Cherry Adair - T-flac 06 (9 page)

Then she straightened, unsettled by the catty turn of her own thoughts. "Are you done resting? Because I am. I want to make Skwentna before dark." Only if she were jet propelled. But let him sweat thinking
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about it.

"It wouldn't kill you to take a full hour."

"I am taking a full hour," Lily said, peeling back the layers of clothing at her wrist to glance at her watch.

"See? Thirty-eight minutes. Almost exactly an hour."

He shook his head and bit back a smile at her impatience. "We need to get you a watch without Mickey on it, Doc."

Lily was so tired she couldn't see straight. Almost in a trance, brain turned off, she arrived at the Skwentna checkpoint on autopilot, well after dark.

She'd come one hundred miles.

Skwentna was a small village located on the river by the same name. This would be the busiest and biggest checkpoint because all the teams hit here at some point during the first twenty-four-or-so hours of the race. After tonight the teams would be straggled all over the countryside.

The Delias—Joe, the local postmaster, and his wife, Norma—generously fed close to four hundred people every Iditarod, helped by an army of local volunteers called the Skwentna Sweeties. The smell of their famous stew scented the crisp air and made Lily's mouth water.

The area around the two-story cabin was already a beehive of noise and activity. Lily blinked at the lights, which were far too bright after traveling so long by moonlight. The noise, too, seemed extra loud to someone accustomed to nothing more than the sounds of her own breathing and the soft swish of rails on snow.

Exhausted teams were scattered on beds of straw on the ice. Nearby planes landed and took off, a diesel engine roared constantly and newly arrived dogs barked, ready to go again.

Lily checked in, snagged the straw bale they gave her, tossed it into the sled and went on to pick up her food bags. Matt was there to check her team, and she stood by silently, too tired to move.

"You made good time," he told her, checking Deny's feet.

Lily grunted. There were already at least twenty teams resting, which had made it in better time than she had.

"How was the trail?" Matt asked, handing her a candy bar.

Lily tore into it, barely getting the wrapper off before her teeth sank in. "You're a prince. Oh, God, this is good. Thank you," she said around a mouthful of glorious, thick, dark rich chocolate. Second only to coffee. Food of the gods. "Other than a moose spotting, uneventful." She polished off the last half with enthusiasm. The sugar hit was welcome.

Matt gave her a hard up-and-down look while she chewed. "Are you okay? Did she attack?"

"He. Yeah, he lit into Derek's sled and kicked the beejeebers out of it—" She interrupted herself to
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yawn. "The dogs are all okay, his sled's fine and Derek wasn't hurt. Fortunately," Lily gave him a devilish grin, "I came in, guns blazing, and saved the day."

His eyes narrowed. "You're carrying a gun?"

"Of course. Isn't everyone up here? Hey, I was lucky not to have to kill the big guy."

"Derek?" Matt said with a smile.

"Don't put ideas in my head."

"I'm glad you weren't hurt, Wonder Woman. Although Derek's pride must've taken a hit having you charge in and save his bacon."

"Well, yes, there was
that
nice perk," Lily said, enjoying the memory.

"Did you have any time to talk to him?"

"About what?"

"Any of it," Matt said absently, picking up Adam's back leg and removing the bootie to check the dog's foot. "Diablo specifically."

The bogus bull sperm business. Lily frowned, following Matt's movements as he inspected each dog. He was thorough. She leaned against the sled, satisfied that he'd find anything she might've missed. The vet inspection had to be done officially and reported, no matter that she was qualified to do it herself. "No.

But I will."

"When?"

"When we get back and I have all the facts. Now's not the time. But honest to God, Matt, I thought he was going to say something yesterday in Anchorage. He didn't. And frankly that conversation went badly enough for me to be grateful we didn't have to bring Diablo up, too."

"Good. Wait till after the race. And I want to be with you when you do," Matt told her grimly, pausing from his inspection of the dogs to look at her. "Seriously, Lily. Promise me."

Fatigue clawed at her, and she fought it back. "Why? Do you think he'd hurt me in some way because I found out? To be fair, which in this case chaps my hide, there's an outside chance that
he
doesn't know anything about the illegal sales; have you thought of that?"

"Yeah, I have. But I know Derek would never hurt you. This is an important race, so it probably isn't the best time. We've got someone I trust looking into how involved this is. Wait until all the findings are in.

And for God's sake, just promise that I'm there when you do broach the subject."

"I will. Thanks, Matt." She wasn't sure who to trust anymore. Who else knew about the sales of bull sperm being made under the table? Diablo's sperm was like gold, highly prized and incredibly expensive.

From what Lily had been able to piece together, the illegal sales had been going on for years. Sean had been eyebrow deep in it, using her expertise and qualifications to legitimize what he'd been doing. All without her knowledge. The thought made Lily sick to her stomach. The money from Sean's illegal
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activities sat untouched in the bank in the Caymans until she and Matt and the investigator could go to the authorities with all the information necessary.

