“Oatmeal works. I have that too.” He smiled at her, then finished his coffee.
After they ate, she fed Winston some eggs and bacon. “I’ll clean up things, but I need to run out to the woods for a minute.”
“Good idea. Mark your territory.”
She rose from their bedding and hesitated. “You’re right. I might as well go as a wolf—lots easier. And I won’t get wet all over again.” She stripped off her clothes and shifted into her wolf.
Amelia was a beautiful white wolf, all pure white as if she’d had a bleach job, with not a tinge of yellow to her fur like some Arctic wolves had. Gavin couldn’t believe she wanted to help him with his case. With all the ideas she had, he thought she’d be a great help.
“Beautiful,” he said to her, and she wagged her tail. Then she ran out of their alcove and into the woods. “What about you, Winston?” Gavin asked. The dog had finished every scrap of his meal and was now eyeing the skillet. “Do you need to go for a walk?” Immediately, Winston stood and began wagging his tail. Gavin laughed. “You sure know that phrase.”
As soon as he left the alcove with Winston, the Saint Bernard ran into the woods.
“Winston!”
This was not what Gavin had been expecting. Their German shepherds had always minded commands and never run off. He tore after Winston, afraid that the dog would run into a wolf or a bear. Moose even. Any of which could injure him.
“Winston!”
Chapter 6
Amelia whipped past Gavin in her wolf form, chasing after Winston much faster than Gavin could run as a human. Figuring she’d chase the pup back to their camp, Gavin found a spot to relieve himself. Then he gathered more firewood and took it to the rock shelter to save for cooking meals later.
The rain had stopped and the wind had died down, but the sky was gray and still appeared threatening. Gavin washed his hands in the lake. Then he glanced in the direction of where the plane had gone down and saw something bobbing up and down in the water about an eighth of a mile out. Hot damn! It looked like…his lucky paddle!
Gavin quickly untied the canoe and readied it to take it out, hoping Amelia was doing all right with Winston. The dog had stayed with them in the alcove last night just fine, but they might have to tie him up whenever they didn’t want him running off. Gavin hadn’t heard him bark once, so that was a good thing.
He remembered camping once when someone’s yappy dog barked for hours one night, two miles away. As a human, he still would have heard the dog. As a wolf, it had been worse. And the owner kept yelling at the dog periodically throughout the night to shut up.
After pulling on his rain gear in case it got bad again while he was out on the water, Gavin pushed the canoe out and climbed in, then started paddling out. A woof sounded behind him. He glanced back. Amelia was standing with her charge on the shore at their makeshift campsite, watching him. He was glad they had returned.
“Going after the paddle.” He pointed in the direction.
She woofed again in acknowledgment.
The early-morning sky was filled with dark-gray clouds, and Gavin knew he didn’t have a lot of time before he needed to be back under the safety of the shelter ledge so he didn’t get caught out in the storm.
He stroked hard and fast, glancing back to see Amelia and Winston still observing him. Then she and the dog disappeared into the alcove.
It seemed to take him forever, but he finally drew closer to the fluorescent paddle and saw something else floating in the water. At once, he recognized the large, blue plastic box. Hot damn, Winston’s kibble. Gavin was glad, not only because he’d worried that feeding Winston some of their food might upset his digestive tract, but also because he’d brought only enough food for himself for the time he’d be here, and now he was sharing it with Amelia too. He just hoped he’d have good luck fishing. Though he could go fishing as a wolf too, and sometimes he was more successful that way.
Glad he’d retrieved his fluorescent paddle, Gavin paddled toward the box. When he was close enough, he lifted it into the canoe and looked around to see if anything else from the plane was floating nearby.
He didn’t see anything, but the wind was beginning to pick up, and he smelled the smoke from their campfire.
Turning toward shore, he figured they could have the homemade beef stew for lunch or dinner once it had thawed out enough. Between the hefty chunks of ice he’d made in aluminum pots for the cooler, and the fact that some of his food was also frozen—like the stew—the food should still be refrigerated.
On this mission, part of his cover was to appear prepared for camping for over a week in the wilderness. He was glad to have company. Though he knew that wouldn’t last long once someone picked Amelia and Winston up.
Fat raindrops suddenly fell from the sky. Great. Gavin paddled even faster, hoping he could help with the fire and keep it from going out so they could dry things out a bit. Amelia had shifted and dressed and was lifting a corner of the tarp high above the fire with tent poles, so she could keep it more sheltered from the rain.
But they’d need more kindling and hardwood.
When he reached the shore, he noticed she was wearing his rain jacket and the sweats as she ran out to greet him. She had laid out their wet clothes in the alcove near the fire to dry them. And she’d already cleaned up everything from breakfast. He appreciated that she was as hard a worker as he was. He’d camped with a woman years earlier, when he was still human, and he swore she’d thought it was supposed to be a five-star camping affair—maid service, room service, hot showers, restrooms, none of which they’d had at the campsite that was as primitive as the one they were making do with here. And man, did she complain the whole time she was out there with him! Which meant cutting his trip short or suffering her complaints. Regrettably, he’d had to cut the trip short.
