Double Exposure: Kovak & Quaid Horse Mystery Series (Kovak & Quaid Horse Mysteries Book 1) Read online

  DOUBLE EXPOSURE

  Kovak & Quaid MysterySeries

  Book 1

  Toni Leland

  Ex-cop Kim Kovak is a well-known Ohio equine photographer who spends her time in the company of beautiful horses, a profession that helps her forget a tragic past.

  When Kovak finds herself at the heart of a possible theft involving the use of a “ringer” for a national champion show jumper, she meets wily insurance fraud investigator, Garrett Quaid, and suddenly nothing matters but tracking down the criminals.

  Now deeply-ingrained police skills surface and Kim is thrown into a deadly situation where someone will stop at nothing to keep her from the truth.

  “You’ll be up late, and in good company, with this exciting new page-turner from Toni Leland. If there’s such a thing as “chick lit for horse lovers,” Toni Leland is the queen of it, and I mean that in the very best way. Known for her strong female characters and compelling stories set in the horse world, she has built a loyal following over the years. Her tantalizing new novel, Double Exposure, is sure to satisfy her readers and bring many more into the fold...” – Blue Ribbon Books

  Copyright ©2012 All Rights Reserved

  Delaware, Ohio

  “Where the hell is my horse?”

  At the harsh tone, Kim Kovak jerked and punched the shutter button. Irritation skittered through her head and she spun around to glower at the person who’d just ruined a perfect shot.

  The culprit strode across the grass, his dark eyebrows forming a slash across his forehead. Kim glanced back at the woman standing beside a big chestnut mare that was the subject of the photograph.

  The woman frowned. “Jasper, can’t you see we’re in the middle of a photo shoot? You should have let me know you were coming.”

  The man stopped about five feet away and shoved his hat back. “Spur of the moment trip. Where’s Talisman?”

  Teri Fortune gave Kim an apologetic smile. “Sorry, could you give us a few minutes?” Without waiting for a reply, she turned back to the man. “He’s in his stall, but we moved some horses around. C’mon, I’ll show you.”

  They headed toward the barn and Kim looked up at the sky, annoyance treading on her patience. The light would be all wrong in another half-hour and she’d have to reschedule to finish the session. Much as she loved her work, dealing with the foibles of fussy owners and prima donna trainers took some patience, a virtue that seemed to dwindle as she got older. Shouldering the camera, she walked toward the barn to retrieve the rest of her gear.

  As Kim stepped through the door, Teri’s confused tone drifted on the air.

  “Jasper, I can’t imagine how... Are you sure?”

  “Jee-zus, do ya think I don’t know my own horse? How could you be so oblivious? He’s been here five months!”

  Kim hesitated, feeling guilty about eavesdropping, but also intrigued by the exchange.

  Teri’s voice took on a defensive edge. “Listen, you sent the horse here and he looks just like the pictures. Why would I question it? And maybe if you’d come to check on him sooner—”

  “I don’t know what kind of scam you’re runnin’, but it ain’t gonna work.”

  Hearing boots thumping through the barn, Kim shrank back from the doorway and moved to the corner of the building. Jasper emerged, his face dark with anger. A minute later, he climbed into a silver Lincoln and gunned it down the lane, a spray of gravel playing off the board fence like gunfire.

  The sound of horse hooves on concrete echoed inside the barn, then Teri appeared in the doorway, her features pinched. The chestnut mare took advantage of Teri’s distraction and dropped her head to snatch a mouthful of lush grass growing next to the building.

  Kim composed her features as though she’d heard nothing. “I think we’ve lost the light, Teri. I can come early tomorrow and finish up...hey, is everything okay?”

  The young woman’s eyes suddenly glistened. “Not even close.”

  Kim gazed at her for a moment. Fortune Farms had been a client for several years, so Kim didn’t think she’d be overstepping her bounds by asking.

  “What happened? He seemed pretty upset.”

