Finding Answers

by Kathi Daley

  “I’m not going anywhere until I make sure the moose is okay. He’s just a baby. He’ll never survive on his own.”

  “I can’t see that it really matters. There isn’t going to be anyone to take care of him if you’re dead. Now move.”

  I could see Kodi and Juno out of the corner of my eye. After they’d run from the fire, they’d headed into the woods. They must have circled back. I wasn’t sure what they were going to do, but they were old dogs and I certainly didn’t want them getting shot trying to protect me. I was about to call them off when Kodi lunged forward. I didn’t have time to think, but my instinct was to whirl around and go for his gun during that split second when Ragland had turned to look at Kodi, taking his attention off me. I threw my weight against the man, who had obviously been caught off guard, sending both of us to the ground. He outweighed me by more than double, so it didn’t take him long to pin me beneath himself. I was about to take a bite out of his shoulder when I heard him yell and roll away from me. Somehow, the dogs who had been left indoors had gotten out, and Denali had his neck clenched in his jaws.

  I rolled over, grabbed Ragland’s gun, and then screamed for Denali to stand down. By this point all seven dogs had encircled the murderer. Teeth bared and growls vibrated on the waves of the silent night, although I noticed the other dogs gave Denali, who was most definitely in charge, plenty of space.

  “Detain,” I said as loudly and as calmly as I could. I didn’t want Denali to back away completely, but I didn’t want him to kill Ragland either.

  “Get this dog off me,” he screamed as Denali loosened his grip on the man’s neck but didn’t move from his position atop him.

  “Shut up or I’ll let him finish the job he started.”

  He visibly surrendered as Denali inched his huge fangs closer to his neck again.

  I didn’t have my phone with me, but I needed to call Houston. I didn’t want to take my attention off Ragland even for a minute, and there was no way Denali was going to let him get to his feet even if I told him to back off completely. I wasn’t sure what to do next. I was on the verge of taking a risk and leaving Denali to guard him while I went for the phone when I heard sirens.

  Thank God.

  The next couple of hours were a blur. One of my neighbors had seen the smoke and called in the fire. Houston appeared to take custody of Ragland, while the volunteer fire department took care of the barn. I closed all the dogs into the bedroom because the back door of the cabin was in shreds; that was how Denali and the others had gotten out. I moved Homer closer to the cabin, then went into the woods to find the baby moose. I just hoped Ragland hadn’t cost him his life. I had no idea where the rabbits were, but I’d try to track them down once calm had been restored to my little corner of the world.

  “Hey, Rocky, are you out here, little guy?” I was under no illusion that calling the calf would do a bit of good, but it made me feel a bit more in control.

  “Harmony?” I head Jake calling my name.

  “Over here,” I called back.

  Jake came crashing through the brush and wrapped me in a hard hug. “Thank God you’re okay. I was terrified when I heard about the fire.”

  Tears I had been holding at bay began to stream down my cheeks. “The barn is a total loss, the rabbits are gone, and I can’t find my moose.”

  Jake hugged me hard one more time, then took a step back. “I’ll help you look for the moose, we’ll find the rabbits tomorrow, and I’ll make sure the barn is rebuilt just as soon as we can get the materials and the help here to see to it. Where have you already looked for the moose?”

  “Just between here and the house.”

  “Okay.” Jake took my hand. “Let’s head deeper into the trees. That’s where I’d go if I were a baby moose trying to escape a fire.”

  Chapter 11

  Sunday, July 1

  It was just over a week since the fire and with a grateful heart I hosted a party to thank the dozens of volunteers who’d helped to rebuild my barn. Not only was the new barn bigger and better than the old one, but Jake had ordered a special feeding system from a large dairy that regularly bottle-fed their calves. Rocky was doing well on a diet of local vegetation Kelly had weaned him on to, but Jake figured as long as we were rebuilding the barn, we may as well build in the feeding system, which could be used to nurse any new roommates Homer and Rocky might have in the future.

