Chapter 45

"Well I'll be," Paul muttered to himself.

He carefully pressed again on the bottom of Goliath's hoof. The horse wuffled and tried to pull his foot away. Paul pressed on Goliath's hoof again, this time an inch away from where he'd pressed the last time. Goliath whinnied a protest and tried to rear back.

"Yeah, yeah," Paul told the horse. "I know. Let me check your other hooves and I'll leave you alone."

Paul wanted to jump up and down. He'd finally figured out Goliath's problem.

"Hi, Paul! How's it going?" Cathy greeted him. She had a little free time and had come to ask Paul how things were going with Kiri.

"Bruises!" Paul muttered.

"Huh?"

Paul looked up and felt his cheeks flush a little. He'd been so absorbed in dealing with Goliath that he hadn't realized she was there. "Oh…um, I figured out what's wrong with Goliath."

"That's great! I knew you would figure it out."

Paul rubbed the back of his neck, a little embarrassed at the praise. "Uh…thanks," he mumbled.

"So what's wrong with him?" Cathy asked as she went over and started patting the black horse's neck.

"His hoof is bruised."

"I didn't realize horses could bruise their hooves," Cathy said.

Paul nodded. "It isn't something that happens too often around here but it can happen. I'm betting he hurt himself on that big rock Kiri fell on in the corral. I was prepping him for a hoof trimming when I figured out what was wrong."

Cathy moved closer to Paul. "Can I see what a bruised hoof looks like?"

Paul nodded and lifted Goliath's bruised foot. "If you look closely, you can see a little discoloration right here and here. It's really hard to see on Goliath's hooves because they're black. The bruises would be easier to see on Buttercup because her hooves are much lighter."

Cathy moved even closer and bent down to get a better look. She was close enough that Paul could smell the strawberry shampoo she used.

"Oh. No wonder you didn't notice it before now! I wouldn't have ever seen those bruises." She straightened up and patted Goliath on the neck. "You poor baby!"

Goliath nickered and gently butted Cathy's hand with his nose, looking for a treat. Cathy moved away just a bit to keep Goliath from pestering her for a treat she didn't have.

"So the bruises on this foot are the reason he won't perform with someone on his back and why he threw Kiri off?" she asked.

Paul nodded. "I'm pretty positive. If we let him rest up a little he should be just fine and back to performing in no time."

"That's great. I know the Manager was worrying about how he was going to replace Goliath on such short notice."

"Yeah," Paul agreed. "Goliath'll have to sit out for a few shows but it's still better than training new horses in a hurry. In fact, I'd better have a chat with the Manager about it so he's up to speed."

"Colonel."

"Agent Yuy, have a seat." Une gestured to the chair opposite her desk. Once he was seated she said, "I take it you have information for me?"

He nodded. "There have been a few new developments. You need to be apprised of the situation before certain events occur."

"Proceed."

"The girl we found has been identified as Amanda Fitzgibbons. According to her testimony she was kidnapped at age 14 and held prisoner for five years. She identified her kidnapper and jailor as Donovan Chase."

"Yes, yes. I know this already."

Heero glared at the Colonel for interrupting his report. He kept talking. "Upon learning that Chase was given permission to see her, Amanda had an emotional breakdown and was removed from the hospital to conceal her whereabouts. We placed her with Catherine Bloom, sister to Agent Barton, who works with a traveling circus. We felt the girl would be more comfortable with a female guardian and the constant relocation of the circus has provided further security."

Colonel Une nodded. "Yes and Dr. Po also informed me that she gets regular reports from Cathy and the girl is doing just fine. Can you tell me anything new?"

Heero was not amused. "Why not just ask Sally?"

Une worked to keep from smirking at the man's indignation. "I'm sorry, Heero. But nobody was telling me anything. You should know that I had to get Sally absolutely plastered before she'd tell me anything and even then she was still coherent enough to swear me to secrecy."

Heero frowned at that. Wufei would be pissed when he found out.

"What Sally would not have been able to tell you is that we are trying to get concrete evidence that Donovan Chase is Amanda's attacker."

"Is there any doubt?" Une asked with a frown.

Heero shook his head. "No. But because he is a lawyer, we wanted absolute proof before bringing him to justice. We didn't want him to be able to say it was all circumstantial or get off on a technicality. In the course of our investigation, we have discovered that this case is not as open and shut as we originally thought. Donovan Chase is an alias. We believe his real name is Wayne Harris. We're still working on confirming that information, however. He covered his tracks very thoroughly. On top of that, the property we found the girl at is listed as being owned by an Angus Carruthers, as is the house where Mr. Whitaker is residing. Quatre has looked into it and Angus Carruthers appears to be a ghost, so we posted notice that Whitaker's house is being auctioned off by the bank as an abandoned property. Quatre said that one of Whitaker's bodyguards approached him, demanding to know why they were trespassing. Quatre informed him that the property was listed as abandoned and that someone would need to come down to dispute the claim. We expect someone claiming to be Mr. Carruthers to come to your office this week in order to fix the 'little mix-up'."

