Smoke & Fooler
By JoeyPare

Two off-duty mounted officers leaned against the corral fence watching LaFiamma brush down his horse.

"Joe, you keep brushin' 'em, that shine is going to blind us!" Curly-Joe Black laughed, slapping the man next to him on the shoulder.

"Jus' got the feeling he's got to look his best today, that's all," LaFiamma remarked as his partner's Jimmy pulling a horse trailer drove into the yard. "Here comes Lundy now."

"How's the guy treatin' you now he's found out you know your horse flesh?" Jeremy Rockland asked stepping back to admire the big blue-black horse named Smoke.

"Still gives me weird looks ... and talks to himself ... which ain't nothin' new. He's always talkin' to himself. Guess it comes from bein' without a partner for so long." Joey ran a hand over Smoke's back, then stepped back and dropped the brush into a bucket that hung on a fence post.

Fooler felt the trailer come to a stop and braced for the opening of the back door.

{Levon said Joe's horse was afraid of trailers. That the thing had been tortured, abused by someone who stole him. Imagine ... stealing a police horse, FROM a police department! Still Levon said it was a beautiful horse. And for her human to say that, she knew it had to be a SOME horse.}

Lundy unlatched the large back door that doubled as a ramp. "Been awhile since you rode in a trailer, huh, girl," Lundy muttered as he walked up beside her to unfastened her halter leads and back her out of the trailer. "Hope you and Smoke get along here now. We're goin' to be doing a lot of riding once he's at ease again."

{Smoke? My Smoke? From Ridge Wood Farms? My - Smoke ... Born next to me ... My stable mate? That's the horse he's been talking about?}

"Easy Fooler, there's Joe, see him? Wait while I close up the trailer," Levon said dropping her halter lead to the ground, the sure sign that this trained horse wouldn't move.

Fooler stared straight ahead, watching Joe LaFiamma step back away from a beautiful pitch-black horse. So black he almost looked blu... {SMOOOKEEE!} ...Came the high whinny as Fooler reared up on her hind legs, whinnying louder, nostrils flared wide.

"Hey, girl, what's the matter?" Lundy called twisting around and sticking his head out from the side of the trailer. The Texan looked around and saw nothing unusual yet his horse seems to be having a fit, prancing and rearing high.

Joe felt a shiver pass through his horse. "You okay, Smoke?" Joe asked, stepping back suddenly and pinning Lieutenant Turner up against the fence.

"Man, Lieutenant," Curly-Joe laughed, "what kind of grass we got at this place? First Smoke arrives and goes wild. Now it's Lundy's horse."

Smoke's head shot up and he stared wide-eyed at the prancing filly in front of him. It took but a few minutes to realize who she was. "{{AIMEE! AIM-MEE!"}} Smoke shouted back wildly, his front hooves kicking forward excitedly almost stepping on Joe's feet.

"Is it me?" Jeremy offered glancing from Smoke to Fooler and back again, "or do these two horses know each other?"

"It appears that way," Turner answered, "and here she comes - flat out, get that gate open or she'll plow right through it"

Back at the trailer, Lundy made a mad grab for Fooler's lose lead that was flying in the air. As he jumped to grab it, his horse reared back, and jumped over him as he fell face first into the dirt landing inches from a fresh pile of horse apples. (Note: horse apples are - poop.)

"LAFIAMMA! CURLY! GRAB HER!" Lundy shouted jumping to his feet.

Curly made a grab for the lead but it seemed to naturally swing up and land across her back as she passed through the gate into the oversized corral.

The officers stood back and watched as the two horses pranced around each other, smelling in all the right places, snorting and nodding, and acting generally pleased to see each other.

{Oh Smoke. Levon told me about this horse Joe had that had horrible things done to him - and now I find out it is you - my childhood friend!}

{{It was me, Aimee. Lots of times I thought I was gonna die. Kept thinkin' of Joey and all times we had together in Chicago. It's so good to be back with him. I was his horse in Chicago. I was a police horse, Aimee! Oh you look so wonderful! I never thought I would ever see you again. Have you talked to Joey? Did you know he can understand us?}}

"Smoke?" The voice was gentle and the touch too, "let me take her lead off, and we'll let you two run a bit ... okay?" Silently, LaFiamma reached under Smoke's neck and unhooked Fooler's lead. Seeing the gate open to the track area, Joe whispered, "Okay old friend take her for a romp."

