If You Ever Tell by Carlene Thompson

Author:Carlene Thompson [Thompson, Carlene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4299-7526-1
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Published: 2008-11-22T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

1

AFTER THE FIRST BLUDGEONING shock of seeing Gus, Teresa became vaguely aware of Mac asking, “Teri? What’s wrong? Teri!”

“Put Eclipse in the empty stall near the barn doors,” Teri said woodenly, not turning around. “Don’t rush her. Just be casual. Make sure the stall door is bolted.”

“Teri, what is it?”

“Mac, just do as I say right now. You’ll know soon enough.”

You’ll get to see brutal death up close and personal, Teresa thought as she heard Mac leading Eclipse to the vacant stall. You’ll get to see what murder looks like—violent, bloody murder. It’s a sight you’ll never forget.

Teresa suddenly felt burning hot when just a moment ago she’d been cold from the rain. Gus’s head seemed to lower; his eyes seemed to fix on hers with a deep, pathetic plea. And now his mouth was moving—he was trying to say something, to tell her he was in agony, to beg her to help him.…

Teresa heard the other stall door bolt shoot into place; then Mac stood beside her. He peered into Eclipse’s stall, then muttered a horrified, “Good God!”

His oath brought Teri savagely back to reality. Gus was not moving. His head was still tilted back, his jaw hanging open and still. He wasn’t trying to speak to her. The thought that he could had been manufactured by shock and nerves, because Gus would never say anything again.

“Who is that?” Mac muttered as he stared at Gus’s limp, violated body.

“It’s Gus Gibbs, my stable manager,” Teri explained with remarkable equanimity. She felt as if she were standing outside herself, cold and analytical and oddly unaffected. “That thing in his chest is a stable fork. It’s used to muck out stalls. Some people use plastic forks. I use wooden-handled forks with metal tines. Extremely sharp, sturdy metal tines.”

They both stood transfixed, staring at Gus’s bloody body for what seemed to Teri an endless time. Soon, though, Teri began to shudder. Even her head bobbed slightly. Still she took a step forward.

Before she’d taken a second step, Mac wrapped his arm tightly around her waist. “We shouldn’t touch him, Teri.”

“But maybe we can do something.” Teresa was surprised by her own voice, high and thin like a frightened child’s. “Maybe…”

“We can’t do anything for him, Teri,” Mac said firmly, turning her away from the body and leading her toward the front of the barn. “I’m going to call nine-one-one. We can’t touch anything. This is a crime scene.”

“A crime scene…,” Teresa repeated hollowly.

“Unless you think Gus just fell on that fork, it is. Someone came into this barn, let your horse loose, and killed Gus. I don’t know why; I don’t know who. This is a matter for the police. Now come away from the stall and go with me to the phone.”

“I don’t want to leave him, Mac. He’s all alone and hurt.…”

“Teri, he doesn’t feel alone and he’s not hurting,” Mac said gently. He firmly pulled her away from the stall, then turned her and began walking her to the front doors of the barn.

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