As she walked toward the front door, she realized that the floor was dirty. She paused, looking down. It appeared to be the same fine dirt she’d dusted on her porch before leaving with Dustin the night before.
She bent down to touch it. As she did, Aaron came out of his office. He beamed at her. “Morning, sunshine.”
She straightened. “Good morning, Aaron.”
“I have to talk to you later, if that’s okay.”
“Of course. Anything in particular?”
“I want to rent Marcus’s house from you.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, you’ll talk? Or, okay, you’ll rent me the house?”
“Both. I didn’t expect to get the house, Aaron. You know that.”
“It’s okay, Liv. Marcus really loved you.”
“And you, Aaron.”
“He left me everything I need,” Aaron told her.
As she began to leave, she was certain that she heard someone snicker behind her back.
When she turned around, Sandra was watching her, arms crossed. When she noticed Olivia’s scrutiny, she acted as though she’d been waiting for Aaron, immediately asking him a question about schedules.
Olivia hurried over to the stables and the paddocks. She could see that the boys were already there, talking with Drew, who held Trickster, ready to go out.
Brent turned and saw her. “Livia!” he cried, coming toward her. The other boys looked her way and smiled, too, calling out to her.
“Trickster! We’re taking Trickster today!” Brent said, giving her a hug.
As she walked to join the group, Sean was telling Matt, “I told you it was Bruce Willis in that old movie.”
“I wasn’t sure,” Drew told the boys apologetically. “I can look it up on the computer while you guys are on your ride.”
“If Brent says so, then I believe it,” Matt said. He ruffled Brent’s hair. “He’s our resident expert.”
Brent grinned at Olivia happily. He was shorter than the other boys, but he was on a good diet and in darned good shape.
“I’m a resident expert!” he told Olivia.
“So you are,” Olivia said, smiling at the other boys.
She remembered why she loved what she did so much.
*
From the morgue Dustin drove out to the Horse Farm, but he didn’t pull into the drive.
He passed the farm and parked along the side of the road. He was on adjoining land that bordered the trails; he assumed it belonged to a local farmer—he saw dairy cows behind fences, grazing and letting out a chorus of moos now and then.
He walked around the far side of the fence, heading into the forest.
Walking trails were plentiful and they were actually something of a maze. But once he reached the first riding trail, the path was cleaner and broader. He moved quickly, listening and watching all the while.
It was a good brisk walk but eventually he reached the copse where they’d seen the deer and her fawn the day before. He searched through the trees, which was way more than a one-man job, but he wanted to get in at least a cursory inspection.
That wasn’t the real reason he had come.
He was convinced that he wasn’t going to find a stash of drugs or drug paraphernalia.
There were no hollows in any of the trees he searched. He walked on, determined, looking harder.
Something had whizzed through the trees.
Joey had heard it. Olivia’s horse had reared.
What?
It sure as hell hadn’t been a bee. Or a bird.
It was hard to remember exactly where they’d been, hard to imagine the exact trajectory. He calculated and recalculated. In the end he moved deeper into the woods, through the trees themselves, ignoring the trails.
Still nothing.
Tired, frustrated, he leaned against one of the trees.
And then he saw it.
It was tiny, so tiny it was barely visible. The little bit of feathering was what had caught his attention. When he went to retrieve it—carefully, using his handkerchief—the feathers detached and all he drew from the tree was the tiny point of something that looked like a needle.
He studied the point, wrapped it and, trying not to move his feet, hunkered down.
It took forever, sifting through the leaves and bracken on the forest floor. Then he found it—a delicate cluster of feathers.
Though small, they would have helped direct the tiny needlelike object.
It was a dart. It had been aimed at Olivia—or her horse.
He began to leave, but hesitated, pulling out his knife to cut away the section of bark it had struck. He got out the handkerchief and very carefully rewrapped all the tiny pieces of his find.
Then he started back through the forest.
So a dart had come whistling through the woods.
It was too small to be deadly...unless a toxin of some kind had been placed on the tip. He hurried back to his car and checked his watch. Still early; Olivia would be with her group.
He drove back to the morgue. He would’ve preferred to send the specimen to the Krewe lab, but he didn’t want to take the time. And sometimes a man had to go on gut instinct.
Wilson was surprised to see him again but listened earnestly. He promised results on lab tests as soon as humanly possible.
To his extreme bad luck, he ran into Deputy Sheriff Frank Vine as he was leaving.
“Agent Blake,” Vine said, eyes narrowing as he studied him.