"LaFiamma! What the hell you doing?" Levon shouted as the two horses took off. "Yer suppose to keep her -- not let her go!"

Lieutenant Stan Turner turned and looked at Lundy. Sometimes this man can be so dense, he thought. "These two obviously know each other, Lundy. Don't hurt to let them get reacquainted a bit."

"Ain't no way Fooler knows Smoke. She's born and bred in Texas. She ain't never been to Illinois." The blond growled back angrily.

"Smoke wasn't born in Illinois," LaFiamma remarked back to his angry partner. "He's from Ridge Wood Farms in Missouri. Best quarter horse breeder in the country. Mares come in from all over the world to be bred to their studs. Just because you bought her in Texas, Lundy, doesn't mean she was made here."

"I got papers from Klintoc Brand, biggest breeder in TEXAS, LaFiamma, and he...."

"Klintoc?" Turner laughed, "Lundy, that man has farmed out his mares to the breeders all over the country, the breeding farm births them and then sends them back when they're yearlings."

"Well," Joey sighed, "let's get them back here and check her tattoo."

"TATTOO? What you talkin' about boy? She ain't got no tattoo, I can tell you that!" Levon rasped exasperated by what was happening.

"On the inside of her thigh. Ridge Wood tattoos the farm's initials - R W F, then a slash mark and the name of the horse. Smoke's is RWF/Smoke. You'll find out what her name was before she was sold to you, Lundy, and I can guarantee you it wasn't Fooler."

Joey raised his hand high above his head and made a circle in the air with his fingers.

"What you doing LaFiamma, painting the air?" Levon groused with a pout. Much to his surprise he saw Smoke stop and look.

"You can look for a tattoo all ya' want, you won't find one! She's a Texas bred quarter horse and I got papers to prove it. I sure won't have paid what I did for her if she was from Missouri!" Lundy blasted to no one in particular.

{{We're being called back Aimee. See that sign Joey made with his hand. It means come.}}

{If Levon wants me, he'll whistle}.

{{From the looks of it, he's not too happy you took off with me. Because of my police work with crowd control - when I couldn't hear him, he started teaching me some signs and it works really neat. Come on, I'll race you to Joey.}}

LaFiamma stared wide-eyed at the two horses running straight for him. Turner was sure the man would have been run down if he and Curly hadn't jerked him out of the way. Fooler and Smoke stopped on the exact stop where Joe had been standing. Smoke looked at Aimee than at Joe and back again.

"I think, Joe," Jeremy chuckled, "He's asking you which of them won the race."

LaFiamma turned a blank stare to his earlier riding partner, then crooked his two pointer fingers and hooked them together. "It was a tie, Smoke," the Italian answered quietly. "Now would you ask your lady friend if we could look at her tattoo."?

{{He wants to ...}}

{Tell him to be my guest. Maybe now I'll be called by my REAL name.}

{{You mean that word 'fooler' that the blond cowboy has been yelling is your NAME?"}}

When no one moved, Turner replied, "Why don't I do it? Okay with you Lundy?" Turner waited until Levon gave him the nod than squatted down and cautiously moved under Fooler's stomach. "Anyone got a flashlight? I see something but can't make it out."

A small penlight was handed to him, and Turner read loudly, " R--- W--- F--- / A I M E E 2. Aimee, her name was Aimee, never seen it spelled this way before. An' don't know what the number two means after the name, lest somethin' happened to the first Aimee." Quietly he moved out from under her repeating the name and watching Smoke's reaction. Every time someone said "Aimee", Smoke gave a short whinny and nodded his head up and down.

LaFiamma surprised everyone by bursting out with a laugh before giving his horse a hug. "So, she's who you've been looking for all these years. Going out of our way every time you saw a red horse - hoping it might be her?" As if in agreement, Smoke turned his head to the left and nuzzled Joe's hip.

