Читать книгу Millions to Spare - Barbara Dunlop - Страница 10

It took Julia nearly two hours of feigned interest in libraries, paintings, statues, a wine cellar and Middle Eastern horticulture before Harrison was finally called away on business. He threatened to lock her back in her room, but she all but begged to see the stables. Finally, he relented, and left her in Leila’s care.

It didn’t take her long to figure out why he’d let her loose in the stables with a younger, smaller guard.

There wasn’t a single phone to be found in the cavernous building. Julia had seen a lot of stables in her career, and this one was magnificent. A rubberized floor, cedar plank stalls and dozens of horses were illuminated by fluorescent lights embedded in the high, tin ceilings.

They passed a tack room, and she abruptly halted.

“Can I look in there?” she asked Leila.

“Yes, you can,” said Leila politely, coming to a stop.

“Did you grow up in Dubai?” Julia asked, while she pretended to check out saddles and bridles and halters.

“I went to boarding school in Cambridge,” Leila replied.

“Really?” That explained her perfect English and her rather mixed accent.

“I know you’re looking for a phone,” said Leila, regret in her dark-brown eyes.

“Harrison knows it, too,” said Julia. “I’m guessing I won’t find one here.”

Leila shook her head.

“Yeah,” said Julia with regret. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have let me look around.”

“Not without being here to watch you,” said Leila. “His Lordship is quite intelligent.”

“You actually call him that?”

“His Lordship?”

Julia nodded.

“That’s his title.”

“I’ve been calling him Harrison. Was I incredibly rude?”

Leila fought a smile.

“What?”

“You’re his prisoner. Being rude seems like a small indiscretion.”

Julia couldn’t help but smile in return. “I suppose being rude is the least of my worries.”

“He’s a fair man,” said Leila.

“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 right now,” Nuri’s voice roared from the hallway.

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.”

“What? How? Where’s the vet?” Harrison elbowed his way past Nuri and into the hallway, striding for the main staircase.

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.

How had he been so stupid? Why had he trusted her out of his sight? Out of her locked room? For even one second?

“You killed my horse,” he ground out.

Alex shouted his name again, but Harrison knew nobody would dare lift a finger to stop him.

Julia’s jaw worked, her blue eyes wide in panic.

She couldn’t speak, but she frantically shook her head.

“This is the Middle East,” he told her, moving his face in close to hers, bombarding her with his rage. “Not America. I could kill you here and now.”

“No,” she rasped.

“Yes,” he countered.

“I didn’t—” She struggled to get the words out.

Yes, she did. She’d sneaked onto his land. She’d fixated on that horse from minute one. Then she’d sweet-talked her way into a tour of the barns.

“No!” It was Leila.

Her small hands dug at Harrison’s back before somebody, certainly Nuri, dragged her away. But her actions jolted him back to some semblance of reality.

Leila was Nuri’s daughter, and he’d surely punish her for intervening.

Harrison turned to look at the pair. “Leave her,” he commanded.

Nuri’s eyes narrowed.

“Have to talk to you,” came Julia’s hoarse voice.

Harrison turned back. Huge tears had formed in her eyes, magnifying her terror. She looked young and vulnerable, all but naked in the wet bathing suit.

He could have kicked himself.

What the hell was he doing?

This might be the UAE, but he was British, raised on the principle of justice, not revenge. There was no way in the world he’d kill somebody over a horse.

He loosened his grip.

“I didn’t,” she rasped again, her gaze going frantically around to Alex, Nuri, Leila and the other staff who had assembled.

“Please,” she said to Harrison, those shimmering blue eyes getting to him. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”

Harrison turned to Leila again, jerking his head to motion her forward.

The poor girl was shaking with terror.

“Thank you,” Harrison said, making sure Nuri heard the words. “Now, can you tell me what she did?”

Leila was obviously incapable of speaking, so Harrison looked to her father. “She’s a good girl,” he told Nuri, a wealth of meaning in his tone.

Then he looked back down at Leila. “She went into the stall?”

Leila gave a shaky nod.

“Did she feed anything to Millions to Spare?”

“I don’t… I don’t think so.”

“How long was she in there?”

“Two minutes, maybe.”

Harrison nodded. Then he took in the assembled staff, selecting Darla. “Darla. Have Leila help you in the office for the rest of the day.”

Darla quickly nodded and came forward for the girl. She would understand what Harrison wanted. He wasn’t about to risk Nuri’s wrath on Leila before the man had a chance to calm down.

Harrison turned back to Julia. “I’ll have the whole truth, and I’ll have it right now.”

“Harrison?” came a puzzled, female voice.

All eyes turned to gape at a crisp and proper Brittany Livingston, standing frozen on the pool deck in ivory pumps, a knee-length, pleated, white skirt and a frosted pink, eyelet blouse with three-quarter-length sleeves. She stared at Harrison and Julia in obvious confusion.

Harrison immediately dropped his hand from Julia’s throat, while Alex quickly intervened.

He positioned himself between Brittany and Harrison, blocking the woman’s view.

“You must be Brittany,” Alex put in smoothly, as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. He offered his arm, deftly turning her back up the veranda stairs. “Please, introduce me to your grandmother. Harrison’s tied up for just a short time.”

Julia rubbed her chafed throat while Harrison watched the woman named Brittany walk away with an American man. Julia was more stunned than hurt, but she was becoming very frightened.

Now that she knew she wasn’t about to die, her mind grappled with the news that Millions to Spare was dead. Who could have done such a terrible thing?

“I need to talk to you,” she began.

Harrison shot her a glare that shut her up. “You can bet your ass we’re going to talk.”

“Alone,” she said. There was no reason not to tell him the whole truth now. But she didn’t know what on earth could be going on, nor did she know who she could trust.

She didn’t like the man named Nuri. He was the one who had had her arrested, and she was sure he would hurt Leila when he dragged her away from Harrison. She didn’t trust him one little bit.

Harrison nodded his consent, steering her none too gently by the arm as he propelled her into a changing hut. He shut the door against the curious staff, then he leaned against it and crossed his arms over his chest in the dim, relatively cool building.

Julia wished she was wearing something more than a bathing suit. Her skin felt clammy, and he was watching every move she made.

She lowered herself onto a painted, wooden bench that wrapped around three sides of the octagonal hut. “Start talking,” said Harrison.

“I didn’t kill Millions to Spare,” she said. “I’d never, ever harm a horse.”

“He was poisoned,” Harrison said bluntly. “Fannew.”

She had no idea what fannew might be, but horror washed through Julia at the thought of the life leeching out of the poor, defenseless animal.

“I saw him at Nad Al Sheba,” she began, determined to come clean. “He reminded me of a friend’s horse, and I thought… That is, I hoped…” She didn’t know how to explain it concisely.

“You looking to go back to jail?”

“He’s the spitting image of Leopold’s Legacy,” she said.

“And who is Leopold’s Legacy?”

“My friends, the Prestons—they’re here to race Something to Talk About in the Sandstone Derby. But their champion stallion is Leopold’s Legacy. There’s a problem with his lineage, and he’s been disqualified from the U.S. Stud Book, because they can’t find his real sire.”

She stood up, wrapping her arms around herself in a hug. “I wanted a DNA sample. I thought if I could either prove or disprove a relationship between the two horses, I could maybe…” She paused again. “Maybe help solve the mystery and get Leopold’s Legacy reinstated.”