by Terry Spear
“You’re right. We’ll have to try this as soon as the snow quits and the sun melts the snow off the cars, or people go out and unbury them.”
“Okay, well, I’m going to bed.”
“Are you sure you’ll be fine?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you in the morning for breakfast.”
They walked back inside, and she was certain Blake wanted to walk her up to her room, but she didn’t need him to. “Night, Blake.”
He looked like he was hoping for a good-night kiss. But really, she didn’t want him to get the idea this was for real, except it sure felt like that. She smiled. What the hell. She pulled him in for a hug and kiss, and he kissed her back, but she quickly ended the kiss before she gave him the idea that she wanted him staying with her tonight.
“Tomorrow,” he said as she said good night again.
She hoped she didn’t run into any trouble after rejecting his offer to stay the night.
Chapter 6
When Blake arrived home with Rosco, Roxie met him at the door, arms folded across her chest. “I can’t believe you’ve got a chance at having a worthwhile girlfriend, and you’ve left her alone to watch the wolves, so to speak.”
“She said she’d be fine.” Blake removed Rosco’s leash. “She didn’t want me to stay with her. Forcing the issue could make it seem like I don’t trust her instincts when she’s highly trained in this kind of work. She’ll call me if she needs me.” He hung up his ski jacket in the coat closet.
Landon was turning off the gas fireplace before they all went to bed for the night. “He’s right, Roxie. I thought you didn’t even like the former CID agent.”
“I changed my mind. I can’t believe that on top of her mission here, her car was totaled,” Roxie said. “I feel for her.”
Wearing her snowman pj’s, Kayla joined them. “What’s the deal with the third man in the room? Someone in hiding? That doesn’t sound good. What if Nicole has to deal with three bad guys, not just two? Heck, two is bad enough.”
Blake agreed with his sister, but what could he do? He couldn’t force Nicole to allow him to stay with her. He was fascinated with the kind of work she did though. It was sure a lot different from running the lodge.
“If you hadn’t found a room for that couple with the totaled car, I could have convinced her to stay here with us,” Blake said to his brother.
“Maybe. Maybe not. She looked determined to stay at the lodge tonight. It seems like once she’s got a mission, she’s resolved to complete it,” Landon said.
“Yeah, but she went with us to the registration counter to see if the couple had a room. I’m sure she was thinking of giving up her room if they didn’t have one. She might be hard-charging, but she also seems to have a soft spot for people down on their luck.” Blake removed his snow boots and set them by the door.
“True,” Landon said.
“In other news,” Kayla said, “I’ve redone the lodge’s website again, the restaurant page is refurbished, and now the menus can be accessed online. I added some pictures of the winter activities we had going on today. I’ll have to do more when we have the spring thaw. I can actually play around with updating pictures on a daily basis to give interest to the site for people who want to see the ski conditions each day.”
“That sounds great.” Blake pulled up the ski lodge website. Landon and Roxie were looking over his shoulders. He found the pictures Kayla had uploaded showing people eating in the restaurant and sitting by the fire, drinking cocoa and petting Rosco. Everyone looked so happy, and that was just what they needed to help promote the place. “These pictures are perfect.” Then Blake saw a photo of himself kissing Nicole in the lobby and he laughed.
“That’s my favorite picture on the website,” Roxie said.
Landon chuckled. “Now you’ll really have to do something about this business between the two of you. Any she-wolves in the pack won’t let you live it down.”
Blake was hoping he could do something about how he felt about Nicole.
“Well, are you going to call Nicole before you go to bed to make sure she’s all right?” Roxie asked.
Blake smiled. “I just left her and she was fine. She said she’d call me if anything was amiss, and I don’t want to be bugging her about her job.”
“All right. It’s your call, but if I were you, I’d give her a ring. I’m off to bed.” Roxie headed up the stairs.
“Night all.” Kayla followed her up.
Rosco had settled on his bed by the fireplace for the night.
“How are you going to keep her here?” Landon asked. “The way she selected you to be her knight in shining armor and the way she kissed you made me believe she’s got a real thing for you.”
Blake chuckled. “You know why she picked me instead of you? She saw me fall on my ass when I was trying to operate the snowblower.”
Landon laughed. “She’s got a good sense of humor and felt sorry for you.”
“I had it in mind that we could involve her in family activities so she gets to know all of us. She already talked about running as wolves tomorrow if the brunt of the storm has passed. I told her we hadn’t run as a family for a couple of months, so if she didn’t mind running with all of us, we could do that. She was agreeable.”
“Okay, though you could have run with her on your own. Still, that will work.” Landon slapped him on the back. “See you in the morning.”
“I’m having breakfast with Nicole too.”
“Then I’ll see you at the lodge sometime or another.”
Landon headed up the stairs and Blake turned out the lights in the living room, then followed him up.
As soon as Blake was in his room, he stripped out of his clothes and climbed into bed, then called Nicole anyway. “Hey, we didn’t set a time for breakfast.” He didn’t want her to think he was checking up on her, but he did want to talk to her.
