Bluegrass State of Mind (28 page)

All four of them stopped laughing when
the door to the room opened. Mo and Will moved protectively in
front of Kenna, but then relaxed and moved back to her side when
Ahmed and Agent Parker entered the room.

She noticed that Agent Parker took in
the whole room and everyone in it in a matter of seconds. He seemed
quiet, but confident. He looked more like a boxer than an FBI
Agent. He was tall, had a tiny waist, massive shoulders, and nose
that looked like it have been broken a time or two. He was just a
bit shorter than Will’s six foot two, probably closer to six foot
even. His hair was raven black. But it was his eyes that drew
attention. From where she lay, she couldn’t tell if they were
silver, or such a pale blue that they appeared silver from a
distance. Whatever they were, they were intriguing. Apparently, she
wasn’t the only one who thought so. She tried to hide a giggle as
she watched a flush creep up Paige’s cheeks.

“
Ma’am, I am Agent Cole
Parker with the FBI. Mr. Rahman,” he said, glancing at Mo, “made a
call to Washington about an incident near his property. The
Director of the FBI contacted me just a few hours ago to request I
investigate this matter.”

Kenna had to cover her mouth with her
hand and pretend to cough when Paige fanned herself behind Agent
Parker’s back. Kenna wanted to, too. His voice had a slight gravel
in it over his amazing Southern accent. The combination was enough
to make any woman swoon.

Kenna glanced to Mo, she couldn’t
believe he would contact the Director of the FBI over the incident.
She couldn’t tell if Agent Parker was annoyed by the situation or
if he was just stating facts. His face was unreadable.

“
It’s nice to meet you,
Agent Parker,” Kenna said politely. “What can I do for
you?”

“
If you are feeling up to
it, I would like to talk to you privately. Then, if it’s alright
with you," he said turning to Will, "I would like you to take me to
your farm and show me where the incidents have taken place. I have
read the Sheriff’s report, and he too requested assistance from the
Louisville Field Office. But the paperwork had not filtered through
the channels to get to me yet.”

Both Kenna and Will nodded their
approval and Mo squeezed her hand.

“
If you need me, you know
how to reach me. Ahmed will stay here with you and drive you home
when they discharge you tomorrow. As you know, there are certain
things I am dealing with, so I must leave. If I don’t see you
before you are discharged, I will try to stop by your place.” He
leaned down and placed a friendly kiss on her cheek.

“
Thank you, Mo. For
everything. But you don’t have to leave Ahmed...”

Mo cut her off by narrowing his eyes
and staring her down.

“
Okay, he can stay. Thank
you both,” she said to Mo and Ahmed as they left the room. She
heard a chair being pulled up and figured Ahmed was settling in for
the night.

“
I better get going, too.
I will update the Roses and see you tomorrow,” Paige said as she
came over and gave Kenna a soft hug. Kenna couldn’t be sure, but
thought she saw a slight tightening of Agent Parker’s jaw when he
watched Paige bend over. Too bad it seemed Paige wanted nothing
more than to get out of there. She spared Agent Parker not a single
glance as she left.

Will leaned over the bed and placed a
gentle, yet territorial, kiss on her lips. “Agent Parker, I will
wait for you outside.”

“
How are you feeling, Ms.
Mason?”

“
Pretty stiff. Every now
and then I get dizzy. Thank you for asking.”

“
Can you tell me your
relationship to the Rahman family?” He pulled out a small notebook
from the back pocket of his jeans and a pen from inside his navy
FBI windbreaker before taking a seat next to her.

“
We’re friends,
why?”

“
I am trying to get a feel
for the situation. What about the Ashton family?”

“
As you could probably
tell, Will and I are dating.”

“
What about the
parents?”

Kenna clenched her fist, “Don’t even
suggest they had anything to do with this. Betsy and William are
wonderful. They are kind and loving people who are centerpieces in
this community.”

“
What about your family,
Ms. Mason?” Agent Parker brought his head up from his notes to look
her in the eye. She knew he saw her hesitation and wondered what he
thought about it.

“
I don’t have any. My
parents were killed in an automobile accident.”

He lowered his head and began to
scribble some notes. “What brought you to Keeneston, Ms.
Mason?”

“
My job.”

“
You were an attorney from
New York. How did that bring you to Kentucky?”

Ah, so he had already researched her.
Hopefully no red flags went up to alert the boys back home to her
location. But she had a sinking feeling it did. “I wanted out of
litigation and wanted to be a prosecutor. I searched many states
and this was the first offer I got.”

“
To help me get all the
facts straight, I am going to ask you to walk me through the
incident.”

Kenna spent the next hour going over
the incident time and time again. She was starting to get
frustrated since it seemed like Agent Parker was trying to pick out
every detail. But she told herself that he was just doing his
job.

Finally, he sat back in his chair and
put away his notepad, “I have asked around about you. It seems that
most of the town holds a good opinion of you. That leads me to
believe the driver of the truck didn’t show up with the intent of
killing you, specifically. I am sure I will learn more when I tour
the farm and talk to Mr. Ashton, but it appears that the incident
you suffered tonight was the result of the continued attacks on the
Ashton farm. You just got caught in the wrong place at the wrong
time.”

“
I must admit, I am glad
you are on the case Agent Parker. The situation has taken a toll on
the Ashtons and the Rahmans. I know most FBI agents get assigned
locations, so are you familiar with this area and the politics of
it? I know, as an outsider, that it’s done a little differently
down here. Horses worth millions of dollars and deals based on
handshakes are not the norm.”