Then again, wolves were more used to their natural surroundings and comfortable in them, so he could see why this suited Amelia fine.
Amelia helped him haul the canoe back into the trees to secure it. “Oh, yay, you got Winston’s kibble.”
“Damn good thing, or Winston would surely eat us out of house and home and still be hungry, as much exercise as he’s getting. I don’t think the eggs and bacon would have held him over until the next meal.”
“You’re right.” She carried Gavin’s paddle back to the camp while he carried the big container of dog food. “He was eyeing the skillet when I was cleaning it, looking for any scrap that might be left over. The container of kibble would be plenty to keep him going for a few weeks. I wanted Winston’s new family to have the food he’s used to. I often have to get a different kind, depending on the pet I’m fostering—different breed, age, size.”
“That’s just great.”
Amelia hauled the container into the shelter, and Winston started nosing at it. “Yes. That’s yours, but you have to wait. I figure I’ll feed him his regular food since he’s used to that. Otherwise, he doesn’t feel he’s had his real meal.”
“Like the eggs and bacon were a treat.”
“Exactly.” She poured some kibble for Winston into the lid of the container, which could serve as a dog dish. “Sit… Down… Break…”
At hearing the final command, Winston, who was lying down on the ground in the alcove, scrambled to his feet to rush to eat his kibble.
Gavin admired the pup. “He’s well trained.”
“When he wants to be. Running off in the woods wasn’t part of the training.” She filled the dish she was using for Winston’s water. “But I didn’t have time to work on that before I found new owners for him. Well, had found.”
The lightning and thunder drew closer.
Gavin ran his hand over Winston’s back, seriously thinking of offering to take him in. “Did you see anyone while you were chasing Winston down?” Gavin assumed she would have told him if she had, but he?
??d smelled a man’s scent and still wondered if it was recent or from some time ago—long before they arrived and set up camp.
“No, I didn’t see anyone or hear any voices or smell any food. At least not where Winston ran to. I was able to turn him around fairly fast after he did his business.”
“You didn’t say why your dad canceled on me and took another party instead.”
She narrowed her eyes at him.
“I don’t mean he had anything to do with tampering with the plane. I don’t believe your dad had anything to do with you being targeted. You’re a wolf family. Most wolf families take care of each other. Though if you were all humans, the cop in me would consider family and friends as first suspects.”
“Heaton would fit the bill as a friend and employee. My father hired him to help fly for us because business has been so brisk this summer. And because Heaton was a wolf, Dad thought he’d be more reliable. If Heaton deliberately incapacitated the plane, he might have been after me, because I had dumped him. He knew my brother was already flying a sightseeing group out, and I was the only one who could switch with my dad.”
“Why did you switch with your dad?”
“One of the men who was supposed to be in my group refused to fly with a female pilot.”
“Ah.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You seemed ready to blow your top if I told you I didn’t want to fly with you. I was just surprised your dad wasn’t taking me. It had nothing to do with you flying the plane. I don’t blame you for being annoyed with the guy though. I think in this instance, the passenger not wanting you to pilot the plane worked out well for all concerned.”
She looked at Gavin like he was crazy. “I crashed the plane.”
“Not on purpose, and besides, you found a wolf you can’t live without.”
Amelia exhaled in a way that said Gavin might have to work harder at convincing her of that. “If someone did sabotage the plane, would he have used a remote controller?”
“That might have been too unpredictable. If he couldn’t get enough of a signal, he would have missed the opportunity. Your plane could be out of range, you might take enough of a detour, anything could happen to screw up his plans. More likely, he’d have a timer set.”
“Which means he might have done it in anticipation of your arrival. Dad had a couple cancel his flight, which allowed you to take their place.”
“What reason did the passengers give for canceling?” It sounded like too far a stretch, but Gavin had learned years ago never to discount anything. He’d seen too many police cases where key evidence was ignored for too long because it seemed too far out to connect to the crime.
“The upcoming storms. We had more than one group cancel because of them.”
Which, in Gavin’s estimation, was reasonable. “Okay, so we have a couple that canceled, the group that didn’t want to go with you, and the disgruntled former employee.”
“And the guy you’re investigating.”
“And the companies you’re in competition with. You have a plane go down, it’s in the news, and suddenly your adventure tour company sounds too dangerous to fly with.”
“Correct. If we’re working on conspiracy theories, they’d all be tied in, right?”
Gavin smiled down at her. “Do you watch a lot of conspiracy thrillers?”
“Absolutely. What does the wife get out of it, if you prove her husband is being unfaithful?”
“A divorce. She’s worth millions. She has a prenuptial agreement that if he’s caught in an extramarital affair, she doesn’t have to give him a cent.”
“Okay, so let’s say he assumes she’s got a PI on his case. Getting rid of you wouldn’t help him at all. All she’d have to do is send another.”
“True, but maybe not soon enough to follow her husband at this point. I can’t think of anyone who has a vendetta against me.”
“Or your pack? Your PI agency? With the cases you’ve worked, you might have had issues with someone. Even a man or woman who you proved was cheating on your client? Someone you exposed who had committed a crime and was put in jail? Just all kinds of things.”