“Would seven be all right? These guys don’t get out of bed until around ten, so I figure if we eat early, I can begin to watch for them,” Nicole said.
“That sounds good to me.”
“If you have any chocolate-covered almonds lying around, I’d love to have some to snack on. I meant to get some more. I should have run to the grocery store in Silver Town when I was down there checking on Larry’s health, but…”
“You were in a hurry to see me for lunch.”
She chuckled. “I had to get back to doing my surveillance. Now I don’t have a vehicle. The auto body shop is sending one tomorrow afternoon, depending on the weather.”
“Okay, sure, I think we have some chocolate almonds. I’ll be sure to bring some tomorrow when we have breakfast. Can you hold out until then?”
Nicole laughed. “Yes, and if you don’t have any, don’t worry about it. I’m not desperate or anything. See you tomorrow.”
“Night, Nicole.” But Blake was desperate to locate some of her favorite candy and was already jamming his feet into a pair of boxer briefs and heading down the stairs to the kitchen, hoping someone had packages of chocolate almonds so he could take one to Nicole tomorrow morning. He looked in their candy and cookie stash in the pantry. No chocolate-covered almonds.
Roxie headed down the stairs to the kitchen. “Got the munchies?” She opened the fridge and grabbed the container of milk, then poured herself a glass.
“I was looking for chocolate-covered almonds.”
Roxie glanced in the pantry. “Hmm, Kayla and Landon like them, but it looks like we’re all out. I didn’t think you cared all that much for almonds.”
“I do, but I just don’t eat them that often.”
“Then…why are you looking for them?” Roxie’s face brightened with a smile. “Ohmigod, Nicole likes them.”
“She was having a craving for them, and she doesn’t have a car to go get them.”
“Too late no
w. The grocery store isn’t open until six in the morning.” Roxie drank some of her milk.
“I’ll pick up some before I have breakfast with her.”
“Here?” Roxie asked.
“No. At the lodge. I think she wants to stay there in case the guys leave some evidence around that she can grab.”
“This gets better and better.” Roxie finished her milk and put the glass in the dishwasher.
She and Blake headed back up the stairs.
“Here I was worried she might be having real trouble.” Roxie smiled at Blake.
“Yeah, well, believe me, when you or Kayla run out of your favorite foods, you feel the same way.”
Roxie laughed and headed into her bedroom.
Blake returned to bed and thought about the candy. He would walk Rosco first, since that was his morning duty, and then run to the grocery store to pick up some chocolate almonds for Nicole and a few more packs to have on hand for Kayla and Landon. Then he would meet Nicole at the restaurant. Unless she had an emergency in the middle of the night, and then he was at her beck and call.
* * *
Before she left her room to check on the cousins, Nicole sent another text to her parents to let them know she was fine and gave them the name of the lodge and a little about what she was doing. She always kept in touch, not wanting them to fret when she was working on a case.
Nicole put on her black cargo pants, black sweater, and sneakers that didn’t make a sound. She made her way down the stairs to the cousins’ room, thinking she needed to be in the room right next door to theirs. Now that she knew the owners and was friends with them, surely they could arrange it. Then she could listen to what was going on by pressing her ear to the wall. She had one of those highly sensitive, wall listening devices, but with her wolf hearing, she could hear well enough unless they had a TV blaring.
Now that the Wolff family knew her purpose here, she would not have to worry about being caught on the security cameras doing things that seemed a bit odd. But the person in the room across the hall might see her listening at the door and call security.
Still, she wanted to chance it, to see if she could learn anything about the men’s plans and who the other man was. She pressed her ear against their door and listened for any sign that anyone might leave their rooms. It was ten that night, and hopefully everyone was settled down. The restaurant was already closed.
“You can’t go out. Get that through your thick head,” Rhys said.
The third man in the room? That’s who Rhys had to be talking to.
“You’re dead too. You shouldn’t be able to go out either,” the unknown man said.
Nicole’s jaw dropped. Another pretend dead man? Another life insurance payout?
“Hey, that’s the way it’s gotta be,” William said. “Your brother helped save your ass, so deal with it. Hell, you didn’t have to come with us.”
“Yeah, he did.” Rhys sounded irritated.
Rhys saved his brother? The brother who supposedly drowned? Nicole didn’t think there was another brother. She heard the elevator coming and took off for the stairs. When she returned to her room, she called Blake. “Can you get me into a room next to the cousins’ room? Even if both of the rooms are booked right now, maybe you can say you have plumbing problems and need access to the room. You could give them my room instead. It’s got a view of the mountains instead of the parking lot.”
Blake chuckled. “Here I thought you were calling about an emergency, and I was ready to jump out of bed and come to your rescue, clothes or no.”
She chuckled. “My wolf without his shining armor.”
“You bet.”
She put her phone on speaker and set it on the bedside table so she could undress and get ready for bed. She pulled out the jammies her brother had gotten her for Christmas, featuring spy glasses and 007 printed on the pink fabric. She would have to reciprocate after Nate joined her agency as a PI.
