Chapter Eleven

“I got that feeling, too,” Rico said, proving to Dyna that even though she was exhausted, she wasn’t imagining things.

“But … what would they gain by having someone steal my horse?”

“You,” he said. “Your mother hasn’t exactly hidden her feelings regarding Domino from what you’ve told me. Maybe she thinks you’d be better off without him. Most would have sold him off by now, but you chose to keep him.”

“She has mentioned that a lot since Daddy died,” Dyna admitted. “But I can’t believe she’d do this—get rid of him in such a strange way. Burning down her own property?”

“People do strange things when they have the wrong motivation and think they’re doing it for all the right reasons.”

“I don’t want to think along those lines, but what you said at dinner is true. We’re all suspects.”

“It might be nothing.” Rico took her hand, reminding her of his quiet strength. Reminding her of that quick but powerful kiss they’d shared. “We’re tired and everyone around here is on edge. Maybe a good night’s sleep will help.”

“Will you sleep?” she asked, an image of him sleeping making her smile and long for things she’d put out of her mind.

“Probably not.” He stopped her before they reached the front of the long stable where an armed cowhand stood guard.

“What about you?”

“I doubt I’ll sleep too much. I’m going to call and check on Eddie. I sent Jonah to visit with him and knowing Jonah, he’ll stay close all night. I mean, if whoever did this finds out Eddie’s alive, they could try to hurt him again.”

“The hospital is aware and the sheriff is watching,” he reminded her.

“I can’t stand watch over all of them, so I’m going to have to trust that we’ll catch these people.”

“Meantime, rest as much as you can.”

They nodded to the guard and then Dyna told the man Rico would be staying in the apartment for a few days. The cowhand didn’t question them.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, lifting his chin toward the stables. “All’s quiet so far.”

Dyna thanked him and entered the stables. “The apartment is enclosed and has air-conditioning,” she told Rico. “Do you mind if we walk the length first, so I can check on my animals?”

“Of course not.”

He still held her hand. In a way that made her think he really didn’t mind staying close. In a way that made her want him to keep holding her hand for a long time.

Crazy. Too fast and too much between them. She needed to pull away, to stop this foolishness. But with Rico, things were so different. So clear. Well, not so clear. She’d questioned him from the beginning.

Trust him now, she told herself. Trust him.

She had to trust someone. Maybe the outsider was the best person. Accepting that seemed to calm her down.

So she told him about the horses, giving him their names, their unique histories, their purposes, some to win, some to help out, some to go to other homes.

When they were back at the stairs to the apartment, he tugged her close. “You are coming up with me, right?”

Swallowing, she bobbed her head. “Yes. We need to call Sean and get the latest. I’d like to know if my mom really did turn over some leads to him.”

“We’ll do that. And …?”

“And?”

“And after business?”
Touching a finger to his plaid shirt, she asked, “What did you have in mind?”

They’d reached the locked door to the apartment now.

He leaned her against it and lifted her chin with one hand. Then he kissed her, longer and deeper this time. “This.”

“This isn’t exactly business, now is it?”

“A different kind of business. Business and pleasure.”

“You’re a big flirt, you know that?”

Lifting away, he said, “We did agree we needed to practice.”

“I think you’ve had lots of practice,” she managed to whisper. “Way more than I have.”

“I’ll teach you my techniques.”

“I’ll just reckon you will at that.”

He laughed, his eyes crinkling, her heart opening.

“I can’t decide if you came along at exactly the right time or if you showed up at the worst possible time.”

His expression shifted into enticing mode. “When this is over and we find Domino and all is right in your world again, I’m gonna get serious with you.”

“Serious? How serious?”

He kissed her, confirming how far he was willing to go.

“Hmm.” Dyna tried to find her breath again. “You know, the minute you stepped out of your truck, I knew you were trouble.”

“I think that’s a song.”

“No, that’s reality.”

“Why am I trouble?”

“Emotionally, you could do damage.”

He pressed his left hand against the wall, holding her there near the door. “I’d never hurt you, Dyna. When I first walked in your house and heard you talking about the history of this place and then met your two dogs and heard you going on and on about your livestock, I thought I could see me with this woman.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I did. And I will … be with you. I’ll show you.”

She kissed him and then turned to unlock the door.

But the door fell open.

“Rico?”

“Hmmm?”

“The door—it opened without me unlocking it. I think someone’s been in here.”

* * *

Rico grabbed her and shoved her behind him and put a finger to his lips. “Stay behind me.”

Dyna held to him and waited to see what they’d find inside.

So much for relaxing. Rico was a sweet distraction but if she didn’t get her head straight and end this thing, she might lose everything her daddy had worked so hard to build.

Since they didn’t have any weapons, Dyna pulled out her phone, ready to call for help if need be.

But Rico turned on a light and flooded the big efficiency apartment with a brightness that hid nothing.

“Everything looks okay,” she said, moving past him into the living area that included a sturdy beige corduroy couch and matching chair, a bed with a horse embossed spread and a galley kitchen across one wall that looked like a rustic cabin kitchen.

