by Terry Spear
“Conrad’s my client.”
“Okay, well, it’s definitely possible they’re having an affair. Cheryl tugged on his sleeve in a playful manner. I didn’t see what happened after that because I was busy with other things. The other man, Orwell Johnston, was dark-haired too, graying temples, and the woman who appeared to be with him was Mindy Michaels. There was also a redheaded woman named Nina Cavendish. My dad flew them up.”
“Nina must be the other executive. I can’t believe Mindy’s a sales associate with the firm.” Gavin still couldn’t believe the woman who had been involved in the pet theft ring in Alaska was here. He kept meaning to leave and grab firewood for a fire, but he wanted to hear what else Amelia had observed about the company’s party.
“Yeah. Shocker, isn’t it? But they didn’t get much time in jail for any of it. Typical, when it comes to pet theft. She was out on probation in a flash.”
“What about her husband? Did he come on this trip too?” Gavin asked. “I guess not if she’s working as a sales associate for the company and he’s not one of the executives.”
“They’re still together, as far as I know. I mean, they moved out of my neighborhood. I never heard where they ended up. He served six months in jail; she did a month. Back to the guy that you’re here about. It’s possible Conrad could be having an affair with any of them—Cheryl, the CEO, or the female executive. I doubt he was having an affair with Mindy. She appeared to be with Orwell.”
Gavin nodded. “It’s possible. Or he’s not having an affair with any of them.”
Amelia frowned a little at him. “When you’ve looked into cases of infidelity, how often do you find the client was right about his or her suspicions?”
“More often than not. Usually something the spouse does tips the husband or wife off. On occasion, the spouse is wrong and nothing is going on. Sometimes the spouse who hires me is really having the affair and is projecting on his wife or her husband. You meet all kinds in this business. Did you see anything going on between Conrad and the other women that might have indicated he was having an illicit affair with one of them?” He tugged on his boots.
Amelia tied on her boots. “No. They just seemed excited to be going on the trip, eager to get all their stuff loaded. They wanted to set up camp after paddling to their first location yesterday. I heard them talking about planning some work sessions for a couple of days while the storm passed through. I wondered how well that would go during a storm. Then again, it wasn’t supposed to be coming in until today. I thought it was an interesting way to conduct training.
“If I had known to look for something more, I might have seen some indication that Conrad had something going on with one of the other women. I really was more concerned with getting everything loaded and making sure my brother and dad didn’t leave anything or anyone behind.” She eyed him and sighed. “I’m so sorry you had another plane crash experience. And that I was the one piloting the plane this time.”
Gavin caught her hand and pulled her close. “You weren’t responsible for what happened to the plane.” He might have believed they’d neglected maintenance on it, but she figured he wouldn’t think the plane could have so many issues all at once. “The main thing is you got us down. We’re all alive. Except for some cuts and bruises, we’re okay.”
“Thanks, Gavin. I really feel bad about it.”
“All I’ve got to say is that this wolf isn’t meant to fly. I’ve been damn lucky to have survived a plane crash twice now. If the plane was sabotaged, which I believe to be the case, can you think of anyone who could have done it? Any idea?”
Even though the plane had malfunctioned, Amelia was still thinking about what she could have done differently to keep it from wrecking and sinking. She couldn’t thank Gavin enough for not being sore with her that she’d messed up his mission.
“I had a couple of thoughts. My dad fired a pilot working for us a couple of weeks ago. He had flown a group of passengers to this area. They complained when they returned, saying the pilot had been drinking alcohol.”
“Hell.” Gavin’s eyes narrowed as he listened.
“Yeah. That’s one thing my dad won’t allow. No drinking before takeoff, during the flight, or before returning. If you want to drink, you do it on your time.”
“I agree with him there.”
“The pilot is a gray wolf. A loner. At first I thought you were a gray wolf and could be part of his pack, and he’d lied about being a lone wolf. For all I knew, he’d had trouble with his pack over his drinking. Anyway, I’d only dated him twice when my dad canned him. I assumed he’d realize that was the end of anything between us, but he called me, wanting me to help get his job back and go out again. I lectured him about what he’d done, how he’d jeopardized people’s lives and the company’s reputation. I had no intention of dating him further. He wasn’t happy with me. Swore at me. I thought that was the last of it though. I figured he’d leave the area to find work somewhere else.”
“Revenge is definitely a plausible motive. You said you had another idea about who might have had a reason to sabotage the plane.”
