CHAPTER 1
Shay Hall slowedhis truck down as he pulled into the parking spot on Main Street in Fool’s Gold, Colorado. Since he didn’t have a time line as to when he was supposed to arrive at New Double, and he was starving, he pulled over to get a bite to eat. Spotting the diner, he grinned as he exited, then swore when the bitter winter wind blew down off the mountains as well as down his collar. With a shiver, he hurried his steps to the diner and went inside. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he scanned the area and nodded at the area. He liked what he saw.
“How many in your party?” a woman asked as she hurried up to the stand.
“One.”
“This way.”
Shay followed her and saw a table with at least six men sitting there, and he thought he recognized one of them, but he didn’t attempt to go over and talk to them. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself if he was wrong. As he settled at the table, he ordered coffee, then asked the waitress who the gentleman was that he thought he knew.
“Oh, that’s Jake.”
“I thought so,” he said with a nod.
“You know him?”
“Not really, but I met him briefly a couple of months ago.” When he had been in Seattle for a case for his friend Tony’s girlfriend, he had met Jake. That had been nine weeks ago. Since then, he had returned to Pennsylvania, worked out his remaining six weeks with the military, retired a happy camper, then cleaned up his life there. He had to go through his house to see what he wanted to bring, sell, donate, or leave. Since he had been talking with Erin Riceman and Cole Mercury, he knew what he would need to bring with him. It was mostly clothes and personal items. As he looked at the menu, he looked up when someone approached his table.
“Excuse me, do I know you?” the man asked and Shay grinned.
“Yes,” he laughed at the other man’s expression as he held out his hand. “Shay Hall.”
“Commander, Seattle, Jacobs and Hardt.”
“Correct.”
“Are you done now?”
“I am. Fully retired, finished up my life out in Pennsylvania, now I’m here.”
“Well, if it doesn’t work out with Erin, come see me.” He leaned in and whispered. “Though I have a feeling it will work out, it seems like whenever anyone comes to work for her, they stay.” He shrugged. “No hard feelings, just stating facts. I’ll leave you to your meal, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out.” They shook hands and he went back to join the people at his table, and Shay ordered his meal. As he ate, he looked around and felt his entire body start to relax. As it did, he realized it was the first time in years that he felt like this. He wondered if this was what he needed in his life, something different from the military, and though he knew working with the horses would be rough, he didn’t think it would be as tense as facing situationswhere guns, missiles, bombs, and angry people aiming them at him would be involved, let alone the military personnel that tried his patience damn near every day.
An hour later, he stopped at the gas station on the outside of town to top off, then settled in for the long drive out to Erin’s Way. He took in the surrounding area as he drove, but couldn’t see much beneath the snow. He had been there nine weeks ago, and it looked like winter had set in. As he drove, he wondered how his friend, Tony, was doing. It seemed like it only took a few minutes, but the clock said it took a little over an hour, before he pulled beneath the sign for Erin’s Way. He parked where he had seen others park when he had been there before.
He braced himself for the cold as he climbed out of his truck, and sucked in his breath as another wind blew down the collar of his jacket. He looked up when he saw movement at the entrance to a barn, so he hurried over when the man standing in the doorway waved him over.
“Help you?”
“I’m Shay Hall.”
“Ah, the new guy,” the man said with a grin, and held out his hand. “I didn’t meet you the last time you were here. I’m Clark Riceman, Erin’s brother. Erin’s not here right now, she’ll be back soon. Come on in.” He stepped aside and grinned wider when Shay’s eyes almost burst out of his head at the sight before him.
“What the hell am I seeing?” He blinked several times, and had to reach up and rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing things correctly.
Clark clapped him on the back with a laugh. “This is what Erin dubbed the sex barn. We have horse people all over the world that want to breed with our stallions, however, sometimes it’s not feasible for the horses to meet in person. Years ago, Erin and our vet, Tom, were able to come up with this set up. It’s totally legal and doesn’t harm the stallion.”
“But what is it?”
“We’re gathering the stallion’s sperm, which will be tested, then frozen to be mailed out when ordered.”
“Holy shit, like a sperm bank for horses?”
“Yes, the website is Riceman Stallions. Erin set it up years ago after getting out of the hospital from losing her hand. She experienced horses rejecting her, so instead of fighting them, she worked with Tom to extract their sperm, then kept the sperm, and sold the horse. We have exclusive rights to the samples that were collected.”
“Damn,” Shay shook his head and watched for a good hour and realized that Clark was right and that the horse was not harmed in any way. He could only shake his head when he looked up and Erin stood there with a grin on her face. He walked over to her, and held out his hand to her.
“Reporting for duty, Ma’am.”
