Shocked, Tabby said, “Steroids?”
“You don’t get it, do you? You people with your fat bank accounts come in here and drop what amounts to chump change as investments in animals on the circuit and then you wait for people like me to do all the real work.”
“That’s no excuse for nearly killing, Tabby,” Kas said.
“What? What is going on?” She looked at Kas’s face and then at Tanner’s. There was ugly all over Tanner’s expression, something she wasn’t used to seeing in another human being.
Tanner pointed to Tenterhook’s stall. “This my horse. You know it. Don’t you Kas. You noticed it the moment you saw Tenterhook just like I did. He’s Silver Moon’s offspring. He’s pretty much the only horse competing on the circuit who is of Silver Moon’s line. And he was mine! I spent my entire life savings to get that horse. He was going to be my ticket to bigger things. I was going to get my own ranch. Be my own boss. I wouldn’t have to work for Darren Lacey and take his orders.”
“You killed Levon,” Kas said accusingly. “That was no random horseshoe that Mad Dog threw. He didn’t buck at Levon. Even the coroner’s report showed no other signs of trauma other than the head wound. Jesse Knight gave me the report.”
Confused, Tabby stared at Kas. When had all this happened? Why hadn’t he told her?
“Levon wouldn’t see reason,” Tanner said. “He told me what was done was done. The BLM deal was legal.”
“It was. I still have the title from the BLM showing Levon’s purchase,” Tabby said.
“You do?” Kas asked.
“Yes. Levon gave me the title and paperwork he had when he found out I hadn’t taken my dad’s paperwork with me when I moved here. Tenterhook was purchased legally from the Bureau of Land Management. He had no branding on him. He was a wild mustang.”
“He’s no mustang. Tenterhook is really Silver Buck. He came from Darren Lacey’s ranch. That’s where I was boarding him! Darren will tell you so.”
“Tabby said Tenterhook wasn’t branded,” Kas said.
“There wasn’t time. Silver Buck was just a nine month old stallion when that early storm came through. He was lost in that snow squall on the high pasture along with three other horses from the Lacey ranch. We found the other horse carcasses but never found Silver Buck. At the time we all assumed he was killed and dragged off by a grizzly in the mountains. But he’s alive. Tenterhook is my Silver Buck! You know it. I know you do. Levon knew it too but he wouldn’t let me even prove to him that Tenterhook came from Silver Moon. But I don’t need to anymore. You all did it for me.”
“What is he talking about Kas?”
Kas kept his eyes on Tanner, but reached back and squeezed her hand. “I had Sean Knight do a DNA test and match Tenterhook’s DNA to Silver Moon’s. It’s the same lineage. Silver Moon is Tenterhook’s sire.”
“But the deal with BLM was done,” Tabby said, feeling fear rise up her chest. “He can’t take Tenterhook now, can he?”
“No,” Kas said. “I checked with the BLM. There was a finite period of time for Tanner to make a claim. That was over years ago. Long before Levon sold the horse to your father.”
“I don’t care what the BLM said. They never had authority over my horse. Now that I can prove it’s really Silver Buck, I’m taking him and I’m going to make my fortune selling stud fees since this horse can’t compete anymore.
“How do you plan to do that while you’re in jail?” Tabby asked. “You tried to purposely injure my horse and me out of your own greed.”
“Don’t forget, it’s my horse! I now have the proof!”
“That doesn’t prove anything!” Kas said, taking Tabby by the hand and pulling her further behind him. “It only proves that he came from Silver Moon’s bloodline. It doesn’t show who the mare is who birthed him.”
Tanner’s face turned red and twisted into an angry scowl. “You people are all alike! I know who the mare is. I have the paperwork. You have the money and you think you get to pull the strings. I didn’t have anything left after I put all my money into that horse. I couldn’t fight it after I saw Tenterhook in competition. It was too late.”
“Okay, it was too late. Why try to hurt the horse and sabotage Trip’s breeding? You gave the other horses steroids that could have seriously harmed them.”
“Trip had big business here. Darren Lacey’s business. I went to Darren and told him what I thought about Tenterhook. He wouldn’t help me. So I went to Levon with my suspicions, he told me no one would listen to me. Well, when you business people with big bank accounts started coming up short when your horses didn’t breed, I got your attention all right. I got it good!”
“You don’t want to do anything rash, Tanner.”
“Yes, I do. I’m taking Tenterhook. I have my trailer at the end of the driveway and I’m going to load him into it.”
“No, you’ll injure him. He’s still on light walking. You can’t.”
“This horse is mine!” Tanner yelled. “I say what happens to him now. And I’m not letting anyone take him from me again!”
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gun.
“I killed once for it, I’ll do it again if I have to!”
“Tanner!” Trip yelled from the other end of the barn. “I’ve got a rifle that will put that twenty-two special to shame. You best get off of my property before the law gets here. I’ve already made a call to Caleb Samuel. He should be here any minute.”
She and Kas were in a precarious position between Tanner and Trip. Trip didn’t take his eyes off Tanner, but motioned with his head for them to move away. Tabby was frightened for the horses, and she was frightened for her and
