 Val chuckled. “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I really do miss you.” “I’ve known you long enough, and I miss you too.” Wyatt’s voice was soft and kind. It sent warm feelings through Val. “But work before play. We’ll discuss the rest when I get back. Face-to-face, not on the phone. So, do you want to hear about my incredible skills at digging up details or not?” That made Val laugh outright, and he could hear a soft laugh in return from Wyatt. “You know I do.” “I’m e-mailing you some pictures; see if you recognize any of the people now. I found the connection to the Nottings and Paulle. Mrs. Notting—Carol—is Marcus’s half-sister. They have different fathers.” “So, different last names,” Val said. “Exactly!” Wyatt sounded so excited it gave Val chills. His enthusiasm was infectious. “What else?” “Well, funny you should ask. Carol and Marcus’s mother had a small Thoroughbred breeding farm. She wasn’t involved so much in racing, but did do some showing and judging of dressage horses. She had a couple good horses from good bloodlines. Small operation—cleaned the stalls herself and gave riding lessons to kids.” Wyatt paused and Val heard him move around, and swallow. “Not unheard of,” Val said. “The filly that was stolen and then killed traced her bloodlines to a stallion Mom owned.” “Wow, that’s a helluva coincidence,” Val said. Wyatt snorted. “Tell me about it. I’m not sure how this fits in with whoever is running around killing people. Yet. And I’m not sure it’s important. Yet.” “But there’s more,” Val said. “Oh, yeah. There was a trainer, just starting off about a decade ago. He had a kid working for him as a stable hand. There were some issues with a jockey fixing races. The kid, he was seventeen at the time, moved messages between the jockey and whoever was running the fixes,” Wyatt said. “And if it went south, he was a juvenile, and records would be sealed and expunged,” Val said. “So was the trainer involved?” “I’m not sure. But I did find out who the kid was.” Wyatt stopped and didn’t say any more. Val was on his feet and pacing. “Who? God, the suspense is killing me.” “Didn’t Janelle say Charlie knew nothing about horses?” Wyatt paused and Val heard papers shuffling. “And that he gambled a lot?” Val stopped pacing and looked out the window. He felt the hair on the back of neck bristle. “How long before he became abusive?” Val drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Uh…I think….” He rubbed the bridge of his nose, turned away from the window, and moved to the couch. “They got in deep fast. He always gave me the creeps, but seemed okay with her for the first few months. Real smooth and nice. Then he changed. She never said why, but it seemed like it was overnight.” “Did he ever watch her race?” “Yeah, at first. Why?” Val asked. “That fits perfectly. The kid’s name? Charlie Mills. My theory is it wasn’t a random event that Janelle met him. She started out as his mark. But he got possessive and probably realized she wasn’t going to throw races. I bet he figured a pretty girl, she’s tiny and would be easily intimidated,” Wyatt said. “But he didn’t take into consideration that a hundred pounds of jockey rides twelve-hundred pounds of attitude. And my money is usually on the jockey.” “You catch on quick. We make a good team, and that makes me happy,” Wyatt said. Val opened his mouth to ask another question, but he was cut off when all three of his dogs jumped up and ran to the window, barking. “What’s that?” Wyatt’s voice rose just enough to set Val’s nerves on edge. “Something outside, I think.” Val stood up and started across the room. Val stopped short when Wyatt barked, “Stay away from the windows! Is everything locked?”    
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