"So Lundy," Jeremy said, "this World Champion cutting horse - that took you to what - two World titles? Her dam was from Texas and her sire from Missouri. You can't stand here and tell me you're such a redneck that now you're going to sell her because she wasn't Texas born?"

{Sell me? Because of where I was born?} Fooler stepped back away from the blond cowboy she'd known for years, and Smoke moved in front of her, blocking Lundy's path.

"GET YOUR DAMN HORSE OUT OF THE WAY, LAFIAMMA!" Lundy bellowed. He was going to call Klintoc as soon as he got home. Imagine pulling a fast one like this. How many others in Texas had this man snookered?

"The horse stays here, Lundy!" Lieutenant Turner replied sharply, "I won't allow any animal to go with anyone in the state of mind you're in. If I didn't know better, I got a feeling you're going to call Klintoc and tell him to come pick her up. That's not going to happen, Lundy! And every officer here will see that you don't man-handle this horse!"

"I ain't gonna man-handle her! I ain't roughed up any horse in my whole life! But you can be damn sure I'm goin' find out why they changed her name and where she was born!" Lundy blasted back.

LaFiamma watched the anger flare across his partner's face. If it was anything he'd learned in the last few years, it was Texas was better, bigger than anything else. If it wasn't made it Texas it wasn't any good. Now his partner had been hit in the face with the fact that his beloved cutting horse, maybe wasn't born in Texas. About like telling Joe he wasn't really Italian but was Greek or Swedish. Unimaginable!

"Levon, you came here to go riding. Let's ride." Joe responded cautiously, trying to break down Levon's anger.

"I ain't ridin' with you LaFiamma! " The blond shouted, turning, he laid one hand on the corral fence, and bolted over the top.

Joe started forwarded, but Turner stopped him. "Let him go, LaFiamma. He's got to deal with this alone. He's turned down lots of money for this horse - several times - several thousands of dollars. It's something he has to work through himself."

Turning to one of the stable boys that were leaning against the fence, Turner said, "Rory, open up the back pasture. Let's put Smoke and Fooler out there for a spell. I sure do like the name of Aimee. Probably Klintoc named her Fooler because of something she did."

LaFiamma watched Aimee as Lundy stomped to the trailer. Her ears perked up as he closed up the back door, then unhitched it from the Jimmy. "Don't worry, girl," Joe said softly, "He'll be back. Once he thinks about it. Once he remembers everything the two of you have done, he'll realize what an ass he made of himself. No way he's going to let anyone else have you, no way."

{You're right, Smoke, this human does understand. He took the thoughts right out of my head. Knew just what I was thinking.}

"Come on, girl, we're puttin' you and Smoke out to pasture for a spell. About time you told him all the things you've been doing since last you saw him." Joey whispered, patting the roan on her shoulder.

Anger seethed through the Texan as he closed up the tailgate of the borrowed trailer, and unhitched it from the Jimmy. Someone hollered at him as he spun dirt and fled. An hour later he stared at his ranch house. He had no idea how he got there ... whether he'd caused any accidents getting there ... whether that yelling at the police barns meant he'd run over someone. Everything had become a blur once Turner started reading Fooler's tattoo.

He knew he had read over the papers he signed when he bought Fooler, but had he really read them? The last page was her lineage and that was what he aimed to read now. Turning off the engine he moved slowly out of the vehicle and up to his front porch, fumbling in his pocket for the front door key as he walked.

"Damn, my whole world has turned upside down since LaFiamma came here. I had a nice quiet life before ... who you kidding Lundy?" Levon said answering himself. "You were a sorry son-of-a-bitch before this foreigner arrived. No one on the whole force wanted to be your partner. And now two years later, this guy still wants to be your partner."