  Teri’s shoulders sagged. “With good reason. Apparently, somewhere along the line, someone replaced Jasper Martin’s champion show jumper with a double.” Her chin quivered. “He thinks I did it.”

  Kim thought for a moment. “How is that possible? Finding an exact match seems a little unbelievable to me. Besides that, how can he tell? What proof did he give you?”

  “He’s adamant that the horse in my barn is not Talisman, something about a secret mark of identification. Said he’d be back later to show me.”

  Kim pondered that. Why wouldn’t he just show Teri now?

  “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.”

  Teri let out a long sigh and stroked the mare’s neck. “I sure hope so. In this economy, I can’t afford any scandals to scare away what little business there is.” She offered a thin smile. “Could you come tomorrow after lunch instead of in the morning?”

  “Sorry, but I’m leaving for Kentucky around noon, so I’ll have to either be here very early or reschedule for next month.”

  “Okay. I’ll have her ready by eight. You certainly do get around. What’s in Kentucky?”

  “A big Egyptian Arabian event. Happens every year. One of my clients wants brochure photographs.”

  “You sure don’t discriminate. Thoroughbreds, Arabians, and what else?”

  “Anything I can take a picture of. The recession has affected us all, my friend.”

  Chapter 2

  Driving through the lush Ohio farmland on her way back to town, Kim thought about the puzzling situation at the farm. It didn’t seem possible that a horse could be switched out easily. And when would that have happened? While he was stabled at Teri’s? Before he even left wherever he came from? If the animal had arrived five months ago, why hadn’t Jasper come sooner to see that the valuable show horse had arrived safely and settled in? Kim snorted. Jasper Martin was a well-known and talented trainer in the national horse community, and a self-centered big-shot. He’d probably just assumed that everything was fine. Having built a strong, successful world for himself, he might never imagine that someone would try to bring it down. Kim sucked in a sharp breath. Is that what happened? Was this someone’s vengeful act toward Jasper? Or simply a case of mistaken identity? Most likely, some barn helper had handed off the wrong horse. If they were identical, it could happen.

  Kim pulled into the parking lot of the first motel she saw. Still pondering the mystery, she stared out the windshield at the landscaping along the front of the drab building. The shrubs were brown and crisp from lack of water, and rubbish littered the sun-bleached mulch. Neglect seemed to multiply in hard times. She thought again about Teri’s problem. If this was a case of mistaken identity, what were the odds of having two identical horses in the same barn? Ridiculous odds, that’s what. For a horse as valuable as Talisman, surely there were other ways to positively identify him. Freeze brands, microchips, DNA. Even that new-fangled iris identification system. And all those would be included on the horse’s registration papers. How could such a glaring error have occurred? She clucked her tongue and climbed out of the car. It wasn’t her problem, but it was certainly intriguing.

  An hour later, she towel-dried her hair and stared in the mirror. The garish glow from the fluorescent bulb gave a sallow, unhealthy look to her skin. Even her dark red hair had a strang
e tint, almost green. Other than that, she didn’t look too bad for just-turned-fifty. She smiled. Youth was wasted on the young. Since she’d gotten her act together, the past three years had been good. Successful. Independent. In charge of her own destiny. A murmur ran through her chest. A little lonely sometimes, but neither of the careers she’d chosen were good companions for the standard home life that included a husband and kids.

  Her cell phone chimed and she hurried across the room. Her best friend’s name appeared on the screen.

  “Hey, Dixie, what’s up?”

  “Where are you? Your car’s not in front of the condo. I was gonna see if you wanted to get a beer.”

  “That would be a little hard. I’m in Delaware.”

  “How’d you get way out there?”

  Kim laughed. “Delaware, Ohio. You off duty tonight?”

  “Yeah, for the next two days. Department is cutting back on hours, but not laying off. Thank God.”

  “I wish I was going to be home so we could do something, but I’m headed for Kentucky tomorrow.”

  “Well, crap. Guess I’ll have to go see my mother.”

  “That would be a good thing. You need some diversions occasionally to help balance the nasty stuff you deal with at work.”