That was another thing she loved about being a PI on her own. She could work in her jammies while she did research if she wanted to.
“He’s got a brother.” She pulled her sweater over her head.
“What? Rhys? I thought his younger brother had died. That he’d drowned.”
“I know. I did too. Maybe it’s another brother. Or maybe it is the same one. I need to do more research.” She sat down on the bed and pulled off her boots and then her socks.
“Do you want me to come over and help you do some research? I can be there in just a few minutes.”
He sounded so eager that she smiled. She loved that he wanted to be with her longer and to help with the case. “You need to get me into a room that’s next to these guys’ room so I can listen through the wall to learn what’s going on.”
He paused. “Don’t tell me you were listening at their door in the hallway.”
“I was. But it’s too easy to get caught at it.”
He let out his breath. “Hell, Nicole. What if someone had seen you and called the sheriff?”
“You know him, right?”
“Yeah, but you don’t want other guests to catch you doing anything that appears illegal. Not to mention you certainly don’t want your suspects catching you at it. As to moving guests, I’d hate to have to say one of our rooms has a problem when our lodge is so new, but since your room does have a better view of the mountains and the outdoor part of the indoor-outdoor swimming pool, that could be a selling feature, and we’ll try to swing it. It would be good if we could get this case of yours resolved. I worry that you have three men now to deal with.”
“I have you and your brother and sisters to help me. So not to worry.”
“And glad to. While you’re chasing after the cousins, I bet Roxie wouldn’t mind staying in your new room to listen in on what she can hear. She can take a computer with her and still monitor the security cameras. That way, you can be free to do your investigation outside your room.”
“That would be great, if she wouldn’t mind.” Nicole pulled off her pants and panties, then slipped on her jammie bottoms.
“Okay, I’ll let her know in the morning. Anything else?”
Nicole unfastened her bra and removed it. “No. Thanks, Blake. It’s great knowing the owners of the lodge. I would never have thought I’d be able to do anything like this. And it’s really going to help.”
“You’re so welcome.”
She pulled on her jammie top. “You all have been the greatest help. Not to mention I’ve really enjoyed our time together. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Same thing here. Night, Nicole.”
They ended the call and she thought about trying to do more research but decided to get some sleep instead and start early in the morning. She turned onto her stomach, slipped her arms under the pillow, and smiled. She couldn’t believe how well things were working out with all the help she was getting on her surveillance. Not to mention she’d had a wonderful time skiing with Blake and enjoying his company.
She hadn’t yet fallen asleep when she got a call from Taggart at the insurance company.
“I apologize for it being a little late, but Larry called to tell me he isn’t helping you with your job. He says you picked up some other guy to help watch your back.”
“Blake Wolff. He’s co-owner of the Wolff Timberline Ski Lodge. I didn’t realize he and his siblings were running the ski lodge. We go way back.” As in she and Roxie, but Nicole wasn’t about to mention that or how they knew each other.
“But he’s not a trained private investigator.”
“No, even better. They’re moving me to a room next door to these guys so I can listen in. And the Wolff family is watching my back.” The insurance company wouldn’t pay for laymen to help with her investigation, but she suspected the Wolff family was going to be much more help than any other PI Taggart could hire. She hadn�
��t told Taggart that she knew of Rhys before this investigation, afraid he might pull her off the case. Which meant she couldn’t let it slip about Roxie knowing him either.
“I’ll be moving to the new room tomorrow.” She thought of telling him about the conversation Rhys had concerning the brother, but she needed to confirm Rhys didn’t have another brother, or half brother, or stepbrother or something. She couldn’t assume beyond a doubt that the one who was in the room was the dead brother.
“Any new news?”
“There’s a third guy in the room. He’s staying there, not ever leaving the room, so that sounds like someone else on the run. Or involved in some kind of illegal business. I’ll try to nail down who he is tomorrow. The Wolff family let me look at the security videos, but he was wearing a hoodie and it was impossible to see anything about him.”
“Sounds like you’ve got some good aid with this Wolff family. But what about muscle?”
“Blake is a volunteer deputy sheriff. And his brother is too.”
“Okay, as long as no one makes a slip and sends these guys packing.”
“They won’t.” She decided she would tell Taggart about Roxie’s help so he would be convinced not to send someone else. “One of Blake’s sisters has been watching the security monitors to let me know when they’re on the move, so it’s working out great. If Larry doesn’t have to come back, it would really work out best in the long run.”
“I’ll tell him. He’ll be disappointed. He called to tell me he wasn’t working with you and couldn’t for another couple of days, doctor’s orders, and he worried about you in case things go wrong.”
“I’m good. I would have called you about him, but he kept saying he’d get better on his own.”
“I understand. Keep up the good work and keep me informed.”
“I will.” She sighed, figuring she needed to give Larry a call next to let him know he wasn’t working with her any longer. She assumed if he had just called Taggart, he was probably still awake. When she got ahold of Larry, she said, “Hey, Taggart called. I told him I’ve got help on this one.”
