You Had Me at Wolf

by Terry Spear

Nicole liked the idea but was afraid it might spook the others. Maybe even Eli. And he might just give another alias.

  “I don’t like the idea,” Blake said, more from the perspective of a protective older brother.

  “I could let him know I do some billing for the lodge or something, so I work here. I could just be superfriendly, clumsy maybe, bump into him or something. Maybe I could greet some other guests and then turn to greet him so it doesn’t look like I’m singling him out.”

  Blake raised both brows.

  “Or Roxie could do it.”

  “No,” both Blake and Nicole said.

  “She’s undercover. We don’t want Rhys to see her. What if she was in the lobby, and Eli pointed her out to Rhys? That could blow the case to smithereens,” Nicole said.

  “That’s true. Okay, so it would have to be me.”

  “I still say no,” Blake said.

  “I would do it for Roxie and for Nicole,” Kayla insisted. “Fine. Whatever.”

  “Thanks, Kayla. It’s a good idea, but we’ll hopefully get the DNA evidence soon.” Nicole sat down on one of the office chairs and began watching the security video outside the tea shop.

  Blake was looking over her shoulder at it. “Silva has lots of customers.”

  “Almost all women, except for a woman bringing a man in to eat lunch there.”

  Nicole began looking up the value of tea sets. She found one that was valued at over $38,000!

  “Incredible,” Blake said.

  “It’s not like her set, but it just gave me pause. If hers was valued that high, I could see why someone might want to steal it for the resale value. Okay, here’s one that looks just like hers. It’s valued at ninety dollars. Since it was in a glass display case, someone might have believed it was worth more.”

  “What are you doing now?” Kayla asked, joining them.

  “A tea set in Silva’s tea shop has gone missing,” Nicole said.

  “Don’t they know you’ve got an important job here to do?”

  “It’s her great-grandmother’s set and important to her. I figured I’d look into it whenever I have a moment. I’m going there this afternoon to check out the place. Have you been?” Nicole was thinking that if Kayla was kind of shy about meeting others in the pack, maybe she’d go with her.

  “No, I haven’t, but it looked like a fun place for soups and sandwiches.”

  “Teas, pies, and cakes too. Did you want to join me when I go?”

  Kayla glanced at Blake as if worried he wouldn’t want Kayla’s company too.

  “Girls only,” Nicole said. “Roxie could come too if she wanted. Or she could continue to monitor these guys for me. That’s what Blake is doing.”

  “Okay, yeah, sure, I’d love to.”

  Nicole smiled.

  “I’ll ask Roxie.” Kayla started texting her sister.

  Nicole said to Blake, “I’m going to call the women who work for Silva. It’ll take me a while if you want to do something else.”

  “Yeah, I’ll go see what Landon wants me to do.”

  Before Blake left the office, Kayla said, “It’s just you and me, Nicole. Roxie’s going to continue to monitor the security videos. She said Clay’s sitting outside on the deck having coffee, watching Eli eat his breakfast. Rhys and his cousin are out skiing.”

  “Okay, good.”

  Blake left and Nicole began calling tea-shop employees. One woman said she hadn’t noticed because they’d had so much business lately. Another said the same. One said she thought Silva had changed out the set to make a different display because she did that periodically, changing the scheme of the tea shop so frequent visitors would enjoy the new scenery. Nicole thought Lila, one of the women she’d talked to, might know something, her voice hesitant and unsure as she answered, but Nicole needed to see her in person, question her, and smell her scent to see if she was anxious about the missing tea set. Since Lila was working at the shop today, Nicole would talk to her there but not let on she was going to be there.

  “Any leads?” Kayla asked as she continued to work on a brochure for the lodge.

  “One of the women appeared to know something.”

  “Oh, good.” Kayla sounded like she was thrilled to be part of the new sleuthing business. “Did you see anything on the video that would make it look like someone was taking off with a tea set? Wouldn’t the person have to take it at night when the shop was closed?”

