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CHAPTER 1
Tom Stolls looked up from his paperwork and smiled at the man who walked into their shared office. “Manchester, how’s it going?”
“Good, and you?”
“Okay I guess,” Tom said, and could have kicked himself for saying what he did. As soon as he said it, he knew his private business would be aired.
“Something you want to talk about?”
“Not really.”
“But?” Duane asked with a smirk.
Tom leaned back in his chair with a gigantic sigh, tossed his pen on the papers he’d been looking at, and stared at the man he was beginning to think of as a friend. “First, thank you for these,” he said as he tapped the files on his desk, the ones he had been working on. “Did you do them?”
“Yes, is there something wrong with them? ”
“No, not at all, but usually after Erin tells me we have orders for Riceman Stallions, it takes up to a month to get the background checks back.”
“Oh, Erin asked me if I could take over for Jake over at Brotherhood Protectors. I don’t know what he’s doing, but he’s been extremely busy lately and told Erin it might take longer than normal.”
“Well, I thank you, since I’m only here once a month for Riceman Stallions, it makes it easier for me to have these checks handy as I do my paperwork.”
“But you’re here all the time, or it seems like it.”
“Oh, I come out to do routine checks on the horses and emergency services, but I don’t seem to have the time to sit down and do the paperwork for Riceman Stallions.”
“Not to sound stupid, but what exactly is Riceman Stallions?” Duane asked with a confused look on his face. He got even more confused by the look of glee on Tom’s face.
“How much do you know about what the men call the sex barn?”
“Oh shit,” Duane said with a laugh. “Yeah, I know all about the sex barn.”
“Good, because I didn’t want to have to explain it to a grown ass man like yourself.” They shared a laugh, but Tom became serious again. “No, after we gather what we do in the sex barn, I take the samples to the room that only Erin and I have access to. I can tell you this because you’re a former FBI agent, so you’ll know the importance of what is in that room.”
“Sperm? How important can that be?”
“One sample can bring in a hundred grand or more.”
“You’re shitting me?”
“Nope, I gather the sample, take a small amount for testing, then store the rest. It’s all labeled and without seeing it, it’s hard to explain. All I can say is picture a lab in the movies where people are gowned up with masks and gloves. Because of the importance of the samples, I have them on ice. When Erin gets a request from the website, she does her research on the person that’s making the request. It’s my understanding that if they’ve ordered from her before, she just does the basic search. If it’s a new person, she goes deeper with her stuff, then she passes the name of the potential buyer to Jake over at Brotherhood, but now it seems like you’ll be the guy to do the background checks. When everything clears, I contact the vet, and we discuss the next steps. Once it is all said and done, I get the sample and ship it out overnight to the rancher’s vet.”
“Why not directly to the rancher?”
“Because a vet has to do the procedure with the mare.” He saw confusion on Duane’s face and chuckled. “Think IVF for horses. If it’s sent directly to the rancher, there’s a small chance it might become contaminated. If it goes to the vet, then he knows how to handle it and the chances of it being ruined are minimal.”
“Ah, okay, now I understand the entire thing. I had a buddy at the office where he and his wife went through IVF at least three times. He explained it to me one night, and I never thought something like that could be used for animals.”
“Yeah, it took me a few months to learn it, but I think I’ve gotten good at it. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or not, but I’m at the beginning of the process. Like, I gather the sample, test it for any abnormalities, then put it on ice. It doesn’t leave the lab until there is a request for it, then you do the checking, and when it’s all good, I mail it off. The vet on the other end is responsible for getting the sample into the mare.”
“I understand,” Duane said as he filled his coffee cup from the pot that just finished brewing and poured a cup for Tom. From watching the other man in the past, he knew he took it black. Once Duane settled at his desk, he looked over at Tom and saw him staring into space, lost in his own thoughts.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
“They’re not worth a plug nickel,” Tom laughed, then shook his head sadly. “This brings me back to the question you asked when you first came in.”
“Which was?”
“First a little background is needed.”
“Okay, I’m listening.” Duane turned his chair, so he was facing Tom, and held his coffee cup in his hand, waiting for him to talk. He had no clue what the other man was going to say, but Duane liked him, and he thought if he could lend an ear, then maybe they could become friends.
“I don’t know if you did any background checks on us working for Erin after you arrived.” Tom paused to stare at Duane with a quirked brow.
“No, I figured if Erin didn’t have any trouble with any of you before I arrived, then there wasn’t a reason to rock the boat.”
“Okay, and I don’t really work here. I have my own practice in town, and I’m only here as the veterinarian who works with the horses. I have this office because I needed someplace to do the paperwork for when I’m here working for Riceman Stallions. Anyway, I know I don’t look it, but I’m only thirty-four.”
