Page 4 (1/2)

"But?" Joey asked, puzzled

"But Marcus heard about Trickster, and he bought her--offering her owner ht her out here, cared for her, and now she’s beautiful, as you can see"

"They were going to lue out of her?" Joey demanded, horrified

"What matters is that she’s here now And she knoe love her It took a while, because she was just thrown out in a pasture and allowed to starve, living in constant pain, before Marcus rescued her"

"But Marcus didn’t stay with her," Joey pointed out

"Marcus died, Joey But he left her in the care of people ould continue to love her"

Joey took a deep breath and ripped out a strand of grass to chew on He looked across the landscape and said, "I shouldn’t have made life so miserable for my uncle, huh?"

"He was only miserable because he loves you And I don’t think he’s miserable anymore because he knows you really do want to live a productive life You just need to coed At sixteen, he was a tall boy, a good-looking kid in great physical condition He turned to her with one of his rakish smiles "You like rin broadened "I like you, too But how I know you like lanced quickly at her watch His hour was up; it had been for the past ten h case to crack and she’d felt deeply for hiet ideas, kid," she said "I’m your therapist"

"But you’re cute, too"

"Great Now let’s head back"

"I can coh to be a lot cooler in your eyes"

"Joey! Cut it out You’re just saying that to get a reaction out ofto I’ to be older than I a-fair thing is harsh!" he said But he was still grinning Then his grin faded "They’re talking about Marcus, you know There’s a rus That they found heroin in his system when they did the autopsy"

Olivia felt her back stiffen "Marcus wasn’t doing drugs," she said

"So, it’s a lie?"

She winced It wasn’t a lie But it was soh the medical examiner had informed the staff at the Horse Farative reporter actually looked into Marcus’s death, no one would knoas true And yet, ru ras in his systeain

"I knew Marcus, Joey If there were drugs in his system, they weren’t there because he voluntarily took them"

"You think he was tricked?" Joey asked

"I don’t knohat to think yet"

"Wow The plot thickens!" Joey said excitedly "What if What if so him because they wanted hi about someone who meant a lot to me"

"Oh, I’m sorry, Liv, really" Joey spoke with sincerity and she believed him "It’s just thatwell, we don’t have radios or TVs or the internet where I’ht now I’ to think about that thanwell, uess," he finished lah, huh? Iwith ani back on drugswell, it doesn’t say reed

She looked toward the pastures at the Horse Farhost Had she iined that she’d seen hiift? Or did they just is, see them in their minds?

Uncertain, and unhappy with the official explanation, she’d called Malachi But the results of the autopsy had just arrived that ain He’d proation, but explained that he had to tread carefully; he couldn’t come in officially unless invited And because people kneas her cousin, his arrival --or that she and the Horse Farure so in as a client A "burnout," someone had called him Was he Malachi’s answer to her request?

"Olivia?" Joey said