said. ‘We need to speak with you.’
The man started to stir and come around. He gasped in shock as his eyes found Emily standing between Pegasus and Tornado Warning.
‘What the hell?’ he said.
‘Hell has nothing to do with this,’ Agent T said sharply. ‘Are you Rip Russell, the owner of Tornado Warning?’
The man climbed shakily to his feet and he looked around the stable in complete disbelief. ‘What are you?’ he fearfully asked. ‘Where do you come from?’
‘We ask the questions,’ Agent T said. ‘Where did you get Tornado Warning?’
His frightened eyes lingered on Pegasus and then went over to Tornado. ‘Those horses got wings!’
‘Yes,’ Agent T said. ‘Now answer my question.’
Rip looked wildly around the ring. ‘Where is that devil horse? He was fighting with the winged one.’
‘This is Tornado Warning,’ Emily answered as she stroked the winged stallion.
‘No it isn’t!’ Rip insisted. ‘Tornado doesn’t have wings. But they do …’
‘Yes, we have established that,’ Agent T said calmly. ‘This is Pegasus and that is Tornado. Now I won’t ask you again. Where did you get Tornado Warning?
‘I won’t tell you a thing,’ Rip said, ‘until you tell me how those horses can have wings.’
‘Wrong answer.’ Agent T slapped Rip across the face. ‘That is me playing nice. One more wrong answer and I will gladly introduce you to Alexis. She’s not so patient.’
‘Who’s Alexis?’ Rip demanded.
‘I am.’ The Sphinx opened her wings and flew the short distance to where the group was standing. She narrowed her green eyes and stalked up to the man. ‘I am Alexis. You will answer our questions or you will not live to see the sunrise.’
Fear rose on Rip’s face. ‘You’re a lion woman! And you got wings too!’
‘You do not miss much,’ Alexis said sarcastically. ‘But did you also notice these?’ She held up her paw to show her sharp claws.
Rip held up his hands and looked over to Agent T. ‘All right, all right, I’ll tell you anything. Just keep that thing away from me!’
‘ Thing? ’ Alexis roared.
Emily saw only the quickest flash of movement from the Sphinx. Moments later, Rip Russell was on the ground crying in pain and grasping his lower legs. His jeans were torn from Alexis’s claws and blood was rising to the surface.
‘You were lucky it was only your legs,’ Agent T warned. ‘One more remark like that and I won’t stop her.’ The ex-CRU agent knelt down beside him. ‘Now tell us. Where did you get Tornado Warning?’
‘My cousin,’ Rip gasped between gritted teeth. He was clutching his bleeding legs. ‘My cousin gave him to me.’
‘Where did he get him?’ Emily asked.
Rip cursed and sat up. ‘I just knew it! I knew this would come back to haunt me!’
‘Explain,’ Agent T ordered.
Still grasping his legs, Rip Russell started to speak. ‘Ten months ago, I was living on a broken-down farm in northern California. I had a couple of racehorses, but could never catch a break and win anything. One day outta nowhere, my cousin calls me. He says he’s got a sure thing. All I had to do was raise a foal and then race him. He said we would split the winnings.’
‘And you agreed?’ Agent T asked.
‘Wouldn’t you?’ Rip answered. ‘So a month later, he brings this tiny white foal to me. It had bandages all over it. But even with the bandages, I could see it was quality horse flesh. So I took it. I was given instructions to keep if fed on sugars and other sweet foods. I was also told to dye the foal grey for racing since no one races white horses.’
Agent T frowned. ‘How could you race him? He had no papers to prove his pedigree.’
‘That part was easy,’ Rip said. ‘All I had to do was find a registered grey horse that we could substitute for him. It took some time, but we found one that looked a lot like him with the same cowlicks and everything – he was called Tornado Warning. Then all I had to do was
The man started to stir and come around. He gasped in shock as his eyes found Emily standing between Pegasus and Tornado Warning.
‘What the hell?’ he said.
‘Hell has nothing to do with this,’ Agent T said sharply. ‘Are you Rip Russell, the owner of Tornado Warning?’
The man climbed shakily to his feet and he looked around the stable in complete disbelief. ‘What are you?’ he fearfully asked. ‘Where do you come from?’
‘We ask the questions,’ Agent T said. ‘Where did you get Tornado Warning?’
His frightened eyes lingered on Pegasus and then went over to Tornado. ‘Those horses got wings!’
‘Yes,’ Agent T said. ‘Now answer my question.’
Rip looked wildly around the ring. ‘Where is that devil horse? He was fighting with the winged one.’
‘This is Tornado Warning,’ Emily answered as she stroked the winged stallion.
‘No it isn’t!’ Rip insisted. ‘Tornado doesn’t have wings. But they do …’
‘Yes, we have established that,’ Agent T said calmly. ‘This is Pegasus and that is Tornado. Now I won’t ask you again. Where did you get Tornado Warning?
‘I won’t tell you a thing,’ Rip said, ‘until you tell me how those horses can have wings.’
‘Wrong answer.’ Agent T slapped Rip across the face. ‘That is me playing nice. One more wrong answer and I will gladly introduce you to Alexis. She’s not so patient.’
‘Who’s Alexis?’ Rip demanded.
‘I am.’ The Sphinx opened her wings and flew the short distance to where the group was standing. She narrowed her green eyes and stalked up to the man. ‘I am Alexis. You will answer our questions or you will not live to see the sunrise.’
Fear rose on Rip’s face. ‘You’re a lion woman! And you got wings too!’
‘You do not miss much,’ Alexis said sarcastically. ‘But did you also notice these?’ She held up her paw to show her sharp claws.
Rip held up his hands and looked over to Agent T. ‘All right, all right, I’ll tell you anything. Just keep that thing away from me!’
‘ Thing? ’ Alexis roared.
Emily saw only the quickest flash of movement from the Sphinx. Moments later, Rip Russell was on the ground crying in pain and grasping his lower legs. His jeans were torn from Alexis’s claws and blood was rising to the surface.
‘You were lucky it was only your legs,’ Agent T warned. ‘One more remark like that and I won’t stop her.’ The ex-CRU agent knelt down beside him. ‘Now tell us. Where did you get Tornado Warning?’
‘My cousin,’ Rip gasped between gritted teeth. He was clutching his bleeding legs. ‘My cousin gave him to me.’
‘Where did he get him?’ Emily asked.
Rip cursed and sat up. ‘I just knew it! I knew this would come back to haunt me!’
‘Explain,’ Agent T ordered.
Still grasping his legs, Rip Russell started to speak. ‘Ten months ago, I was living on a broken-down farm in northern California. I had a couple of racehorses, but could never catch a break and win anything. One day outta nowhere, my cousin calls me. He says he’s got a sure thing. All I had to do was raise a foal and then race him. He said we would split the winnings.’
‘And you agreed?’ Agent T asked.
‘Wouldn’t you?’ Rip answered. ‘So a month later, he brings this tiny white foal to me. It had bandages all over it. But even with the bandages, I could see it was quality horse flesh. So I took it. I was given instructions to keep if fed on sugars and other sweet foods. I was also told to dye the foal grey for racing since no one races white horses.’
Agent T frowned. ‘How could you race him? He had no papers to prove his pedigree.’
‘That part was easy,’ Rip said. ‘All I had to do was find a registered grey horse that we could substitute for him. It took some time, but we found one that looked a lot like him with the same cowlicks and everything – he was called Tornado Warning. Then all I had to do was
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