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She removed Tank’s halter and lead rope, letting him go into his stall and closing the door behind him before rushing into Spence’s arms.
“I’m so sorry, Spence. That had to be so hard for you. What happened?”
“We figured out that al-Rauf had to have someone here with inside knowledge of the area. It didn’t occur to me until after it happened that it had to be Pete. Then it occurred to me that he was the only one who could have murdered Dulcie. He lured her out and then executed her to try and stop her from filing her report.”
“But he didn’t answer to the Jockey Club.”
“No, but he perpetrated a huge fraud and one that crossed more than one international border. Once he knew we had al-Rauf’s men, he left to find you to remove the only person who might be able to decipher Dulcie’s code.”
“But you knew…”
“But Pete didn’t know that. He gave me no choice. When I found him, he was taking a bead on you. I moved between him and a clear shot at you. He raised the rifle…” Spence was talking in a monotone.
Harper hugged him tightly. “How awful. Spence, I’m so sorry.”
“We call it suicide by cop. He couldn’t face the consequences of what he’d done and didn’t have the balls to end his own life, so he shoved it off on me. I couldn’t take a chance that he might still be able to shoot you if I just winged him, so I took a kill shot.”
“God, babe, I’m so, so sorry.”
“I am, too.”
“What can I do to help?” she asked softly.
“Well, you could apologize to me about running off by yourself…”
“I wasn’t by myself. I had Etta, Devon, and Morgan with me.”
“Not exactly what I had in mind when I told you to stay here. Are the mustangs safe?”
She nodded slowly. “I think the BLM would have euthanized them for no other reason than they were mustangs. I couldn’t let that happen. So, we got them out of there.”
“I hope you enjoyed your ride today.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because after I’m done with you, you won’t be able to sit in a saddle for a week.”
“You can’t just waltz into my life and take over.”
He knew she was trying to find a way out of the discipline he was sure she knew she had coming. Spence laughed without the usual warmth to the sound. “Not only can I; I just did. Consensual non-consent, remember?”
“I have a safeword.”
“Are you using it? Because if not, at some point tonight before I get through with you, you’ll wish you’d listened to me. But after I’ve spanked your ass silly and hammered your pussy until you’re exhausted from all the times you’ve come for me, you’re going to be glad you didn’t.”
“Get out,’ she said in a breathy whisper that was part concern and a much larger part arousal.
“Harper, sweetheart, let me explain how this is going to go. Either you’re going to give over and I’m going to take you over to the hay bale and blister your backside, or I’m going to use your agreement to consensual non-consent and make you wish in some ways that you’d chosen the first option. I’m really hoping you’re going to go with that second option, as I have something really special planned.”
“You sonofabitch. You can’t threaten me in my own barn.”
“For the record ‘sonofabitch’ is not your safeword. Your safeword is ‘red.’ Are you going to invoke it?”
* * *
Harper couldn’t believe how calm and rational he sounded. She’d spent a lifetime reading horses’ body language and expressions and learning their non-verbal language. She had learned to apply that same skill to watching humans. Looking at Spence, all she could see was controlled anger and determination. She had no doubt he meant every word he’d said. But she wasn’t cowed by fifteen-hundred-pound horses, and she wasn’t going to be intimidated by him.
She started to slide to the right, as if she meant to get around him and run out the front of the barn. She made her moves slow and subtle. He took the bait and committed himself to intercept her. Instead, she spun on her heel and darted down the breezeway, vaulting over the end panel into the barn’s attached arena. Her plan was to cross the arena and then get over the fence and out into the pasture where she had a better chance of hiding until he calmed down and was willing to listen to reason. She would have preferred a cloudy night, as the full moon and stars gave him abundant light. Harper felt she still had the advantage as she was fast, and she knew the terrain.
