You Had Me at Wolf

by Terry Spear

  “Larry, you really need to go to the clinic.” Nicole sat down on her made-up bed, the patchwork quilt featuring a block each of moose, bears, and wolves, surrounded by green and black plaid squares. She loved the lodge. It made her feel as though she was in a cabin in the woods. She pulled off her snow boots and slipped into her ski boots.

  Photographic prints on the wall featured wolves running in a pack on the snowy slopes. She wondered if they were lupus garous or real wolves. The slopes looked like the ones the ski lodge was connected to. She noticed the signature of the photographer was Jake Silver and thought of the name of the town: Silver Town. Was he related to its founders? She’d initially thought it was called Silver Town because of the nearby silver mine that was now closed.

  “Every time I go skiing at a higher elevation, I have this condition,” Larry finally said. “This is all I do. Just rest. It’s always worked for me before when I went skiing.”

  Nicole finished buckling her boots. “So you’ve said.” But she wondered if he’d felt this bad before.

  Larry worked for another private investigator firm, while Nicole had her own agency. They had been hired by the same insurance company to learn if a policyholder had faked his own death so that his beneficiary would receive the five-million-dollar payout. What she couldn’t fathom was how people could get such high-dollar life insurance policies when they didn’t earn that much normally on the job. And wouldn’t you know, Oscar Kovac was the policyholder—the former army MP who had tried to steal from Lieutenant Roxie Wolff. Nicole had jumped on the case, wanting to prove he was alive and a fraud in the worst way since she hadn’t been able to prove he’d tried to commit armed robbery against Roxie.

  He had left the service two years after Roxie did. Through Nicole’s sleuthing, she discovered he was now going by the name Rhys, a Welsh variant of the name Reese, pronounced the same way.

  She tucked her ski goggles into her jacket pocket so she could wear them while she was outside watching for Rhys and his partner in crime, his cousin, William Kovac.

  “What had you been working on before you were assigned to this case?” her partner asked.

  “I’d been working on a case involving a burned-down steak restaurant that appeared highly suspicious. I found accelerant on the kitchen floor, the place was closed for business, and the wife had just received it in a divorce settlement. The whole situation screamed arson. I was eager to finish the case and prove the wife guilty. It appeared she had wanted some quick cash and didn’t want the headache of running the business or trying to sell it in that small town, which could have been impossible.” Nicole shrugged. “I had all the evidence that supported arson, but then the insurance company asked me to take this new case right away because of my military and investigative background. Somebody else took over my findings on the arson case.”

  “Bummer. I don’t think I would have given up the other job.”

  “The insurance company did pay me for most of the work. This one pays even more because if Rhys and his cousin got away with this, it would mean even more of a payout to the cousin.”

  “Thankfully, I was between jobs. You be careful. They wouldn’t have hired us to work together if the last PI the insurance company hired to search for Rhys hadn’t vanished without a trace.”

  “That’s what I was told.” Nicole was glad that the company hadn’t tried to hide the truth from them. Because the police couldn’t find any sign of foul play in the private investigator’s disappearance and he was known to go off the grid on cases, the police hadn’t delved into his disappearance any further.

  Even the guy’s girlfriend was unconcerned about him disappearing, saying he did it all the time. Nicole would have worried the guy was seeing some other woman!

  But this time, the company had hired Nicole and a male PI she didn’t know so they could pretend to be a couple while keeping the suspects under surveillance. Safety in numbers. Except now her “marriage partner” wasn’t going to be any help at all. Not in his condition. She felt bad for him and worried too. As much as she wanted to prove that Rhys was the policyholder and very much alive, she couldn’t risk Larry’s life if he insisted on doing the job but was too sick to do it.

  “I can run you down to the clinic in Silver Town. It won’t take any time at all, and they’ll make sure you’re fine.” Nicole’s wolf genetics meant she could heal faster, and she never had high-altitude sickness. Though she was from Denver, and Larry was from Kansas City, so the elevation, and the fact he was human, worked against him.

  “I’ll be okay. Really. Go look for Rhys and his cousin, and I’ll join you after I get a bit of rest. Just…don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

  Since the insurance company had been concerned about the missing insurance investigator, they had hired PIs who both had a military background: Larry, a former sniper in the army, and Nicole, who was trained in combat and police techniques. As an agent with the CID, she had supervised or conducted investigations into felony-level crimes against army personnel and property, drug sales and use, rape, robberies, and all kinds of other crime. She’d even had to look into a case of treason, the selling of classified documents to the highest bidder.

  She hadn’t ever had a case of terrorism, but it had always been a possibility. She’d had one case of a faked death, a soldier not wanting to be in the army any longer, which was another reason she had been asked to work on this case. She’d found him hanging out with his girlfriend in another state. And she’d solved three civilian cases where the dead person turned out to be very much alive but involved in life insurance payout schemes.

  “All right. I’ll check on you in a bit. Call me if you start feeling worse. I mean it.”

  He smiled a little at her. “I will.”

  She didn’t trust that he would. She knew he didn’t want her to have to go after Rhys and William on her own. And he really did want to work with her on the case. “Okay, I’ll check on you after a while.” Then she texted her mom. Her mom and dad had a stationery store and gift shop in Denver. She always let them know where she was on a mission so they wouldn’t worry.

