by Terry Spear
“Hell, if you want to go down the bunny slope, I’ll go with you. That’s what being partners is all about.”
She shook her head. “No bunny slopes. Unless you need them, and then I’ll stick with you.”
“Intermediate it is.”
When they skied down the first blue slope, it was steep but no bumps, and Blake followed her, watching her beautiful ski form, the way she held her upper body facing downhill, with great edge control, while she rotated her feet back and forth all the way down the hill. On the next steeper slope, she was doing jump turns. She had good boot flex, dominating it, so she was headed down the slope and not falling backward like some skiers he had seen who attempted ski jumping. She was good, and he figured she’d be on the expert runs soon. Though he would have fun doing any of the runs as long as he was with her.
After a couple more runs, they headed up the lift for the expert slopes covered in moguls. After getting off the lift, they were skiing to the slope when Nicole’s cell phone rang in her pocket. Blake waited while she fumbled to pull off her ski glove and unzipped her pocket to grab the phone.
His first thought was that her partner or medical staff had called to say Larry’s health had worsened, or even that Larry was feeling better and wanted to take up where he and Nicole had left off doing surveillance. Blake had been thinking about it and wondered when she’d get a call about Larry’s status. He sure didn’t want Larry taking his place to help her, even if the guy was more qualified to do investigations. Not to mention, Blake wanted to get to know her better.
“Hey,” Nicole said, then told Blake, “It’s Roxie. Yeah, go ahead.”
Blake moved in closer, a good excuse to wrap his arm around her and listen in on the conversation, warming her up at the same time.
“Don’t put this on speakerphone,” Roxie said, and Blake knew the cousins were up on the slopes.
“I saw Rhys and William headed for the slopes. Or I should say, Landon did. I saw them on the security monitor heading outside and told Landon. He surreptitiously followed them outside. He called me to tell me they were going to ski lift Bravo.”
“The one we took up. Okay, thanks,” Nicole said.
Blake saw the cousins skiing toward the same run they were taking, and Blake whispered, “They’re here.”
“Got to go, thanks!” Nicole said.
Blake nodded at the men in greeting, like any civilized person would, though he’d rather tear into Rhys for having threatened his sister with a gun. Nicole didn’t acknowledge the men, pretending to still be busy on the phone, though she had already ended the call with Roxie.
“No,” William said to Rhys as they skied past Blake and Nicole to the slope they would ski down. “Are you crazy?”
Blake thought so. With their wolf hearing, he and Nicole could hear the men’s conversation. If they’d been strictly human, they wouldn’t have been able to.
“Come on. No one’s going to be able to recognize me,” Rhys said.
“They might if we’re together like we always are. We’re not going kayaking there this spring.”
Where Rhys supposedly died? Blake was thinking it was like the case of a criminal going back to the scene of his crime—in this case, a faked death—to relish the deed.
“Beat you down this time,” William said and tore off down the hill with Rhys in hot pursuit.
“Too bad he doesn’t just break his neck,” Nicole said.
“That would be an end to his crimes,” Blake agreed.
Clouds were beginning to cover the clear-blue sky and a cold wind was whipping up the powdery snow as Nicole skied down through the moguls. She was managing most of them, slicing through a couple of bumps before she lost her balance and nearly took a spill but recovered nicely and continued down the slope.
Blake headed down while she waited for him just past the moguls. He wanted to show off how good he was, but he could imagine getting cocky and taking a bad fall and breaking something. He’d never live it down. His brother and sisters would rib him mercilessly, and probably some of the pack members too. Maybe even Nicole would tease him.
He skied down to her in record time so she wouldn’t have to wait too long for him. The snow began to fall, large flakes fluttering around them, whipped around by the wind.
“How are you feeling? Do you want to take a few more runs down?” He and Landon had been taking daily runs down the mountain, but since she hadn’t skied this season, Blake thought she might be getting tired.
“I’m good. My ‘subjects’ are still out skiing, so I might as well be out here too. I saw them headed for the lift again.”
“That works for me.”
“But I want to stick to the intermediate slopes for the rest of the afternoon.”
“You’ve got it.”
They skied back to the lift and saw the cousins waiting in a long line to ride it. Blake never thought he’d be spying on subjects at the resort who were wanted in a criminal investigation. Or enjoying skiing with a she-wolf either. “What do you do for fun?” he asked as they steadily moved up in line.
“This.”
He smiled. “Surveillance?”
She chuckled. “Skiing. I’m not a workaholic, though while I was working for CID, the hours were long, and it seemed that way. Most weeks, I worked seventy hours. My days can be long when I’m on a case now, but I usually can break away for a bit. Or like this. This is a terrific way to enjoy my hobby and watch my suspects. I’ve never had an assignment like this. That’s the other reason why I really love the work I do. It’s always something different.”
“Do you ever regret leaving the service?” Blake asked as the lift line continued to move.
“I did love my work and the team I worked with. I didn’t like how I couldn’t have a family life. And I didn’t meet any wolves I could be friends with, even if I’d had the time.”
