“Then why won’t he let me make a phone call?”
Leila shrugged.
“You know, don’t you?” asked Julia. “But you can’t tell me. Out of loyalty to your employer.”
Leila didn’t answer.
“I can respect that,” said Julia. “And I don’t want you to get in trouble. But, I promise you, I wasn’t trying to steal any horse.”
Something flickered in Leila’s expression.
“What?” asked Julia.
Leila shook her head.
“Damn. I’m sorry.” She was putting the poor girl in an awkward position. “Can we carry on with the tour?”
Leila looked relieved.
They carried on down the barn hallway. Now that she knew there wasn’t a phone to be found, Julia paid more attention to her second mission.
Millions to Spare.
Five hallways later, she spied the horse and abruptly stopped at the stall.
“You mind if I…” She flipped the latch and slipped inside before Leila could protest. “Don’t worry,” she called back. “I’m really good with horses.”
That was a stretch. But since she’d survived a ride across the UAE cuddled up with Millions to Spare and his friends, she figured she was safe in his stall for a couple of minutes.
“I don’t believe you should-”
“I’ll just be a second. It’s not like he has a phone,” Julia joked.
She didn’t have a cotton swab. But she’d seen enough crime dramas to know hair would work, too. Particularly if she got the roots.
Under the guise of petting the horse’s neck, she plucked out a few hairs from his mane, tucking them into the pocket of her dress.
Leila’s voice was worried. “Julia, really, you must-”
“On my way,” Julia told Leila, slipping back out of the stall and latching the door. “He’s a beautiful animal. I’m going to feature him in the article.”
Leila gazed at her with what Julia could have sworn was disappointment.
“What?” Julia asked.
“Even I can tell you’re lying.”
Julia stopped. “I promise you, Leila. I’m not going to steal anything or hurt anybody.”
Leila still looked skeptical.
Julia took a breath. “I have a friend who’s in trouble,” she said, being as honest as she could. “I’m here to find out more about Harrison and Millions to Spare. Nothing else.”
The two women stared at each other for a long minute.
“Would you care to join me in the pool?” asked Leila.
Feeling the sweat trickle down her neck in the oppressive heat of the barn, Julia nodded to accept the invitation.
Harrison watched from a second-story window while Julia jackknifed from the diving board into the crystal-blue water of the estate’s main pool. She wore a sleek, navy one-piece suit, her creamy skin flashing beneath the clear water.
She was an extremely attractive woman, lightly tanned, her body toned from some kind of an active lifestyle. Her auburn hair looked darker when it was wet, and he could imagine her deep-blue eyes flashing as she surfaced and called something to Leila.
Leila grinned as she shouted something back.
Harrison clenched his jaw.
Julia was down there co-opting Leila, gaining her trust. Which was exactly what a good operative would do.
There’d been a thousand signs that Julia wasn’t a spy. She wasn’t anywhere near alert enough to her surroundings. She didn’t look around when she emerged from a doorway, didn’t scan the distance or check for blind corners. She didn’t even glance to see if any of his staff were concealing weapons, and she hadn’t paid the slightest attention to his security guards while they toured the garden.
But then, just when he’d become convinced she was nothing more than a klutzy reporter, she’d raised his suspicions all over again.
Leila was vulnerable. She was young, impressionable. She’d be interested in someone from America. Julia had figured that out, and was obviously ready to exploit it.
“Your grandmother and Brittany are on the way from the airport.” Alex joined Harrison at the window.
He followed the line of Harrison’s gaze down to the pool. “So whatever it is you’re going to do about Julia, you might want to do it in the next fifteen minutes.”
“Why?”
“You being sarcastic?”
Harrison shook his head.
“Because, old man,” Alex said with exaggerated patience. “Brittany may ask-oh, I don’t know-something along the lines of, ‘Harrison, who is that gorgeous woman swimming in your pool?’ to which you would reply…?”
Harrison got Alex’s point. “Right.”
Alex clapped him on the shoulder. “If she’s a spy, I’m a ballerina. Kick her loose, lock her up, send her back to the police station. But if you want a chance in hell with Brittany, get Julia out of the way.”
“…and I need to see him
Harrison and Alex both pivoted toward the sound. They were halfway across the room when a breathless Nuri appeared in the doorway. “It’s Millions to Spare.”
“What about him?” Harrison demanded.
“He’s been poisoned.”
“
Nuri immediately turned and kept pace, while Alex fell in behind them.
“The vet is attending the animal,” said Nuri. “But, I am sorry to say…” His pause was coldly ominous. “It is too late.”
“What do you mean, too late?” Harrison demanded, knowing full well what that had to mean. But his heart wasn’t ready to accept that his horse was dead.
“He was found down, with tremors,” said Nuri. “The vet came immediately, but the poor beast’s heart and lungs gave out.” The stable manager took a breath. “There were flecks of blood in his nostrils and his eyes had yellowed.”
“Fannew?”
The tiny cactus grew wild all over the area, but the spines kept horses from eating them. Someone would have to have deliberately-
Julia.
Harrison hit the staircase and broke into a trot, marching through the great room and across the veranda.
A shriek of laughter came up from the pool.
He took the stairs two at a time, closing on poolside, where the two women were wrapped in towels beside one of the umbrella tables.
“Did she touch Millions to Spare?” he demanded of Leila.
Both women turned, and Leila’s jaw dropped open at the sight of Harrison’s expression.
“Did she touch Millions to Spare?” he repeated to another stunned silence from Leila.
“Yes,” Julia cut in. “I was in his stall. Why-”
Without breaking his stride, Harrison grabbed her upper arm, pressing his other hand against her neck, and backed her into the wall of the pool house, his mind fogging red.
Her towel dropped, and she scrambled to keep her footing on the slippery deck.
Leila shrieked, and Alex shouted something unintelligible. But Harrison’s rage was focused on Julia.