Once inside his house, Lundy made a beeline for the dining room and the safe he kept all his important papers in. He retrieved Fooler's purchase agreement papers, and then headed for the kitchen to heat up some coffee to calm his nerves while he read. Levon leafed through the four-page document, reading and re-reading the pages about purchase, nothing indicated where the horse was from. Levon stared at the names of Fooler's lineage. Those typed in red indicated champions in Cutting or Reining. At the bottom of each page, in small print, he saw an 800 number. Slowly he got up from his chair, carrying the paper with him, he walked to the phone. He paused only a moment before dialing the number.

"Hello, this is Levon Lundy, in Houston, Texas! Could you check some info for me on a cutting horse by the name of Ol' Fooler? Registry number? Oh, yea - CB/RWF 0093576379." R? W? F? Ridge Wood Farms?

"You what? But that's her name it says so right here on the ..." Aimee II? She's registered under the name of Aimee ... why'd they change it?

"Yes, ma'am. No I just noticed on the edge of my certificate is typed "Aimee II. But that is not the name I was told, where I bought her. Can you tell me if she was born in Texas?"

Lundy listened to the click of computer keys, than sagged against the wall as the woman read him the notes she found - 'semen was flown in from Ridge Wood Farms in Missouri but it didn't take, so her Dam was transported there for breeding. It doesn't say how long she was there before transported back to Texas. And there are no notes regarding Aimee's birth other than she was healthy, lists her markings, and was named Aimee because if she saw something she wanted she went right for it. Can't tell you why she was named Aimee the second either.'

"Thank you ma'am," Levon answered solemnly, hanging up the phone.

The phone rang almost immediately, and Levon figured it was his partner checking up on him. "Lundy."

"Oh yes ma'am. She what? Fire? Yes, ma'am thanks for letting me know." Lundy hung up the phone and slid down the wall to the floor. Klintoc had some horse barns and horses lost in fire. All mares that were out for breeding were kept until the barns were rebuilt which took almost a year. So she was born in Missouri. Damn, I hate it what that Chicagoan is right!

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Christian Liberty yelled. "He practically ran me down, and when I hollered he didn't even look!"

"He's not himself," Curly-Joe answered, running to the aid of a fellow mounted officer. "He just got the shock of his life."

"What kind of shock would make him react like that?"

"He just found out that his championship cutting horse, Fooler, was born outside of Texas." Curly answered, helping to brush the dust off Christian's shirt. "And he found out her name is really suppose to be Aimee."

"Amy? That's Amy? I know that horse! My dad was bidding on that horse. Yeah, it was born at Ridge Wood Farms in Missouri. Remember the year Klintoc was involved in that big bribery scandal? The disgruntled person paid an arsonist to destroy some barns. Half his brood mares died in the fire. The rest were at breeders around the country and he asked them to keep them until the barns were replaced. She came back as a yearling. Beautiful she was. So Lundy's horse Fooler is Amy! Wow, wait until I tell me dad. He was sure he was getting the horse, but when he checked backed with Klintoc, he was told they didn't have a horse by that name. Damn, Amy."

Above him the phone rang, absentmindedly Lundy reached up for it, answering it as usual, "Lundy."

On the other end of the line, someone raged at him for stealing his horse, and he was going to get her back if he had to go to court. It took Levon several minutes to recognize the man - Brad Liberty. "What you talkin' about Brad? I've had this horse for twelve years, and I ain't getting' rid of her any time soon."

(voice on phone)"Is that right?" Roared Brad. "Then why'd you leave her at the police barns? You damn near ran over my son in your hurry to leave!"

So that's what the yelling was about, Levon thought.

(voice on phone) "I put five thousand dollars down on that horse, and she was never delivered!"

Five - thousand dollars! I bought her for two thousand. Damn, how many other horses did Klintoc get rich off of?

"B-Brad - I think Klintoc is the one to go after here. Fooler's my horse. You want your money back you'll have to go after him. I just wonder how many others he's hoodwinked. He called me, told me he had the perfect mare for me. I paid two thousands dollars for her...picked her up the same day."

(voice on phone) "Well, we'll see whose horse she really is Lundy. I'll see you in court! Right now - she belongs to LaFiamma's horse. Christian said LaFiamma's horse is in a priority-mode of protection. LaFiamma's the only person who he's allowed close to her since you left."

