Page 42 of Honoring Freedom
“It’s a bit too late for that now, isn’t it?” Downs snorted.
Pok stood, knocking off Tribe’s hand, then slammed his hands into his front pockets. “I’ll make it happen.”
But what Pok kept private, he wasn’t going to break Sam Rose’s neck. Pok had no use to fight Downs’ personal war. There was a bigger fish to fry for Pok and that was the doc who couldn’t keep his paws off Freedom. If there was any neck that was going to get broken, it’d be Keller Abbott’s neck.
Chapter Sixteen
Keller dragged off his dirty T-shirt, tossed it onto the desk, and pulled the clean, new button down off the hanger. At least he’d be somewhat presentable for Sam’s birthday party.
He wasn’t much into parties, but everyone on the ranch was expected to show up for the celebration. Hell, Keller liked the old man and had always thought he was a straight shooter. No one had to wonder where they stood with Sam, but Keller never had been into social gatherings. He liked to keep to himself for the most part.
He’d be a liar if he denied that he wanted to see Freedom. She’d been a bit preoccupied for a few days and he couldn’t tell if she was avoiding him or in typical Freedom fasion, she needed space to figure things out.
Glancing at the clock, he winced. He was running late. He’d been stuck on the ranch all day and had barely enough time to take a piss.
He’d just buttoned the last button on his shirt when his cell phone rang. He grabbed it and read the familiar number.The lab.
“Hi, Rita. It’s Keller. You have the results back?”
“I know it’s late, but I wanted to call you just as soon as I got the findings back on the horses. How did they get into such a high concentration of yew?”
Keller gripped the phone tighter. “Yew?” The ornamental evergreen plant was highly toxic to animals, even horses. Over the years he’d seen horses keel over with the red berries still in their mouths.
“Yew,” she repeated. “Both horses tested positive for high traces of yew toxin residues in the blood sample. The amount Requiem digested wasn’t enough to kill him right away, but if he’d have been ridden or had excessive activity after feeding he’d have experienced cardiac and respiratory failure. Midnight had remnants of the plant in his fecal content.”
Keller paced the floor of his office. “This is what I suspected, but we don’t have any toxic plants on the land. And you’re sure it was yew?”
“With one-hundred-percent certainty.” Her sigh vibrated the line. “You did the right thing by decontaminating with charcoal. That’s what helped save Requiem’s life.”
“Thanks, Rita.” He clicked off and tossed his phone onto the desk. Now he knew without a doubt that the horses were intentionally poisoned. There was no conceivable way they could have found yew when there was none in the pasture.
Picking up his phone, he dialed Freedom’s number. When she answered, he said, “Meet me at the quarantine barn. Yes, it’s very important.” He clicked off.
He hated to disturb the party, but she asked to be kept in the loop of any new developments. She’d want to hear what Midnight and Requiem had been poisoned with.
He took off for the stables and beat Freedom there. By the time she strolled in he’d already started his examination of Requiem who was eating and drinking all on his own now. “You’re a tough fellow, aren’t you?” Keller ran his hand down the horse’s sleek back.
“This better be good, Keller.”
He swiveled to say something to Freedom, but his words were caught somewhere between shock and excitement. The red dress she wore hugged her body in ways that should be illegal. The plunged neckline showed little of her breasts, but he knew every feminine dip of them and how he’d enjoyed licking them, especially her plump perky nipples. Jarring himself out of those thoughts, he remembered why he’d called her down to the barn.
“The party can go on without you for a bit,” he said grumpily.
She awkwardly walked over to him, struggling a bit with her heels. “Is it Requiem? Is he okay?” She visually inspected the horse.
"No, he's improving, but I wanted to let you know that I got the blood test results."
Her brows lifted. “It’s not good, is it?”
“’Fraid not. You want the good news or the bad news first?”
“Let’s start with the good.”
“Requiem will recover.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Thank goodness, but I thought we already established that.” When Requiem nudged her with his nose she nuzzled his head.
“Bad news, the test results showed that he and Midnight were poisoned with yew. Are you familiar with it?” he asked.