Une nodded. "And when he comes, what would you like me to do with him?"

"We need to get fingerprints or DNA of some kind to find out who he really is. Perhaps a signature on something to match handwriting. I have no doubts that he's using an alias."

"Can I ask something?"

Heero nodded.

"Chase has been identified as the girl's kidnapper and attacker, right?"

Heero nodded.

"Whitaker is his boss, correct?"

Again, Heero nodded.

"So why bother with this Carruthers character? Why not just go after Whitaker and Chase and shut this down quickly?"

"I suspect that Carruthers is either a silent partner or the real brains of the operation. If he truly exists, and we don't get him at the same time as the other two, he could disappear and start another ring with new recruits. We will no longer have the advantage if that happens because if he is smart, and I think he is, he will not let himself or his cronies get caught again."

Une nodded. "Very well. I'll be ready for him when he comes. Please keep me informed of the situation as much as is possible. I want this wrapped up sooner rather than later."

"Sally! Sally, wake up!"

Sally groaned as someone shook her. "Ohhhh…go away!" Her head was throbbing and she felt like she needed to puke.

"Sally! I need you to open your eyes."

Sally forced her eyes open. Wufei's concerned face looked down at her.

"What's wrong?" she slurred.

"Thank God you're okay."

"Ugh…what're you talking about?"

Wufei frowned at her. "You didn't show up for work today. I got a frantic call from Janice because they've been trying to call you for two hours and you never answered your phone. I had to pick the lock to your apartment because I left my place in such a hurry that I didn't realize I didn't have the key. You didn't hear me pounding on the door? Your neighbor threatened to call the cops because she thought I was trying to break it down!"

Sally started to shake her head but realized that was a horrible idea. She moaned. "Oh…I'm going to be sick."

Wufei dashed into Sally's bathroom and grabbed the garbage can. He thrust it under her face as she leaned over the side of the bed and emptied the contents of her stomach.

When she was done, Wufei removed the can and went to get her a drink. He helped her to sit up before handing her the cup.

"Why did you go out drinking?" he demanded.

"What?" Sally asked after taking a tentative sip. "I didn't."

Wufei scowled. "You have alcohol on your breath and you display all the symptoms of a hangover."

"I don't remember having anything to drink. I'm not even sure how I got home. In fact…the last thing I remember is…going to lunch with Colonel Une. But she wouldn't…"

"Yes, she would," Wufei interrupted.

"Just because she's former Oz it doesn't mean she's untrustworthy, Wufei. What reason would she have to get me drunk?" Sally asked with a frown.

"She wanted information about the girl and I told her we couldn't tell her yet. Trowa told her the same thing. I would bet Nataku that she went through you to get that information. Do you remember if you told her anything?"

Sally shook her head and shut her eyes as a wave of nausea crashed over her. "Oh…that's a bad idea. I don't remember anything after Une suggested I have one of the specialty drinks at the restaurant we went to. I could have sworn she told me it was non-alcoholic."

"I'm going to kill her. She had no right to threaten your health that way. You could have gotten alcohol poisoning. And with everything else going on this false alarm was not helpful."

"What else is going on? Is the girl okay?"

"Calm down, Sally. As far as we know the girl is fine. Drink the water. It will help your hangover."

Sally glared at him. "I'm a doctor, Wufei. I know," she growled.

'Note to self, Sally is grouchy when she's hung over,' Wufei thought. Out loud, he said, "I know. I just wanted to help." He gently brushed her hair behind her ear. "I was afraid something had happened to you."

"What did you think happened?" Sally took a drink of her water.

"Chase has been hanging around the hospital lately, trying to see the girl. When Janice called me I thought that maybe he'd taken you to make us give in to his demands. I was afraid he would hurt you…or worse," he admitted.

Sally smiled at her boyfriend. "Even if he did take me, I'd put up a fight."

Wufei nodded. "And with most predators, that would probably be enough. But he's not a normal predator. We can't be too careful around him. Une is going to get an earful from me, I promise you that. And I'm going to see about getting you some extra security when you leave work. I don't want you in the parking lot alone. It would be too easy to kidnap you there."

Sally knew better than to try to argue with him. Instead, she emptied her glass and set it on the nightstand. "I'd better get dressed and go to work."

Wufei kept her from getting up. "No. I'll call and tell Janice that you're sick. You're in no condition to be at work today."

Sally sighed but knew that he was right. She still felt sick to her stomach. "Okay. Can I at least make myself some toast or something?"

"No. You're to stay put. I'll bring you something to eat and another glass of water."

Wufei headed to the kitchen and Sally snuggled down into the blankets. She had to come up with a way to get back at Une.