Bluegrass State of Mind (35 page)

“
You… you home wrecking
slut. You’re nothing but a whore and you ask me how I am doing?”
Kenna took another step back as Whitney swept down on her. “I was
just fine until you came here and stole my husband away from
me.”

Kenna held up her hands, “Whitney,
calm down. I didn’t do anything to purposely hurt you. You and Will
are divorced. I did not break up your marriage,” she said in a calm
and level voice. The look in Whitney’s eyes told her she was not of
her right mind.

“
That’s where you have it
wrong. I have been working at getting him back and I was so close.
He was getting so worn down from all those accidents that he was
ready to leave the farm and come back to Washington. I know he was
contacted by Sports Network about taking a broadcasting job that
would have him on TV every week. He would have been famous again
and I would be right by his side. The Belle of D.C... people would
come to my house for parties. I would have my own reality show to
show the glamorous lifestyle of a football player’s wife and a
politician’s daughter.”

Whitney took another step closer and
shoved Kenna. She felt Whitney’s hands hit her shoulders and as she
backed up, Kenna felt her heel slip between the rubber walkway and
the stall entrance. She reached out trying to grab for the stall
door, but only managed to grab a hold of Whitney’s arm.

Whitney let out a scream as Kenna took
her down. She felt the impact when she hit the floor and again when
Whitney landed on her. “Get off me!” She tried to push Whitney off
of her, but Whitney latched on to her hair.

“
You bitch. I hate you. I
hate you. I hate you.” She felt Whitney rip off her hat and was
about to crumple it when Kenna let go with a punch. Kenna wasn’t
able to pull back very far, but Whitney wasn’t used to anyone
hitting her and fell back instantly.

“
Don’t mess up my hat. Do
you know how long that took Paige to make?” She got up and grabbed
the hat from Whitney’s hand as Whitney pressed her hand to her
cheek.

Kenna made it a step from the door
when she felt Whitney’s cold hands wrap around her ankle and pull.
Kenna went down hard on her stomach, but managed to save the hat.
“Whitney! Stop it! Why are you doing this?”

Whitney had her by the ankles and was
pulling her back into the stall. “I told you. I had everything in
place. I spent so much time planning it and so much money hiring
people to execute my plan. It was going perfectly! He was getting
so tired of sleeping in the barn. He was worried about his workers
and his horses. If you had just left him alone I would be married
to him again and we’d be living back in our brownstone in D.C. I
would be famous again!”

“
You. You’re the one that
hired the people to damage Will’s farm just so he’d leave Kentucky?
Boy, are you stupid. Even after knowing Will for five minutes, I
could tell you that wouldn’t work. Is that why you tried to run me
over in the truck? So I wouldn’t be competition for you? Umph!”
Kenna was flipped on her back and Whitney jumped on her. She felt
Whitney’s cold tiny hand reach for her throat and panicked. She
started kick and flail.

“
Ha! You’re so stupid.
That was Chad. He flew here right after our lunch in D.C. to see
you for himself. I am just sorry that he missed you. He was just
having too much fun scaring you to just get the job
done.”

Kenna froze at Chad’s name. Of course
it had been him. The way he tormented her was just like what he did
in New York. For once, Whitney was right. He liked to scare you
more first. He had toyed with the stripper. He had toyed with her.
Not once, but twice. If he hadn’t gotten off on seeing her scared,
she’d be dead twice over by now.

“
This is what we are going
to do. I am going to hand you over to your boyfriend and let him
take you back to New York where you belong. Chad will be so happy I
managed to get you away from Will. Then, Will and I will live
happily ever after.”

Kenna bucked and Whitney fell on top
of her. Kenna grabbed her perfectly died blonde hair and pulled for
all she was worth. Whitney screeched and rolled off of her. Kenna
rolled with her and was now on top.

Kenna grabbed handfuls of Whitney’s
hair and started banging her head against the ground. “Where is
Chad? Where is that son of a bitch?”

