Death by Equine Annette Dashofy (black authors fiction txt) 📖

wise.” Daniel motioned for her to put the icepack back.

She complied without argument. The cold felt so damned good.

He stepped back. “Call me if you need anything.” He turned to Greg. A look of understanding flashed between the two men. Daniel gave him a nod. To Jessie, Daniel said, “I’ll be in touch.” And then he was gone.

Greg gazed out the doors. “He’s not a bad guy.”

“No, he’s not.” There was someone else she’d been wrong about. “Speaking of not being so bad, I need to talk to Vanessa.”

Greg’s gaze snapped to Jessie. “Why?”

“To apologize. And to thank her.”

“Oh?”

“She saved my life tonight. If she hadn’t called Daniel, there would be two bodies for the coroner to deal with.”

“I’m not so sure about that. Daniel said you were halfway out of that stall already when he arrived. He says he just caught you as you came tumbling out.”

She looked out of the ambulance. The flickering blue and red light show reminded her of a colorized version of the storm that had long since blown over the mountains to the east. “Daniel was being kind.”

She could feel Greg’s gaze on her. “I think he’s rather fond of you.”

Jessie choked out a laugh. “Let’s see. I threaten to close down the track, basically throwing him into financial ruin. Then I dig up a past he’s trying to put behind him. Not to mention accusing him of two murders. I’m sure ‘fond’ isn’t the word he’d use.”

“He might not, but I would.”

“Anyway, tell Vanessa thanks for me.”

Greg met and held Jessie’s gaze. “I will.” He started to get up and thunked his head on the storage cabinet over the jump seat. “Dammit.”

Jessie extended the icepack toward him, but he waved it away, gave her a weak smile, and climbed out of the ambulance.

As she watched him go, it occurred to her that maybe—just maybe—she and Greg might make it out of this mess as friends.

Epilogue

Jessie padded barefoot down the stairs of her house, a pair of scuffed Mary Janes clamped to her side by one elbow as she attempted to slide the post of one of her pierced earrings through the hole in her lobe. She hadn’t worn the things since her dinner with Daniel.

She crossed the center hallway into the living room where Molly lay on the sill of the newly replaced front window. The tabby crouched next to the sofa, his rapt attention riveted on something black in front of him. A spider. He drew one paw back and batted it.

Jessie left him to his prey and headed toward the dining room. The earring back slipped into place on the post just as someone pounded on the back door. She glanced at the mantle clock. Who the hell could that be? She was going to be late.

After dumping the shoes in the middle of the floor, she crossed the kitchen and peeked out the windows of the enclosed back porch.

Daniel waved.

She hadn’t seen or heard from him since that night two weeks ago at the track.

“I hope you don’t mind me just dropping in like this,” he said when she opened the door. “Are you going somewhere?”

Jessie smoothed away some nonexistent wrinkles from the front of her sleeveless sweater and glanced down at her black jeans. Not quite the attire for Lorenzo’s but a step up from her usual faded blue jeans and t-shirt. “I have an appointment.”

“With the doctor? You look great.” Daniel motioned to her cheek. “The swelling has really gone down.”

“And greenish yellow is a better color on me than the old purple and blue. But no, not the doctor.” She stepped back and tipped her head to one side, inviting him in. “I’m meeting with my divorce attorney.”

He feigned shock. “Really? I’m surprised.”

She started to close the door but hesitated when she caught sight of the smallish red SUV parked on the hillside. “Where’s your Corvette?”

“I sold it. And the Expedition.”

She shut the door behind him. While the contractor had been there fixing the window, he’d repaired the door too. It closed and stayed closed.

Jessie followed Daniel through the kitchen to the dining room where he turned toward her. “Money’s been tight lately.”

“But your ’Vette? You loved that car.”

He shrugged. “I’ll own another one when the situation improves. I’m working on some investments to turn things around. What about you? A divorce attorney?”

“I’ve put it off long enough. I’m moving on. I’ve had to accept Doc wasn’t the hero I always believed him to be. And Milt—” Her voice caught. Daniel reached a hand toward her, but she shook her head. “I’m still having trouble accepting that Milt was responsible for Doc’s death. And tried to kill me. But I’m working on it.”

Daniel studied her, his eyes narrowed.

Jessie lowered into a chair at the table. “At least one good thing came out of the ordeal. After sleeping here those few nights, Vanessa discovered she doesn’t like the dark and quiet of country life, so she’s not lusting after my house anymore.”

“That’s great.” He pulled out a chair and sat next to her.

Silence fell over the room, broken only by the steady tick, tick, tick of the mantel clock. Jessie wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of her future employment with the man she’d accused of murder. She studied the backs of her hands, but the answer wasn’t there. Finally, she drew a deep breath and lifted her gaze to find him watching her. “I...wanted to talk to you. About Doc’s practice at the track.”

Daniel leaned back and crossed an ankle over a knee. “What a coincidence. I wanted to talk to you about that too.”

She wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. “Okay. You first.”

He shook his head. “You brought it up.”

“But a lot of it’s up to you. I mean, the last we talked, you banned me from Riverview property.”

“No. The last we talked, you were violating that ban and nearly got yourself killed.”

“True.” She cleared her throat trying