by Joyce Lavene
“I work alone.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t.”
They stared at each other across the seat—Matthew serious and Bonnie irritated.
“Are you saying this because I’m a woman and you don’t think I can handle the job?”
“No, I’m saying this because I always worked with Harvey except the day he was killed. If you don’t believe me, check my pay vouchers. Harvey always wanted me there. It makes sense to have someone back you up.”
“I understand.” She nodded. “You feel guilty because Harvey was killed and then yesterday I was injured. But you weren’t responsible for either event. I don’t know if we can always work together.”
He frowned. “Why not? We work well together. Did you have a problem with me being there? I think I saved your life at least once.”
“I don’t think you did.” She sighed. “But we did work well together. I don’t know. I’m not used to having a partner. Let me think about it.”
Matthew crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t think too long, or you could lose me to another Federal Wildlife Agent. I’m in high demand, you know.”
She laughed at him. “Considering the next Federal Wildlife Agent is in another state, I’m not going to worry about it.” Her phone rang. It was D.W. Vance.
“Your doe is doing great. I’m keeping her today, but you can come get her tomorrow,” he said with no polite hello or how are you.
“Okay. Wouldn’t it be easier for you to just take her back and release her near the pepper factory?”
“I’m not driving all the way up there again. Come get her here, or she can wander off into Sevierville.”
The phone went dead, and Bonnie stared at it. “What a rude, obnoxious man.”
“Yeah,” Matthew agreed. “But he’s a good guy. Once you get to know him.”
She hoped that was true since she’d possibly be seeing a lot of him. “All right. I’m going to talk with Harvey’s widow again. I had an idea that came to me when I got in the Hummer this morning.” She briefly explained.
He touched the medallion that she’d left on the console. “You had a vision. I’m sure it’s meant to guide you to the truth since that’s what you were looking for.”
“After that I’ll take Oginali home. We’ll see after that what comes up.”
“Sounds good to me.” He fastened his seat belt. “Wait. What did you call him? Are you talking about your wolf?”
She thought about what she’d said. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what that means. Maybe I heard it somewhere. I don’t know why I said it.”
“It’s Cherokee for friend.” He laughed heartily and hugged her. “You really did have a vision that named your wolf for you. Wow. That’s exciting.”
“I didn’t have a vision. I’m sure I heard someone else say it, and it just sneaked into my conversation. I’ve never said Oginali before.”
This time when she said the word, the little wolf jumped from the back of the vehicle to the console between her and Matthew. He didn’t wag his tail like a dog but stared at her thoughtfully with great intensity in his eyes.
“You see? You called him.” Matthew stroked the wolf’s new fur. “Oginali. A good name for a companion.”
The wolf turned to him and growled low, showing his teeth.
“Okay.” Matthew took his hand away. “It’s okay, little buddy. I mean you no harm. I work with your companion.”
“Get in back,” Bonnie said to the wolf without really thinking about it. The wolf complied but sat on the seat behind her staring earnestly at her. “This is hard to take in. I don’t know what’s going on, but the wolf and the deer will be better off with their families—after we see Mrs. Shelton.”
“It’s wonderful,” Matthew exclaimed. “You truly are Unega Awinita.”
“If you keep calling me that, we’re definitely not working together.” She finished backing up and pulled out of the church parking lot.
“All right.” He grinned. “I’ll never call you that again. But it doesn’t change what you are. It’s an honor to work with you.”
Bonnie wasn’t happy with his response. But he was in the vehicle, and she was headed to a confrontation with a woman who may have killed her own husband. She needed to get her head in the game, and having Matthew there might prevent any further complications.
Mrs. Shelton answered the door with a smile that faded when she saw Bonnie and Matthew. “What do you want now? I don’t think you should be here.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Bonnie said. “But we have good news for you. I’m sure you’ll want to hear it.”
“Good news?” Mrs. Shelton was suspicious. “What kind of good news? Have you found Harvey’s killer?”
