The Michaela Bancroft Mysteries 1-3 (49 page)

"No, I don't. I know what the papers are
reporting and that everyone is thinking he fell off the wagon and had something
to do with his sister's murder. But I don't believe any of that shit. Bob might
have had problems in the past, but from what I know of him, he's solid and was
headed in the right direction. He also mentioned to me that he was going to go
see his girlfriend for the weekend, that she wasn't feeling too well. I don't
know, maybe he took off early to be with her."

"He would've been in touch with someone,
contacted somebody, if that was the case. Don't you think?"

"Yeah. I'd think so." Josh raked his
hand through his hair.

"Then maybe it's foul play."

"Maybe it is."

"Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt
Bob or Audrey?"

"No."

"What about his girlfriend? Do you remember
her name?"

"Carla, something." He snapped his
fingers. "No. Cara. I didn't catch her last name."

"She still working for Eq Tech?" It
looked to be that the woman Joe had discovered and the one Josh was referring
to were one and the same.

"I don't know. When I met her, she mentioned
something about the commute and how she hated it; even took the train pretty
often, she said."

"Where was she commuting from?"

"Down near San Diego, if I remember right.
Maybe Del Mar? I honestly don't know. I really don't know what to tell you, but
it sucks. The whole thing does. Wish I had some insight. But I don't, and I
hate to cut this short, but I've got work to do."

"I understand."

Michaela needed to call Joe and give him this
information, see what he could find out before they hooked up. Maybe this Cara
had heard from Bob. She watched as Olivia dismounted. When the girl spotted
Michaela, she turned away. Maybe she'd figured out that her drugs had been
found. Michaela approached her, but Olivia abruptly turned to Josh. "I've
got to go. Sorry."

Michaela thought about confronting her but changed
her mind. She would be talking to Olivia or her dad about discovering the
cocaine, but not now. There were still some parts of this puzzle in regard to
little Miss Olivia that she wanted to put together.

Josh looked baffled as Olivia ran off. He turned
back to Michaela, leading the horse in her direction. "Look, I'm sorry
about Audrey and I don't know what to think about Bob. It's a shame, that's
what it is. A damn shame."

Michaela nodded. "Is Hugh around?"

"No. He's not. I don't know what happened up
at the house a little while ago, but there was some shouting going on and then
Bridgette took off with Hugh speeding down the drive behind her."

Looked like the cat was out of the bag.

"Hey, aren't you here to pick up Geyser? Juan
told me about your trailer." Josh pointed at it in the distance.

"Yeah, is he around? I've got to get on the
road."

"You're not going anywhere with the
trailer."

"What?"

He frowned. "Sorry. Juan told me that he had
to get some more parts to fix it, and what he needed he wasn't able to find at the
hardware store in Malibu."

"When did he say it would be ready?"

"He didn't. He's gone for the day. I'm sure
he'll have it taken care of in the next few days."

"Few days. Damn. It's not like I live down
the road, you know."

"Tell you what, I'll find out for you, and
once it's fixed, I'll get someone to transport the horse out there for
you."

Now he was being Mr. Nice Guy. What was it with
these people that Audrey hung out with? They were cold one minute, warm the
next.

She gave Josh her number and looked at her watch,
Happy hour with Hudson was fast approaching, and if she didn't head out now,
she'd be late.

HUDSON DRAKE TURNED OUT TO BE AS DELIGHTFUL as Michaela
remembered. She also discovered that they had a lot in common.

"Grew up on a ranch, too," he said.
"My dad taught me how to ride. I don't ride like I used to, what with
work. It ties me up quite a bit," he said, the candlelight bouncing off
the sparkle in his blue eyes.

They'd started with a glass of wine and appetizers
during happy hour and their conversation carried them through dinner. Michaela
decided against any more wine, knowing she had more than a two-hour drive home.
But his company made her feel giddy, almost as if she'd drank more than she
really had. He looked as handsome as he had the other day, only toned down now
in a gray V-neck sweater and jeans. She'd thought about telling him about her
ridiculous day, but decided against it. His conversation was far more upbeat.
She had mentioned the horse trailer fiasco and he'd laughed heartily, then
apologized.

