At Risk by Kit Ehrman Read Free Book Online Page A

rig."
    "How much time passed from the time you
pulled off the road until you first saw the truck and trailer?"
    I glanced toward the road and shrugged. "I
wasn't in a hurry. Five minutes. Probably not that long."
    Ralston jerked his head toward the indoor.
"You went in there to use the phone?"
    "Yeah."
    "Through there?" He pointed to the entry door
by the bleachers.
    "Yes."
    "They moved fast." He crossed his arms over
his chest and rubbed his chin. "Probably had a lookout posted. When
he saw you turn off the road, he signaled the others, and they
moved into position behind you. Except you walked into the building
and surprised them. It still worked, but their strategy was risky.
There's no other entrance to the farm?"
    "No."
    "Okay, show me what you did after you saw the
truck and trailer."
    I looked across the grass to the door.
"Lessons are going on right now," I said. "We'll be disturbing
them."
    He looked me in the eye. "We won't actually
be standing where the horses are working, will we?"
    I shook my head.
    "Well, come on then. Let's go."
    I wiped my face with the sleeve of my coat,
then strode across the grass. When he followed me into the arena, I
said, "I left the door open, but I'd better shut it so we won't
distract the horses."
    "All right."
    Across the arena, the school horses were
lined up, waiting their turn while a cute bay pony with a naturally
well-balanced stride negotiated the course of fences with ease. I
pulled the door inward until the latch clicked.
    "I was standing here." When I pointed at the
pay phone, I was dismayed to see that my finger was trembling. I
jerked my arm down to my side and stuffed my hands in my pockets,
hoping he hadn't noticed. I cleared my throat. "Anyway, before I
could pick up the phone, someone hit me over the head."
    "Do you know what they used?"
    "No . . . except it was hard."
    Ralston's head shot up at the tone of my
voice, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "Did it feel like
wood, metal?"
    "Oh. Wood."
    "Then you fell?"
    He had his flashlight out again, and if he
could make anything of the jumble of footprints in the dirt, he was
Sherlock Holmes incarnate.
    "No. I lost my balance, but one of them
shoved me against the wall there." I made a conscious effort at
keeping my hand steady and pointed to the space between the door
and pay phone.
    Ralston stepped closer and angled the beam
across the siding. Even though we kept the arena floor watered
down, the horses kicked up a lot of dust. Except for a few smudge
marks at shoulder height, it looked like ten-years' worth of dust
and dirt coated the walls, and the spiders had been busy, too. I
backed out of his way and pulled my coat collar up around my
neck.
    After a moment, he straightened and pocketed
the flashlight, then walked behind the bleachers and paused
alongside the large sliding door the students used to bring their
horses into the arena. Because of the cold, it was open only a foot
or two, just enough for a person to squeeze through.
    He looked around. "Notice anything missing?
Out of place?"
    I scanned the area. Except for the bleachers
and two fifty-five gallon drums we used for trash, the spectator
space was empty. "No. Everything looks the way it always does."
    Ralston peered into one of the drums. "When
were these cans emptied last?"
    "I don't know. Dave empties them when they
get full enough to bother with."
    "Dave Wade?" Ralston said, and I saw he'd
done his homework.
    "Yeah."
    "Into the Dumpster out front?"
    "Yes." I looked at the accumulation of empty
soda cans, paper cups, and candy wrappers. Someone had even tossed
a frayed crop into the trash. "The truck comes every Friday."
    "It's been here already?" Ralston said.
    "Uh-huh. Around one o'clock."
    "Could you get Mr. Wade over here?"
    "He's already gone home."
    Detective Ralston compressed his lips in
annoyance. When he couldn't get Dave on his cell phone, he pulled
on plastic gloves and carefully emptied both drums into a large
plastic bag that he'd dug out