Chapter 2
Both Pedro and Myrna paid attention as they drove into a driveway, and it wasn’t long before they looked at each other in confusion.
“Is that military men with guns? What type of place is this?” she asked him.
“I have no idea,” Pedro said as he slowed to a stop, and actually chuckled as he saw someone push one of the armed men to the side and started forward. No one stopped her, and he rolled down his window when she approached him.
“Hey, Kid, what’s up with the military team?”
“Protection. Sheriff Jim called Erin, she called Clark, he called the guys.” The woman looked past Pedro and nodded as she gave a small wave. “Hi, I’m Faith, I’m the resident jockey here at New Double.”
“I’m Myrna Trenton.”
“Hi, Myrna.” She smiled then looked at Pedro. “You have horses?” Her question contained glee, and she rubbed her hands together as she laughed.
“Two, mine and Myrna’s.”
“Okay,” Faith said with a nod. She looked around and grinned when someone drove a golf cart directly at them, then stopped. The man looked to be in his nineties, and he grinned at them.
“That’s Ducky, follow him so we can get the horses into quarantine. They will be in the same barn, but not the same pen.” She started to step off the running board, but whipped back around and looked at Myrna. “Rest assured, you and your horse will be safe here. Those military men?”
“Yes?”
“They are all former military, SEALs, Marines, and even The National Guard, and I believe Ann is former Army, I’m not sure which one though. We can all explain it to you later, but you will be safe here. Trust me.”
“Thank you.” Myrna didn’t know if it was Faith’s words, look of utter confidence, or her actions, but she started to relax when she realized she might actually be safe for the first time in a long time.
Pedro shook his head with a grin when Faith hopped down from the truck, then looked over at Myrna when he put the truck in gear to follow the old man in the golf cart. “That is Faith, I’ve known her since she was eighteen-years-old.”
“Impossible, she’s barely fifteen.”
“Nope, I think she’ll be thirty-nine on her next birthday.”
Myrna looked at him like he had grown several heads, and said that the sky was green.
Pedro laughed, “It’s true, and the military guy she shoved to the side?”
“Yes, what about him?”
“Her boyfriend, Shay Hall, I don’t know what his exact position was, but he had twenty years’ experience with the National Guard.
I met him in Kentucky when she was there to clean up her life.
She’s the one that told me about this job.
If you stick around, you’ll learn that Faith and I work well together, she’s like my little sister, or an annoying younger cousin.
” He grinned when Myrna snorted a laugh.
“This isn’t any of my business, but was there ever anything between the two of you?”
“Not what you’re thinking, it was always work-related, she’s the jockey, I’m the trainer.
” He looked at her with a grin. “The jockey is the person on the back of the horse that rides around the track. She tells me how the horse feels, if it’s pulling this way or that, or if it’s running sluggish.
We work as a team to try to improve the horse’s run time. ”
“Oh.” She nodded her answer and looked around as they followed the golf cart toward a set of three buildings, around the back, and when the man named Ducky stopped, two people, a man and woman came out from the back of the middle barn, and the man directed Pedro to back the trailer up to the open door the woman stood beside.
Myrna and Pedro exited their respective sides of his truck, and went to the back, where the woman stood.
“Hi, I’m Lorissa Gibson, I’m a vet, and a farrier.
This is Tom Stolls, he’s also a vet, and we’re dating.
” She smiled at them, then looked up when several people arrived on foot around the side of the barn.
She turned to them with a smile. “This is Erin Riceman, Naomi Alcot, and Cole Mercury.” They all shook hands, and Erin walked right up to Myrna and held out her left hand to shake.
“Welcome, when Jim called me, I put my people into action. As I heard Faith tell you, every one of the people, both men and women, who were armed when you arrived are former military. I can get into it later, but you are safe here. Your horse will be too.” She looked between Pedro and Myrna, then introduced herself to Pedro. “I’m Erin Riceman.”
“Pedro Alvarez.”
“Welcome, what can you tell me about the horses?” Tom asked as he and Cole started to unlock the back of the horse trailer.