“Better news than that for you, ma’am. It’s about the ruby. May we come in? The wind is strong this morning.”
“Of course.” Mrs. Shelton had hesitated but finally opened the door wide. “Please hurry. My son and daughter are due back anytime. They wouldn’t like you being here.”
“It won’t take long.” Bonnie smiled to reassure her as she walked into the foyer.
Mrs. Shelton showed them to a small room with a fire burning in the hearth. Her eyes were alight with anticipation, and her lips trembled slightly. “What about the ruby? How big is it? Can I see it? I need to have it appraised.”
Bonnie sat down. Matthew stood quietly by the fire. Mrs. Shelton sat beside Bonnie and leaned toward her.
“I don’t have it with me, I’m afraid,” she told Mrs. Shelton. “But I’ve seen it. It’s very big. I’m not a jeweler, but I’m sure it’s worth a fortune, just like Harvey said. It’s in the custody lock-up with the police and will remain there until Harvey’s killer is caught.”
“What?” Mrs. Shelton was clearly shocked at knowing she still couldn’t have the stone. “But we’ll have nothing. Harvey’s retirement is gone. This house belongs to the Wildlife Agency. And the beach house people...” She put her head in her hands and sobbed.
A vehicle came to a screeching halt outside, and a car door slammed.
Mrs. Shelton wiped away her tears and sat up straight again. “My children—”
Before she could finish, the front door flew open, and Gerald erupted into the room. Bonnie had never seen him like this before. His clothes and hair were dirty, and he had several days of stubble on his face. But the biggest difference was in his eyes—they looked feral. He glared at both women but didn’t seem to see Matthew.
“Mother, what are doing talking to her?”
She stood up. “I told her to leave, that you’d be angry. She knows about the ruby. All about it. Do you know what this means?”
“What do you know?” Gerald demanded of Bonnie. His voice took on an edge of despair. “She gave it you, didn’t she, Mother?”
“No. No, I don’t have it.” Mrs. Shelton cried, putting up her hands as if to show him.
“Now, Mr. Shelton, if you’ll just calm—” Bonnie began in a soothing tone.
“The truth!” Gerald pulled a pistol from his jacket pocket, aiming at his mother. “My life depends on that stone!”
Through her tears, Mrs. Shelton whispered, “What is going on? No, I don’t have it.”
“Mr. Shelton.” Bonnie stepped very slowly closer to Gerald. Matthew was still near the fireplace, completely unmoving. But his body was tensed to take action, and he nodded almost imperceptibly in her peripheral vision. She knew he was ready. “Your mother doesn’t have the ruby.”
“Then where is it? I need it!” Gerald glanced at Bonnie then Matthew. He held the gun towards his mother’s head. Tears ran down his cheeks, but his hand was steady. “Tell me,” he hissed. “And don’t come near me. I’ll kill her.”
Bonnie had dealt with plenty of unreasonable people, but they were usually pointing their gun at an animal, not their own mother.
“Vince had it. I convinced him to turn it in to the cops,” she lied, taking another step toward the gunman. “It’s in the
evidence room right now.”
“Stand still!” Gerald yelled. “He didn’t have the ruby. He couldn’t have turned it in. He’s dead.”
“You can still stop this.” She spoke evenly, despite the lump in her throat. Only the officials knew about Vince’s death. She had to try to get him to give up the gun. “Why don’t you put that down? Then we can talk about this.”
“They are going to kill me if I don’t hand over that rock.” He shifted his aim toward Bonnie and cocked the gun. “You have to bring it to—”
The wolf pup howled in the doorway, loud and long. The sound reverberated through the small house. Bonnie didn’t have time to worry about how he’d gotten in here. She kept her gaze steady on the gun.
Gerald swung around, surprised, and fired toward the pup. “You should be dead! I already shot you!”
Matthew lunged at the crazed man, knocking him to the floor and pinning him down. The gun flew from Gerald’s hands, landing across the room, and Mrs. Shelton collapsed.
