Page 83 of More Than a Fling

“Ah, I had forgotten about that.”

“It jist didn’t add up fer me. Too much of a fluke, him showin up at the perfect time and all, with all yer boxes checked, and he was too slick.”

“Slim, from now on you’re doing all of the interviews and hiring,” Gabe said.

“I reckin.”

The nurse popped her head in and said she had to chart him and check his vitals then they were taking him down for another scan.

“We’ll be here when you get back Slim,” Gabe said.

Annie reached into her pocket and pulled out the four-leaf clover he had given her and handed it to Slim. “Here why don’t you hold onto this for a bit. It sure has worked for me.”

He grinned and took it from her. “It kint hurt me none.”

Pepper leaned down and whispered in Slims ear, “See ya Virgil,” and kissed his cheek which, much to everyone’s surprise, brought a rosy blush to Slim’s cheeks.

39

With Kip and Cal in custody they were booked for insurance fraud, arson, and attempted murder. The captain hoped to reach Bradley to share the news so that he would know he was off the hook. His call went straight to voicemail, so he enlisted Ike to keep trying to reach his partner.

Cal cooperated fully and had confessed to his part in everything. He had fingered Kip and Roy who were the masterminds of the insurance fraud scheme to cash in on Midnight’s misfortune in order to pay off Kip’s massive gambling debts. Since Kip had only forty-nine percent interest in Imperial Farms, his partner would have to be investigated as well. But Cal assured the authorities that the Bartell family, Kips partners, were completely in the dark about the scheme. The whole point had been to replace the embezzled funds before they had discovered them missing.

By Cal’s account, Kip had acted on his own and devised a plan after running into deep gambling debt. Since he felt Midnight was a long shot for rehabilitation, he had decided to sacrifice her life for the million-dollar insurance payoff. They found a relative unknown newcomer to the training world, Gabe, that wouldn’t have the experience to question or the security set-up to interfere with their plan. The fire had been a last resort after multiple attempts, by Cal, to sabotage Midnights health.

It was dumb luck that Gabe had to hire another hand. In stepped Cal. Cal had the decency to look ashamed as he admitted that he agreed to participate for the hundred thousand-dollar payoff that Kip had promised him. It was likely that Cal would be released on bond since he was cooperating, but Kip and Roy would likely stay behind bars for a long time to come.

* * *

The next day a guard came to Cal’s cell and said, “You’ve got a visitor.”

“Gabe Hunter?”

“Yep, only one on your visitor’s list.”

Cal had requested the visit but was dreading it. He reluctantly followed the guard to the secure meeting room. There was Gabe, sitting at a table. Cal sat down across from him.

“You wanted to see me?” Gabe asked.

“Yeah, Gabe, I don’t expect you to understand or forgive me, but I needed to tell you my side.”

“You’re right, I’ll never understand. For starters, how could anyone try to harm an innocent animal? Midnight had already been through so much and was completely dependent on us. How?” Gabe said.

“I know…”

“Then to worm your way into our lives, we treated you like family, man how sick does someone have to be to fake it so damn good?”

“I know, I deserve everything you can dish out, but when I was offered a hundred thousand from my Uncle Kip to do the job, I didn’t know any of ya. I didn’t even know the horse for that matter. It just seemed like an easy way to make a hundred grand.”

“You’re a piece of shit. Slim had your number from day one and I didn’t listen, for that I can’t forgive myself.”

Cal said quietly, “I just wanted you to know that in the end I couldn’t go through with it. I grew to care about all of you. Especially you Gabe. You’re the first man I’ve ever looked up to. You’re strong and honest and fair, you have integrity and honor. I wished I could be like you. I’m sorry that I realized all this too late.”

Gabe shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry too. I really liked you, I trusted you. I guess I’ve never been motivated by money so it’s impossible for me to fathom how that could seduce a person to commit such acts.”

“I want you to know that I’m cooperating fully with the investigation. My uncle will be going away for a long time and I’ll probably have some years behind bars to think about things.”

“Why did you wait so long to do the right thing?”

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