The Michaela Bancroft Mysteries 1-3 (50 page)

"Sure," Summer replied, and Michaela
could have sworn that the woman sounded as relieved as she felt about her nonappearance
at the baby shower.

"Is Ethan going to be home? I need to talk to
him about one of my horses the on-call vet saw on Saturday."

"He should be. He's on his way home from San
Diego now. I'm expecting him any time."

"Okay, I won't be long." Michaela hung
up the phone and sighed.

"You going to see Ethan?" Dwayne said
standing in the doorway. Michaela nodded. "That's good. Call me tonight at
home if you get an answer. I got to go and check on my girl. I am sorry about
Rocky. I'll never do something like that again."

Michaela hugged him. "It's okay. I understand
and I do appreciate it, but I'm a big girl." She pulled away and socked
him lightly on the shoulder. "And as far as you and Camden go, I am happy
for the two of you. I really am. You're good for her."

"Thanks. She good for me, too."

Michaela grabbed the gift for the baby and was
heading out the door when the phone rang. She should let it go. She wanted to
get over to Ethan's, talk to him about her horse and get home quickly. Maybe it
was Joey though, with some word on Bob Pratt. Her caller ID didn't register.
Probably a damn solicitor. She grabbed it anyway. The phone crackled loudly. No
one seemed to be on the other end, as she didn't get a response when she first
answered. She started to hang up, when a man's voice on the other end said,
"Is it true?"

"Is what true? Who is this?"

"About Audrey?" His voice sounded
distant.

"Who the hell is this? What do you know about
Audrey?"

Again, no answer. "I said, what do you know about
Audrey?" she yelled.

Finally the man said, "Terrell
Jardinière." Then the line went dead.

"OH, MICHAELA, WE'RE SO GLAD YOU COULD COME
by," Summer said, a little too unconvincingly as she opened her front door
in all her pregnant glory. She still had her perfect ivory skin and shiny red
hair sleeked back in a ponytail. On top of all her perfectness she had that
pregnancy glow, and she hadn't gained a ton of weight, except for her tummy. It
seemed as if there were a perfect basketball resting inside her. "I'm only
sorry that you won't be able to make it Friday night. Why don't you stay for
dinner this evening?"

"That sounds lovely, but really I
can't."

Ethan appeared next to Summer, his rugged,
chiseled features quite the contrast to his wife's delicacy. "Hey Mick,
what's this I hear you can't come on Friday?"

"I'm sorry, it's, well, I have to…"

Ethan interrupted her, sensing her panic. "I
know, if I remember right, I think you said you were doing something with Joe
Pellegrino's little girl."

She nodded. "Yes. Gen. It's a party at Joe's
and since I'm her riding instructor and am going to be working with more of the
kids in her group, I thought I'd better go."

She smiled at him, secretly thanking him. He'd
saved her. That was Ethan. She knew he understood that it was not easy for her
to be at a baby shower. She was sure he didn't quite grasp the fact that it
also had a lot to do with the fact that it was
his and Summer's
baby
shower, but that was okay. He understood enough. He'd been there through the
years when she'd tried to get pregnant to no avail while married to Brad, and
he knew how badly she wanted a child.

"That's great," Summer said. "Ethan
mentioned that you were working with her. She's autistic, right?"

Michaela nodded. "Yes, and Joe and his wife,
Marianne, have asked me to run a riding program for other autistic children. I
plan to take that on soon. I'm getting a great horse from Hugh Bowen—should be
here in a day or two—and I placed a call to the Humane Society today. They
picked up Audrey's animals, and I'd like to adopt the horses. I think she had
quite a few that would work out well for this program."

"That's terrific, Mick. Man, I am so sorry
about Audrey. I just can't believe it."

"Me either."

Summer smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry, can you excuse
me for a minute?" She glanced at Ethan. "I'm making one of Ethan's
favorite's—veal cutlets in a lemon caper sauce and au gratin potatoes."

"Sounds and smells delicious," Michaela
said, somewhat jealous, knowing that her culinary expertise didn't extend much
past barbequed chicken on the grill—with sauce from a jar. She could make a
mean hamburger, too, though.

"Thank you. I'll be back in a jiff." She
scurried into the kitchen.