  She texted: I’m at the ski lodge at the Silver Town Ski Resort. I’ll let you know if anything interesting happens. Love you.

  Mom: You’re okay staying with a human male in the same room?

  Nicole: We tried to get a suite, but they didn’t have any available. And if we’re pretending to be a couple and watching each other’s backs, we need to stay together.

  Mom: All right. But if he gets fresh, you can handle him?

  Nicole smiled and texted: Yes, Mom. You know how growly I can be. Talk later. Got to catch up with the suspects.

  Mom: Be careful.

  Nicole left the room and headed down to the lobby. She was grateful she had this case so she had the chance to track down Rhys and finally have him arrested, once she had proof he was the man she knew he was.

  But she had another concern. She needed to report to the insurance agency that Larry was sick. She always went by the rule book, so no getting paid for work when the work wasn’t being done. The insurance company might want to hire another private investigator to work in Larry’s place. She didn’t want to do that to Larry, but she couldn’t let on that she had a working partner when she didn’t. Still, she’d give him another day before she called it in, just to see if he’d recover on his own like he thought he would.

  She made her way to the lobby and then outside to see if she could find Rhys or his cousin hanging around the outdoor restaurant or in the snow, trekking toward the ski lifts.

  * * *

  Co-owner of the Wolff Timberline Ski Lodge, Blake Wolff had to hurry to get Rosco ready for his canine avalanche training. He entered the lodge and saw his older quadruplet brother, Landon, feeding the dog.

  “Hey,” Landon said, grinning at Blake. “Hell, if I’d known all the trouble you would have with
the snowblower, I would have come out and helped you.”

  “You watched.”

  “Of course. You were really entertaining this morning.”

  “I hadn’t dreamed I’d have that much trouble with it.”

  Landon laughed. “You won’t be so eager to volunteer when our hired help calls in sick again. I told you it wasn’t a piece of cake.”

  “Next time, I’ll be a pro.” Luckily, no one else had seemed to notice, except for one pretty skier in pink and white, who’d made him smile when he’d heard her laughing when he fell on his ass.

  He’d had a rough morning of it when the family Saint Bernard, Rosco, had shot off after a rabbit on a walk. Blake had barely been able to stay on his feet on the icy snow while trying to get the dog under control. He swore Rosco had pulled him for half a mile before finally giving up on the chase and doing his business. Rosco was usually well behaved and mild-mannered, until it came to rabbits and squirrels on a walk. The dog had never caught up with one, and Blake wondered what would happen if he ever did.

  “Hey, Rosco, are you ready to train to locate avalanche victims?” Blake asked, petting the dog’s head.

  The Saint Bernard stood and wagged his tail.

  “Okay then. When I return, we can take turns skiing?” Blake asked Landon.

  “Yeah, you can go first.”

  “See you in a bit.” Blake grabbed the equipment he’d need, then took Rosco out to where several volunteers were being buried in ice caves just out of sight so the avalanche rescue dogs could practice searching and finding them once they were given the signal.

  The avalanche “victims” were wrapped in thermal blankets and had hooded, insulated cloaks. Thermal-insulated pads were used to line the snow inside the ice caves, which were dug large enough to give the volunteers plenty of air while the dogs searched for them.

  Rosco had to take training every year, and this was a perfect situation where he could work with lupus garous. The Saint Bernard had saved two men’s lives after an avalanche at the family’s ski resort in Killington, Vermont, so the family was proud of their dog.

  “Hey, Blake,” Jake Silver said, coming over to shake his hand. He was one of the subleaders of the Silver Town wolf pack and glad they had another rescue dog in the pack. “Is Rosco ready?”

  “Hopefully. This will be the first time he’ll be looking for our kind buried alive.”

  “He’ll do great.”

  “Thanks, Jake.”

  The dogs and their handlers were kept away from the victims’ positions so they wouldn’t see where the men were being buried. In only thirty minutes, a rescue dog could search two and a half acres of avalanche terrain, unlike humans who would take four hours to cover the same area. Of course, as lupus garous, the wolves also had the advantage of being able to smell the scent of humans up to fourteen feet underground.

  Then the alert whistle called for the dogs’ searches to begin.

  And the hunt was on. Ten dogs ranging from German shepherds to Labradors and golden retrievers, plus one Saint Bernard, raced off to search for the buried victims. All their handlers ran after them with shovels, probes, and first aid kits.

  * * *

  Nicole was watching her suspects coming off the slope when they turned in the direction of the avalanche dog training. Her suspects and several other skiers had started to watch the trials so Nicole did too. Observing the rescue dogs in motion was fascinating. They ran one way, then another, noses to the ground, and were as excited to find their victims as she was watching them. Then she saw Rosco and his handler, and she smiled. Now she had a handler/dog team she really wanted to cheer on. Not that she didn’t want the other dogs to find victims. That was the whole point, and everyone wanted them to work as quickly as they could. But she already had a soft spot for the wolf and his dog. After the business with him trying to get the dog under control on his walk, she really hoped they’d come out on top.