“I’ll check the bathroom,” he said, heading to the tiny corner where the door stood open to a cedar-walled bathroom. Switching on the light there, he turned to her. “Looks okay.”

Dyna began searching for signs of a break-in. No signs of forced entry at the door and the two big windows that overlooked the west pasture were secure.

Rico joined her. “See anything out of place?”

“No. But I always keep the apartment locked. And the key stays in my office.”

“Well, you have the key now so whoever used it returned it to your office but they forgot to lock up.”

But why? Dyna hadn’t been up here in a while. No one had. “I don’t give this key out to just everyone. Only family or guests who come to buy and trade.”

“Who stayed here last?” Rico asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a broker looking to buy some livestock? We usually let my younger cousins stay up here when my mom’s sister and her four teens come to visit. Maybe one of them left it unlocked.”

“Let’s take a good look around,” Rico said. He went to the long kitchen counter and checked the overhead cabinets. Then he opened the refrigerator. “A six pack of beer.”

“That’s odd.” Dyna hurried over. “I hope my under-aged cousins didn’t sneak that up here.”

She went to the area by the big window where the bed had been placed and checked the bedspread. “The sheets are in the bathroom closet,” she said, moving her hand over the mattress. “Nothing here.”

Then she turned to the window seal where something sparkly caught the light between the blind slats. Dyna lifted the blinds and found a small earring that she immediately recognized.

“Rico, this doesn’t make any sense.”

Rico came to stand next to her, his gaze hitting on the circle of diamonds. “Do your stockbrokers wear expensive earrings?”

“No, but my mother does. And my father gave her this pair on their thirtieth wedding anniversary.”

“Does she come up here at all?”

“Never. Sharon cleans the place between visits but Mother avoids the stables.”

“Should we talk to your mother?”

Dyna thought about that. “Not yet. First, let’s call Sean and see what your cousins have found out.”

“You don’t want to confront her too soon, right?”

“No, because I can’t quite believe she’s involved. I have to have all the information and documentation lined up before I confront or accuse anyone, especially my own mother.”

“Smart move.”

She shrugged. “An open door and an earring don’t mean much and might have nothing to do with this mess. But … these days I’m seeing everything in a different light.”

“Attention to detail is never a bad thing.”

Dyna put the earring in her jeans pocket and after giving the place another once-over, they settled down at the tiny kitchen table and Rico put his cell on speaker so they could both hear Sean’s report.

“I have Jesse with me,” Sean explained. “He and Michael both flew in after gathering what information they could. Michael’s out talking to people right now.”

After a round of thanks for helping out, Dyna asked, “My mom said she sent you some leads?” She hoped Sean would dismiss her mother as a suspect.

“She did and … one of them paid off.”

Dyna took a breath, thinking Wendy could either be helping out in earnest or she was sending them all on a wild goose chase. “What did you find, Sean?”

“Hey, it’s Jesse Knight,” Sean’s brother said.

Jesse had served as a Marine Police Officer before returning home to Wyoming and the rodeo, so he had a working knowledge of tracking down persons of interest. Dyna felt better knowing Jesse and Michael had joined Sean here in Nevada.

“Hey, Jesse,” Rico said. “What’s up?”

“A woman called Miss Wendy but wouldn’t give her a name, but the woman said she had some information that might help us. So we called the number she gave your mother and found out some interesting things.”

Rico shot Dyna a concerned glance. “Go on.”

“Dyna, have you talked to your farrier since all of this happened?” Jesse asked.

“Sandie Benton? No, she’s on vacation in Lake Tahoe. I haven’t had a chance to call her.”

“Well, the officer we talked to said she found Sandie’s abandoned car with the purse inside at a deserted gas station near Indian Springs, but Sandie was nowhere to be found. The woman works part-time as a sheriff’s deputy so she’d seen our posters. She called your mother after she saw a poster with Domino on it at a local watering hole.”

Dyna got up and started pacing. “I’m confused. What does one have to do with the other?”

“That’s the kicker,” Jesse replied. “She IDed Sandie through her driver’s license and found the Mesa Malloy address.”

“Yes, Sandie lives on our property.”

Jesse went on. “The deputy put two and two together between the poster and Sandie’s disappearance, she was concerned about foul play. But there’s more. Someone spotted a woman matching Sandie’s description talking to a man pulling a horse trailer. The deputy said the caller thought the horse looked like Domino.”

Dyna’s gaze slammed into Rico’s. “Jesse, are you saying Sandie had something to do with Domino being taken?”

“We don’t know yet but Michael’s out right now pounding the pavement to find out. The woman who called works at a road-side motel. According to her, Sandie and the man argued and then Sandie got in her car and peeled away. That was early this morning. The deputy found her car around noon.”

“And what about the man pulling the trailer?” Rico asked. “Description? Location?”

“Vague description from the woman since she had to stay out of sight. Tall, dark, gray-streaked hair, cowboy hat.”

“So now they can’t find Sandie?” Dyna asked again. “And no sign of the man who might have Domino?”

“Nope, on the man. And yes on Sandie. She’s still missing.”