Breaking Free: A Colorado High Country Crossover Novel

by Pamela Clare

  Then he opened a side door that was closer to the front. “If we get cold and need to retreat to warm up, we can shelter in here.”

  Inside, it was like a small camper, complete with a stove, a bathroom, and sleeping space. Best of all, it was heated.

  Jason wouldn’t even ask how much that had cost.

  They met Deputy Marcs at the parking lot. This time, she had a rifle, in addition to her sidearm. “I heard about what happened last night. Let’s catch this bastard.”

  Nate backed the UTV out of the trailer, locked it up, and they piled on.

  It was a bumpy half-hour ride to the creek.

  Jason climbed out of the UTV and immediately saw what they were looking for—four-wheeler tracks with the flying chevron in the center. “He exited the road via the creek, heading straight up the creek bed. He’s on Forest Service land.”

  They waited a few minutes while Deputy Marcs called this information into the Forest Service to let them know what was happening, then left the UTV and hiked into the snowy forest. The tracks were obvious and easy to follow, the snow a perfect canvas.

  Jason stepped over the snow-covered trunk of a fallen pine, wind blowing snow from the branches high above them, cold flakes hitting his face. From somewhere overhead came the cry of a raven, the air fresh and crisp. “Look.”

  Just ahead, the tracks left the creek bed and headed up the mountainside.

  Instinctively, Jason stopped, looked uphill, trying to see through the trees. “I don’t like having the low ground.”

  Nate walked up beside him, rifle in hand, very much still the Marine. “I don’t like it either. Keep your heads on a swivel, folks. Situational awareness.”

  Then in the distance, Jason heard it—a low growl that turned into a howl.

  It could only be a wolf.

  Chapter 14

  Winona woke with a smile on her face and stretched. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this relaxed or contented, her body languid, her mind empty. She rolled onto her side, hugged Jason’s pillow, and inhaled his scent, memories from the night running through her mind—the heat in Jason’s touch, the erotic sound of his moans, the sensation of him moving inside her.

  Last night had been the best sex of her life.

  There hadn’t been any of the awkwardness she associated with the first time with a new partner—the uncertainty, the clumsiness, the nervousness. Something about Jason had put her at ease. Maybe it was his confidence. Or perhaps he was just so damned good in bed that she hadn’t had time to be nervous.

  She glanced at the clock on the nightstand, saw that it was already half past eight. She got up, took a quick shower, made the bed, and dressed. Then she opened her blinds and found herself staring at a landscape covered in white.

  It was breathtaking—high peaks glittering white, pines and firs with snow on their branches, a bright blue sky.

  Downstairs, she found Jack, Janet, Megan, and the children in the kitchen, the mingled scents of coffee, bacon, and buttermilk pancakes making her mouth water.

  Emily saw her first, her little face lighting up. “Winona! Guess what? I have a snow day.”

  Megan was trying to get a squirming Jackson into a high chair. “Good morning. I hope you slept well.”

  Heat rushed into Winona’s face. “Yes. Thank you.”

  “Come have a seat.” Janet cut up a pancake and gave her daughter a little fork—which went straight onto the floor. “Lily.”

  Jack poured Winona a cup of coffee. “We’ve got eggs, hash browns, bacon, and my homemade pancakes.”

  Winona sat. “That sounds delicious.”

  It was delicious, especially the pancakes. “If I stay here much longer, I’ll have to buy new jeans.”

  Jack chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  After breakfast, Winona followed Jack out to the barns, Emily skipping along beside her. “Have you heard anything from Nate?”

  Jack nodded. “They picked up the trail and followed it onto Forest Service land. That was about an hour ago.”

  An hour ago.

  They’ll be fine. They know what they’re doing.

  Jack opened the barn door. “Emily, why don’t you give Winona the grand tour?”

  Emily led Winona inside, the mingled scents of fresh hay, leather, and horse manure in the air.

  “Buckwheat is my horsy. Grandpa Jack and Daddy gave him to me, but you can ride him if you like.”

  “That’s very kind of you, Emily. Thank you.”

