Chapter 30
Cori
I was sick to my stomach. The medicine I’d taken to try to help the nausea wasn’t actually helping. Not a surprise. This sickness didn’t have to do with anything I ate.
As soon as I got to the Pearson Ranch, they were going to want me to poison horses. Who knew how many? I couldn’t do that, but I had a plan. A Hail Mary, just in case. At the clinic, I borrowed Jenna’s phone and sent an email to one of my vet friends I knew wasn’t attached to the Pearsons. No connection to the racing world whatsoever. I told them to email Resting Warrior and to tell them what was happening and where I was.
If I really was being watched, then I had to assume they had the power to monitor my phone and email. If they had eyes on me, they could see if I made any calls. But I was able to grab Jenna’s phone and take it to the bathroom quickly. It was a risk, but it was one I had to take.
All I could do was pray that my friend got the email and passed it on in time. Because the Pearsons weren’t going to be happy about my saying no. Again.
Dread seeped down my spine as I pulled into the drive of the ranch. After this was over—however it ended—I was never coming back to this place. They could find another vet. Or maybe they wouldn’t, because like hell was I going to let anyone I knew work with them ever again.
They were waiting by the stable. Joel leaned against the barn, arms crossed, glaring at me. Mr. Pearson looked less angry, but that didn’t mean he was less dangerous. He was more.
The feeling of them watching my every move as I got my medical bag and crossed the gravel to them only added to the nausea swimming in my gut.
“Good to know you’re punctual,” Mr. Pearson said. “I don’t have all day.”
I took my breath and braced for the lie. “I’ll do this, but hurting Grant is off the table.”
“Is that so?”
I looked him in the eye. “We’re not together anymore. He’s not leverage. And no more blackmail pictures either.”
Joel laughed. “It was quite the performance you gave, dumping him. Far better than the one you gave when we broke up.”
I rolled my eyes. This wasn’t a conversation I was going to indulge. I hated that he’d been watching our breakup—that he was watching me at all. But there was nothing I could do about that right now. I looked at the elder Pearson again. “Promise me that you won’t touch him.”
“Your insistence on it doesn’t make the argument that using him won’t hurt you,” he mused. “But fine. As long as you follow through, soldier boy is safe.”
“Good,” I said.
Please, let Jane have seen the email. Please let Grant and the Resting Warrior guys be on their way. Please.
I hoped that Grant would forgive me for last night. That once he understood, he wouldn’t hate me for hitting where it was meant to hurt.
“Let’s go,” Mr. Pearson said, walking into the stable. “You have a list of horses to infect today. We’re going to pass it off as a fast-moving virus.”
“I still don’t understand why you need me to do this,” I said. “You have two hands.”
He looked over his shoulder at me. “You’re smarter than that, Cori.”
I was. He needed someone to take the fall in case the authorities found out that the horses were murdered. The country vet with a point to prove. They could twist it any way they wanted.
“Why are you doing this? If I’m putting myself on the line, I want to know.”
Joel smirked. “You don’t get to ask that.”
“There’s nothing she can say, Joel. If she reveals what we need from it, she incriminates herself. At the very least as an accessory. So I don’t mind telling you that it’s about the money. The horses I’m disposing of aren’t winning. Not nearly enough. At this point, they’re worth more to me dead than alive.
“When they’re gone, I’ll use the money to invest in better horses. To win more.”
“So, you don’t need the money? You’re not in debt or something?” I tried to contain my utter horror and failed.
“We always need money,” Joel said. “Not that you would know that. Did you know she’s giving up her trust because she won’t go back to medical school?”
Mr. Pearson started to speak, and I interrupted. “You gave up the privilege of having an opinion on my life choices, Joel. Multiple times now. Shut the fuck up.”
His father laughed. “It’s a pity it didn’t work out, Cori. You would make an excellent Pearson.”
“I’d rather not.”
We ended up next to Hazelwood’s stall. He was still breathing, but barely. “You’ll start with this one. Here.”
He gestured, and Joel handed me a pouch. Inside were vials of clear liquid and syringes. “What is this?”
“It’s what we’ve been using. Coumarin. A much more intense dose. It should be effective within a few days.”
Where were they? It had been long enough that they could be arriving any second. Please. If anything in the universe was listening, I needed them to show up. I didn’t want to kill this horse.
