’ sure those bitches pay for what they did, and this shit’s helpin’ me do it.” He reached down, flipped two balls out of one of the pockets in the pool table and rolled them to the other end. “Rack ‘em up again. I’ll beat you two assholes first; then we’ll go have some real fun out at Morgan’s farm.” Kai shrugged as he grabbed the triangle off the wall and racked the balls. He carefully pushed them tight against the apex, then lifted the wood off the felt and returned it to the wall. The three men played five more games before finally hanging up their sticks. Cody finished the last of his fourth beer and set the bottle down on a nearby table. “Well boys, follow me and learn how the master works.”

Kai crossed his arms while he studied Cody’s face. “What are you gonna do?”

“I’m gonna finish somethin’ I already started out at Morgan’s place.” Cody turned and started for the door. When Kai didn’t follow, Cody glanced back over his shoulder. “You comin’ or not?”

Kai walked over to Cody so the rest of the people in the bar wouldn’t hear him. “What are you doin’ at Morgan’s place? Why don’t you just leave ‘em alone and forget about it? You’re just pissed ‘cause they figured out you planted those cig’s. Just leave

‘em alone, Cody.”

Cody stepped closer to Kai and poked him in the chest with his finger. “Why’re you standin’ up for those dykes? Whose side’re you on, anyway?”

Kai felt his face go red. He looked at Jason, then back to Cody. “We’ve been friends since grade school, Cody. You know I’m on your side. It’s just that…well....” He crossed his arms while he thought about how he could explain himself without his two friends thinking he was some kind of coward. “Look, you know I used to ride in Morgan’s hunt club. My family never had as much money as everybody else, and I never really fit in. Morgan was always good to me, even when I screwed up. She never embarrassed me or nothin’ in front of the fuckin’ rich kids. She never treated my family any different than anybody else’s.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I just don’t want to be part of anything against her, that’s all.”

Cody’s lips curled back in a sneer. “You’re just like my old man. You fuckin’ her too?”

Kai’s eyebrows shot up. “What’re you talkin’ about?” He grabbed Cody’s elbow and propelled him out the door and onto the sidewalk. He lowered his voice and hissed into Cody’s face. “Are you crazy? Morgan’s not fuckin’ your old man!” He stopped talking as two women walked past them on the sidewalk.

Jason, who’d followed his two friends outside, stepped out of the women’s way and smiled. “Evenin’ Ms. Rupel, Ms. Hanson.” The two women nodded at the young men and continued on their way. Cody jerked his arm out of Kai’s grasp and shoved him in the chest. “Oh yeah? What if I told you he’s fuckin’ both Morgan
and
Ryland. What would you think of your fuckin’ fox huntin’ master then, huh?”

Kai reached up to run both hands through his thick shock of brown hair. “Cody, you have gone completely around the bend.” He shook his head before walking around the side of the bar on his way to the back parking lot. “I’m outta here.” Cody turned to face Jason, who had a huge grin plastered across his face. Cody brought both hands up and pushed Jason hard in the chest. “What’s so fuckin’ funny to you, Asshole?”

“You’re an idiot, you know that? You’re old man’s got the wrong equipment for those two dykes. It’s more likely they’re doin’ your mom than your dad.” He burst out laughing and danced backward as Cody swung his fist as hard as he could at Jason’s face. The fist went flying through empty air and Jason grinned again. “Whoa, boy. I’m just tellin’ it like it is. And I’m outta here too. You’re on your own on this one.” He walked around the side of the building and yelled to Kai. “Hey, wait up! I’m comin’ with you.”

Cody watched them go, then spit on the sidewalk. “To Hell with both of ya.” He checked his watch as he climbed behind the wheel of his truck.
Ten o’clock.
He knew everyone on the farm went to bed by nine. Unfortunately, Morgan had started taking unscheduled walks around the barn and kennels at night. He’d been going every night, trying to find a pattern to when she came out, but she varied the times too much and he couldn’t plan on her being in bed when he snuck into the barn. He reached down and turned the key. The ignition caught on the first try, and he took that as a good-luck omen. He’d get in and out again tonight without anyone the wiser.

The drive to the farm took nearly twenty minutes. When he was about a half-mile away he killed his lights, reduced his speed and drove as slowly as he dared to a pullout just beyond Morgan’s barn. After shutting off the engine, he got out of the truck, quietly pushing the door shut behind him. As he climbed over the fence surrounding the property, his pants caught on a piece of barbed wire. He cursed to himself before pulling his leg free and stepping over to the other side.

