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“Honestly, Bailey, I don’t know, but I do. Now listen up. We’re goin’ back to the show grounds, and on the way I want you to think real hard. You can keep doin’ what you’re doin’, gettin’ nowhere like a cat chasin’ its tail, or you can talk to me. Whatever you tell me won’t go any further, and maybe, just maybe, I can help.”
He could see tears brimming in her eyes, and with his heart suddenly melting, he pulled her against him and wrapped her into his arms.
“Hey, things will work out. It’ll be okay.”
“It will never be okay,” she muttered, her voice cracking. “Not until…”
“Until what?”
“I can’t talk about it here,” she said breathlessly, shifting in his arms to look up at him. “I’ll totally fall apart, get crazy, start screaming, I don’t know, just get me to the truck before I lose it.”
“Hold on,” he said, releasing her and lifting his phone from his pocket. “I’ll text Ben and let him know something’s come up and we’re leavin’, then we can walk around the side of the barn and you won’t have to say goodbye.”
“Th-thanks,” she stammered. “I c-can’t face anyone, not right now.”
As he began to text, he saw her turn around, reach into her T-shirt and pull out a cylindrical medallion on a chain. While he tapped in his message, he noticed she lifted the medallions to her lips, and though he didn’t hear anything, several of the horses raised their heads and pricked their ears.
“Damn…that’s a dog whistle,” he muttered as she turned back to face him. “That’s what you were doin’ on the side of the road. That’s why you asked me to pull over. Why?”
“Miss Piggy, my sweet, precious mare, would race up to me when I used it,” she sputtered as heavy tears rolled down her face. “She was stolen and I won’t stop looking until I find her. I don’t care if it takes the rest of my life.”
Though he’d had an inkling she was searching for a particular horse, he hadn’t expected to hear something so heartbreaking. Hastily stepping forward and hugging her tightly, it seemed her pain was so deep it was almost palpable. He understood the deep connection, and he wondered how many sleepless nights she’d stared into the dark crying lonely, desperate tears.
He was beginning to feel heat in the back of his throat when movement from the back of the barn caught his attention. Glancing up, he spotted Ben standing in the frame of the wide entrance, staring across at them with his hands on his hips. When he started walking slowly towards them, Rick shook his head, but Ben continued striding forward.
“There’s nothin’ worse than wakin’ up and findin’ your horse gone,” he said solemnly as he reached them, “and there’s nothin’ lower than a scumbag horse thief.”
“Rick! You t-told him!” Bailey exclaimed, suddenly jerking back, her wet face staring up at him in disbelief. “You figured it out and you told him when you sent that text.”
“I didn’t, I swear.”
“Nope, he didn’t,” Ben interjected. “I knew it the minute you asked if you could come out here and look over the horses in my paddocks. How long have you been searchin’? Never mind, you can answer that question over a cup of Irish coffee. Come on up to the house.”
“But—”
“Bailey,” he said patiently and softening his voice, “I’ve been in this business a long time, and you won’t find your horse goin’ from barn to barn pretendin’ to be a buyer. In fact, you might alert the lowdown dirtbags that took her. And before you ask how I know your horse is a mare, it’s because you asked if I had any for sale.”
“Are you s-saying you want t-to help m-me find her?” she stammered, wiping her wet face with the back of her hand.
“You’re darn right, then put those bastards behind bars right after my fist does some talkin’. But discuss it with Rick, and if you decide you don’t want to go it alone anymore, he knows where my kitchen table is and you can join me.”
As the husky man marched away, Rick felt her body fall limp against him. She was exhausted.
“Bailey, Ben knows a lot of people,” he said softly. “There’s no-one better to have on our side.”
“Ourside? I just don’t get this. We scarcely know each other, and that man doesn’t know me at all.”
“Ben and I are close, we’ve known each other a long time, but none of that matters. You’re bein’ offered serious help from a guy who has all kinds of contacts, and not just in the horse world. He used to be a cop. He can send out a description of your mare to all his buddies who are cruisin’ past horse farms every day.”
“Oh, my gosh. That would be amazing, but, uh, I feel weird…sort of, dizzy and weak.”
“You need that Irish Coffee. The whisky will calm you down, and the caffeine will give you a lift. But why are you even hesitatin’? What have you got to lose?”
“I’m not, I—uh—I think I might faint.”
“Damn, girl, you’re wiped out. Come on, we’re goin’ up to the house right now.”
CHAPTER TEN