"Oh, here," Michaela said when Summer
walked away, and handed Ethan the baby gift.

"Thanks."

"No, thank you, for covering for me."

"That's what friends are for. I know it isn't
easy for you, and as much as I want you to be here on Friday, I understand why
it's hard."

"You're not upset?"

"No. I am kind of upset that you didn't tell
me about Audrey. I know what she meant to you. I had some cop call me—a
Detective Merrill—and ask me if she'd been down on the track right after
Halliday had the break. I was in shock to hear the news, but no, I didn't see
her on the track."

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I wanted
to, but I knew—know—that you have a lot on your plate right now. With Summer
getting ready to have the baby, and your new job, all of that has to be on your
mind. The last thing I wanted was to burden you."

He took both of her hands. "Shut up. You've
been my friend for what? Almost thirty years? And you think by telling me about
what is going on in your life and the pain you're dealing with is a
burden?"

She shrugged. It might not be a burden to him. She
knew that. But what she didn't want to do was come between him and his wife. He
was married to Summer and she respected that his wife was not super keen on
their friendship, even though it had been one from childhood.

"You or what you're going through is never a
burden. Got it?"

She nodded. "Got it."

"Now, Summer said that you needed to talk to
me about a horse. What's up? Come on in and sit down."

She followed him into the family room, which was
floral, feminine, and delicate in pastel shades of green, rose, and yellow.
Michaela almost laughed seeing Ethan plunk down on the rose-patterned sofa. To
recall what his bachelor pad had looked like! This was all
so
Summer.

"Talk to me," Ethan said.

Michaela explained to him about the vet coming out
to see Rocky, what the labs had shown, and how she'd been having difficulty
getting a hold of Dr. Burton for further explanation.

"She's new. A little overwhelmed. I'm trying
to get her to take on more, since I've taken on the track appointment, but it's
been difficult being in San Diego so much. I'm going back down on Thursday
morning to check on Halliday when they change his cast and then hurry home to
help with the preparations for the shower. I'm sorry to say that I have not
seen Rocky's labs, but when I get into the office tomorrow, I'll take a
look."

"Do you have any idea by what I'm saying as
to what it might be?" Michaela asked.

"Not without examining him. He's six now, and
it's possible that he could have some type of degenerative heart thing going
on. The one thing I do find kind of interesting is that from what you're
telling me, the initial labs that were reported are sounding similar to
Halliday's labs."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. I'll show you what I have in his
file. I brought it home with me to go over again. It's up in my office. First,
I want to show you the baby's room. I finished painting it a few days
ago."

"Sure." They walked up the stairs of the
very formal, almost museum-like home, passing his and Summer's bedroom, all
done up in peach and gold. Puke. But when she took a second look, it really
wasn't barf material at all. It was as tasteful and beautiful as Michaela
figured it would be, though she didn't get a sense that it would be easy to
relax in all that perfection.

Next door was the baby's room. "Oh my gosh!
This is amazing! You did all this?" she asked. He nodded, a huge grin
across his face. Was he blushing, too? Ethan was obviously proud of all he'd
done.

"I didn't paint the horses. Summer had a pro
do that. But I set up the crib, and painted the background colors. I even
helped sew the curtains."

Michaela crossed her arms. "Look at you."

"I know. I can't wait for this kid to be
born."

Michaela gave him a hug. "I'm so happy for
you. And for Summer. You two will make great parents." She
was
happy for him. She knew how much Ethan wanted to be a father. His own dad had
abandoned him before he was born and only recently had he even discovered the
true identity of his father. She knew that he felt a certain obligation to be
the best father ever, and she was sure he'd live up to that. The room was
painted a light tan with an amazing mural of wild horses running through the
desert; the ceiling was a blue sky with billowy clouds, and the drapes and
baby's comforter were red with a cowboy pattern on them.

"Thanks. We're excited."

She followed him to another museum-quality room
with some of his degrees up on the wall. He went up to an ornate mahogany desk,
grabbed a file, and handed it to her. "Look at this and tell me what you
think."

She opened the file. "I'm not a vet,
Ethan."