“No way,” Duane said in shock. “I’d put you at least my age, forty-eight.”
“Yeah, no. I think it’s because even though I have other vets that work for me, I’m the guy that goes out to the ranches to take care of the large animals that can’t come into the office.” He sipped his coffee and chuckled. “Not only am I young, but I’m also smart. I’m not tooting my own horn, but this might be important for what I’m going to ask of you.”
“Go on.” Duane encouraged him when he paused .
“On my fifteenth birthday, I entered my junior year of college.”
“Oh, shit, you’re that smart.”
“Yes. I became a DVM on my eighteenth birthday.”
“Which is?”
“Doctor of Veterinarian Medicine. When I was younger, like before I started school, I always wanted to join the service. Grandpa started the vet office, and Dad tried to be interested in it, but it didn’t work out.” He laughed and looked at Duane with a gigantic grin. “He fainted at the sight of blood.”
Duane laughed along with him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get off topic. I guess what I’m trying to say is that because I started working in Grandpa’s vet business at the age of eighteen, I never really had a life. I’m not crying in my coffee about it, because I was and still am clueless when it comes to women.”
“You didn’t have the junior high and high school experience of dating, getting dumped, and having fun with the opposite sex. Normal teenage anxiety.”
“Correct, and when I was in college, I was way too young to even attempt to ask someone out on a date. Sure, I had female friends, but because of the age difference between us, it wouldn’t have been conductive to pursue anything. They all felt like older sisters to me.”
“I can totally understand that. So, what seems to be the problem now?” Duane thought Tom had stopped the conversation when he picked up his phone and started pushing buttons and scrolling through it.
“I’m not ignoring you, I’m looking for a conversation.” He went back to his phone, then nodded. “The women in the office over at the vet clinic decided that I needed to look for a partner.”
“What did they do?” Duane didn’t know whether he should laugh or groan.
“They took it upon themselves to sign me up for a dating service.”
“How did that work out for you?” It took everything he had not to burst out laughing.
“So far? Shitty. Here.” Tom stood and took his phone over to Duane and handed it to him. He stood back and watched as Duane read the entire conversation he had with his first date and shook his head when Duane looked at him in shock.
“You’re shitting me.”
“I kid you not.” Tom took his phone back and sat back down. “See, I don’t know whether it’s me because I’m not familiar with the dating scene, or if it’s the times, but I personally don’t believe in spending hundreds of dollars on a date if it’s not going anywhere. Besides, I’m always on call, and I don’t want to drive for over three hours to go to the fanciest restaurant in Denver for a bite or two and walk away starving.” He laughed at Duane’s confused expression.
“I Googled the restaurant. They are the type that would take a normal steak that you and I would eat in one sitting and serve about thirty people from that one steak. This is just my opinion, but they slap the label of ‘fine dining’ on it, charge hundreds of dollars, and call it a day. Again, this is just me, but I feel as if it’s all a huge rip-off.”
“Ah, one of those restaurants.”
“Yeah, anyway, I’m a country boy that believes in stick to your ribs meals, there are several days that I only get to eat breakfast and dinner. If I want to get to know someone, until it gets serious, or at least for the first couple of dates, I think taking them to Kora’s for a coffee and pastry is perfectly fine.”
“Where is Kora’s?”
“Kora Falco has a bakery on Main Street in Fool’s Gold. She’s married to one of the firemen.”
“I stopped in there once. Great pastries.”
“I know, and I’m in there all the time because most of the time I don’t have time to sit down for a meal, so I call ahead and tell them it’s me, and I’m going out on a call. I arrive and have my coffee and a bag waiting for me. The bag contains a sandwich and a muffin or cookie.” He shook his head and pointed to his phone. “After that conversation, I’m too scared to try again. I haven’t told the ladies at the office yet, but now it brings me to what I’m asking of you. ”
“Which is?”
“I have a ‘date’ at Kora’s the day after tomorrow. It’s for one in the afternoon. After that text conversation you just read, I was honest with the woman and told her that until I get to know them better and want to know if this will go anyplace, a coffee date is all I’m willing to do. She hasn’t told me no yet.”
“Okay, and what? You want me to run a background check on her?” Duane laughed then saw the seriousness of Tom’s expression. “You’re not kidding.”
“No. I don’t know about you, but the vibe from that first lady is that she’s looking for someone with money. She flat out said that if I didn’t spend five hundred dollars on her on a first date, then I would be too poor for her.” He shook his head sadly. “It might be paranoia on my part, but I’m thinking they see ‘Dr.’ attached to my name and think I’m loaded.”
“Yeah, I got that too. What can you tell me about your upcoming date?” Duane turned to his desk and picked up his pen and waited for the information to come. He wrote down the information given to him, and got down to business. As he worked, Tom went back to his own work. When Duane didn’t say anything after about an hour Tom gathered his paperwork, sent a text to Erin, and left the office.
