by Jeff Carson
Wolf nodded, sensing there was more to be said.
Jack looked at Drifter. The dog had taken up on the grass and was gnawing on the bone.
“I knew you’d be able to calm him down,” Jack said.
They stared at the animal for a few seconds.
“Your house looks as clean as the last time we left.”
Wolf nodded.
“And I saw that pile of glass on the side of the house.”
He nodded again.
“Looks like you’re doing well,” Jack said. “So, what happened yesterday? Margaret called me this morning. Well, she called me last night, but I never got the message until this morning. It freaked me out. She said you’d had some sort of heart episode and no one has any information other than that. She said you left the hospital or something.”
The sky was turning orange as the sun dipped behind the mountains. To the north, the storm was just a smear.
Jack’s hand squeezed Wolf’s shoulder.
“I’m fine now,” Wolf said.
“But … a heart attack?”
“No. It was just stress.” Wolf shrugged. “That’s why I was let out so early.” He started walking to the kitchen entrance. “Let’s get a drink.”
“Stress? What’s going on that’s so …” Jack stopped talking and followed.
They stepped up into the kitchen. Wolf turned on the lights and opened the refrigerator. “What do you want? I have”—he shut the door—“I have water, I guess.”
Jack stood with his arms at his side, searching his father’s face. “Stress?”
Wolf rolled his eyes. “I’ve been low on sleep lately. The job and everything. I’ve been working out a ton. It’s just too much for my body, apparently. You know, stress.”
Jack blinked and nodded, looking like he was pretending to like a meal he secretly hated.
“Anyway,” Wolf said. “What’s new with you?”
“Ah, nothing. Just, you know, hanging out. Working long hours at the pizza shop. Still doing that summer internship coming up in August.” Jack’s mouth opened to say some more. Then he closed it and nodded.
“What are you hiding from me?” Wolf asked.
“Nothing. Just … you know, stress.”
Wolf snorted. When the smile had faded from his lips he said, “Tell me. I can read you like a Where’s Waldo book.”
Jack frowned.
“You think I can’t see you’re lying to me?”
They stood in silence for a beat.
“I don’t know. I guess there’s some stuff happening with Cassidy.”
“Did you two break up?”
“No. Nothing like that.” Jack turned around and looked out the window. He sighed. “Do you think … shit, never mind.”
“Do I think what?”
“Do you think you could take Drifter?”
Wolf stood in stunned silence.
Jack turned around. “Never mind. Of course you can’t. You were just in the hospital because of stress. A hyped-up dog is the last thing you need right now.”
Wolf silently agreed. Wholeheartedly.
Jack’s eyes were tormented. He rubbed the side of his head.
“Why are you trying to get rid of the dog?” Wolf asked.
“Yeah, I know. It’s evil. But …” Jack was borderline hyperventilating.
“If you rub your hand through your hair like that enough, you might go bald.”
“It’s just … Cassidy and I are going through some stuff. And we can’t keep this dog. It’s impossible. The thing is untrainable. I’m at work all the time and it stays home and barks. Cassidy’s at work all day, too. The neighbors are complaining about him barking. The landlord is threatening us. And going forward …”
Wolf narrowed his eyes. “Going forward, what?”
“Cassidy’s pregnant.”
Wolf thought he saw a flash of lightning but realized it had been his eyelids fluttering.
“Really.”
“Yeah.” Jack walked past Wolf, then appeared again, turned around, and did another lap across the kitchen. “Like, confirmed pregnant. Like, I’ve seen the ultrasound, and it’s a boy, and she’s definitely going to have it, and we’re going to have it, and I’m definitely going to be a dad now … and …” Jack stopped and looked at him. “You’re smiling? Shit, I thought you were going to have another heart attack at this news. But you’re smiling.”
“Sorry.” Wolf straightened his mouth and watched his son do another anguished lap.
“So … Cassidy’s freaking out about the kid. I’m freaking out about the kid. And, meanwhile, we have this untrainable dog that’s all over the place. He chews up the furniture. He’s … he’s great. Please, don’t get me wrong. But he’s too much. We can’t handle all of this at once.”
A tear streamed down Jack’s cheek.
Wolf pulled him into a hug.
Jack tensed under his arms, then relaxed. When Wolf let go, Jack wiped his face. “Sorry.”
“For what?”
“For all of this.”
Wolf shook his head. “I don’t want you ever thinking you can’t come to me.”
“I know.”
“And I’ll take the dog.”
Jack’s eyes lifted. “No. Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out. We’ll figure it out.”
“I’ll take the dog.”
“You will?”
Wolf remembered the fur-scented breeze whipping past him a few minutes earlier. “Yeah. I will.”
“I mean, you don’t have Jet anymore, right? It’s perfect.”
“Yeah. Perfect.”
Jack’s face dropped. “You don’t want to. Of course you don’t want to.” Jack paced some more. “We can’t even teach him to sit. We can’t get him to shut up. And now I’m here asking you to take over. How are we going to be as parents? We’re going to be shit parents, I tell you that.”
Wolf grabbed Jack’s face with both hands. “Don’t say that. Don’t ever say that again. Ever in your life.”
