CHAPTER 7
Jack had been helping out in the barns since his arrival home for two reasons. First, he truly did miss being around the horses when he was away. Second, and most important, it was where Nicki usually could be found.
Matt was taking longer to find information on her than Jack had expected. While waiting for Matt’s call—and boy, did he wish Matt would hurry the hell up and call—Jack had figured he could do a little digging himself.
He’d have to be more careful though. He’d noticed Nicki was starting to avoid him. He was pushing too hard.
Maybe he’d lost his touch when it came to flirting. Usually women fell at his feet. Well, all women except for Carly. She hadn’t, but that had been a special situation.
Sighing, Jack was about to start feeling sorry for himself again when he spotted Nicki and Jared walking across the field with the stud horse Jared had been going on and on about for days.
Jack’s heart kicked into high gear at the sight of Nicki. Damn, she looked good in those jeans. It was a darn shame she was most likely hiding something.
“Hey, darlin’,” he greeted her when they were close enough.
Jack noticed Jared smirk at him as he continued into the paddock with the stallion. When Nicki went to follow him in, Jack stepped forward and stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Stay out here where it’s safe. There’s plenty of men in there already. Jared doesn’t need you too.”
She didn’t seem to like that one bit. Her brow furrowed as she shook his hand off her arm. “He asked me to help.”
Inside the paddock, Jared handed the stallion off to two farm hands. “Jack’s right, Nicki. Stay there for now and I’ll call you if I need you.”
She screwed up her pretty mouth in a pout and leaned against the rail, leaving a good few feet between herself and Jack. He closed that distance fast enough and leaned next to her. She pretended not to notice, but she did. He saw her body tense even as she pretended he wasn’t there.
As a second lead rope was hooked to the antsy stallion’s halter, she watched, wide-eyed. Two men held him now as the horse, who knew something was up, started to rear.
The mare was still locked up in the barn, but it was very obvious the stud horse could smell her from out here. He was, understandably, becoming more spirited, not to mention visibly excited.
Was she blushing as she stared at the impressive stud? As much as she knew about horses, it seemed she wasn’t all that versed in the breeding process.
Jack asked, “You ever see a mare bred before?”
She didn’t look at him, but shook her head. “We always used frozen transported sperm and artificial insemination on our mares. We never had to deal with the stallion.”
He had to contain his excitement. She’d just spilled a whole lot of clues he could give Matt. She must have worked on a breeding farm, and a pretty big one too, if she knew about artificial insemination and transported sperm.
“And who’s we, darlin’? What farm was this?”
She glanced at him then looked away just as fast, shaking her head. “It was a tiny farm. I’m sure you’ve never heard of it.”
“What’s the name? Maybe I have.”
“It was so tiny, it didn’t have a name. Just an old farmer with a few mares, that’s all.” She dismissed his question with a wave of a hand that was meant, he supposed, to look casual.
Another lie. At ten thousand bucks a pop minimum, there was no way some old farmer on a little no name farm was using artificial insemination to breed his mares.
He didn’t have time to pursue this latest fallacy, since just then Jared brought the mare out on a lead, but kept her on the other side of the fence. He walked her past the stallion who was doing what he could to get to her in spite of the two farmhands holding him and the fence separating them.
Nicki had definitely not been lying when she said she’d never seen breeding done the old-fashioned way. Her eyes widened at the sight.
“What Jared is doing is kind of introducing the mare to the stallion. That’s also how you can tell if she’s really in season. It’s called teasing. If she is in heat and is going to accept him, she’ll show for him.” Jack narrated the amorous equine action for Nicki. As if on cue, the mare sashayed her butt in front of the stallion and lifted her tail, holding it to one side. He watched Nicki blush darker as he continued, “Just like that.”
Jared brought the mare into the paddock.
“He’s going to keep a hold on her so he can pull her away if necessary. Since he’s never bred her before, he’s not sure she won’t kick at the stallion instead of stand for him. But he’s already pulled off her rear shoes just in case. If she kicks, she won’t do as much damage.” Jack glanced down at Nicki. “She could also strike out forward, toward the person holding her on the lead rope, so Jared has to watch out for himself too. That’s why neither of us wanted you in there until you’re used to the procedure.”
