“The private investigator? He’s a joke. Have you ever seen anyone so…ordinary in your life?” Dropping the pine needles, she dusted her hands and glared up at Zachary as if the situation were all his fault. “It’s all a front, anyway. Dad wants to believe that the Polidoris are behind the kidnapping.”
“Are they?”
“They’re not stupid, Zach. Anthony has to know that he’d be at the top of the suspect list.”
Zach wasn’t convinced, but he didn’t bother to comment. Let Trisha believe what she wanted.
“It’s all such a pain. Ever since London disappeared no one can go anywhere without some damned bodyguard prowling around behind.”
Zach tied the reins to the second rail of the fence. He wasn’t in the mood to listen to his sister’s whining. Trisha was just ticked off because she couldn’t sneak around meeting Mario Polidori. Both families disapproved of the romance between Mario and Trisha. The only subject the Polidoris and Danverses had agreed upon in the last hundred years was to forbid Mario and Trisha from seeing each other. They were adults, she’d argued, and Witt had told her that she’d better start acting like one and move out, but as far as he was concerned, while she lived under his roof, she’d abide by his rules.
Trisha had other plans. She seemed to think she was some modern-day Juliet and Mario was her Romeo. The thought made Zach sick and he spat on the dusty ground. She should have learned her lesson about Mario Polidori. With a grunt, he grabbed the saddle and slung it over his shoulder to carry it into the stable.
Following him inside, Trisha said, “I thought you and I could work a deal.”
Zach sent her a look telling her silently to get lost. He didn’t need Trisha’s kind of trouble. He had enough of his own. Though he’d gotten a slight reprieve, the old man was still making noise about boarding school and Zach was considering walking through the Danvers gates and never looking over his shoulder.
“C’mon, Zach. I need your help.”
Zach swung the saddle over a sawhorse, then dropped the blanket over the top rail of a stall. Dust and horsehair rose in a cloud that clogged the air.
Trisha coughed and Zach swallowed a smile. Served her right. She’d never shown any interest in the horses- she was only here because she wanted something. And badly.
“Okay,” she said. “Here’s the deal-I need to find a way to sneak out of here. At night.”
“Why?”
“It’s personal.”
“To meet Mario, right?”
“The less you know the better.”
“No.”
“What?” Her face crumpled into a look of wounded pride. “I stood up for you-”
“How?” he demanded.
“I told Kat that you wouldn’t hurt a hair on London’s head.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he muttered as he yanked the bandanna from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his neck.
“That’s more than anyone else did for you, and Kat’s still not convinced that you weren’t involved somehow. If you were any older everyone would think you were behind it, but since you’re only seventeen-”
“Why would I kidnap London?”
“For money,” Trisha said slowly and Zach couldn’t help his reaction. His head snapped up and his eyes narrowed on his sister.
“Then wouldn’t I demand ransom?”
“It’s only been a little while.”
“So how would I do it? How would I grab Ginny and London and stow them away God-only-knows where while I got myself cut for an alibi. It doesn’t make sense, Trisha, and everyone knows it. They’re just pointing at me because I was gone that night and there’s no one else to blame.”
“Tell that to Jack Logan.”
“Logan’s a jackass. Oh shit, who cares?” Zach stormed outside and unknotted the reins. Cyclone sidestepped and tossed his head as Zach led him into a stall. Muscles knotted in quiet rage, Zach filled a bucket with water and let the colt drink before rubbing him down. “You’re way off base, Trisha,” he finally said.
Trisha dusted off the burlap and sat gingerly on a sack of oats. Leaning forward, propping her elbows on her knees, she cradled her chin. Her gaze narrowed through the dusty window and she chewed on her lower lip. “Okay, okay, maybe you really shouldn’t be the number-one suspect.”
“Thanks.”
“So who do you think took her?”
“I don’t even want to think about it.” And that was the truth.
“Well, someone had to.”
“Okay, Ginny, then.”
“Yeah, but who was she working for?”
“Don’t know. Hell, do we have to do this-dredge it all up again?” Zach hated to admit it, but he missed the little kid. True, she’d bugged the hell out of him and tagged after him. More often than not he’d told her gruffly to “get lost,” but he worried about her and had trouble sleeping at night just wondering what had happened and if she were all right.
Trisha plucked a piece of straw from the manger. “One word from me and you’d be shit out of luck.”
“How’s that?” With the currycomb, Zach worked on a knot in the colt’s mane.
“I could say that Mario told me you were involved in the kidnapping.”
Zach tensed. Where was this going? Slowly, he resumed brushing the horse. “It would be a lie.”
“Everyone would believe it. You know, there are still a few rumors floating around about you.”
“Can it, Trisha.” He’d heard all the gossip and didn’t want to be reminded that when he’d been conceived his mother was having an affair with Polidori. His teeth ground together but he just kept working, ignoring Trisha’s innuendoes and veiled threats. Christ, what did she want from him?
“It’s just that I hate it here, Zach. This is…nowhere. I want to go back to Portland.”
“You just got here.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“You want to be close to Mario.”
“So what?”
Zach slid her a look that called her stupid. “Get smart, Trisha. It’s never gonna work between you and Polidori. Dad’ll never approve.”
“Since when do you care?”
“I don’t. I’m just giving you some free advice.”
“Save it.”
“Fine.” He opened the door at the back of the stable, then let the colt trot outside. With a snort and toss of his head, the horse ran free, bucking and kicking up his heels before lying in the thick dust and rolling. Clouds of dry earth roiled to the sky and the colt grunted in pleasure. Soon all Zach could see of the animal were four white- stockinged legs thrashing madly.
Trisha made a face. “You’re not going to help me?”
Zach shook his head. “No way.”
She arched a delicate brow and set an expression somewhere between a sneer and smile on her pouty lips. “You’ll be sorry.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Irritated, he strode out of the stable and wished that the rest of his family would just leave him alone.
It was hours later when Kat found him. The sun had set and Jason had taken Trisha and Nelson into town. Zach, avoiding his family as much as he could, had stolen two beers from the refrigerator and had climbed onto the roof of the tack shed that butted up to the stables. The dark sky was alive with shooting stars and Zach sat alone, his back propped against the rough outer wall of the second story of the stables, his legs stretched out on the sloping cedar shingles. Through the tar paper and split shakes, he heard the muffled sounds of horses, snorting, rustling in the straw, letting out an occasional whinny.