  “Yeah, it does get old. Sometimes I wonder why I became a cop, but the answer’s always the same. I need to be part of the solution.”

  “I know.”

  Kim shivered, not so much from the air chilling her bare skin, but more from the memories trying to take over.

  She pushed it away. “Listen, let me pass something by you. This doesn’t make any sense to me, but maybe you’ll see something I don’t.”

  She outlined the scene at Teri’s, realizing she didn’t have much information and was probably expecting too much based on too little.

  Dixie’s tone grew serious. “Horse theft is big right now, but it seems crazy for the perp to go to the trouble of replacing the horse. Maybe it’s more than just one person or specific instance.”

  “You mean a theft ring?”

  “Could be. Where’d the horse come from originally?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe California. I can find out tomorrow.”

  Dixie’s voice softened. “Listen, hon, don’t get too involved. Folks who do this stuff aren’t to be messed with.”

  ~~

  The first light of dawn crept around the edges of the heavy drapes, tinting the walls and ceiling with a cool glow. Kim lay still, savoring that brief moment of morning before life set in. Dixie’s sobering observations echoed in Kim’s head, followed by warm thoughts about her best friend. With her petite body and tousled blonde hair, Dixie was the last person one would expect to be working as a sheriff’s deputy. Kim stared at the ceiling. And who am I to talk?

  She’d been drawn to Dixie Davis the first time she’d laid eyes on her. Maybe it was her infectious laugh, or those incredible blue eyes that drilled right through you, seeing all your raw secrets. Or maybe it was that subtle hint of something different, a sense that Dixie carried her own deep mystery. Kim thought about the moment when she intuitively knew about Dixie. Why hadn’t they ever talked about it? She sighed. It wasn’t up to her to bring it up.

  She turned off the thoughts, climbed out of bed, and focused on her day. She had just enough time to return to Fortune Farms and finish the photographs of the mare before she headed for Lexington.

  The zipper on her chinos stopped about an inch from the top. “Damn, I have got to lose some weight.”

  She stepped in front of the mirror and turned sideways. A bit of a tummy and a pleasantly round butt didn’t exactly make her obese. Then she grinned.

  “Big boobs make up for a lot of sins.”

  A few minutes later, she entered the motel’s small breakfast room. The place was empty at that hour, but the complimentary doughnuts, pastries, cereal, fruit, and juice were neatly laid out on

  the counter. She filled a foam cup with blistering hot coffee, then chose a box of Cheerios and a banana to start her day. Cream moderated the temperature of the coffee and she sat back to take a sip. Jasper Martin’s horse popped into her head again.

  What would be the logic in stealing a highly recognizable show horse? He couldn’t be used in competition without the risk of being discovered. He was a gelding, so breeding value wasn’t a motive. If Dixie was right about this being a professional operation, where was the money angle? Kim’s stomach lurched. Slaughterhouses paid by weight, so a fourteen-hundred-pound Dutch Warmblood would bring a tidy sum, but it would be paltry compared to the show value of the horse. And why bother to find another horse to take his place? Just steal him and be done with it.

  She tossed the plastic cereal bowl into the trash, dropped the banana into her bag, and headed for her room. This wasn’t her fight and it only upset her to think about it.

  ~~

  Fortune Farms lay in the hilly region of Delaware County. Teri Fortune’s holistic approach to healing and boarding had built a healthy clientele of some of the wealthier horse owners in the nation. Teri’s barns were spotless and the people she hired to work for her were carefully screened.

  Kim drove slowly up the lane toward the big white barn. She was early, but she had an idea. Parking the car, she glanced toward the far end of the barn. Teri was leading a horse toward the pasture gate, but she looked up and waved. Kim grabbed her camera and hurried into the barn.

  A handsome dark brown head appeared over a stall door. The name plate read “Talisman”. The horse nickered and Kim chuckled.

  “I’m not the one in charge of food, buddy.”