  “According to Silva’s website, it’s closed for business at four and then she works at her husband Sam’s tavern. He’s also open for lunch, but she manages her tea shop during that time. The video camera in back of the shop was blanked out for a bit, it appears.”

  “Whoever took it must have gone in the back way. Did he or she have lockpicks?”

  “Or it’s an employee with access to the shop. There’s nothing more for me to do here until lunchtime, so I’m going to grab Blake for some runs on the slope.”

  “You’re spoiling him.” Kayla frowned. “Do you think it might work with me trying to get Eli’s current alias?”

  “I do. But Blake’s also right. It could go totally sideways. Let’s wait. If the evidence comes back inconclusive on the cup, the cigarette, and the stuff I took from their car, we can talk again about you meeting up with the guy somehow.”

  Kayla brightened. “Okay.”

  Nicole wondered if Kayla was just looking for an excuse to meet a guy. “I’m off. See you in a bit.”

  “Unless you are getting somewhere with your case. And I’ll completely understand.”

  “True.” Nicole thought Kayla sounded a little disappointed. “But if so, we’ll run by there another time.”

  Kayla smiled.

  Nicole left the office and found Blake talking to a guest. Once the man left, she took ahold of Blake’s arm. “Ready to ski?”

  “Yes! I thought you’d never ask. Did you get anywhere on the tea set?”

  “I might have a lead.” They returned to the office to get booted up for skiing.

  “Good show. I hope you do.”

  Then with skis and poles in hand, they left the office, moved through the people milling about with hot cups of cocoa in the lobby, and went outside. The blast of cold air hit them, and Nicole pulled down her ski goggles and lifted up her dickey.

  “We might miss out on our nap,” Blake said.

  “We might. We’ll just have to see how things go.”

  “Roxie said she’s taking a nap in your room at lunchtime in the spare bed, if that’s okay with you. Landon’s going to deliver a meal for her for lunch.”

  “Sure, as long as she’s not there when we slip up to the room to take our nap.”

  “We could go to my room at the house.”

  Nicole glanced up at him.

  He smiled. “No one’s home until dinnertime.”

  “Okay, we could do that.”

  They skied for the rest of the morning, him following her down the expert slopes, and then later they skied a couple of intermediate slopes. The sky had clouded over again, and Nicole smelled snow in the air. “More snow.”

  “Yeah, coming in tonight.”

  She looked back at the lodge. “The cousins are headed in for lunch.”

  “I’ll go watch them if you want to take Kayla to the tea shop. And thanks. You asking her to join you meant the world to her.”

  “I think she has caught a little bit of the sleuthing bug.”

  Blake chuckled. “You’ve had that effect on all of us. And we’re delighted. But this is great for her to meet some of the other ladies without feeling too uncomfortable. And that means everything to us. Getting her out of her shell can be a task.”

  Nicole was glad she could help Kayla out.

  Chapter 15

  Nicole and Kayla arrived at Silva’s Victorian Tea S
hop that afternoon, the large windows sporting ivory lace valances as well as miniature white lights surrounding the window frames and reflecting on the glass, pretty and sparkly on a cold, wintry day. A covered patio with café tables outside for when the weather was warmer was covered in fresh snow.

  When Nicole and Kayla walked inside, a little bell jingled on the door, and the fragrance of tea, roses, chocolate, and savory meals permeated the air. Tables were covered in lace, and chairs had high ladder backs and cushions for the back and seat in blue, silver, and white plaid. Antique teapots, tea sets, and floral, antique hot chocolate pots were on display all over the tea shop that boasted a main eating area and tucked-away seating for small groups or couples. Victorian figurines of girls and boys ice skating sat on shelves for a wintry, festive look.

  Nicole imagined how cute the tea shop could be for Valentine’s.

  Pillars were adorned with white lights, white flower garlands, large white bows, miniature ice skates, and skis. Pictures of winter scenes were hanging on the wall, and when Nicole looked closer, she saw the photography had also been done by Jake Silver, but he had antiqued them to make them look more Victorian for Silva’s shop.