“My ex-boyfriend’s brother stole Sally from my small plot of land when I was in the hospital.
” She pointed to her face, and Pedro felt proud when she lifted her face with no shame for the bruises.
“Randy, the ex, did this to me, and put me in the hospital for six days. When I got out, I went home and found Sally missing. What neither of those assholes know is that I had cameras installed.” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a flash drive.
She handed it to Jim. “I don’t know if you can do anything, because it’s not your jurisdiction.
” She shook her head at her cousin. “We can talk later, but that’s why I didn’t contact you when Randy put me in the hospital. Legally, you couldn’t do anything.”
“Is that why you’re here now? Because you are in my jurisdiction now.”
“Yes, and you are the only family I have left.”
“You also have us,” Erin said. “How long was Sally missing?”
“Definitely the six days I was in the hospital, and one of the nurses drove me home. When I found Sally missing, and checked the camera feed, I grabbed my important papers, took my cash I have been hiding from Randy, and went to find Sally.” She looked over at Jim with a shake of her head.
“I’ll tell you everything once I know Sally’s safe.
” She turned toward the two vets and Erin.
“I was in the hospital for six days and it took me another five to get to Gus’s house.
Once I was on the outskirts of his property, it took me another four days to get to Sally.
” She wrinkled her nose as she turned to the Sheriff.
“Gus is a live-off-the-grid type of person. He is extremely paranoid that the government is coming after him, and his land is booby trapped. When Randy was drunk, or extremely buzzed, he would brag about some of the things they did to set those traps.” She tapped the side of her head.
“I remembered. Anyway, it was fifteen days before I found Sally, and I rode her away from Gus’s property.
We rode for seven days, or rather nights.
We stayed hidden during the daylight. Sally picked up a stone, and I’d been leading her for two days before Pedro found us.
That’s when I called Jim. Now we’re here. ”
“Did Sally get enough food and water after you freed her?” Tom asked.
“I tried to let her eat the grass alongside the road. We stuck to back roads, and we found a pond for her to drink out of. I know she’s in bad shape.
She wasn’t like this before she was stolen, trust me on that.
I love Sally and treated her like my own child.
I would never abuse any animal. I just hope those two assholes didn’t drug her or harm her in any way. ”
“We’ll run all types of tests. Plan on her being in quarantine for two or three weeks.” He turned to Pedro. “And your horse?”
Pedro looked around, held up his hand, and went to his truck.
He brought the papers back with them, and handed them to Cole.
Everyone frowned by that action, but no one said a word when Cole read the papers and jerked his head toward Pedro.
He passed the papers to Naomi, and they both looked at him in shock.
“Are you shitting us?” Naomi demanded as she shook the papers at Pedro.
“No.” He looked at them, then Tom, he wouldn’t look at Faith. “When Faith told me about this job at New Double, I talked with you and Cole. I told you I had a horse that I wanted to bring with me.”
“Yes. Is this that horse?” Naomi shook the papers at him.
“Yes, however, when I told you about him, I hadn’t made the sale final yet.
It took me a year to find him after I returned from Spain, after my parents passed.
When I finally found him, I was in negotiations for six months.
The day I left Kentucky I paid for him, got the bill of sale, loaded him in the trailer, and came here.
” He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed heavily.
“He’s in rough shape, he was beaten, he has scars, and he’s lost a lot of weight.
I couldn’t leave him, I knew he would get a new lease on life if I brought him with me. ”
“Why are you two so upset?” Erin asked in confusion as she pointed to the papers in Naomi’s hand.
Instead of answering, she told Tom to open the door. They led Sally out of the trailer first, and she was led into the barn. Tom went into the trailer, moved the partition to the side, and led the other horse out. As soon as all four legs were on the ground, Faith let out a small cry of anguish.
“Cocoa,” she whispered, and the horse lifted his head and stared at her. Faith immediately went to him and stuck her hand out to the abused horse. It took the horse about thirty seconds to lay his chest over her shoulder. With tears streaming down her face, she turned to everyone watching them.