He wants Fooler back on the cutting and reining circuit, no way. Ain't nobody getting' this horse but me. Damn why do I always fly off the handle in front of witnesses.

Jumping to his feet, Levon opened the end cupboard and traced a finger down the list of phone numbers until he came to Michael Sapling. He smiled to himself as he dialed the number and a receptionist answered "Sapling, Downey, and Crooke." Levon had always thought that Mike's wife using her maiden name of Crooke would be a bad omen for the partnership. After all who'd want to hire a crook for a lawyer?

"Morning, ma'am, this is Sergeant Lundy, Houston PD; is Michael Sapling available?" He was not smiling when Mike said 'hey Levon how you doing?'

The Texan filled his longtime friend in on every thing that happened that day. "What do you mean, add it to the pile? Mike, Brad wants ... What?"

Lundy intently listened as Mike Sapling explained that a number of others had discovered horses that they had paid for but never delivered.

"Yeah, but Mike! She's registered under the name of Aimee and I bought a horse named Fooler." Lundy yelped angrily. "Well, of course I know they are registered under a number. You mean, every horse has a number to go with the name? And there's no way two horses could have the same number, even if they had the same name."

What am I stupid? The horse is registered under a number and a name. Each horse has a number!

"Yeah, Mike I got the papers in front of me. You're right! It's a number at the top, and a name typed off to the side of the page. Yeah, keep me posted, thanks."

Levon hung up the phone and stared at a small bruise on his wrist. "Now where'd that come from? Must 'a got it unhooking that trailer."

The blond stood in his kitchen staring at his bruised wrist. But it wasn't the wrist he was seeing, it was a doctor at a rodeo grounds telling him he'd broken his wrist and couldn't finish ridin' in the contest he and Fooler were in. He'd tol' the doc to bandage it up and he had remounted Fooler with one arm in a sling. They had gone onto win, but he didn't do the winning, Fooler did. The Texan had laid the reins across the saddle and hung on with his good hand while his roan cut a steer from the group and held it back. Of all the years he'd been to rodeos it was the first standing ovation he'd ever gotten, course it was for his horse, not him.

Back at the barns, Turner leaned on the fence next to LaFiamma, "How long you been able to talk to horses, Joe?"

A sly smile past over Joey's face, "Bout as long as I've been talkin' to dogs."

Turner glared at the Italian.

"I don't know Lieutenant - just something that comes natural. My mother's brother and her dad had it too. Mostly first born sons have it, but a couple of women on mother's side do too I think. Damn, no one knows where it came from and why some have it and some don't. When I was fifteen, I talked my uncle out of betting on a horse that he wanted to put a lot of money on to win. It came in third. That's when I first knew I had it with horses. I'd known I had it with dogs since I was about four."

"You think Lundy will come back," Turner asked, watching Smoke come trotting up to the Italian.

"Oh yeah. Once that hardheaded Texan starts remembering everything he and this horse have done, he'll be back here in a jiffy. What worries me is Liberty's accusation that the horse belongs to his Dad! This Klintoc - he into selling horses twice?"

"Lundy's had the horse for a long time. I doubt any court in the nation will take it away from him." Stan Turner replied, looking up as the red Jimmy pulled in and parked next to the trailer he'd left. "You're right! Here's the hot head now."

"So, what'd you find out?" Joe asked as his partner sauntered up to the corral.

"Found out ther' is a lot of class action suits against Klintoc. He sold horses to people then didn't deliver. But - he registered every horse he sold. So Fooler is the horse I bought, 'cause it matches the description on the registry papers I have.

"Called ... Ridge Way Farms too," Lundy added staring coldly into the eyes of Christian Liberty. "The horse your dad purchased never arrived in Texas because the trailer it was in rolled over on the highway and both horses in it had to be destroyed. The police report they got said the driver of the van was speeding and lost control. And from the description of the driver, I'd say you could be his twin."

"Think so, huh. Well you'll have to prove that. My dad wouldn't believe you anyway. He hates you." With that Christian kicked up some dirt with his boot and walked away.

