LITMIR.BIZ

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the back room. “I wonder why he’s really here.”

      “Pardon?” she said, startled. Did people know?

      He smiled and lowered his voice. “I mean, what did he do? The kids talk about it constantly. They think maybe he cornered a serial killer—and shot him down rather than arresting him. Or he freaked in the middle of a tense situation. They keep making up scenarios—and they’re making me wonder, too.” He laughed. “In fact, it’s hard not to join in with their fantasies.”

      “I doubt that he freaked out, or that he’s violent. If he was, I don’t think he’d be here,” Olivia said pragmatically.

      “He’s sure got a rapport with kids,” Drew said.

      “The kids adore you, too. More than that, they respect you.”

      “Most of the ones we get are good kids,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’m not jealous. My real job is basically pooper-scooper. And he’s an FBI guy—where’s the comparison?”

      “Andrew! You and Sydney save animals, animals found in the worst possible conditions sometimes. You care for them, and you keep everything in this place running.”

      “Don’t say that in front of Aaron!” he said with a laugh. “Me, I don’t want to be an FBI man. I’m not at all fond of the concept of people shooting at me. Can’t help but be curious, though. So how did he do today?”

      “Fine. He worked well with others and seems to know horses.”

      “He is from Tennessee.”

      “Drew, not everyone from Tennessee rides horses,” she reminded him.

      “No kidding?”

      Olivia rolled her eyes.

      They heard a loud shrill of delight. “We won!” Joey cried happily.

      “Rematch tomorrow!” Sean shouted back at him.

      Sandra Cheever suddenly appeared, marching over to the boys. “Tomorrow being the key word. Out, young ’uns. We have to lock up.”

      “Aw...”

      The kids began filing out for the night. They all said their goodbyes to Olivia and Drew. Joey paused by the door. There was a sign-up sheet for the history/ghost tour and camping trip Mariah was planning to lead on Friday night.

      Joey paused, turning around. Olivia thought he was talking to her at first when he asked, “Are you going?”

      Then she realized that Dustin Blake was standing right behind her.

      “What is it exactly?”

      “Mariah Naughton. Remember, she was talking about it at the diner last night? We take the horses and ride out to sites that aren’t part of the National Battlefield Parks. I mean, they can’t own everything, and there was Civil War action all around here. She talks about Tennessee battles, the ghosts that remain, and then we go set up camp by the stream. It’s really cool.”

      “Seriously, nothing here is really cool, man,” Sean said, sticking his head back in and placing his hands on Joey’s shoulders. “But it’s the coolest thing we get while we’re in purgatory.”

      “You’re right. I do remember. Sounds great,” Dustin said.

      Olivia glanced at him, trying not to frown. Ping-Pong and camping? That was how an agent worked?

      Joey scribbled on the sheet and turned back to Dustin. “I put your name down, okay?”

      “Thanks.”

      Aaron had come out of his office. Sandra—herding the boys out the door—was now behind Dustin.

      “Guess I need to get out of here, too,” Dustin said. “Thank you. I’ve heard about this place for years. It’s fantastic. Good day for me.”

      “Glad to have you, Agent—Dustin,” Aaron said.

      As he walked out, Aaron turned to them. “Drew, can you get Sydney? And, Sandra, can you find Mariah and Mason? We need a little meeting.”

      Five minutes later, they were all seated on the couches and chairs in the entry room. Once everyone had settled in, Aaron said, “We have to decide how to handle this situation. First, just to let you know, Sandra and I have rescheduled all our sessions for tomorrow—the lawyer’s coming in the morning.” He cleared his throat. “I guess you’re all aware that Marcus was the end of his line. I believe, since he and I discussed it many times, that the facility was left to me, but no one can be certain of anything until his attorney reads his final will and testament. I know, as well, that he left something from his life for every one of you. There are also clauses that protect the property and the livestock in the event of my death. So...that’s one thing. The other is...we have to decide on spin.”

      “Spin?” Mariah asked.

      Aaron exhaled. “Well, the information about the autopsy is out. Naturally, in today’s age of instant information and social media, it was inevitable, and some people are going to make a big deal of it. We all know the autopsy revealed he was on drugs. The blood tests made that clear. I saw Marcus that morning—he was fine. In fact, he was in a great mood. What happened to make him relapse after all those years...I don’t know. The thing is, it puts us in a bad light. What good does any of this therapy do if the man who founded the Horse Farm died while on drugs?”

      “He didn’t take drugs willingly,” Olivia said firmly.

      They were all silent, looking at her. She knew that pitying stare. They all believed she just couldn’t accept it.

      To her surprise, Sydney Roux, Drew’s partner in looking after the stables, spoke up, too. He stood to do so; Sydney was an old Tennessean. His grandparents and their grandparents had grown up in the nearby hills. He was a gentleman to the nth degree. He fingered the baseball cap he’d removed when he entered the office as he said, “I can’t believe it, either. I remember I was in my room above the stables one evening when he came by. I’d been drinking a beer and I tried to hide it. He told me, ‘Sydney, I’m an addict. You’re not. Don’t go thinking you can’t have that brew because I stopped by. I’m long past my trigger days.’ And I believe that—just like Olivia believes it. Something happened. Someone tricked him.”

      “If only,” Sandra murmured.

      “How could we ever find out? How could we prove such a thing?” Mariah asked. “We had cops out here. They searched with us that day.”

      “They didn’t find anything!” Olivia said, sitting up straight.

      Aaron looked at her. “Right.”

      “Don’t you see? They didn’t find anything. They didn’t find heroin, crack or anything else on him—and they didn’t find a needle in his possession. Where were the drugs or the paraphernalia he would have needed?”

      Sandra came and sat on the edge of the sofa by her. “Oh, Liv, the acreage here seems to go on forever and we’re surrounded by forests. He could’ve left stuff anywhere on the property and we might never find it. A hundred years from now, when they’re digging the place up to build condos, they might come across a broken needle or something and wonder what the hell?”

      “Someone else could have put it in him,” Olivia said stubbornly.

      Sandra looked helplessly at Aaron.

      “I don’t know what happened and I probably never will. And it doesn’t matter. Marcus was one of the greatest men I’ve ever known,” Aaron said. “The point is how do we handle this?”

      “With honesty,” Mariah said. “What other way is there?”

      “We downplay it,” Mason insisted. “We tell the truth. We’re honest. But we say that it never happened before—and that is the truth. We say that Marcus had thirty years of clean living, and many people—and animals—benefited because of him. And that we’re

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