Whitney’s laugh sent chills running
down her spine. “You’ll never find him. But he will find you.”
Whitney laughed again.

Kenna lunged for her throat and
started squeezing it. “You will tell me where he is.”

But all Whitney did was
laugh.

Kenna felt an arm come around her from
behind and wrap around her waist. “Kenna, let go. We got this now,”
she heard Will’s voice whisper to her through the haze of anger.
“Come on, sweetheart. Let go. She’s not going to get
away.”

“
She knows where Chad is.
He… he tried to kill me.”

“
I know, love. We’ll find
him. Just let go.”

She had to will herself to unlatch her
fingers from Whitney’s throat, the maniacal laughter still
sounding. Kenna looked behind her and saw Mo, Paige, Cole, Noodle,
Dinky, and Ahmed all standing at the stall door.

“
From what we heard, we
have enough to put her away for a long time. Although, I think she
may end up in a padded cell,” Cole said as he approached her with
his handcuffs out.

“
Wait a minute, Agent
Parker. I think I hear something outside. I believe everyone needs
to check it out. Maybe it’s Chad,” Ahmed said, not moving from
where he was leaning against the stall door.

“
What? Why would we leave
her here to go check out some noise?” Dinky said as he put his
hands on his hips.

Ahmed stared at Cole. “You know it’s
not over. You know we have to find Chad for it to be over and to
bring down the whole circle of corruption.”

Cole looked down at Whitney and back
to Ahmed. His lips were pressed together so tight they were turning
white.

“
Why would...Oh, I see.”
Kenna looked down at Whitney and frowned. She was clearly over the
edge of madness. If she was turned over to Cole, she’d be sent to a
minimum security mental resort for a couple of months to serve a
sentence for hiring people to cause these accidents. Her father
would make sure she talked to no one. She would be out as soon as
the scandal left the minds of the press.

If Ahmed took her, his diplomatic
immunity would allow him more leeway in questioning her. He might
be able to find out what she knew about her father’s involvement
with Chad. Not to mention who else might be involved. She could be
the key to unlock the whole thing.

“
I hear it, too. Let’s go
boys. We need to check it out,” Cole ordered as he ushered a
sputtering Noodle and Dinky out of the barn. Cole stopped next to
Ahmed, “Follow Geneva or we will have a problem. Make sure she gets
turned back to me when this is over. That’s all I ask.”

Ahmed gave a slight nod of his head
and Cole walked out with Mo and Paige leading the way. Noodle and
Dinky followed Cole as the puzzle pieces fell into place for
everyone else.

“
Let me know what you find
out,” Will said to Ahmed.

Kenna was pulled to her feet and Will
wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her in tight. “How did you
all find me? And, thank you. I am sure I would have been sorry if I
hurt her.”

Ahmed gave a knowing smile. "The group
came down because Paige wanted a picture of you two with Boots
before the big race. When you didn’t turn up, we headed over here.
We heard Whitney scream and followed the noises of the fight. We
got here right in time to hear her tell you she planned the whole
thing. We also heard that it was Chad who tried to kill
you.”

“
Thanks for rescuing me.”
She looked over at Whitney when she noticed the laughter had
stopped. She was staring at Will with the look of a star-crazed
fan.

“
Let’s make a deal,”
Whitney said to him in a remarkably calm and superior voice. “You
and I remarry, you do the reality show with me, and I’ll tell you
all about Chad… or Ethan, or Jonathan, or any of his many
names.”

Kenna turned at stared at her. It was
all a big act. She couldn’t believe it.

“
How about this,” Will
countered, his voice deadly soft. “You tell us all about Chad and
everyone involved in his circle, including the role you and your
father play, and I’ll turn you over to the FBI instead of to
Ahmed.”

“
No deal. It’s all or
nothing William and I am holding all the cards. You think my Daddy
will let some security guard harm me. I don’t think so.”

Ahmed stepped forward and took her by
the arm. “You had your chance. Move.”