Turner finally broke the silence with a question. "You accusing this man of fraud, Levon?"

"Don't know, Lieutenant. The Sergeant I talked with is faxing me the police report and the picture of the trailer and driver. It seems that when more than a couple of horses never got to their destination, Ridge Way started photographing the drivers with their vans."

"Maybe you should have that Sergeant, fax that report and picture to Brad Liberty," LaFiamma laughed half-heartedly.

Turner and Lundy looked at Joe. "Might not be a bad idea, Lundy. Might get Brad off your back, and besides, there had to be an insurance settlement. What happened to that money? The insurance would have paid off the price of the horse."

The silence was broken only by an occasional whinny. LaFiamma finally turned to Turner and asked, "What do you think, Lieutenant, would it be safer to keep Fooler here, or take her back to the ranch? Just in case, Christian decides to try to deliver her to his ol' man."

"We have people on the property all night, Joe. No way he'd get her out. Especially if we put them both together in one of our larger box stalls. He'd have to get through Smoke first, and that ruckus would bring guards," Turner replied. "I'll put the word out that Christian is not to go near the horse, and anyone who allows it will face disciplinary actions. You and Levon go pick up that fax, and have that Sheriff send one to Brad Liberty."

"Yeah, reckon ther's plenty of time to go riding in the Meadows when this is all over. Gees, if it isn't one thing its another." Lundy fumed as they walked back to where the Jimmy was parked.

At Reisner, the two detectives went directly to the computer room and found the fax in a stack of incoming faxes waiting to be sorted to departments. Joe was still uneasy about leaving the horses at the Police Barns and hoped he was doing his best to hide that uneasiness from his partner.

"Gall'damn, LaFiamma! Look at this picture," Lundy yelped, handing the photo of Christian Liberty to his partner. "It's Christian all right, and a bigger rig than he should have been driving. Bet his Daddy will be fumin' when he gets this fax."

Joe took the papers and began to leaf through them as they left the building and walked back to the Jimmy. "It says here the driver was authorized to sign the insurance papers for the accident AND the funds were sent to him. Oh brother! Maybe we should put the kid into protective custody. He not only drove a rig he wasn't licensed for, he defrauded his ol' man."

Brad Liberty cursed as his slammed the telephone receiver down. His lawyer had told him there was no way he could win against Lundy. Too many other lawsuits against Klintoc already that would just pile it on, the horse would be dead before it ever came to court. Behind him on the credenza his fax machine purred and connected. He ignored the machine at first, business didn't interest him at the moment. But when he turned in his big black leather swivel chair to look at it, the pointed sheriff star in the upper left-hand corner brought him to attention.

He reached for the cover letter first. Reading carefully each line, it told him that when Ridge Way Farms was recently doing a remodeling project they came across a box of photos - photos of drivers and their rigs. One of the photos was of the driver who picked up his horse Aimee. The Farms turned it over to the sheriff that investigated the accident that killed the horse, who was then forwarding it to him in hopes of identifying the driver. It seems there was still an outstanding warrant for this driver and their hope was that Brad Liberty could identify him and give a forwarding address.

Liberty grabbed for the other two pages, almost ripping one in half. "Arrendondo, you thriving bastard! You left with that truck and never came back. I hope they hang you!"

The words died in his throat and his mouth went dry as he stared at the smiling picture of his son Christian standing next to the door of the cab. The words 'Frank Arrendondo' were hand-printed under the picture, along with 'Aimee of Ridge Way Farms sold to Bradley Liberty, Houston, Texas.'

Brad thought he was going to puke. His own son! All these years, and his own son was responsible. Doing the best he could to get control of himself, the elder Texan dialed the 800 number of the Missouri sheriff. Thirty minutes later, he hung up the phone, a slow red steam boiling inside him. Not only had his son impersonated his best driver, he had received a ticket for leaving the scene of an accident that HE had caused.

He stared at the clock on his desk. It was well past five, still he knew his secretary would be out there. Punching a button on his intercom phone, he said, "Lorraine, find Christian and ask him to come by the office I have some papers he needs to sign."