“This is Chocolate Champion. I rode him in his first Triple Crown win.” She turned to Erin. “This is Champ’s grandfather.”
“Damn, is that why you’re shocked at the paperwork?” Erin asked.
“Yes,” Naomi said, and passed it over. “From the looks of him right now, he’ll never race again, but if he’s still a stallion, we can breed him, and his babies could be famous in the racing world.”
“Don’t put him out to pasture yet,” Pedro said as he walked over and laid his hand gently on Chocolate’s neck. “The first thing we need to do is get him tested, and fattened up.”
“Before we take him inside,” Lorissa said, “He needs a bath, along with Sally.”
Shay stepped forward and held his hand out to the horse, and gently took his halter and led him over to where they bathed the horses.
As he was being cleaned by the two vets, who used the water to disguise them taking blood samples, and checking for any broken or cracked bones, the horse seemed to pick his head up higher.
Pedro and Myrna watched, and when they were done with Chocolate, Shay led him away, and brought Sally out.
They did the same with her, and Ann had gone in to make sure they had plenty of hay, feed, and water.
Once Sally was back in her own pen, the two vets turned to the owners.
Lorissa held up the blood samples they had taken.
“We’ll get these to the lab, and make sure there’s nothing wrong.
If the tests come back clean, we’ll still keep them in these separate pens for two weeks before we can release them in with the others.
” She looked at Myrna. “I’ll be back tomorrow to inspect their feet.
I checked out the one Pedro removed the stone from, and she is still limping, but I didn’t see anything drastically wrong.
I’ll trim her hooves, and check all their feet tomorrow.
Let’s allow them to get some rest and settle in.
” She cleaned up their supplies, and then she and Tom left.
Shay, Faith, and Ann tended to the horses, rubbing the water off them, brushed them out, and got the knots out of their manes and tails.
Sheriff Jim turned to Erin with raised brows. “You got someplace where I can talk with Myrna?”
“Not without us,” Clark said from the open doorway.
He had swung his gun, so it hung off his back.
He walked over and put his arm around Naomi.
“Sheriff, you know me.” He turned to the two new arrivals.
“I’m Clark Riceman, Erin’s brother, and Naomi’s boyfriend.
This might be our land and buildings, but these horses are Naomi’s.
I’m not saying you brought trouble with you.
From what I heard, Myrna, you did everything you could do in order to keep yourself and Sally safe.
Now it’s our turn to keep you safe while you are here.
I want to know what we’re up against, and how much protection we need to plan for.
” He turned to look at his sister with a raised brow.
“Are you going to offer her a job?”
“Yes, and I’ll have Duane and Jake put a rush on the background check.” She turned and explained what she meant by that. “How well do you know horses?”
“Nothing about racehorses, but I know Sally.”
“Good, once you’re healed, you can start working here.”
“But, I don’t have anything.” She sighed in defeat.
“I’m sorry, I was so focused on getting the ownership papers of Sally, my own important papers, and my money, that I didn’t even bring my own clothes.
I’ve been in these for a week.” She shook her head.
“I would wash my undergarments during the day, when we waited for the sun to go down.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Erin said as she pulled her phone, and looked between her brother and Sheriff Jim. “Take everyone to the holiday meeting room at Erin’s Way. Jason and Ilsa’s office.”
“Got it,” Clark said as he kissed the side of Naomi’s head, and walked away, pulling his own phone as he left. Erin did the same as she turned away, and dialed her own phone. She turned back and called out.
“One hour!” Clark waved as he continued to walk away.
Pedro looked at everyone with raised brows, and Cole snapped to attention. “Okay, when you came in, did you see the line of trailers?”
“Yes.”
“Go park yours at the end, then we’ll be right there.”
Shay jumped in the front seat to go with him while Faith walked over to Myrna.
“Everything will be okay. We’re family here, and we’ll take care of you. Come with me.” She paused and looked at Myrna head on. “You can trust us.”
“What do I have to lose?” she shook his head and looked at her cousin.
“She’s right. You can trust everyone that works for the Ricemans.”
“Okay.”