“I’ll be in the lab,” Tom told Duane and only received a nod and a wave of his hand. Tom shrugged and went over to the sex barn and made his way to the lab. He looked up and grinned when he saw Erin walking down the hall.
“Hey,” he said to her, and waited with his key until she joined him. Together they put their key in the lock, then used their thumbs to be scanned at the same time. As soon as the lock was disengaged he opened the door, and Erin turned to leave. Once inside, he quickly washed his hands and donned the protective covering on his shoes, and over his street clothes, then he put on the clear mask that covered his entire head, put on the gloves, and entered the lab. He quickly got to work packing up the orders, and when they were complete, he had at least a dozen boxes that needed to go out that day. Thankfully, Erin said that she would call for the shipment to be picked up. As soon as Tom stepped outside, the big brown truck pulled in. It took an hour to get the packages scanned, and Tom was given the tracking information, which he kept with the files. He went back to his desk in the office he shared with Duane and took care of the paperwork.
“Got a minute?” Duane asked as he saw that it looked like Tom was going to leave.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“I ran that information you gave me.”
“Okay.” Tom scowled when he saw the other man’s expression. “Shit, what am I not going to like?”
“Do you know a guy by the name of Jim Faulkner? ”
“Yes, he’s the local sheriff. What about him?”
“Have a seat.” Duane pointed to the seat Tom had just vacated and sighed heavily. “First, I’m not saying I’m any better than the guys over at Brotherhood Protectors, did you think about going to them?”
“Not really, I thought I’d ask you first. To be honest, I never even thought about having you do the background check until I saw you come into the office earlier.”
“Thank you for being honest. I took the information you gave me, then went on that dating website. Again, I’m not saying I’m better than Jake, but something didn’t sound right to me, so I used some of my former FBI tactics. I may be retired from them, but I still know how to get around the system.”
“What did you find?” Tom asked and hadn’t realized he held his breath until it was hard to breathe, then he drew in a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. “I’m ready.”
“Your date for the day after tomorrow is wanted in six states on felony charges.”
“For what?”
“Identity theft. From what I’ve been able to gather so far, she goes on dates with men and somehow gets their credit card information. My research didn’t show how she got the information. Within days, but no longer than a week later, the guy’s bank accounts are cleaned out, and there are at least a dozen credit cards out in his name. From what I’ve seen so far, she’s been able to steal close to three million dollars from her victims. I’ve counted ten men she’s done this to.”
“Holy shit. What do you suggest I do?” Tom was so shocked he couldn’t seem to comprehend what was going on around him. He shook his head and looked at Duane.
“I’ve contacted Sheriff Faulkner and told him that you need to talk to him. If you’re done here, I’d suggest you go see him. If I were handling this case, I would tell you not to cancel your date with Leslie. That’s the name she’s going by, but not her real name. I’ve compiled a file for you to take to Jim. Again, if I were going to take this woman down, I’d make sure it’s in a public place, and I would have you and her on your date, and have the arresting officers come in, dressed in plain clothes, and then I’d take her out that way. Not with guns blazing, but have a female officer casually walk up, say hi to you, you introduce your date, and then let her recognize Leslie as someone else.”
“I get it, play it up that Sparrow could stand between me and Leslie, to keep me safe.”
“Who is Sparrow?”
“She’s a Deputy Sheriff, and she’s married to Stone, a guy that works at Brotherhood Protectors.”
“Got it, maybe Stone can be there as backup, you know, having a coffee with his wife. That’s how I’d play it. ”
“Thanks, Duane,” Tom said after a few minutes of reflecting on what he should do, he stood, took the file, then grinned. “Looks like I’m stopping at the bank to get some cash out.”
Duane laughed heartily. “Yeah, that sounds like it would be a great idea. How about leaving your credit cards at home? There’s no telling if she has some device that gets the information from the cards, or if she has to physically touch it. Maybe to recognize the numbers, or imprint it somehow. I have no clue how she does it, all I know is that she does.”
“I can do that.” Tom shook his head on the shared laugh, but left to go back to town. On the hour-long drive, he reflected on what Duane had said and looked at the heavens. “Come on, Grandpa, give me a break. I’m old enough to date now, stop shoving idiots at me and send me the woman of my dreams.” He chuckled because he had always gone to his grandfather whenever he had a question about the birds and the bees. He remembered that his grandfather would always tell him that when the right woman for him arrived, he’d know it. But he had also told him that there were a lot of gold-diggers out there that he might have to weed through before he could get to the woman of his dreams, he just had to be patient. He had also told Tom that while a woman kissed a lot of frogs to find her prince, men had to wade through a vipers’ den to get to his perfect match.