Page 37 of Kevin's Destiny

“Totally understand.” She nodded and when they left, she used her key to make sure it worked, and they rode back to their cabins in peaceful silence.

CHAPTER 13

At nine the next morning,Yvonne couldn’t stand being idle any longer, so she packed a lunch, gathered some snacks, and walked out to her truck with everything and a full travel mug of coffee. She had unpacked and organized everything the night before, and this morning she’d walked around to double-check that everything was in its place. For the last hour, she’d been practically pulling her hair out waiting to go to work.

She walked into the office, and immediately went to put the things she brought for her lunch in the refrigerator, and made a fresh pot of coffee. She had just poured herself a cup when she looked up and smiled at Kevin.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?” He looked at his watch, then at her. “You have a couple of hours before you have to be here.”

“I know, but I was able to get everything unpacked yesterday, and I organized everything this morning. I was bored so I thought I’d come to work early. Is there anything you’re working on that you would need help with?”

“Not yet,” he sighed and shook his head. “I’m not being evasive, I truly don’t have anything to work on. At least not yet. I’m waiting for Cole to get back to me. He said he might havesome potential people coming to look at the horses in the next couple of months. When he has someone locked down, he will get us their information.”

“Do these potential people know they are having background checks run on them?”

“Yes, Cole tells them that if they want to come here, because they won’t be taking the horses anywhere to be viewed, then they have to be subjected to a background check. The potential owner, any trainer they bring or recommend, and any jockey the new owner and trainer want to use. Cole tells them that if they don’t give the information, and they don’t pass, they won’t be allowed to come to New Double.”

“I probably know the answer to this, but why Cole and not Naomi?” She settled into her office, putting things on her desk that she’d had for years from when she was with the FBI.

“Because Cole is a very hands-on manager. Naomi is still the owner, but she’s also the manager of Broken Wheel. I do know that the two of them have put out feelers to potential buyers, and when someone calls them, Cole takes the call, but then discusses it all with Naomi. He doesn’t make a major move without her input.”

“Oh, okay,” Yvonne said as she leaned back in her chair and looked around. “So, what do you do while you’re waiting for people to research?”

“I help Duane if he needs any.”

“What does he work on?”

Kevin grinned, then held up his hand and his coffee cup at the same time. He walked out of her office, and returned within minutes with a fresh cup. He settled in the one chair before her desk and grinned harder.

“What’s with the grin?”

“How much do you know about Erin’s businesses?”

Yvonne shrugged while furrowing her brow. “There’s Erin’s Way, Broken Wheel, Broken Two, New Double, though she only owns the land and buildings, not the horses or equipment. Then there is the community pantry, and everything that makes that up. There will eventually be RRR or rather, Riceman Rodeo Ranch.”

“Correct, but do you know about Riceman Stallions?”

“Isn’t that what Erin’s Way is?”

“Yes and no.” He sipped his coffee and settled back in his chair with it cradled to his chest. “Riceman Stallions is an online business.” He pointed to the computer on the desk before Yvonne, and chuckled. “Type in Riceman Stallions dot com.” He watched as she did, then stood and walked behind her, then at the last minute, he dragged the chair he had been sitting on over to sit beside her. After about three or four minutes, she turned shocked eyes toward him.

“What the hell am I looking at?”

“It’s basically IVF for horses. The owner of a mare can look on here, pick out the stallion he wants to stud his mare out to, and depending on where they live, the mare is brought here, or the specimen is shipped to them. However,” he said as he sipped his coffee and held up his hand to hold her off. “The specimen can’t be shipped directly to the owner of the mare.”

“Why not?”

“It has to go to the vet who will impregnant the mare. What Duane does is run the background checks on the owners that sign up for the stud’s services, and their vet.”

“Why the vet?”

“It was explained to me like this,” he paused as he sipped his coffee again and settled back in his chair to look at her as he talked. “The owner of the mare fills out the form on that website.” He watched as she clicked on the form and read it ashe talked. “See, there’s no way the horse’s owner can implant the sperm. It needs to be done professionally.”

“By the vet.” It was said as a statement, not a question.

“Correct. The specimen is sent to the veterinarian so he can use it. However, to answer your earlier question, we check out the vet because what if the vet gets the specimen, but instead of injecting that into the mare it was intended for, he has a different one, and then sells the one from Erin’s Way at a higher price?”

“Ah, and eventually, if the owner of the mare realized he didn’t get what he paid for, he might come after Erin for selling him inferior product.”