  It had been a difficult week for sure, but as promised on the night of the fire, Jake had helped me find Rocky, who was terrified but otherwise unharmed. And the following day, after things had calmed down a bit, he’d helped me track down the rabbits too. When I’d first adopted them, they’d been hurt and in need of medical care. Although they were perfectly healthy now and might very well be fine in the wild, they’d been in captivity for so long, I wasn’t certain they’d have the instincts necessary to protect themselves.

  Denali had been on edge since the night he’d taken down Ragland, but the other dogs were acting as if nothing intense had ever happened. Kodi and Juno had been forced to sleep in the house while the barn was being rebuilt, but I had a feeling that once it was ready to move in to, they’d be just as happy to bunk with Homer again.

  Ragland had been arrested and transferred to Anchorage. I knew a trial was quite a ways off, given the complexities of the situation, but in the meantime he was in jail and unlikely to see freedom in his lifetime. I was sorry someone hadn’t been on to him sooner, before he killed Pastor Brown and Diane and left Silvia injured. But part of doing what the team and I do means having to live with the fact that, as much as we wish it were otherwise, we can’t save everyone.

  “I have to hand it to you: The residents of Rescue really know how to get something done,” Houston said when he came into the kitchen, where I was putting the finishing touches on the potato salad I was serving with the chicken and ribs the guys were grilling.

  “Rescue might be a small town, but it’s a small town with heart. We’re like a big family. If one member has a need, everyone pitches in to make sure it’s met. Can you grab that pan of baked beans, please?”

  Houston picked up the beans and followed me to the table where I’d been setting out food for the past half hour. “You make a good point about the willingness of a lot of folks who live in small towns to pitch in and help their neighbors, but if you’d told me a few days ago that you’d have a functioning barn by the end of the week, I would have thought you were crazy.”

  “Building a barn may be a big job for one or two people, but when fifty friends and neighbors show up to help, the job becomes a whole lot smaller. If you don’t mind following me back to the kitchen to get the slaw, I’ll grab the bread, and I think we’ll be ready for the meat. By the way, how are things working out with Kojak?”

  “Better than I could ever have hoped. Sure, he’s pretty much convinced he’s the king of my house and I’m his loyal servant, but he’s a well-behaved dog with a gentle disposition and I’m thoroughly enjoying his company. I’m not sure he’ll ever be a real police dog—he doesn’t seem to have that killer instinct—but I’ve been taking him to work with me, and he’s very willing to do what I say and stay out of the way. Everyone loves him. In fact, we have folks stopping by the station every day to bring him a toy or a treat. I think having him ride along with me is good for morale.”

  I smiled as I opened the oven and slid out the bread. “I’m really glad things worked out. Having a dog really is the answer to a lot of life’s little problems.”

  “I suppose when you have a wolf hybrid who doesn’t hesitate to take down a man with a gun to save your life, that’s really true. If there was ever a dog perfect for police work, it would be Denali.”

  “Not necessarily,” I said as I began to slice the bread. “Denali is very brave and strong and protective, but he’s also very alpha. You need a dog who’ll listen to you and do as you say, no matter what. Your life as well as his could depend on it.”

  “Yeah. I guess I c
an see that. I’m going to take this slaw out and check on the dogs. The last time I saw Kojak, he was playing with your dogs, but I want to be sure he hasn’t wandered off.”

  After Houston left to check on the dogs, I placed the bread in a basket, then opened the refrigerator to look for the fruit salad I’d forgotten to set out. I grabbed the bowl and was turning around when someone walked up behind me. I guess I must still have been skittish from my encounter with Ragland because I let out a little scream and dropped the bowl.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Harley?” I put a hand over my pounding heart.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you. Here, let me help you with that.” Harley grabbed some paper towels and began cleaning up the fruit that had landed on the floor.

  “It’s okay.” I bent down next to him, our hands brushing as we both scooped up fruit. “I’m really glad to see you. I guess I’m just a bit skittish after everything that has happened the past couple of weeks.”