  Nicole loved the decor, and she was glad Kayla had come with her. Kayla seemed glad too, as she was smiling and admiring all the different tea sets.

  Her beautiful dark-brown hair swept up in a bun, a woman hurried to greet them. She wore high-heeled boots, formfitting, pale-blue leggings, and a soft white sweater that showed off the rest of her curves. Nicole had expected a sweet, older lady wearing a floral dress.

  “I’m Silva, owner of the Victorian Tea Shop. And you must be Nicole and…?”

  “Kayla Wolff,” Kayla said.

  “Oh, I’m so glad to meet you. As soon as I have a chance, I’m going to eat at your restaurant. It’s kind of hard when I’m working either here or at Sam’s tavern, but one of these days, I’m going to make it up there. Everyone’s talking about how good your food is, and the lodge is beautiful.”

  “Thanks. I only arrived a few days ago myself. I love your tea shop,” Kayla said.

  “Thanks and, Nicole, thanks so much for helping me out.” Silva led them to a table.

  “You’re welcome,” Nicole said, taking a seat. “I needed to ask you about the video blacking out at a certain point that must have been the day the tea set went missing.”

  “I need to get a new system. It periodically stops working. If you look at earlier days, it was doing the same thing. I normally don’t ever have to look at it, but when this happened, I saw that had happened, and I viewed other days and found it doing the same thing. I have a new security camera on order.”

  “Oh, okay.” So that didn’t help. Nicole eyed the menu, then ordered a grilled cheese sandwich.

  “That sounds good. I’ll have the same,” Kayla said.

  “And tea?” Silva asked, notepad in hand.

  “Of course. Peppermint?” Nicole asked.

  “Got it.”

  “Lavender for me, please,” Kayla said.

  “All right. I’ll bring it out in just a few minutes.”

  “Is there a Lila working here today?” Nicole asked.

  “Yeah, sure. She’s at the register. Do you want me to send her over to speak to you?”

  “Yeah, that would be great. Thanks.”

  Lila appeared to be around nineteen, and she looked and smelled nervous when she came over to speak with Nicole. “Hi,” Nicole said. “We spoke on the phone.”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you take a seat?” Nicole wanted to speak softly to her so Lila would feel comfortable enough to tell her what she knew.

  “I, uh, have to work.”

  “Silva said you could talk with me.”

  Her eyes cast downward, Lila sat on one of the chairs, looking unhappy, as if she were getting ready to have her head on the chopping block.

  “Okay, just between you and me—” Nicole said.

  Lila looked at Kayla.

  “She won’t say anything,” Nicole assured them.

  Kayla nodded. “I’m just here for lunch.”

  “I was driving home after being at the tavern late, and I saw…I saw…”

  Nicole frowned. “What? If you know something, I’m sure we can work this out somehow.”

  “It was Laurel. She came out of the tea shop through the back door,” Lila blurted out under her breath, as if she had to do it that way or she wouldn’t have the nerve to ’fess up.

  “Laurel?”

  “Silver. She’s mated to our deputy sheriff, CJ. Cousin to our pack leader.” Lila looked like she wanted to cry.

  “Okay,” Nicole said. “No problem.” She patted Lila’s hand. “Go back to work. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful, and I won’t say anything to anyone about this until I learn what’s going on. No one will know you told me, okay?”

  Lila nodded and got up from the table. Then she went back to managing the cash register, and Silva brought out their grilled cheese sandwiches.

  Kayla didn’t say anything, just ate her sandwich, but Nicole was sure she was thinking plenty. Just as she was.

  Silva was busy serving her customers. Nicole ordered a chocolate cream pie after she finished her grilled cheese sandwich. Kayla had a blueberry scone.

  “Free lunch on me, ladies,” Silva said, “and thanks again for trying to find my tea set, Nicole.”

  “You’re so welcome. And thanks. Everything was delicious. We’ve got more work to do, and it’s so nice meeting you,” Nicole said, but before she left, she looked over the glass display case where the tea set had been sitting before it went missing.

  “You can have a meal on us any time,” Kayla said. “So good to meet you.”

