Chapter Eighteen #2
Atticus wore his concern on his face for me to see.
“You know I’ll take care of things here.
” I nodded and hugged Atticus, then rushed to the car, waving at Leon, who was trying to comfort Sage and Hallie.
I texted back and forth with my pilot—the only good thing about this situation was that it was less than an hour’s flight to get back home.
If I’d been somewhere like Shanghai, I’d have been crawling out of my skin.
When all the arrangements had been made, I stared out the window of the car, and the images of my father’s “accident” came firing into my mind with the force of a million bullets. Of Genny falling, Dahlia crushing her in front of a packed crowd. Now this.
What or who the fuck were we facing?
One thing was for certain: Over the past few months, I’d fooled myself, believing that I could have any kind of normal life while this threat hovered over our heads. It was a fantasy, a mistake I wouldn’t—couldn’t—make again.
I had to find out who wanted me destroyed, once and for all. I couldn’t put anyone else at risk. I couldn’t put Hallie at risk. I hadn’t told her, but I fucking loved that woman with everything I had left within me. She owned my soul. I had to find a way to keep her safe.
I’d do whatever it took.
I ran toward the house, seeing black smoke billowing in the air as I did. Forrest opened the door; Felix was standing behind him. “What happened?” I said, not even saying hello. Was our stud on fucking fire?
Forrest’s expression was livid. Even the quiet and introverted Felix looked murderous. “They attacked our family barn,” Forrest said.
I blanched. “The horses . . . Henry . . .”
“They’re shook up,” Forrest said. “But . . . they’re okay.” I smelled smoke again and looked toward the stables.
“Jesus . . .” I said, rubbing my forehead and saw that our private arena was in shambles. The roof had caved in and the exterior of the stables beside it were blackened by the flames.
“The police have just left,” Felix said. “The fire chief is still here if you want to talk with him?”
“Yes, immediately,” I said, wondering how the hell this could happen to a state-of-the-art barn.
“What have they said?” I questioned as Felix and Forrest led me in the direction of the fire chief. “Arson?”
Forrest nodded. He threw me my wax jacket. He and Felix put on their coats too, and I followed them outside, where an older man who I presumed was the fire chief was waiting.
“Mr. Knighton?” he said as I shook his hand. I nodded. “Sorry about your barn. But I was doing my assessment and wanted to flag a few things up to you.”
“Of course,” I said.
“We’ve got the inspector out here, and he was checking over the barn. You have the best fire-suppression materials, but on initial testing, it looks like someone painted on some kind of accelerant.” My stomach dropped to the ground.
“What?”
The fire chief nodded. “Luckily, because your barn was so high tech, the materials underneath the accelerant slowed it enough for your horses to make it out okay.”
I looked to Forrest and Felix. “It was an internal job?” They looked as furious as I felt.
“I can’t verify that. Seems you have a lot of day workers and deliveries et cetera coming to the farm. It could be anyone. Or,” the fire chief said, “it could be an inside job. The police will take over that investigation.”
I would also be talking to every member of staff myself. If someone was working here under nefarious reasons, I’d flush them out and try my best not to kill them.
“It seems as though someone took an open flame to a concentrated area of accelerant that quickly spread. Again, the saving grace was that the alarm and sprinkler system worked, and the treated wood and insulation underneath slowed the flames enough for your staff to get the horses out before they inhaled too much smoke.” The fire chief held out his hand again.
“When we have the final report, we’ll be in touch. ”
“Thank you,” I said, and turned back to my cousins. “Gather all the staff, we need to vet them all. Immediately.”
Forrest nodded and turned away to make a phone call to Victoria, our estate manager.
“Where are the horses?” I asked Felix.
“This way,” he said.
We headed for the stables to the west of our house. “We got one of the fuckers who started it,” Forrest said, catching up to us, and I stopped dead in the field we were crossing.
“One of the arsonists?” I asked.
Forrest nodded. “The police have him in custody.”
“He stabbed one of our security team, but we managed to subdue him until help arrived. We’re pretty sure he wasn’t working alone, but there was no one else on the premises, and the twat isn’t talking.”
“I need to tell Phillip,” I said, and pulled out my phone.
