Page 90 of Justice

“Daddy, it’s just a book. I borrowed it from Kelly at school,” she replied.

“Aight. Well, as long as you’re reading. But listen, I love you. I’m proud of you. Your therapist said that you’re opening up. She can’t tell me exactly what y’all talked about, but she says that the last session went really well.”

“I like her. I feel better when I talk to her.”

“That’s good to hear. I love you. Okay.”

“When can I get off punishment?”

“Shiiiit… It’ll be after Christmas. You fucked up too much,” I laughed.

“Ugh,” she groaned before returning her attention back to her journal. I kissed her on the head and headed out of the room.

Then I went downstairs and called the veterinarian. The lady on the phone said earliest they could come out was morning. So Midnite had to stay where she was all night. That gave me some time to look around to see if I saw any clues of what could’ve happened.

The barn was dead quiet. Just the creak of the door when I pulled it open, and the smell, and nothing else.

Midnite was on her side in the straw, stiff, gone.

I crouched down and made myself look. Vomit pooled up by her mouth, dried at the edges. The foam had a color to it that wasn’t right.

I’ve seen enough death to know a young healthy horse doesn’t just drop. This was done to her. Something got into her system that didn’t belong anywhere near a barn.

I went over that stall inch by inch on my hands and knees. Pushed the straw around with my fingers. Checked the feed bucket for anything that shouldn’t be in it. Checked the water, smelled it, looked for residue on the rim. Nothing obvious. But I kept going, because something did this and it didn’t fall from the sky. Somebody brought it in here. Somebody stood where I was standing, did what they came to do, and walked out. I wasn’t leaving until I found something they left behind.

Something small and gold, half-buried in the straw by the stall door, catching just enough light to flash at me.

I picked it up between two fingers.

A gold hoop with an etched design. I knew it before my brain caught up, because I’d seen it on her plenty back when we were still messing around.

It was Kira’s earring. In my barn. Right next to my dead horse.

I closed my fist around it until the post bit into my palm.

I caught this woman on my property days ago. Behind my house. Walking around like she still belonged here after I told her to her face to stay gone. I walked her to her car. I gave her a single warning. She came back anyway. And when she couldn’t get to me, couldn’t get to my kids, she went after the one thing my baby loved most. She poisoned a defenseless animal to make my children hurt, because I chose my family over her feelings.

Storie’s voice came back to me. You didn’t see her face, Daddy. She looked at me and Dream like she hated us.

My daughter saw it. I didn’t. That wouldn’t happen again.

Skye was returning to the kitchen after giving my grandmother a glass of water when I returned.

“It was Kira.” I set the earring down on the counter between us. It clicked against the stone. “She poisoned Midnite.”

Skye looked at it. Didn’t touch it. “How do you know it’s hers?”

“Because I recognize it. From the times we got together.” I leaned on the counter so she could see my face and know I meant every word. “I caught her behind this house four days ago. After I banned her. Now my horse is dead and Kira’s earring is in the straw right next to her. You tell me what that looks like.”

Skye didn’t answer right away. She stood there looking at that earring on the counter, and I watched her jaw tighten, and I watched her eyes go somewhere I couldn’t follow. Not doubt. Something further back, like she was running through a memory I wasn’t part of.

“Skye.” I said her name to bring her back. “You heard what I said?”

“I heard you.” She blinked and looked up at me. Her face was careful now, closed off, every thought tucked behind it. “You’re sure it’s hers? You’re a hundred percent sure?”

“Yes. I know it ain’t yours. Never seen you wear something like that. It damn sure don’t belong to the girls and Rita. I’ve seen he wear it and she was just here. That bitch is mad because I cut her out of our lives. She’s jealous. She even said slick shit about you…”

She was quiet another beat. I could’ve sworn she was about to say something else, a thing sitting right behind her teeth that she swallowed instead of letting out.