Bonnie was just a moment behind. She pulled out her rarely used handcuffs, which had gotten more use lately than she’d expected, and with Matthew’s help, secured Gerald. The man’s face was bloodied from the fall. He cried and still pleaded for the ruby. Mrs. Shelton sat silently, wringing her hands.
“You watch him while I make sure this gun is safe.” Bonnie was sure it was the same weapon that had killed Harvey, but it had to be handled carefully. She didn’t want to contaminate whatever fingerprints might be on it. The bullets would also have to be matched. She found a zipper bag in the kitchen to hold the pistol.
As a Federal Wildlife Agent, Bonnie had the authority to make arrests—but this was really a police case. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. She talked to the dispatcher, who transferred her to Chief Rogers and told him the details of what had just happened.
“Chief Rogers is on his way,” Bonnie informed Matthew. “I’m going to hold Gerald until they get here to go over the crime scene.”
Matthew nodded. “I’ll take Mrs. Shelton out to the Hummer so she doesn’t have to be in the house with him.”
He helped the woman up, and they walked carefully outside.
The wolf pup remained at her feet while they waited for the police to arrive and take custody of the scene. He occasionally growled and bared his teeth at the handcuffed man.
“See? Oginali is your protector,” Matthew said when he came back inside. “He was willing to take another bullet for you.”
“It is almost too much to be coincidence,” Bonnie conceded. “But I still think he’d have a better life with his mother and sibling. I have to try.”
He shook his head. “It won’t work, but I’ll show you where his mother is.”
“Tomorrow. We have plenty of paperwork to do this afternoon.” She sighed. “Thank you for your help. I’m glad you were here. Maybe having a partner that can save my life is a good plan.”
Matthew smiled. “It is the best plan.”
Chapter Twenty-three
It was a couple of days before Bonnie had the time to try taking the wolf pup back to his mother. She felt even more strongly that he deserved a chance to live like a real wolf in the wild. He had saved her life, she acknowledged. She wanted to do the same for him.
Matthew pulled his truck to a stop in the middle of an old, dirt logging road on one of the nearby mountains. The road was mostly mud from the recent snow that still clung to the pine trees.
“Oginali’s mother roamed a little further uphill, but I think she’s found a good den for the winter. I tracked her from where I left him the other day. It’s just off a deer trail nearby. I can show you.”
Bonnie was glad her new partner had been quiet on the drive up. She had been deep in thought about the wolf pup, the murders, and everything else since she’d come back to her hometown. “Thank you, but I think I need to do this by myself. I want him to stay here, and he’s more likely to follow if we’re both there. Just point me in the right direction.”
He nodded, solemnly. The little pup was in between them on the truck’s seat, panting lightly, and staring at her. “You have to do what you feel is right. That’s part of your connection to nature and to the animals.”
They got out of the truck, with the wolf pup following her. Matthew led her to a break in the thick forest on the passenger side, where a grassy glen opened. A small but deeply cut stream marked the change.
“Trace this creek until it levels out past the curve. One bank is steep. The other is lower. That’s where his mother is making her den. It’s not too far.” He looked uneasy about letting her go alone.
“I’ll be back soon,” she promised. “I don’t think there’s anyone in the woods waiting to kill me.” Matthew still seemed dubious. She turned to the wolf. “Come on. Follow me.”
The forested side of the creek was still dark with snow-covered evergreens. Rhododendrons held the bank in place and crowded the view. The dead, brown grass and remains of tall weeds made for easier passage. The air was cold and heavy with moisture, but there was no wind.
Bonnie and the pup walked alongside the creek, through the grass. The stream curved to the right, taking them beyond Matthew’s sight. Her feet were already cold, despite wearing the best boots she had for this kind of hike. She found the deer trail several yards later.
The constant trampling of hooves had created a narrow, well-worn path that crossed the stream. She turned onto the trail, the water just steps away. The creek was crusted with ice, almost completely frozen. It was wide enough to require a small leap to a steep bank leading to the heavier forest.