“I’ve already done it,” Forrest said, and I exhaled. Fuck. “Here. Read this.” Forrest passed me a photocopy of a new threatening letter.
It read:
If I can’t get you, I will destroy what you love most: your horses.
Lord Henry and the rest of the family’s pets will fall, as will your empire.
“When did this arrive?” I asked Forrest. My voice had lost its edge.
What they’d done to poor Dahlia—twice now—was terrible, but to burn down an entire stall block with all the horses inside was on another level of evil.
Thank God for the security team, the yard staff, and the fire-suppression upgrade on the barn, or they would have killed them all.
I needed to make sure the injured guard and his family were well compensated for what had happened.
I rubbed my head. It was throbbing.
“It came yesterday. The police have taken all the previous letters. I shared our concerns that the last officer on our case was too dismissive. I may have also been a privileged cunt and reminded them of our social standing.” Forrest hated pulling that shit, but I agreed, needs must. “I’ve pulled some strings for our concerns to be taken much more seriously, and let’s just say that our case will now be in the hands of Scotland Yard. ”
“Fuck, Forrest,” I said, and put my hand on his shoulder. “Thank you.”
He dropped a kiss on my head. “Look what happens when you let your family help.” Forrest pointed at Felix. “But it was Felix here who got us an in at Scotland Yard. We’re a family, Jasper. We all face what comes our way. End of story.”
Felix’s phone rang. “It’s Atticus,” he said. “I said I’d call him to explain once we’d spoken to you.” I nodded and Felix stepped away to catch up Atticus on everything.
“Fuck,” I said, when the stables came into view. “This was a close one.”
“Too close,” Forrest said. “Whatever fuckers are coming for us . . . I want their heads to roll.” Forrest blew out a long breath.
“The horses were so scared, Jas. I keep thinking of what could have happened if the perpetrator hadn’t been stopped.
He was clearly a paid assailant, but he’s keeping mum about who hired him.
Someone has something over his head that’s assured his silence, for sure.
I gave Phillip access to his phone details before the police got here.
Hopefully he’ll be able to pull something from it.
Though it looks like a burner, so I’m not sure how much information that’d hold. ”
Several security guards were patrolling the stable block. I nodded at them as we passed the barn to arrive at the field that the horses had all been turned out in temporarily. The first person I saw was Genny, who was at the nearest fence around the paddock.
“Jasper,” she said, tears in her eyes. She was next to Forrest’s horse, Aurelia, running calming strokes down her face. The mare leaned into Genny’s touch for comfort.
I rushed to my sister and wrapped my arms around her. She was in her wheelchair, and she broke apart when I held her. “Why is all of this happening to us?” she cried. A lump built in my throat, and when I pulled back, I kissed her on the forehead.
“We’ll find out who is responsible, Gen.
I swear it.” I felt the weight of endless threats bearing down me again.
I wanted Hallie to be here so badly, but I also wanted her in Paris.
I’d already doubled the security on the team.
At this point, it was ridiculous—other riders must be wondering what was happening with our team, but right now, I didn’t give a fuck.
Safety first. Leon had confirmed the new guards had arrived, and he and Atticus had given them their orders.
Every one of our traveling staff members now had a personal detail, and the stables were completely covered, day and night.
From the horsebox drivers to the grooms, everyone was being protected.
The security team would also be keeping a close eye on our staff in case they were ever acting suspicious.
The staff didn’t know that, of course, but I couldn’t take any risks.
A familiar huff had me turning, and my beauty of a horse was tossing his head at the paddock’s fence, trying to get my attention.
Henry was restless, that much I could see, so I went to my prize stallion and put my hands on his cheeks, pressing my forehead to his.
“I’m sorry, boy,” I said, and felt the emotions I’d pushed down clog my throat.
I stayed there for several minutes, patting his neck and checking him over.
It was him they wanted, because whoever wanted to take us down, they wanted me destroyed most of all.
“They won’t get near him again,” Forrest said. I turned around, and Forrest, Felix, and Genny were there, watching me.
I nodded, then sat down on a bench that overlooked the paddock. Felix sat down beside me, then Forrest, and Genny pulled herself closer to us too. The mood was solemn as we watched our equine family in the field. I checked over every horse with my eyes.
“Has the vet been?” I asked. I felt exhausted. Everyone did.