Chapter 5
Lisa spoke up before Max could.
"Evie, how do you know the voucher's a forgery?"
"Because the police commissioner is my father," answered Evie, "His name is Ethan Kyle Starr but he always signs his name E.K. Starr, this, is signed Ethan Starr."
"Are you sure about that?" asked Max
"Of course, I'm sure," said Evie, "I know my father. Check the paperwork he signed when he enrolled me in your class if need proof."
Max turned toward the file cabinet only to see that Lisa was already there with the drawer open. She was one step ahead of him as usual.
"it's true," said Lisa handing Max the papers after she had looked at them.
"What do we do now?" asked Stevie
"If we want to track this guy down, we need to find out more about him." said Carole
Evie nodded.
"I think that anyone who would go to such elaborate means has probably done this before," said Evie, "I'm going to tell my dad what happened and have him run this Harwell character through the system and see what they can come up with."
"Good Idea," said Lisa.
A few minutes later found them all pacing in the lounge as they waited for Evie's dad to call back.
"A watched pot never boils, girls," said Mrs. Reg coming into the room, "Why don't you all sit down and I'll make you some of my famous gourmet sandwiches?"
"Thanks Mrs. Reg," said Evie, "That sounds wonderful." The mention of food reminded Evie and her stomach that she hadn't eaten since breakfast.
Mrs. Reg headed into the kitchen and a few minutes later came back carrying a tray with four of the most delicious double decker sandwiches that Evie had ever seen. Also on the tray were several different snack bags of chips.
The girls dug in hungrily. About the time Evie had her mouth full of the best chicken sandwich she ever had, her phone rang.
Evie swallowed as quickly as she could and answered.
"Hi Daddy…Oh you did…Really…Okay thanks…love you too…bye Daddy."
"Well, don't keep us in suspense," said Stevie, "what did he say?"
"Mrs. Reg," said Evie, "You should call Max he needs to hear this." Mrs. Reg nodded and went to get Max. Max came hurrying in a few moments later.
"What did your father say?"
"He said they got a hit on this guy Harwell, but not under that name," Replied Evie, "It turns out that wealthy horse owner Jackson Harwell is just an alias and a front. The guy's really Smiling Jimmy Stokes he's a con man who, among other operations, goes around forging papers and claiming ownership of potentially valuable horses."
"Well Atlas and Pegasus are both pure Andalusians," said Max, "and therefore are very valuable."
"My father put out an APB on that guy, so hopefully he won't get to far. And more importantly I hope Atlas is still okay!"
The other's nodded in agreement.
After the girls finished eating there was more waiting. Evie helped Lisa and the other muck out stalls and put out fresh hay for their horses.
A couple hours later her phone rang again. immediately she answered it.
"Hello…Hi Daddy…you did…that's great…how's Atlas?"
Evie's countenance dropped.
"What's wrong?!" said Lisa worried as Evie hung up.
"They caught Harwell," said Evie, "But he had already sold Atlas. He must have had a buyer lined up before he even came to claim him."
"Did your dad find out who they sold him to?" asked Carole
"Somebody named Ramon Cartier," Replied Evie
Lisa, Carole, and Stevie all exchanged a look and Evie noticed.
"You know who that is, don't you?" asked Evie
Carole nodded.
"His real name is Richard Carter," she said, "He's the head instructor at the WRI!"
"Yeah," said Stevie, "which means getting Atlas back just got a lot more complicated!"
"How so?" asked Evie
"To put it simply," said Lisa "The WRI is a riding school full of arrogant snots who aren't known for doing Pine Hollow any favors."
TO BE CONTINUED…please review