Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series) (21 page)

Jake nodded, taking the paper from
him. “Thanks.” There was an awkward moment as both men looked at each other.
Laura could sense the tension between them.

“Would you like anything to eat,” she
asked Dan, trying to break the strain.

“That’s not necessary. I had already
eaten before I came out.” Dan smiled at her. Jake’s eyes narrowed. Dan held up
his hand. “Look Jake, I know none of this changes anything between us. I want
you to know I have no designs on Laura. I love Kerry.” Jake snorted in
disbelief. “It’s true, whether you choose to believe me or not. Right now I am
here to save Charger and make sure no other horse is under threat. Can’t we
just have a truce for the time being until this is sorted out.” He held out his
hand.

Jake stared at him, his expression
like stone. Laura poked him in the ribs with her elbow.

“It’s a good suggestion,” she told
him firmly. “We need his help right now and it would be better if we didn’t
have all the stuff from the past getting in the way. Can’t you just put it away
for now? For Charger?”

Jake sighed. He grasped Dan’s hand
and shook it. “For now, we’ll forget the past. But don’t think for one moment
that this makes us friends again or that I approve of you being with my sister.
Are we clear?”

“I never thought that for one
moment.” Dan returned Jake’s stony stare before turning his attention back to
the horse.

The evening passed slowly; the
atmosphere full of anxiety and worry. Laura made everyone a snack despite the
protests and practically forced it down throats. As the hour drew late, Laura
began to find it impossible to keep her eyes open. The nap she’d taken earlier
in the day didn’t completely make up for her lost night of sleep. Jake noticed
her head bobbing towards her chest and forced her to go to bed with a promise
to wake her if anything developed.

Laura was asleep the moment her head
hit the pillow, her whole mind and body shutting down after the stress of the
last couple of days. She slept long and deep until the early morning sunshine
hit her eyes the next day. Waking up slowly, it took her several moments before
she remembered what had happened with Charger. Leaping out of bed, she showered
and dressed at top speed, desperate to find out how the horse was doing.

Flying down the stairs, she made
straight for the stable. Dan was already in with Charger, giving him another
examination. He looked extremely tired, his clothes a rumpled mess and his hair
sticking up in all directions. Jake stood outside the stall, not looking any
better. She was sure neither man had slept much overnight, if at all.

She gave Jake a quick hug and kiss.
“How is he?” she asked quietly.

“Dan’s checking him over now. He had
quite a night, but this morning he is looking better.” He crossed his fingers
in the silent gesture for hope.

Dan came out, closing Charger’s stall
behind him. “He is definitely doing better this morning. I would take him out
of this stall now and set him up in a clean space. I feel confident enough that
he is going to make it. We haven’t had any other symptoms show themselves and
he’s steady. There is no sign of him declining. So far it’s looking really
good.”

Kerry came in at that moment, just in
time to hear the prognosis. She gave a happy laugh of relief, tears filling her
eyes. She threw herself into Dan’s arms and kissed him deeply. “Thank you. Oh,
what would we have done without you? You were marvellous!”

Jake scowled fiercely at the display.
Laura gripped his arm. “Let it go; you promised,” she hissed in his ear. “We do
have a lot to thank him for. Just remember that!”

Jake growled low in this throat, but
refrained from saying anything else. Bill wandered in and Kerry filled him in.
He shook Dan’s hand in gratitude. Laura went back to the house to make everyone
breakfast, while Jake sorted out moving Charger to a new stall. Soon they were
all seated around the kitchen table. Dan had taken a quick shower and borrowed
some fresh clothes that Jake had ungraciously given him to wear after dire
threats from both Kerry and Laura. As the ravenous appetites were satisfied,
plans were made for the search that needed to take place that day.

“I’ve called everyone in to work on
this that can be spared from the preparations for the barn raising tomorrow,”
Bill informed them. “We’ll split into teams and divide the search area. It is
going to take us hours, but we’ve no other choice. I’ve given instructions that
no horse is to be let out into any area until further notice.”