Next he called the insurance company. Five thousand dollars was coming to him and he wanted to know why it wasn't received. Brad Liberty sat in his big leather chair behind his huge mahoney desk feeling like a balloon that was seeping air and going down fast. Christian had informed the company that his father would be at their condo in the Bahamas, and the insurance company sent the certified check.

"A condo?" Brad muttered to himself, "Since when do I have a condo outside of Texas?"

His last call while he waited for his son, was to his lawyer. The request was a simple one - take Christian out of his will and off every paper relating to him or the ranch. When his lawyer, an old friend from college days, asked why, Brad related all the sordid details. It was the lawyer's suggestion that Christian turn himself into the police, or that Brad call and have them waiting for Christian when he arrives. Charlie also had suggested he check up on the whereabouts of Frank Arrendondo.

"You ain't talked much since we left Reisner, LaFiamma, what's up?" Lundy asked as he drove the Jimmy up to the front of his ranch house and stopped. When the Italian just kind of shrugged, the blond knew whatever it was, was serious.

"Come on LaFiamma, ain't like you to clam up like this?"

"Just feel uneasy about leaving the horses there is all," Joe answered as he got out of the red 4x4.

"Are you kidding? It's like Fort Knox."

"Yeah, great. And someone broke in there too." The Italian lamented as they walked into Lundy's house.

They were barely inside the house when the phone began ringing. "Don't answer that," Joe growled, "we're off duty remember."

"A cop is never off duty, you know that!" The blond retorted reaching for the phone. "Lundy. Now look Brad...! Huh, sure. LaFiamma's here too. No, no problem."

The cowboy stood with his hand in mid-air until LaFiamma gently took the receiver from his partner's hand and replaced it. "Levon? You okay?"

"That was Brad Liberty."

"Gathered that. So what did he say?"

"Wants us over there right away - Liberty Acres - his place ..."

"Lundy! Snap out of it! What's going on?" Joe quizzed, concerned etched his voice as he watched his unmoving partner.

"Huh? Oh, Christian has an outstanding warrant - wanted for leaving the scene, and fraud against his father. Brad's called the cops but wants us there too - for protection - his. Com' on, I'll fill you in on the way. Guess it's good we left the horses were they are."

The two Houston Major Crime detectives were just approaching Liberty Acres Ranch huge sign when Levon finished with his story about the first Aimee.

"Gees, his own son. I'm surprised the old man didn't have a heart attack." LaFiamma replied, shaking his head at the turn of events. "If it was my kid - I'd hand him over to Frank Arrendondo's family."

"Yeah, well he ain't you're kid," Levon growled as he turned onto the blacktop road that lead into the ranch. "But if it makes you feel better, I'd just as soon see one of your wiseguys outfit him with cement boots and throw him into the Gulf."

The statement brought a grin from LaFiamma, who silently vowed to find a pair of mini-concrete boots to leave on his partner's desk. Maybe they were starting to think alike, or at least except where each other came from.

By the time the two detectives reached the main ranch house, a patrol unit was already parked in front. Even before he stopped the Jimmy, they could hear shouting and yelling coming from inside the magnificent house. Joe and Levon were out, and on a dead run for the front door which miraculously opened for them. A hand from behind the door pointed down a hall, to a partially open door. Slowing to a walk, Joe pushed the door to see two HPD officers struggled with an irate Christian Liberty.

"Hey boy! Calling these cops nasty names ain't gonna help your cause," Levon growled fiercely, grabbing a fistful of Christian's hair and yanking his head up.

"Thanks Lundy," one of the officers said, as he cuffed the mounted officer. "Guess we have to add resisting arrest, to the list."

While his partner assisted the two officers, LaFiamma went directly to the large man seated at the desk. "You okay, sir," Joe asked politely, knowing full well the man was probably being eaten alive inside from all that had happened this afternoon.

"First-born - had to prove he was better than anyone else. Satisfy you - and his peers, no matter what the cost." Joe said quietly.

"You sound like one who knows, son," Brad answered sitting up a bit, giving LaFiamma a good look over. "You obviously aren't from around here."