  Then Winona saw them—twelve beautiful palomino mares, their coats ranging from darker chocolate tones to golden to misty silver. “Oh, Jack, they’re beautiful.”

  She had always loved horses.

  Emily led Winona to the first stall. “These are our mares. Most of them are in foal. This is Baby Doe.”

  “Hello, Baby Doe.” She petted the horse’s muzzle. “Aren’t you sweet?”

  The mare whickered, nudged at Winona’s hand.

  “Sorry, I don’t have any—”

  Jack handed her a carrot.

  “Thanks.” Winona held out her hand with the carrot resting on her palm.

  Baby Doe picked it up with her lips and crunched contentedly, Winona’s gaze moving over her with a professional eye.

  “She’s healthy. Nice straight legs. She’s got flawless conformation and balance.”

  “You know horses.”

  Winona patted Baby Doe’s neck. “I know a little. I considered specializing in equine medicine but decided to focus on wildlife instead. What got you into breeding quarter horses?”

  “That was my father’s decision. My grandfather had put real effort into breeding his mares. They’re important to cattle ranchers. He sold some of the foals and made a name for himself. My father just took that a step further and invested in a few prize colts. I learned what I know from him.”

  Emily tugged on Winona’s coat sleeve. “Come meet Clara Brown.”

  Winona recognized some of the names as honoring important women in Colorado history. In addition to Baby Doe and Clara Brown, there were, among others, Molly Brown, Chipeta, and Isabella Bird. Winona gave each of them a carrot and then followed Emily to another part of the barn to meet Buckwheat and a few other geldings.

  Buckwheat was big for a quarter horse and very calm and gentle.

  Jack lifted the saddle onto Buckwheat’s back. “We use him for equine therapy. He’s a big, old softie, aren’t you, boy?”

  Winona walked with Emily as she led Buckwheat into an enormous riding barn and over to a mounting block. “He trusts you. I can see that.”

  “I love Buckwheat.”

  “I can see that, too.” Winona was eager to ride, but she could see how much Emily wanted to be in that saddle. “Can you show me how to ride?”

  “Sure!” Emily climbed into the saddle.

  Winona couldn’t help but smile at the child’s joy as she rode around the riding barn, the horse’s hooves churning up sand. “She rides well.”

  “Of course, she does.” Jack chuckled.

  A buzzing sound.

  He drew his smartphone out of his pocket, scrolled through a message. “It looks like Deputy Marcs, Nate, and Jason are closing in.”

  Jason stopped at Deputy Marcs’ signal, weapon in hand. The ground had leveled out, and there were clear signs that their poacher was living nearby—multiple four-wheeler tracks crisscrossing, trees marked with yellow tape, boot tracks with telltale circles in the center of the heel, trash, stumps of trees that had been cut down.

  Marcs spoke quietly. “I can see a large tent up ahead, and there’s the four-wheeler. We’ll hold here for now. I’m requesting backup.”

  She made the call, then turned to Jason and Nate. “Remember that the two of you are here in an advisory capacity. This is public land. Those firearms you’re carrying are for personal protection, not to go vigilante.”

  “Copy that.” The last thing Jason needed before his disciplinary hearing was some kind of
firearms charge in Colorado.

  Nate nodded. “I hear you Lima Charlie.”

  BAM!

  Bark sprayed like shrapnel from the pine next to Jason’s head, hitting his face.

  Shit.

  He dropped to the ground, crawled backward, taking shelter behind a boulder, Nate and Deputy Marcs doing the same.

  BAM!

  Deputy Marcs grabbed her handset, called it in. “Eight sixty-five, shots fired. I say again, shots fired.”

  She quickly gave dispatch the details.

  Jason was used to having a radio, so it was strange to be privy to only one side of the conversation.

  “They’re sending in everyone they’ve got, locking down all roads in this area, and updating the Forest Service guys, but it will take them at least an hour to reach us. We’ve been ordered to back off.”

  “Fuck.” Nate wasn’t happy. “We could fall back to the creek, take up defensive positions, and wait there.”

  That made sense to Jason. “If that’s how he’s getting in and out of his little camp, that might hold him in until backup arrives.”

