Golden Filly Collection Two (62 page)
The other jockey went for the whip. Trish loosened the reins, but when her mount failed to respond, she smacked the filly with a right-handed stroke and then another.
But the spurt of speed wasn’t enough. They came in with a show by only a nose.
“Sorry, girl. That was my fault.” She stood in her stirrups to bring the filly back down.
You should a gone to the whip sooner,
she scolded herself.
Not all horses are voice-trained like yours are, and you know it.
After adding a couple of choice names to the roster, she apologized to the trainer as well.
The woman shook her head. “I thought you brought her in real well. That’s the best she’s ever done. You can ride for me anytime.”
But the vote of confidence failed to override the berating Trish was still giving herself when Amy fell in with her. As Amy opened the gate, Trish felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. She stopped and looked around, seeking a strange face or something out of the ordinary, like Amy had told her to look for.
“What is it?” Amy had placed herself in front of Trish nearly before Trish stopped.
“I don’t know. Maybe just the rain making my back chilled.” Trish turned at the tug on her elbow and continued up the hall to the jockey room. “I didn’t see or hear anything—just all of a sudden, I had the creeps.”
“Glad to hear you have those senses. Makes my job easier.” Amy hustled her from the silks room to the jockey room. “Next time, don’t stop. You set yourself up as a target that way.”
Trish felt as spooky as her horse for the next race. Rain falling steadily served to curb the audience excitement, and the snap and whoompf of an opening umbrella made her horse snort and leap to the side.
Her heart started pounding before the umbrella finished stretching. She ordered her hands to relax, loosening one finger at a time. The urge to look over her shoulder struck so powerfully she almost grabbed her chin to keep her concentration to the front.
You’re nuts to react like this.
She took up the inner scolding again.
Your job is to ride this horse, right now, to the best of your ability. Not look over your shoulder because you’ve got a bad case of the spooks.
The horses entered their gates willingly as if they all understood that the faster they got this over with, the faster they could get out of the rain. The shot, the gates swung open, and Trish forgot all but the horse beneath her and those around her. In the number four slot, they broke in the middle of the pack. The eight animals bunched around the turn, and being right in the middle, Trish had no place to go. Not without bumping someone else.
She ignored the urge to scream her frustration at the heavens. Would someone get moving and get out of her way? But when the chance came, the filly took too long to move and the hole closed. Down the stretch when the horses strung out, Trish, even going to a steady whip, could move her no farther than fourth.
Start in the middle and end in the middle.
If Trish had given herself a tongue-lashing before, it was only a practice run. Now she flayed herself with both anger and purpose. She’d done a terrible job with this horse.
All because you can’t keep your mind on what you’re doing! If you can’t do better than this, stay home.
Patrick just shook his head when she made that same statement back at the barns. “Ye know, lass, you can’t blame yourself for everything. Those things just happen.”
Trish shot him a look guaranteed to fry eggs.
David’s comment earned an identical look.
“Trish thought she sensed something wrong back there,” Amy said.
Trish felt like throttling her bodyguard.
David grabbed Trish’s arm and brought her to a stop. “What did you see?”
“Nothing, big brother.” Trish put all the sarcasm she could muster into her voice. “It was nothing at all.”
“That’s it, I’m staying home.” David dropped her arm and headed back to the office. “Mom can cancel my flight.”
“Yeah, right. As if you could protect me or something.” Trish strode up the walk. “Let’s just get home. I’m freezing.”
By the time they crossed the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River, neither Trish nor David were speaking, especially not to each other.
“Have you any idea what gave you the feeling of being watched?” Amy finally broke the silence.
Trish shook her head. “I’ve tried to figure it out, but nothing. Maybe I’m just being paranoid or something.”
“Gut feelings are pretty important. I’m just glad you’re not racing for the next two days. Maybe we’ll have a breakthrough by then and you won’t have to worry anymore.”
“I wish.” The shiver that shimmied up Trish’s back had nothing to do with the dampness of the day.
“But, Mom, you’ve always said an extra pair of eyes or hands or whatever makes for light work. In this case, the more of us to watch out for Trish the better. If I miss a few classes, it’s no big deal.”
“It
is
a big deal, but you don’t have to worry about it, because you’ll be there.” Marge planted her hands on her hips and the set of her chin warned everyone not to argue with her.
“Mother, be reasonable. You and Trish could be in real danger—at least Trish is. They keyed her car and shot at her, remember?”
“Oh, I remember all right. I was there. But you can’t guard your sister and neither can I. Amy is doing her best, and the rest we have to trust to God.”
“He didn’t seem to do so well last time,” David muttered under his breath.
Trish leaned her hips against the counter, sipping a cup of hot chocolate. One eyebrow raised at David’s comment. But she kept her mouth shut—with difficulty.
Let them battle it out for a change,
she thought.
They don’t pay much attention to what I say anyway.
Amy entered the kitchen and joined Trish against the counter. “Would you like the latest bulletin?” she asked when a silence lasted more than a second or two. When the two turned to face her, she included Trish in her smile.
“Parks says Highstreet has a solid alibi, so that, at least temporarily, leaves him out of the picture. Parks wondered if there was anyone you might have offended at the track, Trish, that could do a copycat crime? Since this was so well publicized, thanks to our esteemed press corps, things like that happen more than you know.”