I took my time checking Hazelwood’s vitals. Doing busywork things. Cleaning the injection site. Cleaning the needle. Slowly filling the injector with the liquid—something that could have taken seconds. I made it last.
But there was only so much I could do. The needle was resting against the horse’s skin. All I needed to do was push the needle in to finish this, and I couldn’t do it. There was never a chance that I was going to, but I’d hoped that they’d get here. I’d hoped that the Resting Warrior crew would swing in like heroes and stop it before I came to this.
“You know I can’t poison this horse,” I said quietly.
“Excuse me?” Joel’s voice was loud.
I looked up at him, pulling the needle away from the horse. “I can’t poison this horse.”
Mr. Pearson sighed. “We hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but we expected it. That’s why there’s a Plan B.”
Pain exploded through my head, and suddenly I was sprawled over Hazelwood’s body. My vision blurred, and I couldn’t get to my feet. Dizzy. I was dizzy. They pulled me to my feet together, each holding an arm.
No. Whatever this was? This couldn’t happen. I’d thought they would force me with the needle. What was this? I thought about Grant. He would tell me to fight it. So I did. I kicked out at the two of them, and I heard the grunts as my feet made contact with them, but they didn’t let me go and didn’t let me regain my feet. They dragged me through the dirt. “What are you doing?”
Did I want to know?
Joel’s laugh echoed through the stable. “This was my idea, and I think you’ll like this, Cori. I saw the pictures, right? You weren’t joking when you said you wanted to be tied up, and from what I’ve seen so far, you fucking love it.”
My head was ringing from where they’d hit me. I couldn’t quite make my vision clear or the world stop spinning. Being dragged wasn’t helping. “Where are you taking me?”
I was slammed up against a wall, knocking the breath from me. Not a wall. A pillar. One of the pillars in the center of the stable, where paths crossed.
Joel had my arms, pressing them so hard into the surface that they ached. I kicked him and instantly regretted it. New pain bloomed across my cheek. He let me go only long enough to hit me again.
“I figure since you enjoy being tied up so much, you’ll enjoy this. One last time. With me.”
“Never with you.”
Joel’s hand wrapped around my neck, tilting my chin up so I couldn’t look away and couldn’t breathe. Around my body, I felt rope slither into place. Panic burst through me. No oxygen and no way to fight. I didn’t know what they had planned, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to survive it.
“Oh, Cori,” he said, pressing harder. “You were with me long enough to know that I always get the last word. Always.” More rope was wrapped, and I felt Mr. Pearson’s hands in passing as he circled, securing my shoulders and my hands.
Air. I needed air. None was getting past the strength of Joel’s hand.
“Getting rid of you at the same time is a bonus,” he said. “If I can’t have you, then no one gets to. Especially not some worthless soldier with an attitude problem.”
I couldn’t speak. The world began to fade as I struggled for air. Panic receded as my brain started to shut down. Oxygen was the only goal. There was no move I could make. The ropes bit into my skin, keeping me against the pillar. I was going to die.
“But I won’t kill you. Can’t have your body looking like it was dead beforehand.”
He released me, and color rushed back into the world. I breathed so fast that I choked, coughing. My lungs and throat burned. “What are you doing?” I finally managed.
Mr. Pearson came to stand in front of me. “All of it needs to be an accident. That fire that destroyed all the horses at the Pearson Ranch. Such a pity. It caught too quickly. There was absolutely nothing that could be done.” He smiled grimly. “And the poor local vet who was in the area and ran in to try to save the animals? That was such a tragedy. No one will ever question the fire that killed the beautiful and perfect Cori Jackson.”
“No.” My voice was rough, throat struggling after what Joel had done to me. Where was Grant now? Did he hate me? Would he get the email too late and feel regret? Did the Pearsons find out about the email and get to Jane, too?
“I’m sorry that it came to this,” Mr. Pearson said. “I really am. I would rather have had us be on the same side, but you’re not leaving me a choice.”
They walked away, passing by the pillar so that I couldn’t see them anymore. “Wait,” I called. “Please don’t do this.”
Joel stepped into my line of vision. “Feel free to scream as much as you like. There’s no one here. Every employee has the day off.”
“Joel!” I yelled after him. “You’re not this person, Joel. Please.”