"We're watching you. Tell your boyfriend to stay away." The phone went click.
"I am really beginning to detest this." Caitlin stormed across the kitchen and turned the water on full throttle. She grabbed a glass, filled it, and then gulped it. "Perhaps they forgot they're dealing with a Chadwick."
Fifteen minutes later the phone rang again. "Hello," she said.
"Soon we'll get what we want."
She threw the receiver across the room and listened to it crash on the hardwood floor. Anger boiled in her blood as she stormed around the room shouting at nothing. "What game are we playing? Why does my gut say that this game has no winners?"
The phone rang again and she picked it up.
"Sell and all will be fine."
"Who are you?"
The line went dead before she finished her question. "I give up." She replayed the brief conversations and realized it was someone different. This was an unknown voice. "Great. Now I have a new player to contend with."
Caitlin went into the den and sat in the leather chair behind the desk. There sat the letter postmarked Texas. "Who sent you? Why did they send you? Will I ever get my questions answered before anything else tragic happens?" She turned off the light, but remained at the desk. How she longed to hear her granddaddy's boots clomping down the steps. She wanted to hear his voice one more time, reassuring her that all would be fine.
A loud boom shook the house. Caitlin awoke and raced out of the house. Flames shot out from the barn, glass crashed with the flames. Mystique's whinnies pierced the silent night. Without a moon or stars, Caitlin stumbled across the rugged patch of land.
"I'm coming, girl," she shouted against the loud roars of fire. She shielded her face with her arm, but the smoke stung her eyes, nearing blinding her. It settled in her chest and lungs and drew all breaths from her. Nothing was stopping her from saving her horse.
The blanket lay over the stall door and she threw it over the mare's head. Mystique refused to budge, constantly rearing and bucking. "Please don't kick me, girl. I'm going to get you out of here. Garrett, where are you?" she shouted into mid-air.
Finally, Mystique let Caitlin pull her to safety, but the work had only begun. She grabbed the hose and turned the water on full force. When the sun rose in the east, Caitlin sank on the ground and stared in dismay. The longer she looked at the burned barn the harder her heart became. "First they say they're setting up a meeting. Then someone's watching me. I have no information, therefore I can't attend their meeting, and so what do they do? They torch my barn and almost kill my horse." She slapped the hard ground. "Whoever did this will pay," she yelled. A heavy weight of realization hit her and she felt queasy. Scott knows more than he's saying. "Could he have prevented this?"