  She removed the lens cover and, with a quick glance toward the back barn door, let herself into the horse’s stall. The big gelding opened his nostrils, drinking in her scent, then came forward and nosed the camera. Kim gave him a minute, then moved back and snapped off five shots of different parts of his body. What kind of marker could be hidden to keep it a secret? She’d just moved back into the aisle when Teri appeared.

  “Kim, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting. I still have two horses to turn out, but there’s coffee in the office, so help yourself. I won’t be much longer.”

  “No hurry, I’m just slobbering over all this gorgeous horseflesh.”

  Teri haltered a palomino mare and headed for the back door again. Kim waited until she was alone, then stepped back into Talisman’s stall.

  The horse chuckled deep in his throat as Kim stroked his neck, running her fingers along the base of his mane, then up toward his poll. Her fingertips explored, searching for telltale scarring from an implant. She found nothing. Maybe it was in his ear. She slowly moved her fingers up the velvety edges, grasping it gently between her thumb and fingers. He jerked his head away and snorted. She examined the ears visually, but saw nothing. She rubbed the gelding’s jaw, working her hand slowly toward his nose. He seemed to like her touch. Teri’s hands-on philosophy must agree with him.

  She stroked his velvety muzzle. “Who are you, buddy? Will we ever know?”

  ~~

  Twenty minutes later, Kim looked up at the sky as she adjusted her camera. High, thin clouds diffused the light.

  “These will look different than yesterday’s shots, but we don’t have much choice.”

  Teri positioned the chestnut mare. “Don’t worry about it. The owner wants to sell her, so whatever we get that makes her look good will be fine.”

  Kim worked for almost an hour, kneeling, moving, changing settings, capturing the essence of the aristocratic-looking horse in the viewfinder. Between sets, she noticed the strain on Teri’s face.

  “Okay, I think we’re finished. I checked yesterday’s shots last night and I think the owner will find something he likes.”

  Teri did not smile. “I hope so.”

  She looked so forlorn that Kim felt compelled to say something. “Are you okay? I know you’re worried about this thing with Jasper Martin, but I can’t believe it’s more than a mistake on someone’s part.�
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  “A county cop showed up here yesterday after you left.”

  Kim moved quickly to Teri’s side. “What happened?”

  “The officer said he couldn’t launch an investigation without some proof that a crime had been committed, but he had to at least make an effort to follow up on Jasper’s call.”

  Teri’s eyes suddenly glistened and Kim slipped an arm around her shoulders. “See? If Jasper can’t come up with anything other than a thin accusation, you shouldn’t have to worry.”

  “I know, but it has more to do with his ability to cast doubt on my reputation. God, I’ve spent so long building this place and gaining trust in the equine community. He could destroy it all with just one ugly rumor. He swears he loaded Talisman onto the trailer himself.”

  “Tell me, why would Jasper place his top show jumper here for the better part of the season?”

  Teri’s face paled. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone, but the horse had a bad tendon pull at his last show. Jasper wanted me to quietly heal him so no one would know he’d been injured.”

  “And?”

  Teri hesitated. “I couldn’t find anything wrong with him.”

  Kim’s astonishment left her speechless.

  Teri looked away. “I know—I should have told him. But I needed the money. It never occurred to me that it might be a different horse.”

  Kim frowned. “This really stinks. I think Mr. Martin might be orchestrating an insurance scam.”

  Chapter 3

  The four-hour drive to Lexington gave Kim plenty of time to think, and some old skills surfaced. If Jasper was trying to commit insurance fraud, the long time between Talisman’s departure from his home barn and the discovery of the switched horse would give the trainer plenty of time to cover his tracks. With no urgency in the investigation, he’d not have to worry about chance comments by barn help or other people who’d been involved. As long as he could prove that the horse in Teri Fortune’s barn was not Talisman, he would have a theft claim. Clever. But would Teri be the focus of the investigation? Would Jasper claim the horse was switched at Teri’s barn? Kim shuddered. The girl was right—it would only take one incident to cast a cloud over her integrity and destroy everything she’d worked so hard to build.