  One of the German shepherds had already found a victim and was digging at the snow like crazy, his handler and rescuers ready with shovels to help dig out the volunteer. Rosco was still turning one way and then another, stopping, smelling, wagging his tail like crazy. And then Rosco barked and began digging at another location, snow flying.

  Adrenaline was flowing through Nicole’s blood, and she hoped Rosco had found his victim. Considering how many people were gathered around him as he started to dig, she figured he had succeeded.

  The handler was encouraging Rosco, and then the dog was deep in the hole with only his backside hanging out, his tail wagging. The handler pulled the volunteer out of the ice cave, and the victim gave Rosco a treat as part of the game. It was a way of reinforcing the behavior of finding people or objects.

  The wolf made sure the victim didn’t have any ill effects from being in the ice cave, then slapped the victim on the back and turned his attention to the other handlers’ dogs that also had found victims. The one that had found the first victim was already done. It had taken fifteen minutes for Rosco to find and dig out the victim.

  He had done a good job. New dogs could be confused by the scents of all the different people who had passed through the area. When all the victims were rescued and checked over, the handlers and dogs took off for their vehicles, all except Rosco and his handler. He gave Rosco a treat and praised him generously. The dog adored him. Suddenly, as if the wolf knew somebody was observing him, he glanced in her direction and looked surprised to see her watching him. He smiled a cocky little smile and winked.

  Nicole felt her whole body flush with heat, which never happened. Of course, she didn’t often ogle guys, especially ones who were wolves, and get caught at it.

  He led the dog on a leash to the lodge, and Nicole switched her focus to her suspects.

  Then she saw Rhys and his cousin headed in her direction, returning to the ski lodge. They were smiling, talking to each other. Before they noticed her, she walked in ahead of them, thinking that this would be a really good time to have her partner to hug. She began looking for a male who appeared to have no female companion at the moment and that she could turn into her boyfriend for just a few minutes as her cover. Of course, it could all backfire if the man made a scene and the cousins witnessed it.

  Then she saw the cute guy who had been trying to get the Saint Bernard and the snowblower under control. If anyone deserved a hug, it was him. As long as the wolf didn’t have a mate or girlfriend and ruin her Good Samaritan deed. Besides, it was his fault he’d winked at her after the dog avalanche training.

  * * *

  “How’d Rosco do?” Landon asked Blake. “I wanted to come out and watch, but I got stuck on guest issues.”

  “Nothing bad, I hope.” Blake unhooked Rosco’s leash.

  “No, typical stuff. Somebody had their TV playing loudly all night. I wish their neighbors had told us last night and we could have dealt with it. One person said he couldn’t figure out the coffeemaker.”

  “We provide the easiest ones to operate to alleviate trouble,” Blake said.

  “Right. He still couldn’t figure it out. Too simple, I guess. He had an aha moment when I showed him how it was done. Then a woman was having trouble with her alarm going off so she finally unplugged it—but she wanted to use it. I had to show her how to reset the times. We probably should have gotten a simpler model.”

  Blake smiled. “Kayla insisted we have the ones with the automatic change for daylight saving time so we wouldn’t have to change all the clocks in the rooms twice a year. I’m glad you were here to take care of the issues. As to Rosco, he did great. He found an avalanche victim in record time.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. Saint Bernards suit the lodge, and I’m glad he’s knuckled down to do his duty during avalanche rescues.”

  “I agree. He sure seemed like he’d be an avalanche rescue dog dropout when he was a puppy. Have you heard from eithe
r of our sisters about the closing?”

  Roxie and Kayla planned to join them in Silver Town after closing the deal on the sale of the family’s ski lodge in Vermont, but they still had to correct some issues with the lodge before the sale went through.

  “I got a call from Kayla. She said she and Roxie accomplished everything needed to satisfy the buyers, so the closing took place and our sisters are on their way here. I should have told you earlier, but you were so busy, and I forgot.”

  “That’s great.” Knowing the Vermont lodge had sold was a real relief. Blake was glad his sisters had been able to manage that while he and Landon opened the ski lodge here. “Did they need one of us to pick them up at the airport?”

  “No. Kayla said Lelandi was eager to pick them up and welcome them to the pack.”

  Blake was glad she would do that for them. “Since Lelandi’s the coleader and psychologist for the pack, I wonder if she intends to warn them about all the bachelor males who are looking for mates and anxious to meet with them.” That was all he and Landon had heard when they first arrived. Where were their sisters?

  “Could be. And she wants to make sure they feel welcome. Which is one of the reasons we all wanted to be part of a pack.” Landon glanced around at the hubbub in the lobby: skiers and other visitors were entering or coming out of the restaurant, others leaving the lodge to ski or coming in from skiing, some sitting around the double-sided fireplace. A couple of kids were sitting on the floor petting their sleepy Saint Bernard. “I’m glad our sisters are arriving soon. Kayla needs to help us with our marketing, and Roxie does wonders with the staff. We’ll be a lot better organized when they’re here. I bet they can’t wait to try out the new slopes here too. Powder snow in Colorado instead of ice skiing in Vermont—they’ll love it.”