She glanced up at him and then quickly toward the action in the paddock. It was starting to really heat up. He watched Nicki’s eyes drop to the ground as the stallion mounted the mare and began thrusting.
It was over quick enough, but Nicki looked like she was ready to crawl into a hole by the time it was done. Jack had been watching horses being bred for as long as he could remember and never thought twice about it.
Meanwhile, Nicki reacted as if she were watching the filming of a porno movie.
The two men brought the stallion back out to the far paddock, Jared led the mare to her stall and it was all over.
Nicki mumbled something about having to get Bucky and left Jack to consider all he’d learned and wonder. She was a strange mix of city girl and horsewoman . . . and where the hell was Matt with his answers about her past?
Jack pulled out his cell and dialed. Maybe if he kept pestering Matt, he’d get working a little harder on this.
Matt answered the phone after the first ring. “I was just picking up the phone to call you. I’ve got her.” Jack’s heart pounded faster as Matt said,
“Niccolina Campolini. Born in Brooklyn, New York to Nicholas Campolini, who trains racehorses on Long Island.”
Jack let out a long, slow whistle. “Wow.”
Little old farmer, his ass. He’d heard of the Campolinis. They trained at Belmont racetrack and had a few champions come out of their stables.
“And get this,” Matt continued. “It seems someone filed a missing persons report on her about a month back. A classmate of Niccolina’s called the police after she missed her final exam for an equine vet class she was taking at night school. When the police questioned her father, he told them she was fine. He said she was away on some family emergency, so they dropped it.”
“So what’s really going on? Why is she here mucking stalls and using a fake name?” Jack’s stomach clenched as a sick thought struck him. “Do you think her father was messing around with her and she had to run?”
“I don’t know, Jack. But from what you’ve said about her not answering any questions, it seems she doesn’t want to be found.”
“That rotten, cowardly, son of a—”
“Jack, I recognize that tone of voice. Do not even think of going to New York and dealing out justice yourself. First of all, you don’t know that her father did anything wrong. Second, this Campolini has got mob ties. That might not mean much to a southern boy like you, but take it from a New Yorker. You don’t want to mess with those guys.”
When Jack didn’t answer, Matt said, “Jack. I want you to promise me you won’t do anything.”
“Sure. No problem. Thanks for the info, Matt.”
“Why am I not convinced?” Matt sounded skeptical.
“Because you’re a suspicious bastard?” Jack asked.
Matt laughed. “No, because I know you. Let me make you a deal. You don’t do anything on your own without talking to me first. If you’re going to do something stupid, you might need backup.”
Jack smiled. “You really are bored.”
“No. Well, yes, but I’m more interested in preventing you from starting a war with the mob.”
“A’ight, I promise. That good enough?” It wouldn’t hurt to humor Matt for now. Jack could decide if he was going to proceed on his own or if he really did need backup later.
“It’ll have to do. I’m checking in with you every day and I think I’ll be calling you on your mama’s house phone from now on. Make sure you’re actually where you say you are.”
Matt, his friend and teammate, didn’t trust him? Even if he was planning on going off on his own to handle this thing, Jack still frowned at that thought. “You don’t have my mama’s house phone number.”
“Jack, really, you insult me. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Say hi to Jimmy for me.” Then the line went dead.
He shook his head and walked toward the house. Matt was right. Finding a listed phone number was no challenge for anyone, but particularly not for Matt the computer god.
Besides, Jack wouldn’t put it past Matt to resort to using his implanted GPS tracker to locate him if he had to.
He needed a few minutes and a cold glass of sweet tea to mull over this latest information. Nicki’s lies took on a whole new color now that he’d learned more about her.
Suddenly, she went from wearing a black hat to a white one in his mind.
As his natural instinct to protect her kicked in strong, the questions remained. How did he protect her without letting her know he’d investigated her? And would she even let him help?