“Take care.” Jake rang off and rolled out of bed. While he showered and changed into slacks and a fresh white shirt, he tried to decide what to do. In the end, he didn’t have to do anything. By mid-afternoon, he had a visitor.
“Hello, Jake. It’s good to see you.”
Standing at the fence outside one of the show rings, Jake’s head snapped up. He would have known that rich baritone anywhere. “Hello, Daniel.” He glanced around. “Taking a bit of a chance, aren’t you?”
“Not really. I haven’t been in the field for years. I’m Tom Rutledge, here to buy horses. With the papers I’m carrying, they’d have a helluva time making me as anything other than a breeder.”
“It’s a relief to see you,” Jake said.
Daniel Gage smiled, his freckled face looking younger, more the way Jake remembered him. At fifty-five, Daniel was a little thicker around the middle, a few more lines around his eyes, a bit of gray in his light brown hair, but still imposing.
“I heard about the incident outside the pub last night, the beating, one of your riders winding up in the hospital. You were seen talking to the two gentlemen in question.”
Jake nodded.
“Popov’s men?”
“Yes.”
“First time you’ve seen them?”
“Yes.”
“The police will want to question you. Just tell them the truth—you’ve never seen the men before last night. Give them a general description and let it go at that. Have there been other incidents?”
There was no point in lying now. “Unfortunately, there have.” Jake filled Daniel in as quickly and precisely as possible, telling him about the incident on the plane and the attack on Ellie.
“They want you to know they’ll carry out their threats,” Daniel said. “They want you convinced they’re serious.”
“Believe me, I’m convinced.”
Daniel looked past him into the show ring, where a big gray horse and rider moved along the fence. “Our inside man thinks it goes all the way to the top, Jake.”
His stomach tightened painfully. “Is he absolutely sure?”
“He’s identified one very high official. Everyone’s keeping quiet. It’s only by accident he’s discovered as much as he has.”
“What do we do now?”
“Try to catch the bastards and stop them from doing whatever they have planned—without them knowing you gave them up.”
Jake rubbed his forehead, where a headache had started to build. “Sounds like a pretty tough order.”
“It’ll be tough, but with your help, maybe not impossible. We’ve already beefed-up security. You just play along with them—and this time keep us informed.”
Jake smiled at the authority in his friend’s voice as Daniel handed him a slip of paper with a Hickstead phone number on it. But his mind kept darting ahead to the what the consequences of his actions would be for his mother and sister.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Daniel said, “and I don’t blame you.” His eyes remained on Jake. “Just don’t do anything you’ll regret.” Daniel drifted off with the crowd and Jake was left alone with his troubled thoughts.
What the hell did the Russians want him to do?
Jake looked up to see Ellie riding up beside him on Rose of Killarney and forced his mind back to the job he was there to do. The riders on the team were depending on him.
“You were behind Rose all the way through the course,” he said. “Your mind isn’t on the fences, Ellie, and it’s beginning to show. You’d better get your priorities straight. You’re here to ride for the United States, not moon over Clayton Whitfield. You’re expected to win.”
Her eyes glistened. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have another class until tomorrow. If you need the rest of the day off, take it, if not, try watching the competition. Maybe you’ll learn something.”