  “That’s totally understandable. I should have realized and made a point to make more noise when I came in.”

  I dumped the fruit we’d scooped up into the sink and went for the mop. “It wasn’t you. Really. It’s me. I thought you couldn’t come for at least another week.”

  “I thought so too,” he said as he took the mop from my hands and took over cleaning the floor. “I just woke up yesterday morning and realized I couldn’t deal with LA one more day. I booked an overnight flight and here I am.”

  “To stay?” I asked as I washed my hands, then wiped down the counter.

  “For a while. I’m anxious to see how things are going at the shelter, but I’m even more anxious to hear what’s been going on here. I’ve picked up little snippets here and there, but I’d love to get the whole story from you.”

  “And I’d like to tell you. After I feed the fifty or so people who have given up their weekend to build me a barn. If you want to grab a bite with us, I can fill you in while we do the dishes.”

  A thoughtful expression crossed Harley’s face. “Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve washed a sinkful of dishes?”

  “Was it presumptuous of me to suggest you might want to?”

  Harley smiled. He set the mop aside and took my hand in his. Then he paused and looked me directly in the eye. “There’s nothing in the world I’d enjoy more than washing dishes with the stunningly beautiful woman I can’t stop thinking about and I find to be more and more amazing every time I speak to her.”

  Now that, I decided, was how you deliver a closing line.

  Up Next from Kathi Daley Books

  https://amzn.to/2ILtdxd

  Chapter 1

  Thursday, July 5

  “Elvis is dead.”

  I raised a brow and took a moment to consider whether my husband, Zak Zimmerman’s honorary grandmother, Nona might have been hitting the bottle earlier than usual today. “Yes, I know. He’s actually been dead for quite some time.”

  “Not that Elvis.” Nona groaned in frustration. “A different Elvis. My Elvis didn’t die on the bathroom floor, but on the bed I’d shared with him after I realized I’d had a bit too much of the juice to safely drive the bike back to your place.”

  By bike, I knew Nona meant her pink Harley, which she tended to drive like a woman with a death wish, and by juice, I knew she meant the whiskey she seemed to consider a food group. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to know the details at this point, but Nona was Zak’s grandmother, and she appeared to be honestly rattled, so I took a deep breath and jumped in. “Maybe you should sit down and tell me everything. Start at the beginning.”

  Nona looked around the reception area of Zoe’s Zoe, the wild and domestic rescue and rehabilitation center I own and help operate with my manager, Jeremy Fisher, who was out on paternity leave. “Sit where?”

  “Charlie will show you to my office while I let Aspen know what we’re doing.”

  Charlie was my Tibetan terrier. He came to the Zoo with me pretty much every time I was in, so when I told him to take Nona to the office, he knew just where to go. Once Nona and Charlie had gone down the hallway, I started back to the wild animal wing where my newest employee, Aspen Wood, was cleaning the large pen where we kept the orphaned and injured bear cubs we were rehabilitating.

  “Did I hear Nona’s bike roll up?” Aspen asked.

  “You did. She seems to have a problem she needs to discuss, so we’ll be in my office. I’ll leave a note telling anyone who comes in to ring the bell. I shouldn’t have a problem hearing it and responding, but you might want to keep an ear out as well.”

  “No problem. In fact, once I’m finished here, I’ll head up to the front and work on the flyers for the adoption clinic next month.”

  “Thanks, Aspen. You’ve been a real trooper, making sure everything is covered while both Jeremy and Tiffany are off for an extended period.”

  Aspen smiled. “It’s not a problem, really. I love working here. Most of the time, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

  I’d been very lucky to run into Aspen when I did. I’d first met her a couple of years ago, during an investigation regarding the death of a kitten mill owner. Aspen was an extremely vocal local activist who’d had run-ins with the deceased on more than one occasion, making her one of the top suspects in the woman’s murder. While things had worked out in the end, I’d spent quite a lot of time looking into Aspen’s activities as well as her past. What I’d found was a gentle soul who really cared about the animals she championed.

