“How long has he lived in Rockford?” Finn asked.
“That’s the thing,” Stanton answered. “The FBI can’t find the place he lived while he was here. And if he’s behindallthe incidents, he’d must have had housing in town.”
“Is it possible he was working with others to pull all this off?” Oliver asked.
“That’s our line of thinking.” Rayburn sat forward. “An undercover FBI agent went on the Dark Web and established himself. He’ll be able to do more investigating. But as of now, we can’t link Brock to any of the things that happened here. However, we still think the medallion connects him somehow.”
“Boy, this is slow,” Daisy put in.
“Yes, it is.” Marshall again. His tone was sympathetic.
“We have one suggestion,” Stanton continued. “We’re going to have patrol cars drive by your houses at night.”
Scarlet said, “More guards?”
“Actually, Ms. Smith, you’ve had more contact with him or her or them than anyone. Someone breached your farm twice, that we know of. First, your horse was tranqued. Then the medallion man came right up to the house.”
Scarlet blew out a breath. “I already hired two guards from Kirkland for my house and barn.”
“Well,” Rayburn said. “Another precaution at night won’t hurt.”
Daisy said, “I welcome one for me. I have a son to protect.”
Juliet and Oliver agreed.
“Damn, the cops driving by all the time could interfere with my love life.” This from Heath. “But I’ll agree to police patrols, too.”
Marshall chuckled.
“Me, too, then,” Finn added. “For how long?”
“The feds are paying for this so they’ll stay until we catch the perpetrator.”
Everybody sat solemnly staring at Marshall and the agents. There wasn’t much more to say.
* * *
Seth and Joe had been working for two days to get the barn in shape for the new foal. They’d also ordered the materials for the paddock, which would be delivered today. “This gonna be smelly, Dad?”
“Yep. Horses poop in their stalls sometimes. And you, my son, will have to muck it out.”
Seth’s brown eyes lit from within. Right now, Joe knew his son would agree to anything to get his own pony. “Good thing the stall is closed off from the vegetables.” The barn was divided up and Joe guessed the last farmer had a horse, too.
“Yeah, we lucked out there.”
Seth grinned. “Can I ask you something, Dad?”
“Anything.”
“Can we call Scarlet and ask her to be here when the pony comes?”
Briefly, he closed his eyes. He’d give anything to see her. “We can’t see her anymore, remember? The case at the collective still hasn’t been solved.”
“You saw her a few days ago. You said she came over. They had good news.”
He checked his watch. “She’s probably working.”
“It’s Saturday.”
