Plain Target. Dana R. Lynn
attacked her stables came back. He shook off the thought. For all he knew, the fire was a random act by a group of kids. Yeah, right.
The stable door was standing open. He headed that way, pausing just inside it. Jessica stood outside the office door, her arms closed tight against her belly, her eyes squeezed shut. He started, ready to rush in and...what? Comfort her? He wasn’t sure, but he knew he didn’t like seeing her so vulnerable. Never had, even though their association had been so brief. Which made what had happened even more contemptible. When he had betrayed her trust, he had left her open to the cruelty of others. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t been a part of the actions they had taken against her. He knew what a soft heart she had. And that she had a crush on him. But instead of protecting her, he’d stepped back and allowed her to be hurt in a disaster which ended with her being pulled from the school.
He drew himself away from his painful memories. Then he noticed her lips were moving. She was praying. Okay, now he felt really uncomfortable. He wasn’t big on prayer. Not that he minded other people praying. He just hadn’t had much experience with it personally. And to be honest, he rather doubted it did any good.
A few seconds later she opened her eyes. They widened as she saw him poised in the doorway.
“Seth! What are you doing here?” Her voice was low and pleasant. Although her inflections were slightly irregular, most people probably wouldn’t even pick up on that.
“You left this in my truck.” He waved the bright pink wallet at her.
Jess’s hazel eyes widened. “Oh, no! I hadn’t even noticed it was missing.”
“No worries. It was safe. And I’m even a little glad ’cuz it gave me an excuse to check up on you. Make sure you were taking it easy.” He gave her a pointed look.
She bit her lip. Dropping her gaze to the floor, she scuffed the toe of her boot in the dirt. When she flicked her glance back up to his face, he was momentarily distracted by her wide hazel eyes. He hadn’t let himself feel attracted to a woman for a long time. His behavior in high school, and his poor judgment six years ago with his former fiancée, had taught him that he was not husband material. As bitter as it made him feel, he had been forced to acknowledge that he was too much like his father. Selfish and prone to hurt those close to him. Shaking himself out of it, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
He held his breath while he waited to see if she would answer. He wouldn’t blame her if she brushed him off. She had no reason to trust him. Past events would tell her not to. But he really hoped she would.
Finally, she sucked in a deep breath. Let it out slowly.
“You know that the police are toying with the idea that I started the fire?” She waited for him to nod before she continued. “What I couldn’t tell the officer last night was the fire wasn’t the first accident.”
“What?” He hadn’t meant to shout, but her words terrified him. He wanted to sweep her into his truck and drive her to a safe place. The feeling surprised him. And made him uncomfortable.
Jess squirmed. Then she lifted her chin and seemed to collect herself. “I didn’t realize at first that they were anything more than accidents. I put it down to carelessness. Until last week. A new ladder broke when I took it out to paint. That’s when I started to wonder if someone was behind the accidents. Then this happened.”
“How long has this been going on?” He kept his voice calm with an effort.
“About three weeks.”
“You should have mentioned it to Sergeant Jackson last night,” Seth admonished her.
Hazel eyes blazed up at him. “And you think he would believe me? Just when my barn suffers extensive fire damage and I’m a person of interest?”
She had a point. It would have looked like she was lying to cover her tracks.
“I think it started because I was asking too many questions.”
He wasn’t going to like this. “Asking questions about what?”
Those soft lips started to tremble. She squished them together. “I know that people think my brother was guilty of something, what with him dying the way he did and all. But I can’t believe that of him. He was the most gentle, sincere person I have ever known. I have been trying to find evidence to take to the police to clear his name.”
He knew something dicey had happened, although he was foggy on all the details.
“What is it that they think he’d done, exactly?”
For a long moment, she stood, jaw clenched. Clearly it wasn’t a topic she enjoyed discussing, and he felt a twinge of guilt for even bringing it up. But he needed to know what they were dealing with if he was going to help her.
“My brother had started a rescue foundation for abused racehorses. Several months ago, one of his volunteers noticed that money was being stolen. The police suspected Cody. The fact that he spent so much time at the race track was suspicious. I guess there was suspicion that he was using funds to support a gambling habit. They questioned him, and there was an investigation. It was never closed. Cody was never even officially charged—they didn’t have enough evidence against him. But when he took his own life, everyone seemed to take that as an admission of guilt. People who had contributed to the foundation felt hurt, betrayed. I can understand that,” she admitted, “but that doesn’t mean I’m all right with people continuing to say such horrible things about him when no one has been able to provide a scrap of evidence proving that he did anything wrong.”
“So you spoke up in his defense,” Seth concluded, “both when he was first questioned, and then later after his death. And that’s turned people against you?”
She nodded.
“Including the police?” he asked.
“Especially the police. Not only was I unable to convince them he was innocent, they made it clear that I was also on their radar, since I worked for the foundation in a minor role. They wouldn’t listen to me.”
Frustrated, he shoved a hand through his hair. “You have to let the police know about the other accidents, Jess. This is no joke.”
She started to shake head. “Don’t you understand? There is no way they will believe me! And the stables are already losing clients. If these things keep happening, then I will have to sell the horses and the stable.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “Seth, owning a training stable has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I have already lost my brother. I can’t lose this, too.”
A constriction formed in his throat. It was necessary to swallow several times to ease the tightness. A sudden thought popped into his head.
“Wait a minute! Jess, my brother-in-law is a lieutenant in the LaMar Pond Police Department. You can talk to him.” Why hadn’t he thought of that earlier? Dan was pretty easygoing. And he was head-over-heels ridiculously in love with Seth’s half sister Maggie, which meant he’d do just about anything Seth asked—including hearing Jess out, and giving her the benefit of the doubt.
“I didn’t know you had siblings.” There was that suspicious look on her face again. He was going to have to work hard to earn her trust.
“It’s a long story. But Maggie is my half sister. I met her almost a year ago for the first time, but we’ve gotten close. And her husband, Dan, is a good guy.”
A humorless laugh left her mouth. “I can’t believe I’m considering listening to you. Seth, we knew each other in high school, but that was eleven years ago. And you betrayed my trust back then. Why should I give it to you now?”
Why, indeed.
Seth’s teeth snapped together with a loud click. He knew his jaw would ache later. Turning away from Jess, he