“You met Roxie.”
Nicole laughed. “Yeah, and I felt bad I hadn’t solved the case involving her, so friends? No. Time really worked against me though. It really made it rough on friendships. No wolf companionship and no time for friends were the reasons I left the service. I like my PI business. I can work really long hours on an active case, but when I’m done with the case, I can have some off time too.”
“Why settle in Denver?”
“I was born and raised there.”
Someone didn’t get situated on the chairlift correctly, and the lift operators had to stop the lift and make sure the skiers were seated properly.
“What about your parents? Any siblings?” Blake asked her.
“My parents live in Denver and own a stationery store. I have a twin brother who’s an Army Ranger. He’s planning on going into the business with me. He’s got a degree in criminology and has been interested in the cases I’ve been working. He’s getting out of the service in a couple of weeks and we’re going to talk about it further. I have more than enough business for the two of us, between my contacts with insurance agencies and just my own cases.”
Blake was not really happy to hear it. He was already imagining dating Nicole, and if her brother wanted to live in Denver and help her with her business there, Blake was sure she wouldn’t want to bail out on him. As to Blake leaving Silver Town, he couldn’t imagine doing anything other than running the ski lodge with the wolf-owned town here, and he really wanted to stay with his own brother and sisters. “That sounds good. Your parents don’t mind that they’re not with a pack?”
“No. All the wolves living in Denver like their independence. They have discussed forming a pack, but everyone’s happy to be on their own. I’ve met maybe ten wolves there. A couple are lawyers. One is a chef. We have ladies’ night once a week.”
“No guys there?” He hoped he didn’t sound too hopeful.
“Sure, there are guys. But nobody that I’ve been interested in.”
“Good.”
She raised a brow at him, smiling at the same time.
He shrugged. “You and I might not be in a relationship now if there was someone else.”
She chuckled.
Their subjects were a few people in front of them in line and finally got on the chairlift. The snow was blowing hard, and Blake suspected the ski resort would be shutting down soon if the winds continued like this.
When he and Nicole sat on one of the chairs and rode the lift up, the chairs were swaying in the wind. “I think this is our last run down. The weather’s getting too bad. I’m sure the place will be closing down,” he said.
“I agree. I think I’ll be ready for hot cocoa and dinner. Are you buying?”
He laughed. “Now I know why you kissed me. You already knew I was a part owner and assumed we didn’t pay for our meals at the restaurant.”
“Smart of me, wasn’t it?”
“Very.”
“The truth is I’d seen you taking Rosco for a walk this morning—or I should say he was taking you for a run.”
Blake groaned. “I had hoped no one had seen.”
“Did you manage to stay on your feet? If it had been me, I would have lost him for sure.”
“Yeah, I slipped on icy snow a couple of times, but he did, too, which helped to slow him down a bit. He ran forever, then finally wore himself out. He probably lost the scent of the rabbit too.”
“Well, between you and the dog and then your trouble with the snowblower…” She shrugged.
“Truthfully, once you kissed me, my whole day was looking up.”
She laughed, then turned serious. “As long as nothing goes wrong with this situation.”
“The good thing about the wolf community is we can always call for lots of backup, no questions asked. If we say we have trouble, you better believe we’ll have a ton of wolves there in a heartbeat helping us out.”
“Now, that’s nice to hear.”
They got off the chairlift and skied to an intermediate slope covered in moguls, but the bumps were spaced farther apart than on the expert run, the terrain was wider, and the run not as steep. Blake wanted to observe her, but he really had to watch what he was doing too. Visibility was getting worse as they headed down for their last run with near-whiteout conditions, and depth perception was almost nil. It was as if everything was flat and white and he couldn’t tell if he was going downhill or flush with the ground.
As soon as he found Nicole at the bottom of the slope, they skied toward the lodge, which looked almost like a white castle, mystical in the blowing snow. The snow was coming down heavily, high gusts of wind whipping it about, and he was glad he was wearing ski goggles. People were heading out to their vehicles in the parking lot to leave while others were returning to the lodge. All the ski lifts had shut down because of the high winds. Everyone was covered in snow, but they were still laughing and enjoying themselves.
“Does it hurt your business when the ski lifts shut down?”
“Maybe for locals who would have stayed for drinks or something instead of heading home. But for those who are staying at the lodge, no.”
He’d had a great time skiing with Nicole and hoped they could do this again tomorrow. It wasn’t the same as skiing with his siblings, though he wished he and Nicole could just ski for fun and not because she was trying to keep these men under surveillance. Now it was time to warm up and figure out their next move.
“What are we going to do about the sleeping arrangements tonight?” Blake wondered if she needed him to stay with her like her partner had been. He was all for it, but he didn’t want to presume anything. Except that if they were in a relationship on a ski trip, they would most likely be sharing a room.
Admittedly, he was hopeful she’d want him to spend the night with her.