God. What a mess. She had no idea how many cows had been inseminated by fake Diablo sperm.

Could be thousands.

The question that had been going around and around in her head for the last six weeks was, was Derek involved in the scam?

She'd overheard the conversation between two of the hands five weeks ago. She hadn't confronted them, but she'd started piecing together what little paper trail she could find. The more she'd discovered, the bigger the scam appeared. Sales of "Diablo" sperm had been made worldwide. Japan, Korea, Europe—the list and magnitude of the illegal operation was staggering.

She hadn't confided in her father. But she'd told Matt. He'd cautioned her not to report anything to the authorities until they could ascertain if what she thought she knew was fact. He knew a private investigator and had put him on retainer to track down who was involved before Lily made any accusations.

Stud fees for a prize bull like Diablo were big business. Fortunes were made and lost on the strength of a herd. And a bull like Diablo could guarantee big, healthy calves. The profits from the sale of his sperm were in the millions. Someone was selling inferior liquid gold and labeling it as Diablo's. As randy as the bull was, he had only so much sperm. There were fake little test tube bulls out there with false pedigrees.

Lily had been a lot more observant of late. Who suddenly had a lot of money? And what was sudden, after all? As far as she could figure out, this had been going on for years. Derek had made a good point the other day about her not noticing things. In her own defense she was not a rancher, she was a vet.

Sean had done the books, and after he died, Derek had taken over.

How was she supposed to know the ins and outs of the ranch when both men had made a special point of leaving her out of the daily working of the business end of it? And the reality was, outside of her passion for working with the animals, she had had absolutely no
interest
in running the ranch. Derek clearly had money. He'd come from wealth and was easy with it. His lifestyle hadn't changed since she'd known him. Unlike Sean, he'd never thrown his money around. But then, Lily thought with irritation, the man took a hell of a lot of exotic vacations. He also owned his own plane, and several very nice vehicles.

But Sean… Sean had lived a lot higher on the hog than Derek ever had.

"You must be thinking about your dearly departed."

Lily blinked. "What?"

"Must be thinking about Sean. You have that

I-want-to-dig-him-up-and-kill-the-son-of-a-bitch-all-over-again look in your eyes."

Lily forced a smile. "I do not."

Matt gave her a sympathetic look, which made Lily feel even more guilty. Because some secrets were meant to stay just that. Secret.

"One of these days," her stepbrother told her gruffly, "you're going to meet a great guy and live happily
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ever after."

"Not even if Brad Pitt proposed would I put myself through that again," Lily assured him cheerfully, pushing all thoughts of virile males, bovine and human, aside. "Thanks but no thanks. I have my family, my dogs and a Shower Massage. All is right with my world."

Matt gave a laughing grimace and raised a hand. "Information overload. Okay. I get the message. The widow Munroe will turn into old lady Munroe. You know, the one with all those dogs."

"That'll be me."

"Things can change…"

"Nah. Why mess with a good thing? Let's concentrate on finding
you
the perfect woman."

"How about a bunch of imperfect women first?" Matt teased.

Several more teams clustered behind them, waiting for the vets to check them. The time for private conversation was over. Instead, Lily was forced to make nice with several people who came to offer their condolences about Sean's death and to chat about the start of the trail and what they anticipated up ahead.

As tired as she was, Lily wanted to get out of the crowd and back on the trail.

"When did you eat last?" Matt asked as a couple of mushers dragged themselves up to the house for a meal and some shut-eye. "Stew's real good tonight," he added, as he continued down the line, checking legs and feet for trouble. The kids were still amped up and rarin' to go, though. And as long as they were fine to run, she had no complaints and wasn't stopping. She could sleep standing up on the sled. Lord knew, she'd done it before.

It was way too crowded here for her tired brain, and her stomach was growling. Along with the scent of cook fires and diesel she could smell the savory stew on the cold air. "I'm quick-stopping. As soon as I'm done sorting my food bags. It's too
too
here."

Matt raised a brow. "Too?"

Lily rotated her neck. "Too noisy, too bright, too frenetic." She was starting to use Derekisms herself.

After
. After Sean. What did that mean?

"Don't go too far," Matt cautioned. "You and the dogs all need sleep. And for God's sake," he said sternly, touching a gloved finger to the tip of her icy nose, "don't forget to eat something yourself!"

"Yes, Mom." She smiled. "That chocolate will hold me for a bit." It was nice having a big brother. "Are we good to go?"

"Yeah. Travel safe. I'll check your food bags through for you. See you at Finger Lake."

"With bells on," Lily assured him. "Thanks." Maybe she could push on another four hours and beat the rush to the next checkpoint.

She checked her lines one last time, hugged Matt good-bye and notified the checker she was leaving.