“Do you need help, Oginali?” she asked the wolf pup. He responded by jumping to the other side and scrambling up the bank. He looked back at her expectantly.
“I guess not,” she whispered but wasn’t sure if she was speaking to him or herself. She easily made her way across.
“So you like that name—Oginali?” She felt a little silly talking to the wolf as if he would reply. “And you want to be my companion?”
The wolf stopped in front of her. She nearly tripped. Oginali released a tiny, short howl that ended on a high note. He looked at her again.
The pair continued on the deer trail, as it hugged the stream. As the path moved away from the banks, the creek took a sharp turn, and the forested side dropped down to a sand bar that extended into the water. The wolf pup grumbled and ran down towards the ice, disappearing.
“Oginali!” Bonnie followed as quickly as she could.
The wolf stopped on the icy sand bar, near the water’s edge. He sniffed the air, yipped a little, and turned to Bonnie as she walked up.
“Do you smell your mother?” she asked. He yipped again, with a prance and a little howl.
“Good. Good boy!” Bonnie still felt conflicted. The little wolf had saved her life. The shaman had encouraged her to accept him and maybe had brought Oginali back to the farm. Matthew had made his thoughts perfectly clear on the matter.
“Now you need to find her,” she told him. “Stay with her and have your own life.”
The wolf looked down from her gaze, all the joy seeming to drain from him.
“Stay here,” she repeated. She turned around to start back to the truck. A gust of wind blew down the creek, causing the water to tinkle and chime against its icy rime. Oginali let out a whine, almost like a puppy. There was another, lighter gust of wind.
She turned around again, to chide him and make sure he wasn’t following her.
Oginali, the wolf pup, was gone.
Matthew smiled broadly as she reappeared from the woods. “I was worried you got lost,” he yelled as she approached. “The spot wasn’t that far away.”
She shook her head, her curly hair damp with mist and sweat. “No. It wasn’t too far. Your directions were good. And the pup caught his mother’s scent as we got near the sandy area in the creek bend.”
“I see he listened to you. But what took you so long?”
“I
was only out for twenty minutes. Twenty-five at most.”
“Closer to an hour.” Matthew smirked. “I was about to call in backup to search for you.”
Bonnie looked at her watch, astonished to see how long she had been gone. “Being out in an unfamiliar area can do that. But the pup stayed when I told him. He had already run off when I checked back to see if he was following me.”
She didn’t mention the odd feeling she’d had. How had she not noticed the time?
“That’s good.” He shook his head slightly and sighed. “Let’s get back to the valley. I need to get ready for the parade and meet up with Thomas and Peter.”
“Peter must be excited about the festivities today,” Bonnie said as she climbed into the old truck. “I remember how much I loved parades when I was his age.”
“You have no idea.” Matthew smiled again, taking his place behind the steering wheel. “I don’t know if he slept last night.”
They drove out of the woods, retracing their way down the muddy, old, logging road. They talked a bit more about the parade and their plans for Christmas day.
Bonnie shivered and rubbed her arms. The truck was warming up, but she was still chilly from her hike.
"I brought some peanut butter and banana sandwiches and hot tea for lunch." Matthew handed her a big travel mug. "My grandmother mixes the tea herself from roots and herbs."
She sipped it gingerly, enjoying the extra warmth, and grabbed a sandwich. Matthew pulled off the logging road onto a paved road, heading back to the farms.
“Gerald was arrested on multiple charges—reckless endangerment, threatening a federal agent, to name a few.” Bonnie said after a big bite of her sandwich. “He confessed to killing his father, and by way of that, hitting the wolf too. But Harvey had figured out something was up and swallowed the ruby at the last minute."
He nodded. “I heard the FBI is going to take him on federal charges too.”
“They are preparing charges, but they're going to wait until the local and state charges are prosecuted. There’s going to be conspiracy charges too.” She took a second bite.