Chapter 5
Nicole was watching some of the cars driving out of the parking lot when Blake asked her about sleeping arrangements for the night and she smiled at him. She knew he was only concerned for her welfare. Well, mostly.
She glanced again at the cars leaving the ski parking lot and hoped no one would have a wreck on the roads, as low as the visibility was.
Then she took hold of Blake’s hand and entered the lodge.
“I should be fine by myself. You can go home.” She didn’t think she needed Blake to stay with her for the night. She understood why he thought he might need to, since she’d been bunking with Larry. But neither she nor Larry had a place to stay here, so they had shared the room and planned to talk over the case when they retired for the night. She could just call Blake if she needed to speak with him about anything. With Larry, nothing personal would have ever developed between the two of them. With Blake…he was too much of a wolf, and she was afraid she’d lose focus on her mission.
“My room isn’t on the same floor as the men’s. They always take the elevator. So I don’t really need to continue the ruse overnight. I’ve walked by the cousins’ room after they’ve gone up and they’re in there watching TV, laughing about stuff, talking, so it appears they stay in for the night. Except for eating meals and skiing, there’s not much else to do here in the evenings, unless they were wolves and then they might want to run. But just hiking out in the snow at night? No.”
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you while you’re there by yourself,” Blake said as they moved closer to the fireplace. “Unless you’re afraid people will believe we’re mated wolves.”
“Hardly. I’m not part of the pack, and I don’t intend to get to know everyone. You, on the other hand, need to keep up appearances. Staying with me won’t help that.”
“I’m more concerned about you not having anyone to watch your back like Larry was doing.”
“I can call you if I feel I need help. You’ll be close by.”
“All right. Did you want to store your skis and boots in our office storage room? It would be easier anytime we need to ski if all our gear is in the same place. Otherwise, you have to continue to store your skis and boots at the ski rental shop, and it takes longer to grab them.”
“Yeah sure. Since I’m seeing you.”
“Except at night.”
She smiled. “True. We won’t be under observation. We can have breakfast together tomorrow. I’ll be wearing something different, in case they’ve noticed me hanging around in my pink and white ski clothes. I figured they made me look perfectly harmless. Tomorrow, I’ll be in pastel blue and white.”
“Good.” Blake led her into the office where they put up their ski equipment.
Roxie was sitting at the security monitor, concentrating on the influx of people. “Okay, they’ve gone into the restaurant for dinner.”
“Great,” Nicole said. “Hopefully, they won’t get takeout this time.”
“If they do, they might as well just get room service,” Blake said.
“Then they’d have dishes, glassware, and silverware from the meal and would leave DNA evidence behind,” Nicole said.
“That’s true,” Blake agreed. “Have you eaten yet, Roxie?”
“Landon was going to bring me dinner. Kayla is at the house fixing dinner for her and him there. But I was just thinking I should head to the house and eat there. Rhys and his cousin are probably not going anywhere for the rest of the night, except back to their room, don’t you imagine?” Roxie asked.
“Sometimes they sit and drink by the fire, but we can take it from here,” Nicole said, putting on her snow boots while Blake slipped on his.
“That’ll be great. I need to unpack my bags, now that I’m finally here for good. Are you staying the night with Nicole?” Roxie asked Blake.
“Uh, no, I’ll be home tonight.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be watching Nicole’s back?” Roxie sounded worried.
“I’ll
be fine,” Nicole said, appreciating Roxie’s concern.
“Do you want me to stay with you?” Roxie asked, as if staying the night with another woman would make Nicole any safer. Unless, of course, Roxie turned into her growly wolf form.
Nicole smiled. “No, really, I’ll be perfectly all right.”
“Are you ready to go to dinner, Nicole?” Blake asked.
“I’m starving.”
“See you later, Roxie,” Blake said.
“Thanks for all your help.” Nicole was grateful for their assistance with this.
“No problem.”
She and Blake left the office and soon entered the restaurant. It was packed. Nicole thought that was good news for the Wolff family.
Blake glanced around at the tables and booths filled with guests. “Looks like the winds drove everyone inside to have dinner at the same time.”
“I guess we’ll have a wait to have dinner.”
“Nah, we always have a couple of tables set aside for the family or our pack leaders and their families when they visit. There’s Landon talking on his cell phone. Roxie probably told him not to get her dinner. And the suspects are getting takeout and leaving,” Blake said.
“Well, one of these times, they’re bound to slip up, or maybe we’ll have to arrange a maid visit to their room after all and find what we can, despite their room having a Do Not Disturb sign on it,” Nicole said.
“We can sure arrange that.”
They saw the men leave the restaurant, but Nicole whispered to Blake, “They’re eating their dinner by the fireplace.”
“Okay, I see them.”
“If they dump their trash and head for the elevators, I’m out of here to grab it,” she said.
Blake and Nicole took their seats and soon ordered burgers and fries so it wouldn’t take too long to get their meals.
“If they’re still sitting around the fireplace when we’re done, did you want to get a drink and we can take a seat by the fire? And visit with Rosco before he goes home with me tonight?” Blake asked.
