Games (Timeless Series) (11 page)

Watching her go
, he shook his head. “Women!” Colin muttered under his breath, turning and storming off.

“You all know why I called this meeting,” he said
, entering the room. “I’d like to get to the bottom of what’s going on.” He nodded toward Simon. “This is Simon Harrington, a friend and fellow horse breeder from Virginia. A couple of incidents have happened there, so I asked him to listen in today,” he explained to the men and one woman seated around the large round table. Only a few present knew he was a US marshal. Both Simon and Colin thought it best to keep it that way.

Colin
sat, then went from person to person at the table asking questions and listening to the men talk about other incidents with the track. As each spoke, it became more obvious the episodes were escalating.

Simon sat back, surreptitiously looking at those seated
and noting at least two men he already knew by name, before moving on to those Colin had introduced. Breeders like Thorpe, including the only woman in the group, Caroline Hillier, as well as several businessmen, like Clark, who were backing the venture, and a couple of builders.

When the last gentleman, a foreman who’d been hired to supervise the building of the grandstand, finished
with his account of the various problems he encountered, the room quieted.

Minutes later, Colin Thorpe’s rich voice interrupted the silence
. “Someone wants to delay the progress of all aspects of our venture. Why? When we figure out the motive, maybe we can solve the puzzle. Gentlemen, and Mrs. Hillier, we need to attack the problem logically. Since we all have a stake, it would behoove us to work together. I’d like each of you to make a list. Include those who would benefit from such a delay and anyone against this undertaking from the beginning. Maybe something will pop out at us.”

“Do you think it could be someone we know?” This question came from Benjamin
Edwards, a breeder who owned a stud farm between Frankfort and Lexington.

“We can’t rule it out
.” Colin slowly glanced from one individual to the next, making eye contact until his gaze had made a full circle around the table. “Hell, for all I know it could be someone in this room.”

Harold Bentley
jumped up and said loudly, “That’s an outrageous idea, Thorpe. We all have a vested interest in this venture succeeding.”

“Bentley’s right,” Albert
Jeffers, another breeder, agreed. “We don’t need you to throw out doubt and pit us against one another.”

Voices erupted in anger after
Jeffers spoke, all agreeing with him.

“I meant no insult
.” Colin held up a hand to silence them. “I was just pointing out the obvious. This is becoming more serious by the day. The horses’ injuries and deaths aren’t any more coincidental than the other incidents. I’ll need information on them as well. I believe they are tied to the delays and everything is linked to the upcoming derby in some way. We just need to find the connection. The type of information I’m looking for relates to the animals’ care. Who had access? What was going on when the incidents occurred? Question everything. I know accidents can happen. Horses die every day, but this is all too pat to be attributed to accident or to fate. And lastly, for you breeders. Talk with your managers. Question anyone who seems suspicious. If you’ve hired anyone in the past couple of months, I want to know about it. We need to check out any lead, no matter how small.”

Edwards
’s voice rose above the din of shouts that had erupted. “You’re off target, Thorpe. I have a hard time believing anyone I know would kill one of my beautiful thoroughbreds, and asking me to believe it could be someone in this room is expecting too much.”

Since it was well
-known the man treated his beautiful thoroughbreds callously, a look of annoyance passed over Colin’s face before he spoke. “I don’t think so either, Edwards. But we can’t ignore the possibility, nor can we ignore these incidents.”

S
omeone shouted, “What are we going to do in the meantime? How can we protect ourselves?”

“Yes, Colin
. What do you recommend we do? I can’t afford to lose another thoroughbred before I sell my place.” This comment came from the lone woman sitting among the group. Caroline Hillier, a widowed breeder, was in the process of selling the stud farm her dead husband left her.

Colin shrugged
. “Increase our vigilance. We can post a guard at the work site. Have the workers there keep their eyes open. If the workmen are watching for more trouble, it’s much more difficult for someone to get away with mayhem. Our thoroughbreds are also at risk. As Mrs. Hillier said, they are too valuable and can’t easily be replaced. I’m not taking any chances. I plan on having someone guarding my stock at all times.” He stopped talking while meeting several glances around the table, including Caroline’s, before continuing. “You other breeders should do the same.”

The men were silent as Colin stood
. “Gentlemen, get me your lists and comments as soon as possible. I’ll be in town for the next week. The sooner we get valid information, the sooner we can unravel this mystery.”

W
hile he walked out of the room everyone started yelling at once, each giving an opinion on what to do and who could be responsible.

Simon sat in the midst of the comments, silently taking in what was being said
. When talk died down, he too got up and left the room.

Another person at the table also remained mute, watching first Thorpe, then Simon Harrington leave the room
, and thinking, “Trusting fools, all of them. Everything was going according to plan. Nothing could stop the momentum now that the game board was set. Their anticipated vigilance would make no difference, mainly because it had been anticipated. Things were definitely becoming more interesting. Even with Thorpe’s warning, these simpletons would never figure it out. Despite extra eyes and ears paying closer attention, no one would ever suspect the wolf in sheep’s clothing among the lambs.

~~

“That was a clever ploy, throwing out the bit about suspecting someone in the room,” Simon said, chuckling. He and Colin were seated in the hotel barroom, in deep discussion about all that had transpired.

“I’m not totally convinced it is someone we know
. But there were several present who weren’t too disturbed by the news. Did you happen to notice their responses?”

“Yes
. Was everyone who had losses at the meeting? We can probably rule out those breeders, but I’ll still want to talk to them individually.”

“Good idea
. I was surprised to see Caroline Hillier at the meeting, despite having lost a horse.”

