Safe Haven

“You don’t have to rub it in,” she mumbled softly, but not so softly he didn’t hear.

He hid a grin as he pulled a full syringe from his shirt pocket. “Those kids are used to working in the heat.” He gave Possum a shot.

“How are the other horses, Logan?”

“Mac’s Lady isn’t going to make it, but Dad’s not ready to let go of her yet.”

He saw her eyes fill with tears. “What happened?” she asked. “Have you found out what made them sick?”

The truth could send her running to Haven to jump on the first available bus. He glanced at her again. Disheveled and tired, she still managed to look tempting. And strong. Nevertheless he sidestepped her question. “Pierce’s taking samples of the feed to be analyzed.”

“Do you have any ideas?” she asked.

Strong and persistent. He sighed. “There’s little doubt that they were poisoned.”

“Oh, no! Surely you’re wrong. Who would do something like that? And why?”

Logan shrugged, unwilling to put words to his demons.

Avery caught sight of Raul and Tony inching closer, their youthful curiosity aroused enough that caution was forgotten. She tried to keep her gaze on Logan so the boys wouldn’t feel as if they were suspects. But she sensed a change in Raul’s and Tony’s demeanor.

Raul’s stiff stance radiated outrage. Black eyes narrowed and shimmered like polished rock. The jerk of his head and the defiant flip of his long ponytail were further outward signs of anger. “Doc, we didn’t...” For all his bravado, words failed him.

Tony looked scared sick and seemed unable to say anything at all.

Logan glanced around. “I never thought you did, Raul.”

“But Sheriff Middleton will, won’t he?”

Tony found his voice. “I swear, Doc.”

Logan began examining the other two horses. “Let me handle the sheriff.”

“But—” Raul began.

“Raul, I’ve seen you with the horses. Whatever your problems at home or school, I know that it isn’t in any of you to hurt an animal.” Whatever had almost killed off his stock was far more sophisticated than anything a bunch of teenage boys could come up with. Logan patted each horse, pleased to see the medicine and attention were working. “Keep them moving, boys. Don’t let them cool down yet.”

“They’re scared and worried,” Avery said, when the two youths had led their charges away.

“I know. No matter what we find out, there will always be those who believe the kids had something to do with this mess.”

Avery cringed. “The stigma never goes away, no matter how innocent you are.”

Logan didn’t comment on her statement, but tucked the tidbit of information away to mull over later. “Give a holler when you’ve had enough, and someone will spell you.”

Avery returned to circling the paddock with Possum. The only real relief in the long afternoon heat came when they stopped and allowed the horses to drink. After she and the boys hosed down the sweatsoaked animals, they took advantage of the cool water themselves and indulged in a friendly water fight. Afterward, the boys loosened up enough talk about themselves. Their crimes were so typical of teenage boys that she laughed. But it seemed parents, teachers and the law of Haven, Texas, kept a careful and collective watch on their young people. As Avery resumed walking Possum, she secretly admired their efforts.

“Are you sleepwalking or daydreaming?”

Startled, Avery jerked to a stop. “Hi, Mr. Monahan.”

“I thought we’d agreed you’d call me Mac.”

Whatever she was about to say was drowned out by the roar of an engine. “What’s that?”

“Tanner finally got the tractor running. He’s going to bury those poor horses.”

“I’m sorry Mac’s Lady didn’t make it.”

“She was a fine quarter horse. Logan trained her and Tanner rode her at the rodeos before he bought Molly.” Mac waved at the boys, then pulled off his hat, scrubbed at his lined face and sighed loud and long. “This is a sad day, I tell you, when someone’s so evil they take their hate out on defenseless animals.”

“Does anyone have any idea who would do such an awful thing?”

Mac’s lips thinned and the expression in his hooded eyes looked downright deadly. He shook his head. “Ain’t got a clue. ’Course, you might ask Logan that same question.” He paused. “Who knows, he might just tell you. But the boy’s being his typical closemouthed self with us.”

They walked side by side around the paddock, silent, both listening to the clamor of the tractor. Eventually the noise faded away to a faint rumble, and Mac took the lead rope from Avery. “I hope all this hasn’t scared you. I mean, you ain’t leaving, are you?”