“
Yes Ma’am. I understand
it all very well. I am from a town outside of Nashville, Tennessee
called Murfreesboro. I graduated with a B.A. in Government Studies
from Centre College in the small town of Danville, Kentucky. I
obtained my Masters in Criminal Justice from Eastern Kentucky
University in Richmond, Kentucky. I was first assigned to the D.C.
office. When the position here became available two years ago, I
put in for the transfer. Between the years I spent at Centre and
EKU, I am very familiar with the workings of small towns and the
horse industry. But, I am not sure the attacks are actually because
of the horses.” With that mysterious announcement, he stood up and
zipped up his jacket.

“
Just one more thing. I
can provide you a detail for one night if you’d prefer it to Mr.
Rahman’s man. I don’t want to alarm you, but Ahmed does have a
certain reputation in the law enforcement world as a very dangerous
man. If you’d feel safer, I can provide one of my men for the
night.”

Kenna thought Ahmed would be proud of
his reputation and then finally understood the disbelief Mo showed
when Ahmed admitted her success in interrogating him. “Ahmed has
been very kind to me and I consider him a friend. I would actually
feel more comfortable with him here than with one of your men. But,
if you don’t mind me asking, what is he known for? Does he have a
last name? I don’t think I have heard anyone use it.”

“
No last name that we know
of. He travels on diplomatic papers. Even though the government has
asked for it, we have not been provided it. He has a reputation
among our overseas operatives as a man with no conscience when it
comes to interrogation. It’s a good thing you’re a
friend.”

She smiled at Agent Parker and pulled
up the blanket to her chest as he left. Before she could think
further on the conversation, she felt her eyelids fall and was
asleep before the door closed behind Agent Parker.

* * *

“
Ahmed, don’t you do it.”
Kenna swatted at his arm, “I am perfectly capable of getting out of
the car myself and walking to my room. There is nothing wrong with
my legs. I am just a little bruised.”

Ahmed’s eyes narrowed, “You will not
climb up those stairs and that is the end of it.” He reached again
for her and she shoved his hand away. She twirled around in her
seat and opened the opposite door and got out of the
car.

“
There. See, I am
perfectly fine.” She walked toward Ahmed, but when things got a
little blurry, she had to place her hand on the trunk to steady
herself. Before she could hide the wobble, Ahmed was around the car
and she was lifted up into his arms. She gave him a light punch
when she saw the ‘I told you so’ look on his face
though.

Miss Lily hurried to open the front
door and led Ahmed upstairs. “You just settle down right here and I
will get you something to eat. I bet you are starving.”

Ahmed laid her in bed as she heard
Paige shout from downstairs that she was here. Ahmed said his
goodbyes and handed off care duties to Paige and Lily. Paige took
out a pair of soft cotton pajamas and fuzzy socks from her store.
Miss Lily came upstairs with some corn chowder, crackers and a
roast beef sandwich. Kenna took a sip of the cold pink lemonade and
decided being pampered for one more day wouldn’t be too
horrible.

Two hours later Kenna
decided being pampered
was
horrible. She wanted to be left alone, but people
were constantly stopping by. They brought pies, casseroles,
flowers, three copies of the weekly gossip rag they called a
newspaper, and four copies of the latest Southern Living. Though
she really did enjoy the newspaper, one copy would have been
enough.

“
Okay everyone. Our
patient needs her rest. Shoo, shoo. I’ll see you all tomorrow at
Church and give you an update.” Miss Lily ushered people out the
door, thanking them for the gifts they brought. Kenna reached for a
snicker doodle and realized the room was finally quiet. Paige went
back to check on her shop and finish a custom order Derby hat. Miss
Lily was still talking to people downstairs. It was
glorious.

She stretched her legs and raised her
arms over her head. The dizziness was better and she decided to
risk getting up to get her computer. She was happy when no
blackness came and everything stayed in focus. Logging into her
email, she was feeling pretty optimistic. For a while, she had to
admit to herself that she thought the mad trucker was someone hired
to kill her.

The dizziness and blackness came back
when she saw her email account. She didn’t even have to open the
email from Danielle to know it was bad news. There was no subject
line and when she opened the email it read:

He’s coming.

Kenna closed the laptop and laid down.
She stared up at the ceiling. Did it mean the men had found
Danielle or that they were coming after her? Even with her mind in
turmoil she felt her eyelids fall and sleep took over once
more.

Kenna’s sleep was dreamless and she
woke refreshed the next morning. She stood up and was happy to see
all traces of dizziness were gone. She only had a slight headache
remaining. She couldn’t believe she slept for so long, but her body
was definitely thankful. She undressed and took a long, hot bath,
further soothing her bruised body. She explored the massive
bruising that ran down her right side, the worst of it being on her
hip. The bruise on her shoulder was already turning yellow, but the
bruise on her hip was still an angry purple.

She had just finished getting dressed
when she heard a soft knock on the door a second before it
opened.

“
Hey sweetheart. How are
you feeling today? You look much better.” Will came across the room
and gave her an easy kiss on the lips.

“
I do feel better. Just a
little stiff, but that’s all. How are things at the farm? Did
something happen? Is that why you weren’t here
yesterday?”

“
I was here yesterday. I
was here all through dinner and left a little after nine at night.
You were sound asleep and I didn’t think I should wake you. Miss
Lily even let me up to your room by myself. Of course, I had to
leave the door open.” He ran a finger over her cheek. “I have never
been so afraid in all my life than when I saw you being chased by
that truck. I was so scared I was going to lose you.”

Kenna placed her hand on his chest and
stepped into his open arms, laying her head over his heart and
snuggling in. Will ran his hand gently up and down her back, and
rested his cheek on top of her head. “I need to ask you something,
Kenna.”

“
Sure, what is
it?”

“
Right before you passed
out, you told me you loved me. Did you mean it?”

She heard Will’s heart speed up and
felt the hitch in his breathing. She leaned her head back and
looked at him, “Yes. I meant it. I love you, Will.”