Simon glanced at Colin with raised eyebrows
. “Why wouldn’t she attend? She should be interested in what’s going on.”

Colin’s face took on a distasteful look
. “I’m wondering how interested she really is.”

“Oh?” Simon asked as a waiter came up to them and place two glasses of bourbon on the table, one in front of each man.

Colin was silent until the waiter was out of earshot. “Actually, Hillier Meadows was her husband’s place before he died. It’s always had a good reputation. Now it’s Caroline’s. She hasn’t shown much interest in her farm until she began the process of selling.”

“Still, I would think all of this affects her, even though she’s selling.”

Colin snorted. “You’d think so, but the woman isn’t concerned about what happens to her horseflesh. She’s more interested in riding men than horses.”

“She sounds charming
.” Simon chuckled, meeting Colin’s eyes before taking a drink of bourbon. He shook his head and his grin stayed in place. “I have no problems being ridden by a beautiful widow.”

Colin’s bark of laughter
rang throughout the bar. “I’d wear spurs with her, Harrington, if you’re truly interested.”

“I’ll keep your warning in mind
.” Simon’s smile faded from his eyes as his mind shifted gears to the problem at hand. “And hold off on all riding until I’ve assessed the situation for myself. Since she’s incurred a loss I want to talk to her.” Simon was silent, going over his list, before he spoke again. “I’m left with ten men as possible suspects.”

“I can vouch for Clark and Gibbons,” Colin said
. “Both are good friends. I see no motive. I personally know neither has money problems. So that lowers your list to eight.”

His eyebrows shot up
. “Fine. I’ll cross them off temporarily. That’ll make my job a little easier. I’ll start with bank records.”

Colin nodded, taking a sip of his drink
. “Greed has to be behind this. But damn, it makes no sense. What possible motive would anyone in the room have in delaying the building?”

“God only knows
.” Simon offered a negligent shrug. “I’ve seen some pretty heinous crimes committed by people who have no interest in money. Greed is a strong motivator, but in these crimes, greed wasn’t even on the list as to the reasons why. How long do you think it will take them to come up with information?”

“A couple of days at most.”

“Good
. I’ll have plenty of time to investigate those farms where the horses were injured or ended up dead. I’ll start with the Hillier farm.”

“In the meantime, what would you like me to do?” Thorpe asked, leaning forward.

“Nothing. Bow out of it. Parker Davis, my partner, and I can handle things from here on out.”

“Look, Harrington, there’s no way I’m staying out of it
.” Impatience sounded in his voice. “This has hit too close to home and has become personal. I can be of help. Just let me know what you need.”

Simon quietly observed his determined expression
and contemplated his words. “All right. I can use an extra pair of eyes and ears. Keep both open. Talk with the workers…see if anyone remembers anything suspicious. They’ll be more forthcoming with you than me. But don’t act on anything until you’ve talked to me. Are we clear?”

Colin nodded
. “Yes. We’re clear.”

“Parker’s checking out other leads as to motive
. He’ll be staying with Bentley once he’s in the area at the end of the week. We’re meeting in Frankfort. Since you’re determined to help, you can join us if you’d like.”

“No,
it’s best if I remain right here until this gets resolved. With Gus at the farm, I have no worries in that respect, especially now that you’ll be staying there. I have a couple of men watching. I’m not taking the horses’ deaths lightly. Word is, they were all hopefuls in the upcoming derby. Don’t know for sure, because there are still several races to be run to qualify, and we won’t know for a couple more months which horses those are.”

“
Then let’s go over all the pertinent facts to make sure I have them all. Later I’ll compare them to what I already have and look for connections. If the information rolls around in my head, maybe over time something will become more clear.”

Colin nodded
. “First, we have someone sabotaging the railroad tracks. That, by itself, is a huge undertaking. Next, we have the building delays.” He stopped speaking and looked over at Simon. When Simon met his look with raised eyebrows, Colin added, “I was just thinking. Whoever is involved has to have some kind of connection to that room. In order to wreak the kind of havoc these incidents have caused, he has to have a working knowledge of what’s going on—schedules and such. Every incident has been highly effective in creating delay. That takes planning and detailed information. There are too many different businesses involved to be effective without being close to the source.”

“Yes, but someone from the outside can get those details if he has an individual or individuals on the inside working.”

Thorpe sighed. “Let’s assume there is at least one inside person not in the room. If he’s not from the room, he can’t have information on all of the different aspects of the case. There has to be two or three working from the inside.”

“That’s a more likely scenario,” Simon agreed
. “I think several individuals are responsible, even if one is tied with the room. What else have we got?”

The two spent the next forty-five minutes reviewing each incident, noting the damage and length of delay
. After discussing the episodes with the horses, Simon finished his drink and set the empty glass back on the table.

“I’ll be leaving for Twin Oaks, is it?” He glanced up
. At Colin’s nod, he continued. “First thing in the morning. I’ll check out the Hillier farm since it’s on the way.”

“Tonight I’ll write explicit instructions in a missive to give to Gus, my manager
. He’s in charge in my absence and will make sure you’re comfortable in my home. If you need anything, just ask him. I’m not certain yet when Libby and I will be returning.”

“Shall we meet this coming Wednesday to compare notes?
I’ll take the morning train. Hopefully by then we’ll have something more than conjecture to go on.” Simon pushed away from the table and stood.

Rising, Colin stuck out his hand
. “That sounds agreeable.”

Simon grasped his outstretched hand and grinned.
“Well, I’ll take my leave,” he said. “I’m sure you have other more pressing issues for the rest of the evening besides this case, especially since you have such a beautiful wife waiting for you.”