  Once I left the note, I headed to my office, where Nona was chatting with Charlie. Sweet thing that he is, Charlie appeared to be listening to Nona’s tale of too much whiskey, too much fun, and a dead Elvis she had no idea how to deal with.

  “Okay, I should be able to give you my full attention now.” I took the chair behind my desk. “I need you to tell me what happened from the time you left the group last evening until now.”

  Nona nodded. “Okay. I’ll tell you what I can. I should warn you, though, that things are pretty blurry after a certain point.”

  “Just do the best you can.”

  Nona lifted her head of white hair and looked me in the eye before she began. “As you know, I attended the annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration with you and the family last night. Afterward, you all decided to go home to put the kids to bed, but I was feeling pretty wound up after the festivities, so I decided to head over to my favorite bar for a drink or two. It was at the bar that I met Elvis.”

  I held up my hand. “Let me stop you right there. Was this guy named Elvis or did he look like Elvis?”

  “I have no idea what the guy’s real name was or what he looked like when he wasn’t in costume. He was in town with eleven other Elvis impersonators for the contest Dirk Pendleton is running.”

  I seemed to remember something about Hollywood heartthrob and part-time Ashton Falls resident Dirk Pendleton opening a casino in Reno. I was pretty sure he planned to have a Fifties and Sixties theme and name the place Shake, Rattle, and Roll. I’d also heard he was lining up impersonators of all the greats of the eras, including Elvis Presley. He’d been holding competitions around the country to choose these impersonators as a publicity stunt. “Let me guess. Dirk Pendleton is holding his competition for the official Elvis impersonator for Shake Rattle and Roll here in Ashton Falls.”

  Nona nodded, confirming what I should already have known. Usually I was in the middle of whatever was going on in town, but I’d been so busy lately, I hadn’t been paying a lot of attention to the local news.

  “Why our little town? The competitions for the other impersonators have been held in large metropolitan areas.”

  “I don’t know for certain, but maybe he wanted to hold at least one of the competitions in his sometimes hometown. Do you really think this line of questioning is important? I did just tell you the man I spent the night with was deader than a doornail when I woke up this morning. Seems to me that would be the talking point w
e’d want to pursue.”

  Nona had a point. “Of course. Go on with your story.”

  “So anyway, I went to my usual bar and was drinking my usual whiskey when this bunch of men all dressed exactly like Elvis walked in. I didn’t pay them much attention at first, but then one of them, dressed in a blue sequined outfit, came over to the bar where I was sitting and asked if he could buy me a drink. Never one to turn down a free drink, I agreed. At first, I found the costume ridiculous, but the longer I talked with the guy, the easier it was for me to let my imagination take over. At some point I let myself believe it was the real Elvis, and when he suggested we move to a table where we could get to know each other, I agreed. I excused myself to use the ladies’ room shortly after we moved to a table. When I came out my Elvis was chatting with another Elvis, who happened to be wearing white leather from head to foot. The man in white, who I learned was dumber than a chicken without a head and was referred to as Elvis #7, invited my Elvis, who was Elvis #3, to a party on the beach. I was really in to the whole vibe of the evening, so I agreed to go.”

  I waited as Nona paused before continuing. It amazed me that she had so much energy for a woman of her age. Heck, she could outparty a woman of any age. It had been a long time since I’d pulled an all-nighter.

  “Anyway,” Nona went on, “we all headed down to the beach. One of the Elvises, I think Elvis #11, had a keg, and another had a cooler of rum punch. A couple of the guys had brought illegal fireworks and were shooting them off over the water. There was a huge bonfire going on, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. At least until my Elvis, Elvis #3, tried to set off some sort of rocket-looking thing, got lined up wrong, and ended up shooting directly toward one of the other Elvises. This, of course, started a war of sorts, in which the Elvises divided into two teams and began shooting these rockets at one another.” Nona chuckled. “With all those wigs and all those fancy duds to catch fire, it was a tragedy waiting to happen.”