The question brought an immediate response, one she didn’t have to consider. “No.” Where would she go? She would have loved to ask Mac why he’d been so determined to hire someone to take care of Logan, when it was as obvious as the nose on his face that Logan was capable of looking after himself.

“Why don’t you take a breather? I’ll stay with Possum.” When she hesitated, he said, “Go on, get out of this heat. You might check with Logan and see if he needs you for anything else.”

Avery stopped just inside the barn door to let her eyes adjust to the darkened interior. She savored the coolness for a moment, then made a face as she caught a strong scent of disinfectant. As she moved past the line of empty stalls, the smell became sharper until it stung her nose and made her eyes water. She halted near the open doors of the two stalls where the horses had died, and saw Benton and Tom, outfitted with rubber boots and face masks, scrubbing the floors.

Just then she heard the deep tones of men’s voices coming from the direction of Logan’s barn office. Though she couldn’t make out the words, she could hear the anger. As she rushed around the corner on her way there to ask Logan if there was anything else she could do, she realized her mistake. Sound traveled oddly in the barn and she’d misjudged where the voices were coming from.

She blundered into a solid body and was thrown off balance. Her hat tumbled from her head. As she struggled to right herself, the man whipped around to catch her. In that awkward and embarrassing couple of seconds, as she tried to regain her footing and apologize, she spotted the silver, five-pointed star pinned to his shirt. The shock of seeing a policeman stopped her cold. When she was finally able to breathe, she strangled on her own air and disguised her fear and nervousness with a coughing fit.

The distraction afforded her time to recover her wits. Obviously the man with the badge was the sheriff Logan had mentioned earlier. But the distraction also cost her. Now she had the concerned solicitation of three men focused on her. Waving them away, she recovered and forced herself to smile. But like a guilty criminal, she couldn’t bring herself to hold the sheriff’s steadfast gaze. Instead, she stared at the other man standing beside Logan.

He had to be the brother she hadn’t yet met—Pierce. He had the family’s good looks, though he wasn’t as tall as Tanner, nor as muscular as Logan. His eyes were hazel instead of brown or black, and they lacked the compassion and passion of Logan’s, the fire and flirtation of Tanner’s. But his gaze held something that startled her. She recognized the look of someone living in his own personal hell. Her mirror reflected the same expression every morning before she was able to hide it.

Logan stepped into the growing silence. “Avery, this is Sheriff Middleton—Ross.” He grasped Avery’s elbow and half turned her. “And this is my brother Pierce. He’s the middle brother.”

“You’re the hired girl from Houston?” Ross asked, studying Avery intently.

Avery was relieved that he scooped up her hat and held it out to her. It gave her somewhere to look besides his eyes. Take the hat, Avery, before he thinks you’re brain damaged or that you’ve got something to hide. “Thank you,” she said softly as she held the straw cowboy hat in both hands, barely stopping herself from tearing it into tiny shreds. She stood perfectly still under the sheriff’s piercing green gaze.

“It’s a little hotter here then around the coast. Takes some getting use to. You don’t sound much like you’re from Houston. Where ’bouts in the city did you live?”

“Come on, Ross,” Logan grumbled good-naturedly, “you take your job too damn seriously. Avery has no earthly reason to kill off my stock. Instead of standing here shooting the bull with us and overworking your brain, you might take that sample you insisted on having to the lab.”

Ross laughed, then flipped a half-full specimen bottle in the air and neatly caught it. “You better have a closer look at those kids, Logan. I’ve warned you about taking juveniles in. My sister hated them here, you know.”

“Yes, Ross. She told me enough times and so did you. But I didn’t agree with Becky or you then, and I haven’t changed my mind. I’ll tell you this just once more. Despite all the trouble they’ve gotten up to, Ross, those four young men would never deliberately hurt an animal. Not even if they had a reason to hate me, which they don’t.”

“If you say so.” Ross touched the tip of his hat, looking at Avery. “You be careful, you hear?” He gave Logan and Pierce a kind of arrogant salute as he strolled away. Pierce called after Ross and followed him out of the barn.

Avery had observed the interchange and was confused by the mixed signals, wondering if it was a man thing and she’d just imagined it. But she had a strong feeling that Logan, and perhaps Pierce, didn’t have much use for Ross. And the sheriff was a puzzle. He didn’t seem much fazed by the urgency of the situation.