Trish looked to both Marge and David and then shook her head. “I’ve been gone so much, and then helping to solve the problem out at the track, that I’ve hardly even seen anyone, let alone ticked them off.”
“Could anyone be jealous?”
“Course, she won the Triple Crown, didn’t she?” David crossed both his arms over his chest and his ankles as he leaned back against the counter. “And she drives a flashy red convertible, travels around the country, gets her name in all the papers, has the money to buy what she wants. I’m sure there’s no one the least bit jealous.”
“David.”
“Gets shot at, becomes a heroine…”
“We know all those things, David.” Amy’s quiet voice stopped his tirade like his mother’s hadn’t been able.
“Then why don’t you do something about it?”
“We are.”
“They are.” Marge added.
“I’ll get it.” Trish pushed herself upright and crossed to the ringing phone. “Runnin’ On Farm. Trish speaking.”
“I can tell.”
“Who is this?”
“Don’t you wish you knew.”
T
rish’s hand shook so hard she dropped the phone.
“Dial tone,” Amy said after grabbing the receiver. “What did he say?”
“I—I didn’t hear all of it.” Trish wrapped her arms around her middle to keep from shattering into small pieces. “To—to watch out.”
David slammed his hand down on the counter. “And you think I’m leaving here? No way!”
“Okay, let’s all calm down.” Amy raised her hands for silence. “From now on, Trish, you don’t answer the phone. I will. We’ll put a tap on it so maybe we can get him that way. David, I know you mean well and I appreciate what you’re trying to do. But right now, we’re going to try to go on with life as usual. Please, let your mother take you to your plane as you planned.”
“The best thing you can do is pray for all of us.” Marge placed her hands on her son’s shoulders and stared deep into his eyes.
“Doesn’t seem to do much good. Look at all that has happened.”
“But, David, no one’s been hurt.”
“What about Trish’s car?”
“As I said, no one’s been hurt. God is doing His job; now let’s all of us do ours.”
“And mine is going back to school.” David sighed and shook his head. “This is against my better judgment.”
“I know. And I appreciate that.”
Trish watched the interchange between the two people she loved most on this earth and marveled at the way they understood each other.
Dad and I were like that,
she thought.
I miss that. Dad, I miss you. What would you do with all this stuff that is going on?
David gathered his things as his mother requested and brought his bags to the door. “You be careful, Tee. Whoever this guy is, you can’t count on him to make sense.”
“I know, and you take care of yourself.” Trish fought back the burning behind her eyes, and she wrapped both arms around her brother. “I miss you when you’re gone. Now that you’ve been home again, I figured out how much.”
“I’ll see you in Kentucky in less than two weeks, then it’ll be Christmas before you know it.”
“Thanks. With all I have to do, that doesn’t sound too comforting.”
As soon as Marge and David left, Amy got on the phone to order a tap and bring Parks up-to-date on the latest development.
Trish wandered back to her bedroom to change clothes and head for the barn. She whistled for Caesar and pounded down the cedar deck stairs fully expecting the collie to bound into view. She whistled again. No yipping, cavorting bundle of energy danced around her legs and tried to lick her nose.
Fear niggled at her mind.
Must be a female in heat somewhere around here.
She forced herself to think of reasons for his absence.
Or he’s off chasing rabbits or…
She couldn’t keep the thoughts going. Caesar
never
left the farm when they weren’t home. He took his guard-dog duties as seriously as did the Secret Service around the president.
Trish whistled again. “Caesar! Hey, fella! Caesar!”
The horses whinnied from down in the paddocks. A crow cawed from up in a fir tree. But no sable collie with a snowy white ruff whimpered an apology for being late.
Trish debated. Should she tell Amy that Caesar was missing? Or should she just get the chores done so she could go look for him?
God, help me.
She shot her arrow prayer heavenward and trotted down to the barns. Tonight she would put all the horses in their stalls and feed them there.
“You guys seen Caesar?” she asked the nickering babies. Miss Tee and Double Diamond greeted her with tossing heads and quivering nostrils. They lipped their carrots and nuzzled her shoulder as if she were a long-lost friend. “Don’t care for the yucky weather, huh?” Trish snapped the lead shanks onto their halters and trotted the young horses up to the barn.
Where was Caesar? Fear dried her mouth so her whistles lost their soar.
Old gray Dan’l, the gelding who’d helped train her in the fine arts of Thoroughbred racing, whinnied repeatedly, as if afraid she might forget him. Trish trotted back down the lane and stopped at his paddock. “Hey, easy on the fence.” She pushed him back while hugging his gray neck at the same time. “Come on, let’s get you up to the barn. You seen Caesar?”
Dan’l munched his carrot without answering her.
By the time she’d fed everybody, dusk faded into darkness. The drifting mist caught rainbows in the area lit by the mercury yard lamp. She trotted up the front walk and entered through the front door.
Amy was still on the phone.
“Caesar’s missing.” Trish grabbed the truck keys off the pegboard by the phone and headed for the door again.
“Hang on, Trish. I’ll come with you.” Amy finished her conversation and hung up. “Is this unusual?”
“He never leaves, especially when we’re not home.” Trish waited by the door for Amy to get her coat.