"I'm not laughing at your expense. Okay,
maybe I am. That stinks. What did you do all day? Why did you have to cancel
lunch?"

"I had to take care of some business."
She'd leave it at that. "And, no offense taken. Come to think of it, it is
kind of funny. Stupid rats. I'll have to set some traps."

He didn't make any moves on her, which was nice.
No flirtation, just nice conversation. She felt oddly at ease with him. Jude
made her kind of nervous, left those butterfly feelings in her stomach. Now she
was just plain angry and irritated with him. Ethan…well, he was another story.
He was her best friend and that was all, and she wanted nothing but the best
for him. Their relationship was comfortable, almost too much so for friends at
times. She knew it had to bother Summer that they were as intimate as they
were, what with all they'd shared growing up over the years. Those childhood
ties could never be broken, and Michaela comforted herself with that thought
quite often.

Hudson was interesting and fun. "How are you
doing? After everything that's happened?" he asked.

"It hasn't really sunk in; I can't believe
that my friend was murdered. But I'm keeping busy. That's all I know to do.
Damn!"

"What?"

"I forgot to call the Humane Society. I
wanted to talk to them about taking in some of Audrey's horses."

"That's nice of you."

"She would have done it for me. She was like
that. A really kind, good-hearted woman. I hope they find who did this to
her."

"Me, too." He picked up her hand and
squeezed it. "I have a guy working on finding Bob."

"You do? So, you called in the private
investigator that you were talking about?"

"I did, but so far, he's got nothing."

"Nothing at all?" Hmm, maybe Joe's
cousins were better at this than any private eye.

"No, nothing. You better get on the road if
you're going to make it home at a halfway decent hour. It's already past
eight."

"You're right."

"By the way, you did get my roses, didn't
you?" he asked.

"Oh, my gosh, I'm sorry, I meant to thank
you. Yes. They were beautiful. I loved them. Um, but about that…"

"Oh no, you are not going to back out on me
now."

She sighed. "It's just the timing and all the
driving I've been doing and I really need to get back into the swing of
things."

"Do it next week. We'll have a great time,
forget your worries for a night. I won't take no for an answer. Besides, all
the 'in' crowd will be there." He rolled his eyes. "The Bowens,
Fredrick Callahan, who owns
Pleasures
magazine and several winner's
circle horses, and just about anyone who is a player in the racing arena."

She might have had enough of all of them, but she
thought about Jude and how angry she was with him and she agreed that she would
see Hudson on Saturday.

He walked her to her truck, gave her a peck on the
cheek, and held the door open for her. "I had a nice time this evening and
I'm looking forward to Saturday night."

"Me, too. But, I have a question: What do I
wear?"

"Dress to the nines. This thing is quite an
event."

"The nines, huh?" He nodded. She knew
she'd have to raid Camden's closet to find something. When she looked in her
rearview mirror, she saw Hudson waving. She smiled and headed home.

THE NEXT DAY MICHAELA PLAYED PHONE TAG with Joe,
who hadn't been able to make it by between the hardware store, one kid's
doctor's appointment, another one's soccer game, and some other event. She did
leave him the message about this Cara person who had worked at Eq Tech with Bob
Pratt. She wanted to know if he'd been able to find out anything more on that
front.

She'd also placed a call to the vet who had seen
Rocky over the weekend. It was already Tuesday and she didn't understand why it
was so difficult to get any answers. Granted he appeared to be fine, but she
was still concerned and wanted to know what his labs reported. She would have
to track Ethan down; the last she'd heard, he was still in San Diego with
Halliday. She was planning on stopping by his and Summer's house that evening.
She needed to tell them she was not going to attend Friday night's baby shower.
As for Jude, Michaela planned to leave him a message through the receptionist
at the station, because she didn't want to talk to him yet. The last thing she
wanted to do was show up sans half of a couple at a couples' baby shower. Not
that she and Jude were a couple anyway. Sheesh! Who ever heard of a couples
baby shower? That had to be Summer's idea. Sure they were in vogue now, but
come
on
, as if the men really enjoyed sitting around with a group of women
oohing and aahing over baby clothes and toys. That was a scene she wanted to
miss. She already had a gift for the baby—a bath set and a teddy bear. Generic,
but useful.