“Okay.” Jack blinked. “Yeah.”
“You’re going to be great parents. You and Cassidy will be great.” Wolf let go and stepped back, feeling heat rise in his cheeks.
They stood in silence.
Jack cleared his throat. “The dog thing really makes us doubt, you know?”
“Taking care of a dog is different than taking care of a kid. You can’t put a kid in the back yard and go to work. Things will be different. They have to be. It’s apples and oranges. And you’ll have help. I’ll do what I can, and I’m sure Cassidy’s mom will do what she can.”
Jack nodded, and Wolf saw a touch of confidence straighten his posture.
“You can do this.”
Jack nodded again. “Thanks, Dad.”
Wolf wanted to ask about Cassidy, but hesitated. He needed to take lessons from Jack and Cassidy about relationships, not the other way around.
Jack backed toward the door and reached for the knob. “Listen, I gotta go.”
“Where are you going?”
“Gunnison.”
“It’s getting dark.”
“I have to see her. It can’t wait.”
Wolf nodded. “Drive safe. Watch out for wildlife.”
But Jack was out the door.
Wolf walked down the steps outside.
The sky was glowing like an electric oven.
Jack walked to Drifter and spoke a few words into his ear.
The dog’s tail wagged, but it otherwise ignored Jack as it chewed the bone.
Jack quick-stepped to the truck and opened the door. He stopped and looked over the roof. “Thanks, Dad.”
“You said that already.”
“I knew that if I just came and talked to you, I’d have the strength to get through this.” He ducked in, flicked on the lights, and started the engine. Then he drove down the driveway and out the headgate. And like a passing whirlwind, Jack was gone.
Wolf stared until the dust settled back to the gr
ound in the still air.
Drifter looked at him, head cocked, as if trying to comprehend what had just happened.
“Shit. I don’t have any food for you.”
He picked up his phone and called Jack, but it went straight to voicemail. The cell dead zone started yards past the headgate.
Drifter barked and stood.
He could pick up some chow in the morning, but until then, the dog would have to deal with hunger.
Wolf unclipped him from the chain. “If you run away, then have a good night in the woods with the bears. Cause I ain’t coming to get you.”
Drifter cocked his head again.
Wolf slapped his leg. “Let’s go.”
They went up the stairs into the kitchen. Drifter passed Wolf’s legs and darted to the far corner near the rear door.
The dog whined and wagged his tail. Against the wall stood a bag of puppy chow. Right where Jack had left it.
Chapter 20
Nate Watson’s house windows glowed in the pre-dawn hours. Secluded in the hills and far from other houses, Nate had little reason to worry about curtains or blinds.
Wolf pulled into the driveway. His friend had already seen him through the glass and was walking outside.
He stepped out of the SUV and heard two dogs barking in the back yard. To the side of the house, mist clung low to a meadow. Above it, the forest rose to a silhouetted mountain. The sky brightened, dotted with Venus and strafed with lenticular clouds glowing orange at the edges.
Wolf let Drifter out of the back seat and held the leash tight as he fetched the rest of the supplies from the floorboards and closed the door.
“What’s happening?” Nate said, descending the steps. He wore flannel pants, a fleece, and a Colorado Rockies hat to cover the growing bald spot on his head. Or to show his team pride. Wolf suspected it was fifty-fifty.
Wolf shut the door and clutched the hand of his lifelong friend.
“You ignored my calls yesterday. I had to call the department to get answers about you.”
“Yeah. Sorry about that. I got a lot of calls. I was … ignoring them.”
Nate looked at him long, then nodded. “I get it.”
Wolf and Nate had known each other since elementary school. They’d fought each other, and other kids together. And they’d grown up playing football together throughout high school.
As it had been in the army with other soldiers, Wolf and Nate fighting together on the gridiron had cemented their bond. Wolf had been quarterback. Nate had been his running back and last line of protection from a charging defense. And never once had he backed down.
Nate’s eldest son, Brian, had grown up with Jack, and they were still close. Nate owned a successful geological services company and spent a lot of time out of town. Aside from the occasional day fishing, the two men saw each other little nowadays, but their bond had stayed strong.
“Here’s Jack’s mutt, huh?” Nate bent down and scratched Drifter hard on the neck. “What’s up, Drifter? How are you, boy?”
Drifter whined and wagged his tail. His tongue licked out and his whole body shook.
“Easy,” Wolf said. “You’re going to give him an orgasm.”
Nate let go. “Thanks for that early-morning visual.”
Wolf handed over the leash. “I really appreciate this.”
“Yeah. No problem.” Nate shook his head. “So, you’re going to be a grandfather, huh?”
Wolf frowned. “How the hell did you know that?”
“Brian told me. He heard from Jack.”
Wolf watched him walk away with the dog. “I don’t feel so bad dropping this guy off anymore.”
“He’ll love it here with the two bruisers in the back yard.”
Barks echoed from the rear of the house, as if Nate’s two black Labs sensed fresh meat.
“Let’s get a coffee next week. I’m in town,” Nate said.
“Sure.”
Wolf opened his door.
“Hey, Dave.”