"No, but you know quite a bit. Remember all
the times you've helped me study? And it's not like you haven't had your fair
share of illnesses on the ranch. Plus, I'm looking to see if any of this sounds
like what you or Dwayne has seen going on in Rocky."

"I'll try." She studied the results.
"His testosterone and cortisol levels are high, like what we're seeing
with Rocky, and it looks like he has a spike in blood pressure after meals.
Might be a thyroid problem. I meant to bring you a sheet that Dwayne has been
keeping on Rocky. It resembles this almost to a tee, with his pressure rising
after meals. Do you think it could be steroids in Halliday? I know it isn't in
my horse, but it's a possibility with a racehorse."

"He was tested prior to the race and he
didn't have any steroid, bute,
nada
, in his system."

"Maybe they were masking it somehow."

"Maybe. I am concerned though. I noticed this
afternoon that his heart rate and blood pressure were up again, this time not
after eating. First we suspected an infection. I don't know. I had him started
on a course of antibiotics because you can't be too cautious after a leg break
like the one he's suffered."

"Could this diminish his chances for
survival?"

"It might."

"Oh no."

"Ethan?" Summer yelled from downstairs.

"We better go down. She hates to climb stairs
if she doesn't have to these days. I'll let you know what happens."

"Okay. Did Kathleen Bowen ever turn up at the
center?"

"Nope." He shrugged. "Maybe she
figures since you're footing the bill that she can ignore him. I still think
you need to reconsider that."

"I know you do."

"You know what, I almost forgot."
Michaela smacked herself on the forehead. "Did Audrey call you and leave
you a message about a file that Bob asked her to give to you?"

"Yeah, she did. She called me last week. I
called her back and we played phone tag. Then I got busy and forgot about it.
Now that you mention it though, I remember. I have no clue why she would have
one of his files. Especially one that he thought I might need. I have to think
about and look at some of my cases. I know that we've conferred on some things
together, but I can't recall anything lately. But I've had a lot on my mind.
How did you know about it?"

"Audrey mentioned it to me the other day. She
thought it was strange that he asked her to give it to you, but apparently he
said that it was because the two of you were in close vicinity and he thought
you might get it faster from her. They'd had dinner last week together."

"Huh. I still don't know what it's about."

"I have the file."

"You do?"

"I think I do, anyway."

"Michaela?"

"I took something from Audrey's desk that was
in an envelope that came from Bob."

"You did what?"

"I figured that it was for you."

He rubbed his chin. "Okay. Where is it?"

Thank goodness he didn't press her on it. She
didn't want to admit that she'd left Audrey's ranch with the file right
underneath the nose of one Officer Garcia. "I left it at home. I meant to
bring it with me tonight, but was kind of in a rush to get over here." She
didn't want to tell him that the reason she'd lost her focus was the mysterious
phone call she'd received before leaving. "I'll get it to you."

"Ethan," Summer called again.

"Come on."

They walked down together. Summer stood at the
bottom of the landing, frowning. "What were you two doing?"

"I was showing Mick the baby's room."

"It's gorgeous. You two have done a wonderful
job," Michaela said.

"Thank you," Summer replied. "It's
time to eat. Are you sure you can't stay?" She smiled sweetly at Michaela,
but there were daggers in Summer's eyes aimed right at her heart.

"No, but thank you."

Michaela left their place with a ton on her mind,
from Halliday's and Rocky's conditions to Audrey's murder, and of course, to
the very strange phone call she'd received before heading over to Ethan and
Summer's house. Had it been a prank call from someone who knew that she and
Audrey were close? If so, that was sick. Terrell Jardinière. That's the name
the caller had said. Who in the hell was Terrell Jardinière? Michaela didn't have
a clue, but she knew she'd be up late into the night trying to figure out who
this guy was, or if he was anyone at all.

EVEN THOUGH SLEEP HAD ELUDED HER MUCH OF the night,
Michaela rose early the next morning. She'd worked the Internet for about an
hour after getting home from Ethan's and found out a little about Terrell
Jardinière, a guy living in Los Angeles—a boxer who'd had a stroke but had
survived. It wasn't much, and it felt like a dead end, but when she and Joe
finally hooked up after Gen rode that afternoon she passed on that information,
plus everything else she'd learned about Bob Pratt.