Since neither the other vet nor Ethan had called,
Michaela decided to speak to Dwayne about Rocky. It was feeding time and Dwayne
was mixing the grains and supplements for the horses. Camden hung at his heels,
which was kind of annoying, because it wasn't as if Camden knew a damn thing
about horses. However, being around Dwayne, maybe she thought that she'd gained
a master's of equine through osmosis.

"Maybe he needs to be turned out more. You
know, he is a stud and they need to roam, feel like they're in charge of their
brood," Camden said, winking at Dwayne. "Didn't the vet say that
Rocky's testosterone levels were high? Maybe he just needs to get out and about
more. Burn off some steam."

"From what I understand, this is a medical
situation and not so much about lifestyle," Michaela shot back as she walked
up. Her friend looked genuinely hurt, which made her feel bad. Camden was
trying, and the bottom line was that she'd been her friend for years. So why
was she feeling so irritated by her? Did it really have to do with Camden
trying to express her limited knowledge about horses? Or, did it have more to
do with the fact that Camden seemed to have found true love, and Michaela…Well,
she was still struggling with the idea of whether or not such a concept even
existed.

"Michaela is right, Cammy girl, Rocky not too
worried about running with mares right now. He be a happy boy, but this thing
he got going on has something to do with his insides."

Camden nodded. "You know what, why don't you
two talk about it while I go and make some dinner?"

Dinner? Now that was a first indeed. Michaela might
have expected Camden to say she would be going to make margaritas. But dinner?
Michaela had been the cook over the last couple of years. Sure, Camden might
have popped in a Lean Cuisine once in a blue moon, but dinner? That sounded
fishy. She eyed Dwayne as Camden walked away. "Dinner?"

He shrugged and grinned. "She's taking cooking classes.
She not so bad, you know. A little bland, but she be trying."

"You two are really in love, aren't you?"

He nodded. "She want your approval. She want
you to be happy. She worry about you so much."

Michaela nodded, feeling the back of her throat
swell with emotion. "I am happy. I'm just shocked. Surprised, you know. I
already told her that I'm happy for the both of you."

"I know."

Michaela took a deep breath and asked, "So
what do you think could be going on with Rocky?"

He shook his head and scratched the toe of one of
his boots into the dirt. "I thinking about it a lot, and I don't know.
Really don't. I seen lots of problems in horses over the years, but not like
this. I been taking his vital signs and writing them down because the vet asked
me to, and I see nothing crazy. I think we be worrying 'bout a onetime thing,
until last night and again this morning." He walked into the office, brought
out a sheet of paper with Rocky's vitals, and handed it to Michaela.

She didn't like the sound of that. "Why
didn't you say anything if you thought there was a problem?"

"I wasn't so sure at first and didn't want to
scare you. You been going through a lot, and I think I better be real sure
before we go and get worried again, plus he didn't have no more spells like the
other day."

"Dwayne! This is my horse. My kid. You can't
keep anything from me. I don't care if it'll cause me worry. I love this animal.
Dammit, don't try and protect me."

"Thought I was doing right."

"No. You weren't." She looked at the
sheet where Dwayne had recorded Rocky's vitals, blood rushing through her,
angry with her assistant. From the records Rocky's heart rate and blood pressure
looked like they elevated at about eight in the morning and eight at night.
"This looks like it happens about two hours after feeding," Michaela
said, tucking away her anger.

"Right," Dwayne said.

"I don't get it. And I'm irritated that I
can't get a hold of this vet. I'm going to see if Ethan is back from San
Diego." She used the office phone to call Ethan's cell, but it went
straight to his voice mail. She hesitated but decided to call his house. Summer
answered.

"Oh, hi, Michaela. Are you calling about
Friday?"

"I am. Um, something has come up. I'm
terribly sorry, a commitment I forgot about. But I was wondering if I could
stop by and drop off a gift for the baby."