  “Breakfast! That works for us,” Silva said, snapping her fingers. “Sam and I could run up there for an early-morning breakfast before we open up our places.”

  “That would be great,” Kayla said.

  Then the ladies left, and Nicole said, “Okay, we need to talk to Laurel.”

  Kayla let out her breath. “She’s the deputy sheriff’s wife, Lila said.”

  “Right. We still need to talk to her. Or I do. You can wait in the car while I speak with her. She runs the Silver Town Inn with her sisters.”

  “I’ll…I’ll go with you.”

  “Really, you don’t have to.”

  “I’d like to see their hotel.”

  “Okay.” The hotel was just down the road from the tea shop, and they soon parked there. As they went inside, Nicole was trying not to be nervous, especially in front of Kayla. She’d made a lot of goodwill with the pack already, and though it didn’t mean she was going to join the pack or anything, she still liked making friends among wolves who were good people. She didn’t know what to think about the tea set, but she thought Lila might have been mistaken about what she’d seen.

  Nicole saw what she thought could be one of the three sisters at the registration desk, but she didn’t know for sure.

  Kayla looked at the lobby decorations while Nicole went to speak to the lady behind the registration desk. “Hi, I’m Nicole Grayson, and I’m looking for Laurel Silver.”

  “She’s in the office. I’m her sister Ellie. Did you want me to tell her what you’re here for?” Ellie had a pretty Irish accent that Nicole would love listening to all day long.

  “I’m working on a case at the lodge. I’m a private investigator.”

  “Oh, you’re the she-wolf who found Mittens.” Ellie smiled, her blue eyes alight with happiness. “Thanks for doing that. The family is so happy you found her.”

  Now Nicole felt worse about questioning Ellie’s sister, but she had to. She was sure it could all be explained and Lila had made a mistake, but still, she had to ask. Nicole smiled, then Ellie pointed to where their office was, and Nicole went to the door
and knocked.

  “Yes?” a woman asked inside the room.

  Nicole said, “I’m Nicole Grayson, and I need to talk to you about something.”

  The door opened, and a pretty woman smiled at her and offered her hand. “I’m Laurel Silver.” She had the same lovely Irish accent.

  Nicole shook her hand.

  “You’re the PI.”

  “Yes, I’m staying at the lodge and working on a case.”

  “And you’re here at our hotel because?”

  Nicole let out her breath and went inside and took a seat. “I’m searching for Silva’s missing tea set. It was her great-grandmother’s.”

  Laurel took a deep breath, let it out, and smiled.

  About that time, Ellie poked her head in the door, and so did another woman who looked similar. Meghan? The other sister? They were all pretty redheads of varying degrees of blond or purer red. Two had green eyes, the other blue.

  “She’s a private investigator, looking into Silva’s missing tea set,” Laurel said, sitting down at her desk.

  “Oh no,” Ellie said. “She’s good at her job.”

  Meghan smiled. “We’ve been caught.”

  Nicole suspected it wasn’t something bad when all the ladies acted so happy about it. That was a first for Nicole on a case when something went missing.

  “I guess we could have Silva’s birthday party just a little early,” Laurel said.

  “You took it to throw her a birthday party?” Nicole asked, astonished.

  “No. We had a professional antique restoration service restore her set completely. We wanted it to be a surprise. A birthday gift she’d love. We hoped she wouldn’t notice her set was missing. I swapped it for one that looked similar in color, but I guess she still noticed.”

  “Oh.” Nicole smiled. “I’m so glad and I’m sorry I troubled you.”

  “No, you’re great at your job. We could use someone like you living here,” Laurel said.

  “Thanks. When is the party?”

  “Tomorrow afternoon. We have to sneak the tea set back into her shop tonight while she is working at the tavern. Brett and Ellie are going to make sure she doesn’t go anywhere while Meghan and I are sneaking the set in. The guys don’t know anything about it, or CJ, my mate, would have told Peter what was going on. We just wanted it to be a surprise for all that she’s done in welcoming us to Silver Town.”