“
Take your hands off of
me. You’re nothing but a security guard. You have no power,”
Whitney sneered at him.

Ahmed did not flinch. His expression
never changed.

Kenna, safe in Will’s arms, turned to
him, “Come on, Will. I think I hear a noise outside.”

She turned one last time at Whitney to
pity her. “Whitney, let me offer you some free legal advice. You
may want to talk fast, because even the FBI is afraid of him. By
the way, he has diplomatic immunity. So he do can pretty much
whatever he wants to you and no one is going to be able to do a
thing about it. Under the Vienna Convention, the host country can
ask for immunity to be waived for prosecution, but it’s up to the
leader of the diplomat’s country to decide. So, Whitney, do you
really think the Sheik will waive immunity? You saw him turn his
back and walk out of here yourself.”

“
That’s impossible. I am a
Senator’s daughter. My Daddy is a very powerful man and you can’t
touch me,” she all but pouted.

Kenna shrugged. Will took her hand and
led her out of the stall. “God, Kenna. How am I supposed to make
this up to you?”

She looked over at him and it almost
made her want to go back in there and pull some more of Whitney’s
hair. Will looked totally dejected. His head was hanging down and
he was practically shuffling his feet. He had done nothing wrong,
but his expression displayed nothing but guilt.

“
Stop Will. Today is your
day. Boots will be racing any moment now. You didn’t have anything
to do with this plot. I am also fairly sure my ex had significant
involvement too. Ahmed will turn her over to Cole in a few days,
and then the whole circle will be brought to justice.”

“
You still love me, even
after all this?” He paused, “This is yours. Here you go.” He handed
her the hat Paige had made for her.

“
Of course I do. I love
you more than ever, especially since you saved my hat.” Kenna went
up on her tip toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“
Come on. Let’s get you
cleaned up. We have five minutes until it’s time to walk Boots out
and there is no one I want more beside me than you. That, and I am
pretty sure Boots has a crush on you. He may not race if you’re not
there.”

They laughed and Kenna stopped as she
left the barn to fix her hair. She ran her fingers through it and
Will pulled out pieces of hay from her hair and dress.

He leaned over and placed one large
hand on her cheek. “I love you.”

“
I love you
too.”

“
Mr. Ashton! Mr. Ashton!
What do you think Boots’ chances are of winning?” A man’s voice
boomed from behind her. She smothered a laugh at his pained groan
upon hearing the question.

Chapter
Eighteen

“
How are you?” Paige asked
as soon as Kenna made it to Boots stall.

“
Somewhat relieved,
actually. It’s good to have some answers. I know there are so many
more to discover, but I feel confident we’ll figure it all out.
Right now, I am just basking in the feeling that I am no longer
hiding.”

“
Good, then let’s get my
picture. It will be for my shop! Mo, darling, can you take a
picture for us?” Paige yelled.

Cameras flashed from the media and
Kenna could already see the headlines: ‘Sheik Jumps to do Bidding
of Hat-maker Girlfriend’.

“
You are so
bad.”

“
I know. It’s fun though.
Mo’s getting a kick out it. Says it will drive his father crazy. So
we decided to go all out for it.”

“
Smile ladies!” Mo took
the picture and shot a grin to them.

“
Riders Up!”

Kenna and Paige moved out of the way
for Rodrigo as Will gave him a leg up into the saddle.

“
That’s our cue to meet
you in the box. Good luck, Will. Hope you don’t mind, but I didn’t
confirm or deny any story involving Desert Sun Farm and Ashton
Farm, specifically a collaboration between Boots and my Desert
Girl,” Mo winked. He really was having fun today.

Will held out his hand to shake Mo’s,
“How about this, I give you the first breeding free. If one of us
likes the foal, we’ll have first right of refusal. However, if we
both like it we become co-owners.”

“
That sounds like a deal
to me,” Mo said as he shook Will’s hand.

Turning to Kenna, Will slipped his
hand into hers and gave it a little squeeze. “Let’s lead our boy to
the track.”