The forest was unusually quiet as he moved between trees. On other nights, he’d noticed that when Morgan walked around the property, all the night creatures quieted until she’d passed, then resumed their nighttime chatter once she was gone. He moved slowly, all the while keeping a sharp eye out for any movement.

When he came to the edge of the forest, he knelt down and waited.

He heard her before he saw her coming down the path from the main house. She’d stepped on a branch, and the sharp crack sounded like a rifle shot in the quiet night. She carried a flashlight in her right hand, but kept it off while she made her way out into the open area in front of the barn.
You think you’re so smart
,
Cody thought. He waited until she’d disappeared into the barn, then sat, leaning his back against the trunk of a tree to wait. He watched as she came out of the barn, then smirked when she turned and headed around the side to the kennels.
It’s not your hounds yet,
Bitch, but it soon will be.

All in all, it took Morgan about twenty minutes to check the buildings and return to the front of the barn. Cody froze when she stopped and carefully surveyed the forest surrounding her farm.

Her gaze seemed to stop on the tree he was leaning against and he breathed a sigh of relief when she finally turned and headed back to the house.

He waited another fifteen minutes, then pushed himself up and headed for the barn. The side door had an obnoxious squeak, so he took his time, pulling it open just far enough to slip inside. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the darkness without the benefit of the moon to light his way. When he could make out various objects, he carefully made his way to Aristotle’s stall, relying on memory more than sight to avoid bumping into anything.

Aristotle stood to the rear of his stall with his head down.
Got
a tummy ache, Old Boy? Just you’re bad luck to be Morgan’s
favorite ride.
He slipped into the stall, took the baggie out of his pocket and opened it. Aristotle’s water bowl was hooked to the rear wall. Cody stepped over to it, then poured a small amount of pesticide into the water. He went to the food bin and repeated the process, pouring pesticide over the hay the big horse hadn’t eaten that evening. The white powder clumped into a pile on the hay, so he sifted it around with his fingers until he couldn’t see it anymore.

When he was finished, he closed the baggie, put it back into his pocket and slipped out of the barn. By the time he’d made it to his truck, his grin stretched from ear to ear. Once more, the truck started on the first attempt. He waved at the main house as he drove past, then gunned the engine and headed home.

His mother looked up from her crocheting when he walked in through the front door. She put down the afghan she’d been working on and motioned for him to come closer. “Did you go out with your friends?”

He strolled over and kissed her on the cheek. “Yeah, we played some pool at Harley’s, then I took care of some business.” She studied his face, then picked up the afghan again. “I hope your business was productive.”

He smirked. “Very.”

She smiled as she wove the crochet needles in and out of her memorized pattern. “Good. Very good.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

The next day, Dr. Elimena arrived at the barn to check Aristotle. He'd been Morgan's vet for over fifteen years, and usually made himself at home whenever any of the horses needed to be checked. Jesse heard the door open and watched a tall, middle-aged man walk into the barn, grab Aristotle's halter and head for the center aisle. Aristotle's stall was the third in on the left, and Jesse had just enough time to get there and step in front of him before he opened the stall door. "Who are you and what the fuck are you doing in here?"

The vet stepped back, color rising in his face as he bit back an angry reply. "Excuse me?"

"I asked you what the fuck you're doing here!" Jesse stood in a defensive stance, left side to the vet, right side away.

Dr. Elimena took a step forward and put the back of his hand against Jesse's shoulder to push her out of his way. "I need to see this horse. Now get out of my way."

Morgan came around to the front of the barn from the kennels and saw Doc Elimena's truck parked in front. She'd forgotten to tell Jesse he was coming, and the vet was already in the barn. "Shit!"

She ran the last few steps to the door and stepped inside in time to see the vet try to push Jesse aside.

"Jesse! Freeze!"

Morgan's yell from across the room startled Jesse enough to stop her fist from slamming into the vet's face. She controlled her anger and backed up, still blocking his way into the stall. Morgan ran up and slid the last few feet until she was between Jesse and the doctor. She held out her hand to shake. “Tom, glad you could make it."

No one said anything for a few seconds. Tom slowly reached out and took Morgan's hand. "Morgan."

"Here, give me the halter. I'll have Jesse bring him out where you can see him better." She took the halter and slapped it into Jesse's chest at the same time she put her arm on the vet's back and guided him to the front of the barn. "So, how's Arlene doing?"

Tom, who stood six one, put his hand on Morgan's shoulder as they walked down the aisle. “When did you get your new guard dog?"