Wild Horses. Claire McEwen
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Название: Wild Horses
Автор: Claire McEwen
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Вестерны
isbn: 9781474049276
isbn:
“Your idiocy, that’s what.” She took Tess’s former seat and motioned for Todd to sit, as well. “The DRM is all riled up about the missing horses.”
“What do you mean?”
“The manager of the station, Lee, questioned me today. He knows my car was the last one in the lot that night. I had to lie and say I’d seen nothing.”
Todd looked stricken. “I’m so sorry, Nora. I honestly didn’t think it would be a big deal to them.”
“No? Well, you should have thought. Lee’s worried he’s going to lose his job over this. He has three kids to support. He can’t afford to lose his livelihood.”
“They won’t fire him,” Todd said more confidently. “The government has so many rules and regulations attached to hiring and firing personnel, there’s no way they can fire him without evidence.”
She raised her brows skeptically. “You don’t know that for sure.”
“I’m pretty certain. Look, I’ve seen this kind of thing before. They have to act as if they care. They have to investigate, but they’re just jumping through their hoops. I promise you that in a few days, it will all calm down. They don’t want those horses anyway.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they were planning on selling them to a broker.” Todd’s expression darkened. “And that broker is notorious for getting hold of mustangs and selling them for meat.”
“What?” Nora shook her head, trying to clear it. Trying to understand. “Nobody eats horse meat!”
“Plenty of people eat it. In Mexico, and in Europe. Even here in the States. It’s not supposed to be legal to slaughter horses for meat, but often the DRM just sells the horses to whatever broker comes along. They don’t care if that broker takes them to an illegal slaughterhouse.”
Nora tried to take in this new information. Slaughtering wild mustangs? It seemed almost sacrilegious. “I didn’t realize.”
“But you’re right. I didn’t think through the consequences of this very well. I don’t want you to have to lie and I don’t want the station manager to lose his job. If I’m wrong, and it doesn’t blow over in a couple days, I’ll figure something out.”
“Oh, that’s comforting.” Nora shoved her clenched fists into the pockets of her shorts so she didn’t do something dumb, like empty his drink on his dense head.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re going to just wait and see what happens, right? Well, what if Lee gets fired before then? You have to take more responsibility than that.”
Todd stared at her, as if seeing her in some new way. “You’re right. I do. I really do. Look, I’ll call a friend of mine tonight. He’s a journalist, and he’ll be happy to write a story that tells the truth about the broker the department planned to sell those horses to. A little embarrassment goes a long way with our public agencies. Once this story is out there, all the DRM will want is for the entire situation to disappear as fast as it possibly can.”
“I just hope you’re right.” She thought of Lee, so weary and worried. “I need you to be right.”
“Trust me?”
“And why, exactly, should I? Remember, I’m stuck in the scientific side of my head—I need evidence.” She couldn’t resist tossing the words he’d used in the bar the other night back at him.
He flushed. “I’ll leave a copy of the article on your porch when it comes out.”
“Like you left the phone. How nice to have my own personal apology fairy.”
His flush got a little deeper. Did it make her a bad person that she was enjoying the upper hand?
“Nora, I screwed up with the horses. And I’m trying to make it better.”
“You need to do more than try. Lee’s a good man. He doesn’t deserve this.”
He stood up. “I’ll make sure he’s okay.”
They left the bar together and stopped outside the doorway. Todd looked down at her thoughtfully. His green eyes, studying her face, brought back an unwelcome memory. Their first kiss. After a movie, in front of her dorm, her sophomore year. He’d stared at her just like this. Serious, and wondering.
She looked away, out at the empty street. At the mountains beyond. Before the drought, a stream had tumbled down the slopes and through the town. It was bone-dry now. She wished she could dry up her memories the same way. They seemed to reside in some underground pool deep inside her, perfectly preserved, welling up at all the wrong moments.
She looked back at Todd and met his eyes, facing down the memory. It wasn’t real. It was just a ghost. Here was the real Todd, who had to be reminded that he couldn’t just ruin someone else’s life for a bunch of wild horses. Who thought she was a total sellout for working for the DRM.
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