Page 33 of No Bones About It

Onigis stood near the shed-stable, which was a brilliant idea for horses who were afraid of the barn or the outdoors. He could see it working in both kinds of cases as a transition area.

The mare wasn’t limping noticeably, and when he mentioned it, Kimi nodded. “I think she was trained to ignore her injuries and suck it up. I’m not sure if she’s truly feeling better yet. The goats seem to have figured it out and don’t let her wander too far from the shed.”

“It’s quite a team you have here.”

She nodded. “I’d like to add to it. I’m thinking of a program for kids to learn more about animals. It would be great to introduce a therapy program, too.”

His feet halted. “I’ve been thinking of an equine therapy program for years, and that’s my plan for this property. For kids and adults with disabilities. There’s some excellent research out there about how much good it can do for both the humans and the horses.”

Kimi grinned and reached up on her toes to kiss him lightly. When she dropped back to her toes, her grin widened. “I like being able to do that.”

Garrett lifted her until her legs wrapped around his waist. “Me too.” Then he kissed her until his knees almost buckled.

They managed to control themselves and continue checking the animals. He was surprised it took her until they reached the pigs before she asked him about the night before. Maybe she’d wanted to be away from the possibility of anyone overhearing them.

“What did you see last night? What made you realize they’d spotted us?”

He leaned against the fence and watched as the pigs moved through the paddock, rooting around in the dirt. The rheas in the next paddock appeared to be mimicking their movements. “That compound has more security than some army bases I’ve seen. The cameras appear to work on motion sensors. As you guessed, there’s an outdoor fighting ring along with several training areas loaded with equipment.”

That made her shudder, and Garrett wrapped his arm around her and kissed her hair.

“There were a couple of men with automatic rifles patrolling the area. Another man led out a pit bull on a chain and brought it to the training area nearest me. A pole had a baited weight attached to it. The dog jumped up and latched on with his jaws. Suddenly, the pit bull dropped to the ground and barked in my direction. I hadn’t moved, but the men sprung into immediate action, pointing at where I was, pulling out cell phones and aiming rifles.”

She squeezed him. “I’m sorry. If I hadn’t dragged you there, none of this would have happened.”

That caused him to shudder. “You can’t go back there alone, Kimi. Promise me you won’t go without me.” If she’d been alone and those men had caught her? He couldn’t deal with the fear rolling through him.

“But—”

He didn’t let her finish. Instead, he pulled back and put his hands on her shoulders. He bent down so they were eye to eye. “Promise me. Please.”

Her gaze didn’t waver, and she finally nodded. “Okay.”

“Thank you. I think it’s time to bring in the authorities. If they got a look at your license plate, they’re going to figure out who and where you are. We have to be prepared for that.”

Her eyes widened. “I have to clean the license plate before Marcus sees it.”

She started to turn away, but he held her in place. “What do you mean?”

She sighed, but her eyes twinkled. “It’s not my first rodeo. I always paint the license numbers and letters, so it’s not my real license plate. And then I smear it with mud, so even that’s not truly visible. I try to make it look natural and it’s why I don’t clean my truck all that often.”

Garrett gaped at her as relief swamped him. “Forget James Bond. He’s got nothing on you.” If the people in the truck couldn’t get an accurate license plate, she was safe for now.

They returned to the garage where he saw she hadn’t been kidding. The parts visible beyond the mud didn’t have any connection to her true plate, but it looked natural. The woman was brilliant.

After they cleaned it up, Garrett patted the truck. “How do you feel about bringing in Marcus on this?”

She sighed and leaned against the truck, revving up yet another fantasy. He caged her in, and her eyes went from thoughtful to heavy with desire in a blink.

He leaned in to kiss her when they heard Nina’s voice calling for Kimi.

Kimi sighed. “It’s Saturday. I forgot. Nina is here to work.”

He kissed her quickly. “We’ll get back to that thought later.”

When they left the garage, Nina waved. The teen’s gaze moved between them, and he could feel her curiosity from across the yard.

Hoping to distract her, he turned to Kimi. “I was thinking of bringing Kitty over to visit with Onigis for a bit. Do you think she’s ready to see another horse?”

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