  The decision ultimately rested with Deputy Marcs. “Let’s do it. Stay low.”

  An engine revved to life.

  “Shit.” Deputy Marcs looked carefully around the boulder. “He’s rabbiting, heading north on the four-wheeler. There’s a freaking wolf with him.”

  She called that in as well.

  Jason took the chance, broke cover, saw just the back of the four-wheeler and the wolf as the vehicle disappeared into the forest. “He’s going to be easy to track.”

  “Where does he think he’s going?” Nate looked perplexed. “There are only crags and cliffs in that direction.”

  Jason tried to put himself in the poacher’s shoes. “Maybe he’s hoping to outflank us or come up on us from behind. Or maybe he thinks he can find a way out.”

  “I’ve been ordered not to pursue, but no one said we couldn’t move into his camp.” Rifle raised, Deputy Marcs slowly got to her feet. “Chiago, have you seen any evidence that there’s more than this one bastard?”

  “No. Nothing.” He stood.

  Deputy Marcs looked at his face. “You’re bleeding.”

  Jason held a hand to his cheek, found deep scratches on his cheek and forehead. “It’s nothing—just some flying bits of tree bark.”

  He and Nate followed Deputy Marcs into the camp, the sound of the four-wheeler’s engine fading in the distance. But as they grew closer, they heard something else. Yapping. Whining. Whimpers.

  Deputy Marcs stopped. “Jesus fried chicken! I think I know why this son of a bitch was poaching beef.”

  There, locked in a large, covered dog kennel, was another wolf, but this one was a female. Close beside her were four good-sized pups.

  The mother growled and bared her teeth at them, her tail up, her pups alert and clearly unsure what to make of the intruders. There, in one corner, was a sizeable bone.

  Nate swore under his breath. “That’s a cow femur for sure.”

  Deputy Marcs called in to dispatch to let them know they would need a team of wildlife specialists. “Yes, I said ‘wolf.’ Five, actually—a mother and four pups.”

  Jason turned to Nate. “I’m going to look around.”

  Jason snapped a photo of the animals with his smartphone, thinking he’d show it to Winona when they got back to the ranch. Then he and Nate moved through the camp.

  Nate nudged open the large canvas tent with the barrel of his rifle. “He’s been here a while. He’s been cutting trees for firewood. He even built himself a floor out of split logs. Isn’t that cozy?”

  There was also a makeshift wood stove made from an old steel barrel, wood piled high beside it. The man’s sleeping bag was raised off the floor by a frame of rough-hewn timber. Beneath the bedframe were tools and cans of .30-06 ammo.

  Nate pointed at the ammo with his rifle. “There’s evidence.”

  On the bed was a stack of porn mags, one of them open.

  “Looks like we interrupted something.” Jason saw trap sets piled in the back and what looked like a bobcat fur stretched on a frame. “He’s been trapping, too.”

  “We’d better warn people. He might still have traplines out there.” Nate shared this information with Deputy Marcs, who relayed a warning to others via radio.

  Next to the tent was a large doghouse and, beside it, a heavy steel stake that had been driven deep into the ground. A thick steel chain was attached to the stake, the forest floor beneath it reduced to mud and covered with wolf tracks.

  “I bet this is where he kept the other wolf.”

  “I think you’re right.” Jason moved toward another structure and realized at a glance what this must be. “He’s been smoking your beef.”

  The suspect had built himself a small smokehouse using rough-cut lumber, river stones, and clay. There was no fire burning at the moment, but hanging inside were strips of smoked beef, ribs, and a couple of briskets.

  Nate took a strip of beef, sniffed it. “He’s resourceful. I’ll give him that.”

  Deputy Marcs trudged over to them, an exasperated look on her face. “Wildlife says they can’t get anyone up here today. Sheriff Pella is putting in a call to your father, Nate. He’s requesting Winona’s help.”

  Jason shook his head. “I don’t want her up here. We don’t know for certain that this son of a bitch won’t circle back or return with friends.”

  “I’m just telling you what Pella said.”

  “Damn it.” In the end, of course, it wasn’t Jason’s decision to make.

  It was up to Winona.