Wolf looked up and saw Brittnie, Nate’s wife, standing in a robe and sipping coffee.
“Or should I say Grandpa?”
“Hi, Britt. Thanks. Bye.” He shook his head and climbed in. With friends like these, who needed murders and suicides?
Twenty minutes later, he was back on the valley floor and heading for the north side of town on the highway.
The county building parking lot was full for 7 a.m. It seemed to contain most of the SBCSD fleet. Three news vans from Denver were lined up along the sidewalk, satellite booms extended. A reporter was talking into a lens with a bright light in her face. With Wolf’s arrival, she gestured in his direction.
He parked and got out, and heard the reporters coming his way before he saw them. They funneled through the cars with microphones extended, cameramen running behind them.
“Chief Detective Wolf, can we ask you a few questions about Warren Preston?”
Wolf plucked his bag from the rear seat and shut the door. For a moment, he had the vehicle between them and him. He opted to go to the front bumper and they moved to cut him off.
“Sorry, I can’t comment at this time. Sheriff MacLean will talk to you later.”
“Sir, is it true you had a panic attack on top of Huerfano Pass when you discovered Warren Preston’s body?”
Wolf’s insides lurched. He walked faster, ducking a shoulder to get through two cameramen.
A woman’s voice came fast behind him. “Our sources are saying you had a panic attack, and that you were armed at the time. Do the people of Rocky Points have reason to be concerned? Wouldn’t you be concerned if a civilian was armed during a panic attack?”
“It was a cardiac event,” Wolf said under his breath.
“What’s that, sir?”
“No comment.” He reached the rear doors ahead of the swarm and went through.
One of the reporters followed him in. “Sir.”
The second set of automatic doors opened, and Tammy Granger rushed toward them like a charging bear. “Get out of here!”
The reporter stopped and backed out.
Without breaking stride, Wolf went to the stairwell door and pushed it open. The door slammed shut behind him and he climbed. He stopped on the first landing and leaned against the wall.
His breaths came fast and shallow. He was close to hyperventilation.
“What the fuck?” he asked the empty stairwell.
He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath through his nose, then let it out his mouth. A few seconds later he was calm and collected, but still shaken. How had she known?
Wolf resisted screaming an obscenity and sucked in another couple of calming breaths. He’d battled dozens of Taliban after being ambushed in a box canyon. He’d raised a gun and shot down a boy who’d been about to blow up a crowd of people. He’d done that and then some. Why was this happening now?
He knew the answer. It was there, in his pocket, waiting on his phone.
The door above pushed open and someone started down the stairs.
Wolf pushed off the wall and walked up the steps.
“There you are.”
Wolf looked up at the top of the next landing and saw MacLean. “What’s up?”
MacLean waited for Wolf to get to his level.
Wolf passed him and continued upward.
“Wait a second.”
Wolf kept going. “What?”
“Would you slow down?”
Wolf pushed open the third-floor exit and headed down the hall to his office.
MacLean followed in silence, but Wolf sensed him on his heels as he ducked into the room and pulled the door closed.
“Ow, Jesus.” MacLean pushed inside and clicked the door shut.
Wolf sat down and tapped the mouse.
Without speaking, MacLean took the seat across the desk.
They sat in silence for a full minute. Then MacLean leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. “Did they ask you about the Pass?”
> Wolf said nothing.
MacLean scratched his forehead and petted his mustache. “I’m under a lot of pressure. Somehow word got out. Somebody from the Vail Medical Center or … I don’t know.”
Wolf turned toward his bookshelves and stared.
“I’m going to have to address this. Which means your name’s going to be thrown around. What happened is going to be public. I’m going to have to say I’m conducting an internal investigation.”
Wolf rolled his neck. Tension crackled under his skin.
“It’s not like you discharged your weapon into a crowd. We’ll say you’re undergoing therapy, which you are, and that will be that.”
Wolf closed his eyes. The world seemed to swirl on the other side of his lids. Or maybe it was him swirling. “And in the meantime? What happens? You want my badge and gun?”
MacLean’s silence was answer enough.
Wolf pulled his badge from his belt.
MacLean stood up. “No. I don’t. But I’m putting Patterson on case lead. Which means you do what she says, when she says.”
Wolf sat back.
“Situation meeting in twenty minutes.”
The sheriff walked out and shut the door.
Wolf stood, leaving his badge and gun on the desk, and faced the window. His reflection stared back at him, blocking the brightening view of the mountains outside.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The screen glowed to life, and he pressed the messages button.
The text from Lauren stared at him—urgent, needing.
He reached inside his pocket again and pulled out the business card. He dialed the number.
“Hello?”
“This is David Wolf.”
“Hello.”
“I need to speak to you.”
“I’m pretty booked this morning.”
“This early?”
“Oh. You mean now?”
“You told me I could call you anytime. Or was that just something you say to all your patients?”
“Clients.”
Wolf said nothing.
Hawkwood exhaled. “Sure. Come on over. I’ll be in the office a few minutes.”
“No can do.”
“No can do?”
“I have to work. I want to talk now. On the phone.”
Hawkwood exhaled again. “I have to pull over—just a second.”
