Page 11 of No Rules

“Good work. I’ve asked Caleb to look at the security footage from Marilyn’s farm. He has facial recognition software he can use to create a list of every face that appears on the feed. That way, we can compile a list of everyone who was there.”

“That assumes the EPO was administered at the farm.”

Ryan cocked his head. “Where else would it be?”

“Before the race, at the track itself. The horses are assigned stalls where they stay until their warm-up begins. Horses traveling from farther away stay there for multiple days, but since Marilyn lives so close, she wouldn’t have needed to use the stalls. But she must’ve had Sam’s Promise at the track for several hours before the race.”

Ryan tapped his fingers on his desk. “Much harder to control the environment there.”

“They supposedly have tight security, and you need clearance to access that part of the track, which is limited to owners, jockeys, trainers, support staff, veterinarians, those kinds of people.”

“That’s still a hell of a long list.” Ryan scribbled on a notepad. “Let me reach out to the track and see if they’re willing to show me the footage. I’m sure they handed it over to the cops as well.”

“What did you discover?”

“I’m running a background check on Sam right now. I already did a more thorough one on Marilyn.”

“You think Sam might be guilty?” Alex knew that looking at close relatives and friends was often the first step in any investigation, but he hadn’t picked up on any deceit in Marilyn’s partner. Had he missed something?

“Sam’s a vet, so he has access. And being Marilyn’s boyfriend, he could have motive.”

“Sam seemed genuinely in love with her,” Alex protested. Sam had been so concerned for Marilyn, so sweet to her.

“People can show you what they want you to see. You don’t think it’s a little suspicious he’s so much younger? He’s probably after her money, or maybe he’s hoping she’ll give him a leg up as a vet, connect him to the right people. You’re naïve if you think people don’t have ulterior motives. You’ve still got a lot to learn, kid.”

“Naïve? I’ve lived in more countries and seen more of the world than you ever have,” Alex shot back.

“Really?” Ryan frowned. “How come?”

“Army brat. My dad was stationed all over the world—Germany, South Korea, the Philippines, Hawaii… My siblings and I moved with him wherever he went. I spent most of my childhood outside the US.”

“Interesting. I’m sure you’ve learned a lot from that, but that doesn’t mean you’re not naïve. You still believe in the good in people. As a homicide detective, I’ve seen the very worst people are capable of, so my faith in humanity has long since vanished.”

Ryan’s face had hardened, and a flicker of pain had crossed his eyes. For some reason, talking about this was difficult for him, as if it stirred up bad memories. There had to be a reason he’d quit and decided to become a PI, but Alex didn’t dare ask.

But seeing Ryan’s pain triggered something within Alex, a strange weakness in his stomach. He had the weird urge to reach out and comfort Ryan. Not an urge he would act on. Hell no. Nothing good could come from seeing Ryan like that, and attempting to get closer to him would only end with Alex getting hurt. What they had was sex and nothing else. Alex couldn’t afford to let himself get emotionally attached, not when he knew how hard Ryan would shoot that shit down.

“What did you find out about Sam?” he asked instead.

Ryan shrugged. “Nothing special so far. He’s a respected vet, paid off his student loans, and moved in with Marilyn three years ago. No criminal record, not so much as even a parking ticket. The dude’s squeaky clean. So far.”

Alex opened his mouth, then closed it again. Arguing with Ryan was useless, so why waste his energy? They both had their own perspectives on the world, shaped by their unique experiences.

“Okay, what’s next?”

“I found the footage from the race, so we’re gonna watch that.” Ryan made a face. “Not looking forward to that.”

That was an interesting statement from a hardened homicide detective.

“I hate seeing animals get hurt,” Ryan said. Maybe he’d seen something on Alex’s face. He really needed to work on masking his emotions. “Bothers me far more than humans. They’re defenseless, you know? And I love horses. They’re magnificent creatures.”

He seemed to catch himself, then cleared his throat. “Anyway, we’ll watch that, and then we’ll dig into the betting angle. We need to look into who would financially gain from Sam’s Promise being taken out of the competition. Let’s start by looking at the odds, the competition, and the most likely beneficiaries if Sam’s Promise were to lose or not race at all. Also, we should check if any suspicious bets have been placed for that race, including by Marilyn herself. Though I’m sure the cops verified that as well.”

“By Marilyn? I thought you’d cleared her?”

“Not definitively. I’ll admit I so far have no evidence that she’s guilty, but in my world, no one is innocent until proven, kid. Get used to it.”

Damn, what would it be like to go through life with such dark glasses on, always thinking the cup was half empty? It would drive Alex mad.

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