  And Jason knew what she would say.

  “Yes!” Winona dismounted and scratched Buckwheat’s withers. “Yes, I’ll help. I need to get to my clinic. I’ll need to tranq the mother, and I’ll have to get Shota’s kennel out of my garage and onto a truck. Tell them not to go near the female. A mama wolf with pups will be very protective.”

  Jack conveyed that information to Sheriff Pella, who would relay it via radio to Deputy Marcs. He ended the call. “Let’s get Buckwheat back in his stall, and I’ll drive you to Scarlet. The poacher took off on his four-wheeler and is now in the wind. Deputy Marcs was ordered not to pursue until backup arrived. Every on-duty law officer in the county is en route.”

  The poacher took off. He’s in the wind.

  Winona pushed aside her fear. The Wests and Sheriff Pella needed her help. That wolf mama and her pups needed her help. Besides, Jack would be with her. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

  While Jack made arrangements for some of his men to keep a close watch on the house, Winona changed into warmer clothes and put on her hiking boots, a million thoughts running through her head at once.

  Where had this poacher acquired two wolves? Had he been poaching steers to feed them? Were they healthy? Was the female wild, or had he hand-reared her as he’d obviously done with the male? How big were the pups?

  Not sure whether it would be convenient for them to return to the ranch, she packed her bags and Jason’s, loaded them into Jack’s truck, and sent him a text message to let him know she had his stuff. Then she made a quick call to Wind River Wolf Sanctuary. Heather, the woman who ran the shelter, had taken Shota. Maybe she could take these wolves as well. “Hey, Heather, it’s Winona Belcourt.”

  Winona explained the situation, including the fact that these wolves had been in the possession of a criminal. “I don’t know what kind of shape they’re in. If they need care, I can treat them at the clinic, but I can’t keep six wolves.”

  “Of course, I’ll take them. I’ll get a pen ready for mama and babies. If they find the male, I’ll put him next door.”

  Winona shared the news with Jack. “This is the same sanctuary that took Shota. Once we have them, they’ll send a truck.”

  “They sound like good people.”

  It took the better part of an hour to reach Scarlet. Winona entered the clinic through the back, leaving her bag and Jason
’s duffel in the hallway. She enlisted Jack’s help gathering everything she’d need—protective gloves; drugs; her tranquilizer gun and darts; bolt cutters in case the kennel was locked; and several hoods and pairs of restraints. Then she went to her garage to get Shota’s old crate, the sight of it bittersweet.

  Jack helped her lift the large steel crate into the back of his pickup. “You travel light. How the hell are we going to get this up to the camp?”

  That was a good question. That old mining road was steep and snowy.

  “We can’t. We need the Team.” She called dispatch, explained the situation, and asked them to tone out Megs and the crew.

  Jack glanced over at her, gave her an approving nod. “Good idea.”

  Then they were back on the highway.

  By the time they reached the parking area, Winona had it all figured out in her mind, and Nate and Jason were waiting for them with Jack’s UTV, several sheriff’s and Forest Service ranger vehicles parked nearby.

  Winona couldn’t help the way her pulse skipped when she saw Jason walking toward them. Last night, he’d been naked in her arms.

  She opened her door, hopped out. “Hey.”

  Then she saw the blood and lacerations on his cheek and forehead.

  “What happened?”

  He touched his fingertips to one of the lacerations. “Tree bark.”

  She moved his hand away. “Those are deep. I should treat them.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’m the doctor here. I’ll worry if I want to.” She grabbed her medical kit from the back of Jack’s cab, then walked to the rear of the pickup and lowered the tailgate. “Sit.”

  Jack chuckled. “It sounds like you’ve been given an order, son.”

  “Right.” Jason sat.

  While she tended Jason’s wounds, cleaning away the blood and disinfecting them, she went over her plan. “We leave the crate here and head up with my gear and the tranq gun. I tranq the mama wolf and put her in restraints. Then we get her onto a gurney, and the Team trails her out to this parking lot. We load her and the pups and drive them to my clinic. I can do a health assessment on them, and Heather from the wolf sanctuary can pick them up there.”