mean on the field, darling.”
“Yeah, of course.” Jesus, he hated flaming guys, but Lindsey wouldn’t stay one thing long enough for Seth to settle on an opinion. One minute queen, one minute wise counselor, and the next fantastic athlete. Confusing.
Lindsey dropped the act. “How are you getting on? I only have a minute. I need to check my ponies.”
“Ponies? Those beasts look pretty full grown to me.”
“Yes, it’s just an expression. Mine are mostly thoroughbreds.”
“Yours? You telling me you own those horses?”
“Of course. Only professional players ride other people’s horses.”
“Shit, man, this is one weird world.”
Lindsey smiled. “You have no idea.” Their eyes met and held, and then Lindsey blinked. “We have another forty or so minutes to play. Can you amuse yourself?”
“Uh, sure. I met one guy. Named Westerberg?”
Lindsey’s eyes widened. “Bruce?”
“No. I think he said Hanson or something like that.”
“Ah, good.” Did he look relieved? “All right, I have to run. Ta, darling. Go stomp some divots.”
“What?”
“The guests push the divots of dirt and grass from the horse’s hooves back down with their feet.” He pointed to all the elegant men and ladies and the kids from the charity this event supported walking around the field. “But beware of the steaming divots.” He laughed, turned, and ran across the field.
Seth walked back to the bar and got a mineral water. No alcohol. On duty, more or less. He circulated through the crowd until he heard an older woman talking about the kidnappings with a younger couple.
The woman said, “How can you say such a thing, Arnold? Dear God, no one we know would do such a thing.”
Seth stopped and stared at a plant.
The younger guy shook his head. “It makes sense that it’s one of us. Who else would know the comings and goings of those families?”
“How can you even think such a thing?”
The younger woman chimed in. “I heard they kidnapped Dave’s daughter on her way to school. She walks the same route and has security protection. Somehow, they overpowered her guards. Somebody knew all the details.”
Seth listened for a couple more minutes, but nothing new was added except a lot of hand-wringing. He agreed with the younger couple. It might be an inside job, although Carla hadn’t thought the men holding her were people she knew. Of course, those guys were expendable flunkies.
He wandered and talked to a couple of other guests who were nice enough, but he didn’t learn anything. Funny, he noticed them glancing at his clothes. Lindsey had been right. He never would have fit in wearing his motorcycle jacket, even if it was a nice one.
He sipped his water. The kids were cute too. The event supported some placement service for orphans and abandoned children, and a lot of them were here racing around and drinking more soda than their systems could handle.
The horses had started running again, so he walked closer to the action. Prickles on the back of his neck made him turn. Hanson Westerberg stared intently at him. When Seth caught his eye, the man’s expression changed. He smiled and waved. So phony. Seth waved, then turned back to the field.
Lindsey raced after the ball, sometimes leaning so far to the side it defied gravity that he managed to stay in the saddle. Something about that slim, effeminate man controlling that huge, powerful animal gave Seth goose bumps. Lindsey and the horse moved as one, slashing and hammering at that poor defenseless ball. Seth loved a man who was good in the saddle. He pulled his coat closed over his half-cocked condition.
“Man, he is cool.”
Seth looked toward the voice. A really tall kid with a young face stood beside Seth, watching the field. Seth wrapped the coat tighter. “Who?”
“The Number Three. What a seat.”
Yeah, he had to agree with that. “So you ride?”
The boy shrugged. “Nah. Where would I get a horse? I’m just a fan.”
“Of polo?”
The kid glanced at him. Like Seth, he had almost golden eyes that looked startling in his tan face, surrounded by longish dark-brown hair. “Yeah. So?”
Seth shrugged. “Most kids like basketball or soccer or something. Why polo?”
“Fast, powerful. I love that the man and the horse are like one thing, you know? Like those centaurs in the Harry Potter movies.”
Yeah, he did know. Seth stuck out his hand. “By the way, I’m Seth.”
The kid nodded and shook with a firm grip. Not wimpy like a lot of kids. “Jasper. Jasper Harding.”
“So have you ever met the Number Three?”
“Lindsey?” His eyes widened. “No, man.