Jake nodded his approval.

“Do you want me to stay here today
and help?” Laura offered. “I could call Martha and fill her in. I’m sure she’d
understand.”

“No need. We’ve got people to help
with this, whereas Martha has nobody to replace you. It will be tight, but I do
believe we can still get everything done for tomorrow,” Kerry assured her.
“I’ll keep you updated of any progress we make and you can always help after
your shift at the diner.”

“Okay,” Laura felt reluctant to leave
when everything was so crazy but she didn’t want to let Martha down. She
grabbed her things and headed out to her car. To her surprise, she found Walter
waiting for her.

“Hi,” he greeted her with a warm
smile. “I wanted to catch you before you left today. I’ve been worried about
you.”

“I’m fine,” Laura said puzzled. For a
moment her mind couldn’t register what Walter meant.

“I tried to call in to see you
yesterday, but no one was at the house.” His tone sounded accusatory. “I could
hardly sleep wondering if you were okay or if you’d had another fight with
Jake.”

Finally the penny dropped and Laura
remembered that the last time she’d seen Walter had been after her huge row
with Jake. It seemed like another lifetime after last night.

“I’m fine,” she assured Walter. “Jake
and I had a really good talk yesterday and we’ve sorted things out.”

“Just like that? After the way he
treated you? Laura, you are much too soft. How can you let him get away with
this?” Walter sounded angry.

“It wasn’t ‘just like that’ as you
put it,” Laura felt her own temper begin to rise. She didn’t have time for
this. “Frankly, it is none of your business anyway. You’ve been a good friend
and I do thank you for it, but it’s my decision, not yours. I want to make
things work with Jake. You’ll just have to understand that.”

Walter’s face crumpled as if she’d
mortally wounded him. “I am only trying to look out for your welfare,” he said,
his voice full of hurt.

She immediately felt horrible. It
wasn’t his fault she’d been under the strain of worrying about Charger. “I’m
sorry Walter. Last night wasn’t a good one. You may not have heard that Charger
was really ill. We had to call the vet in. I’ve been so worried about him and
Jake. I guess I got a little cranky.”

Walter looked concerned. “No, I
didn’t hear anything about Charger. What happened? Is he okay? I thought Dr
Willby was away this week. Who came last night?”

“Dan did and yes, Charger is okay. I
think he will be fine. You’ll probably hear all about it this morning. I’m
sorry, but I have to go right now or I’ll be late.” She moved to unlock her
car.

“Are you still attending the barn
raiser with me?” Walter asked her suddenly.

She glanced at him in surprise,
feeling annoyed again. She’d only told him she’d think about it, not that she
would.

“I’m sorry Walter, I’m with Jake now
and it just wouldn’t be right.” He gave her another hurt look. “I only said I’d
think about going with you and as circumstances have changed, I can’t. I’m sure
you’ll find someone else to take.” She smiled softly at him, trying to lessen
the blow and got into her car. “I’ll see you later,” she called as she shut the
door.

Walter watched her drive away, his
eyes blazing in anger. Slowly he took his phone from his pocket. Oh yes, he’d
find someone else to take. Someone that would raise a whole lot more than a
barn! He smiled in smug satisfaction as he found the number he wanted and hit
the call button.

*****

Laura was grateful to get back to the
ranch that afternoon. She’d been going out of her mind wondering what was
taking place and how Charger was doing. She was later than usual, having had to
stay behind after the lunch service to sort plans out with Martha for the next
day. She raced through the house and out into the stables. Jake was nowhere in
sight, but she found Dan and Kerry with Charger.

“How is he?” she asked as she ran up
to them, slightly out of breath from her mad dash.

“He’s doing really great, aren’t you
boy?” Dan patted the horse on his neck. Charger did indeed look much better.
Laura looped her arms around his neck and gave him a huge hug of relief.