"Chicago, sir. Transferred here a couple years ago." LaFiamma reiterated, slouching into one of the black leather armchairs in front of the desk.

"Chicago, eh? Got some good friends up in that North Country. You probably wouldn't know them though, they're horse people."

"What is it with all you Texans?" LaFiamma growled, "that you think that no one outside of Texas knows about horse flesh."

"Well, you got to admit, you're pretty fancied dressed."

"It's how we dress up North, at least, how my department dressed. Actually, suit and tie are the norm. Who'd you know in Chicago?" Joe asked wondering if he did know there.

"Well, I'm sure ... ah... his name was Zipper, he was..."

LaFiamma burst out laughing, it was unbelievable that Liberty would know one of his Uncle's jockeys. "You talkin' about Jesus Ziferrelli? Called Zipper because he was a quick change artist having to change colors for the horses he rode."

"You KNOW him? Christian, LaFiamma here knows Zipper!" The elder Liberty immediately regretted calling to his son, realizing now that the boy was no longer going to be part of the family. He was glad his wife was no longer on this earth to see what had happened to the first joy of her life.

Rising from his chair Brad walked over to where his son and the officers were standing. "Tell me. I need to know what happened to Frank. He was a good man."

Christian looked at his father. "He's dead for all I know! I left him stranded with no ID at a Texas truck stop. We stopped for gas. He left his wallet with me so I could pay for the gas, which I did while he went to the john. Then I left and never looked back. Have no idea what happened to him. Maybe they sent him back to Mexico! I was a better man than he was. But you never gave me the chance to drive for you."

Brad's jaw hardened, and he nodded to Joe when the Italian said they'd look into it to see if they could find the man. "What about this condo I'm suppose to own in the Bahamas?"

"Me and Carole go there every year. Bought with the first money I embezzled from you! You want to know why you're hated so much - cause when I go to collect debts, I demand more than the original price you gave. AND I've done that for the last five years. Got a real nest egg going. Should be able to afford a good lawyer too."

Before Brad could answer, Lundy said, "It will take a lot more than a good lawyer to get you out of this. By the time this is over ... you'll be lucky if you can afford toothpaste."

"Get him out of here," LaFiamma growled, nodding to the two HPD officers.

Instead of going back to the ranch, the two detectives drove to Reisner. What a day off this had been. Without saying a word to each other, they both knew they had to find out what happened to Frank Arrendondo, and Lundy had a couple of people he could call on it right away.

"Hey ... why go to Reisner? You know we'll just be sucked into some case. And this is one case I want to finish before going back to work tomorrow." Joey remarked as they started onto the freeway.

"Okay, wha' you say we call from the barns. We'd both feel a lot better knowin' how the horses are." Levon replied moving into another lane so he could get off at the next exit.

"Readin' my mind, cowboy," Joey answered with a grin.

Joey was silently swinging himself between Smoke and Fooler. His left arm was stretched across the back of Smoke, and his left hand was scratching at a spot his horse loved. His right arm was stretched across Fooler in the same manner. He was slowly swinging and stretching his legs out in front of him, like athletes do on the parallel bars.

"So, what'd you find out about Frank, Lundy?"

"Fortunately he did have some identification on him when Christian took off, but no one believed him when he said he was the driver of the van. He spent sometime in jail because he got into a shouting match with the wrong officer when no one would go after Christian. The cop did call Liberty Acres but they told him that Frank was on the road - but the cop wouldn't let Frank talk to that person."

"They believe you when you told him he was?"

"Not at first. But I think they did when I told him Frank's boss, Brad Liberty, would probably sue their little city for everything they had for not believing him, and for illegally incarcerating him for a year."

"Jesus, they slapped him in jail for a year!"

"Then I called Brad and told him. He is personally flying up there with one of his lawyers."

"Boy, I'd hate to be that cop. His ears will be burning for months."

Fooler nickered and turned her head to Joe. "Okay, okay... they want out of here, Lundy. How about we load them up and head for your place. Go for a breakfast ride in the morning."

"Sounds good to me, partner, sounds real good to me."

THE END