The Chase Read Online Free

Farm. And next week I’m going to riding camp there, and Kendall is going to be my instructor.”
    Helen raised an eyebrow. “Really? I didn’t know you were going to be teaching camp, Kendall. My niece, Caitlin, is signed up for that camp session.”
    They were interrupted by the shrill ring of the telephone.
    Kendall lifted Samantha from her lap and rose from her spot on the floor. “I’m sorry. I’d better answer that. I’m expecting a call from my blacksmith.”
    She disappeared into the kitchen and the door swung closed behind her.
    Helen looked at Anne. “I had no idea Kendall was teaching summer camp at Fox Run.”
    Anne nodded. “She worked out a deal with Margaret Southwell to board Wellington at Fox Run for the remainder of the summer in exchange for teaching the riding camp.”
    “There are a lot of things I’d do to get a stall at Fox Run, but I can’t say being a camp counselor is one of them,” Helen said, laughing. “That seems a little extreme.”
    “Kendall didn’t exactly have the luxury of choice, Helen.”
    “You don’t mean that she had to do it for
financial
reasons, do you?”
    Anne didn’t respond.
    “
Oh my
. I assumed Kendall took Peter to the cleaners. I guess that explains why she’s living here.”
    Deb frowned. “What do you mean by that, Helen? I think Kendall was lucky to find this cottage to lease. It’s the perfect size for her, and this setting in the woods is lovely.”
    “I agree,” Helen replied. “I think it’s quite charming. Cozy, actually. It’s just not what she was used to, that’s all.”
    “Kendall’s very happy here,” Anne said. “In fact—”
    The kitchen door opened and Kendall burst into the room, holding a cordless phone. “Anne, would you come into the kitchen? I need to talk to you.” There was a tremor in her voice, as if she might be about to cry.
    Anne imagined that Peter had probably managed to throw yet another legal obstacle at Kendall. She rose from the chair and patted the fluffy chintz cushion, motioning for Samantha to sit down. “Samantha, why don’t you make a bouquet with the ribbons from the packages? I’ll be right back.”
    Kendall closed the door behind them and pulled a chair out from the kitchen table. “I think you’d better sit down.”
    “All right.”
What on earth was going on?
    Anne settled into the chair. “What’s wrong, Kendall?”
    Kendall took a deep breath. “It’s Doug. There’s been an accident.”

CHAPTER
5

    T raffic was at a standstill, and Jake Dawson beat his fingers impatiently against the outside of the driver’s door in rhythm to the country music that was playing on the radio. The sticky heat was sweltering, but he knew if he turned the air conditioning on, the truck was sure to overheat. He’d have to roll up the window soon, though, because dark thunder boomers loomed overhead, and the wind was gusting strong enough to rock the pickup truck. He batted at a fly that buzzed annoyingly around his ear, and craned his neck to see if there was any movement in the traffic.
    Jake knew that there was some kind of wreck up ahead and figured it must be bad, because he’d heard three sets of sirens in the ten minutes he’d been sitting there. A helicopter had approached, but after being tossed around by the wind on several landing attempts, it had flown away without setting down.
    Fat raindrops began to splatter the truck, and Jake cranked up the driver’s window and turned on the wipers. The blades smeared smashed bugs across the windshield, and he depressed the wiper lever a couple of times to squirt fluid on the mess.
    A streak of lightning cut through the sky to his left, followed quickly by a sharp crack of thunder, and then the clouds opened up. Blinding rain beat down on the truck, and even with the wipers on full speed, he could barely see beyond the hood. Not that it mattered. It didn’t look like he was going to be driving anywhere anytime soon.
    Jake removed his cowboy hat and