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Prologue

There he was, Marcus Danby, dead in the ravine

His eyes were open and he stared up at heaven His lie created by a mad artist

"Marcus!" Olivia Gordon cried his name as she dismounted and swiftly scampered down the rocks to his side Like an idiot, she hunkered down by hi that somehoas still alive as he lay there

But, of course, he wasn’t She studied his face--weathered, worn, beautiful with character--and silent tears slid down her cheeks

"Marcus," she whispered, closing his eyes Maybe it was the wrong thing to do--maybe the medical examiner needed to see hi him now and she couldn’t bear to see his eyes open He’d been staring up at the heavens, she thought Staring up at the sky above hiht It was one of those twilights when the moon rose before the sun set co lower and lower into the horizon, a soft, opaque glow seemed to settle over the landscape The hills here, just outside Nashville, Tennessee, appeared to be part of sodoe and crirasses A slight coolness touched the air,it clear and comfortable to breathe

The sky and the landscape hat Marcus had seen as he died, Olivia reminded herself It hy Marcus had loved this area so much, this place where he’d been born Maybe there was so poetic

And yet No question, Marcus had loved this countryside He’d known it intimately For that very reason, it seemed impossible that he’d fallen into this rocky ravine when he’d followed these same paths, on foot or on horseback, alround She looked up at her horse; he was obviously sensing her ey

"Easy, boy, easy," Olivia said softly "We have to wait here" Fresh tears stung her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks She wanted to rise up and throw her ar creature

That, she kneould be life-affir

Like all the animals at the Horse Farm--the therapy center Marcus Danby had founded and where Olivia worked--Shiloh was a rescue horse Near starvation, he’d been found in the Florida Redlands Anied his transport to the Nashville area and there was so about him that had made him special to Olivia from the first time she’d seen him He’d been a pile of bones, wild and terrified of people; he’d tried, et her off his back While the focus of the Horse Farh their relationships with animals--Shiloh was, to Olivia, one of her best success stories

Marcus had always told her that what she’d done with Shiloh was ied with people was equally beautiful

"Oh, Marcus, what did you do?" she whispered He’d probably been one, because Marcus kept no set hours, didn’t see patients and came and went as he chose He’d founded the Horse Farm; it was his passion and his life But while he loved to e with patients, he did so in his own time and on his own terms He’d been a wreck of a man himself--bipolar, an addict, homeless and an ex-con--when he’d found a horse on the sh a family inheritance Like Shiloh, the animal had been starved and beaten by a cruelthe horse’s trust and love, Marcus had learned to care about himself He’d told Olivia once that he’d been so afraid so horrible would happen to the horse without hi that horse, Marcus had saved hirown up around ani horses in Tennessee Maybe because he’d hadto do ealth When he inherited the family land, he had no interest in racehorses He cared about people--daed people He’d been miraculously fixed by a horse and he went on to find out how to help others in the same way

Olivia adored Marcus

Had adored him, she told herself No, she did adore hiht her would stay with her forever

He’d lived in a small house on the property, about a quarter mile from the stables, and the staff at the Horse Farolden retriever--another rescue anis, anxious He’d been li quite badly

Aaron Bentley,director of the Horse Farm, had tried to believe that Marcus had driven so to catch up with him

But Marcus hadn’t driven anywhere--not on his own, anyway His old Ford pickup was still in the driveway And Olivia knew Marcus would’ve died before allowing any harm to come to his beloved Sammy

So they’d all become extremely worried Aaron had called in the local authorities and they’d set up a search; Olivia had the backwoods acreage, while others had been assigned the pond area, the pastures and the adjoining farms, businesses and residences

They had now been out searching for hours in their designated areas She and Aaron, plus the other two therapists frohton As well, the stable bosses, Drew Dicksen and Sydney Roux, had joined the search And so had Deputy Sheriff Vine and his partner, Jimmy Callahan Only Sandra Cheever--known as Maer for the offices, had remained behind There were h to keep the foron fast

Twilight Twilight in these hills

A dangerous time up here--if you didn’t know your way

But Marcus hadn’t fallen in the twilight He’d had his accident, if accident it was, in the brightness of day

He was cold now, stone cold Olivia didn’t have many skills in forensics, but she was certain that he’d been here for some tiht beco hills, forested slopes and rocky dips