“You really scared us there for a
while,” she told him softly. He whinnied in reply, nuzzling her shoulder gently
with his nose.

Jake arrived at that moment, with
Bill close behind. His face held a black scowl that would send most people
running for cover.

“I don’t get it!” he snapped angrily,
waving the list Dan had given him the day before in his face. “Are you sure you
got that diagnosis right? We’ve been over this whole place and there isn’t one
single plant growing anywhere that looks like any of the ones on your print
out.” He flung the paper at Dan.

“Just look at Charger Jake,” Dan
pointed out, refusing to be intimidated by Jake’s angry tirade. “If I was
wrong, he wouldn’t be standing here now, looking this good. He’d most likely be
dead.”

“Then how do you explain the complete
absence of any plant that Charger could have consumed?” Jake stood with his
legs wide, hands of his hips. “We’ve wasted a whole day on a wild goose chase.
Was that the point? You know it’s the barn raising tomorrow. We are way behind
schedule for it, after all this. Was it your way of getting back at me for not
approving of you and Kerry?”

Dan’s mouth thinned with anger, his
eyes blazing. “I take my job very, very seriously Jake. You should know that at
least about me. I would not say that this was poisoning if it wasn’t or make
you search for something I knew wasn’t there.”

“Could he have eaten it some other
way?” Laura asked suddenly, her expression thoughtful.

“Like what? You think he grew wings
and flew somewhere else?” Jake snapped. Laura glared at him. He looked
immediately contrite. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired. This has been one hell of a
few days. What were you thinking?”

Laura huffed slightly, but let it go.
She knew he’d been under tremendous strain and didn’t want to add to it. “I was
wondering if any of his regular food could have been contaminated. If he didn’t
eat it grazing, that is the only other source of sustenance he ingests.”

“Impossible. No company could afford
to let something like that get into their supplies,” Bill answered her.

“Unless it was added later,” Dan said
thoughtfully. “You might be on to something there. Bill do you have any of
Charger’s food still left from yesterday?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. With all
this going on, I hadn’t had time to deal with it yet. Wait here, I’ll get it.”
He wondered off, coming back shortly with a bag that he dumped at Dan’s feet.

Dan bent down and began to search
through the feed. “Ah-ha. You were right Laura. This is where the plant was all
along.” He held out his hand in which they could see what looked like chopped
up petals and stalks, very finely done, so they wouldn’t be seen unless they
were searched for. “I’m sorry to say that this poisoning looks like it was
deliberate.”

Silence hung in the air as everyone
tried to digest this latest twist. “What the hell does this mean?” Jake hissed,
his hands closing into fists. “Someone snuck into my stable and tried to poison
my prize horse? Why?”

“We can’t assume that it was just
Charger they were after,” Dan said quietly. “We need to call the sheriff and
inform him what has happened here. It is possible that someone is targeting
horses at random and we need to alert other stables in the area just in case.
However, it is also possible that someone is just targeting you. We can’t
assume anything.”

“I’ll call Reggie now,” Kerry
offered, taking her phone out. She stepped away from the others to talk to the
Sheriff. After a brief conversation, she turned back to them. “He’s on his
way.”

“We’re going to have to take steps to
secure Charger and the other horses,” Jake said to Bill. “Lock up the feed for
now and only you or I will have a key. One of us will have to be present when
the horses are fed for the time being to ensure nothing can get put into the
feed after it leaves the secure area. I know it means extra work for us, but
I’m not willing to take any chances.”

“I would check all your feed through
first to make sure nothing is already contaminated. We should be grateful none
of this was fed to any of the pregnant mares. It would have most definitely
killed an unborn baby horse,” Dan told them grimly.

“Do it,” Jake ordered Bill. He nodded
and left the group.

“I’d best make a sweep of all the
horses to make sure they are all okay. After all, they’ve all been fed today
before we realised what was going on.” Dan moved away also, Kerry following
him.