“I can’t imagine anyone going to that much trouble. And it’s got to be someone who did some work on the plane beforehand. You say the fired pilot is a wolf?”
“Yeah, I wasn’t really paying much attention to smells in my dad’s plane when we boarded it. All of us had been in it at one time or another. His scent around the plane wouldn’t have made me suspicious.” She sighed. “You’re a former cop. What should we do?”
“I was going to say we could pack up the raft and the canoe and head for the bay, where surely someone will be arriving to pick up or drop someone off sooner or later.”
“The storm is stationary and no one’s going to be paddling in this unless they’re nuts. And no planes will be dropping anyone off or picking anyone up either,” Amelia added. “Have you paddled through this area before?”
“A few times with David and Owen, two of my partners. We didn’t have the brick-and-mortar office going yet, and we came out here once we had more control over our shifting. We could have gone during the new moon, but we still wanted to run as wolves at night once we set up camp.”
“Did you ever run into any other wolves?”
“Yeah, a lone gray wolf, but he saw the three of us and took off. Now it makes me wonder if it was Heaton and not just a wild wolf. We saw him on an island while we were paddling, so we didn’t stop to check it out, to learn his scent and see if he smelled human too. What about you? Do you ever come out here?”
“No, except to drop off paddlers. I always wanted to, but with running a business, I couldn’t go with my family. Someone has to keep up with scheduling and taking flights out. I’m not a lone wolf, so I didn’t have any interest in coming out here on my own. It would be more fun to paddle with someone.”
“Like me?”
She smiled at him. “Well, despite the harrowing situation we were in getting here, yeah. You seem good at this survival stuff.”
“Eagle Scout. My dad had been one too.”
“But usually wolves don’t join human… Oh, you were human.”
“Right.”
The rain was still coming down, but lighter now.
“On another subject, while I was trying to grab the paddle and Winston’s food container, I was thinking about a canoe trip I made a couple of years ago with the guys and how an obnoxious dog barked for hours one night. We were camped two miles away. With our wolf hearing, we could easily hear what was happening because water carries sound much farther.”
“No worries there,” Amelia said. “Winston’s very quiet.”
“He is, but it made me think that if we were about a mile away from someone else on another island, if we shouted for help, they could hear us even if they’re strictly humans. They might have a sat phone we could use.”
“Or just a mobile phone like mine that won’t work.” She brought out her phone and checked for a signal anyway. “Nothing. At least it’s working.”
“That’s good. When the storm quits by tomorrow morning or so, that would be a great idea. If we howled, that would really carry.”
“But that could keep everyone away.” She poured herself another cup of coffee.
“Unless people thought they might be able to see the wolves up close and paddle this way.”
“True. With cell phones or cameras in hand. If we saw a paddler, we could hide, shift, and come out, wave our hands, and call out.”
“Naked?” It was one thing to shift and be nude in front of other shifters. Sometimes, it was just inevitable, like being here with each other. In front of humans, there was a whole different set of moral codes.
She blushed a little. “Well, okay, one of us could be human and dressed.”
The w
ind began to pick up, and the lightning and thunder were right overhead. The rain came down in a torrent.
“I need to secure the food before it attracts wild animals.” Gavin had considered doing it before the storm started up again, but it had looked so dark that he knew the rain would come down any moment.
“Not until the storm stops. It’s too dangerous. Then I’ll help you.”
“All right.”
Amelia pulled off her wet boots and set them near the fire, then slipped off her socks and laid them out with their other wet clothes. “What do you want to do now?”
“Take a nap. And then when the weather breaks, I want to explore the island after we secure the food. I need to see if anyone else is staying here.”
“Are you going as a wolf?”
“Yes. I can cover a lot more ground and do so much more quietly.”
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“It would be best if someone stays with Winston to make sure he stays put. If we tie him up, he could be in trouble if a wolf or bear came along.”
“Agreed.” But Amelia sounded like she wished she could go with him.
He wished she could too, but if he found what he was looking for, he’d race back to their camp, and they could return as humans.
They lay down on the sleeping bag, and she rested against him. Even though he closed his eyes, he couldn’t stop thinking about how much she looked like the woman he had seen in Seattle. Where had he seen her before? If he could think of the location, he would remember.
Chapter 7
Neither Amelia nor Gavin had fallen asleep when he suddenly knew where he’d seen Amelia before. He never forgot a face. Especially one as lovely as hers.
“I remember where I saw you,” Gavin said, snapping his fingers.
She didn’t say anything for a moment, then said, “Really? Where?” She sounded worried that he’d recall he’d truly seen her, and he noted she didn’t deny it could be her this time.
“At a café in downtown Seattle. You were with some guy, laughing, and seemed to be having a good time. There you were, a beautiful blue-eyed blond. I’d just broken up with a woman. Or maybe I should say she broke up with me and started seeing another cop on the force.” Which was the best thing that could have happened to him. “I thought how fortunate the guy was to have you. The woman I had been dating had become so disagreeable that it was good seeing two people obviously in love.” Gavin frowned, noticing Amelia was really quiet, tense, worried.