“When we moved into the area, two seaplane adventure tour companies were already here. We saw they had enough business for the seasons when we fly paddlers in, or we would have found another place to try. They weren’t happy we cut into their business.”
“Did they threaten your dad? Or you and your brother?”
“Mostly, there was just competition—everyone trying to outdo each other. Though Slade got into a fight with a pilot who arrived at the same time as my brother at one of the drop-off points. For safety reasons, we coordinate with the other companies to work out schedules so we don’t come in on top of each other. Words were spoken, though they waited until the paddlers had taken off, thankfully. The other company’s pilot was in the wrong, but he wouldn’t admit it. My brother came home with a black eye, but he swore the other pilot looked worse.”
“Sounds like a possible motive to me.”
“I agree.” She sighed. “I’m hungry. Other than chasing down something to eat as a wolf, have you got some food in your bags that we could have for breakfast? I don’t want to eat all your provisions, but…anything would be good after all the exercise we had yesterday.”
“I was going to cook fresh eggs first thing in the morning.”
“Good thing you rescued the cooler. I couldn’t find Winston’s food in the plane though.”
“That blue sealed plastic box you stored in back with him near the dog bed?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t see it in the dark either and wasn’t really thinking of it at the time. Sorry, Winston.”
Winston lifted his head and wagged his tail.
“We’ll have to share some of our food with him. I was worried about what we could feed him that would be safe for a dog. As wolves, we can eat so much more than dogs can. I have fire starter logs, a one-burner stove, a lantern, fuel, and a Dutch oven. Though I had figured on wood for the fire. There’s plenty here if we can find some dry kindling beneath the layers of pine needles.” Gavin pulled on the rain jacket.
“As to food, I’ve got ham, bacon, bread, English muffins, oatmeal, brown sugar, peanuts, granola and protein bars, tuna fish, canned hash, mac and cheese, frozen beef stew, and some freeze-dried jerky. And I have a couple of fishing poles. I planned to pretend to be on a vacation in case I got ‘caught’ in the area where they’re staying. I always take two poles, in case somehow I lose one.” He set out his knife, hatchet, first aid kit, water, and purifier tablets.
“Great on the food. Do you have a gun with you?”
“Yeah, and a license to carry one and a permit to have it on me in the Boundary Waters.”
Amelia breathed a sigh of relief. If someone had really taken down the plane, the guy had to realize the accident could have killed everyone. What if he was out here,
making sure they hadn’t survived?
She put on the rain gear, and they headed out to bring in firewood and kindling. Winston immediately came with them. It was only lightly raining now.
“My dad was supposed to take you.”
“Yeah?” Gavin had his ax with him, but he found enough dead timber to use for the fire.
“If someone sabotaged his plane and wasn’t after any of the passengers, he must have been after my dad.” Then she had another thought as she gathered kindling that was drier underneath the wet stuff. “You seemed to dismiss my other theory, but what if whoever did this was after you? What if the man you’re trying to find dirt on knew his wife had hired you? He knew she would have given you his route, and you’d probably have used the same air service that took them there to learn what you could about them.”
“But how would he know which plane I’d be on?” His arms wrapped around a couple of logs, Gavin began to head back to their camp.
“Both my brother and I were scheduled to fly a different group of passengers out, and we were taking different routes, if he knew our schedules. That leads me back to the notion that our fired pilot tampered with the plane.” She sniffed at the air and smelled nothing new—no fresh bear scents indicating they’d returned, nor any scent making her believe a person had been in the area.
“Which means it has nothing to do with the case I’m on.” Gavin set the logs on the drier rocks partly under the tarp cover.
“Right. Heaton knew our schedule and the planes. So yeah, he’s my number one suspect.” She really believed that if anyone could do it, Heaton could. She handed Gavin the kindling. “Not only that, but he’d been a mechanic in the Air Force. Still, it’s hard to imagine him doing something so awful.”
“There have been so many cases of workplace violence that it could easily be that. He’s out of a job and will probably have a time getting another one, if anyone looks into his work history with your company. So, good motive. He’s thinking he’s taking down your dad, owner of the company, and wouldn’t know you swapped off with him until it was too late to change anything. I’m going to gather more firewood so it can dry out.” Gavin headed back into the woods.
Amelia frowned as she and Winston followed him again. “I agree.”
Gavin stared at something on the ground.
Not completely giving up on his case, in the event it had anything to do with what had happened, Amelia joined him and glanced down to see what he was looking at. Fresh piles of bear scat. “Conrad’s wife called you how far in advance before you booked with us?”
Armed with another load of wood, Gavin headed back. “A day and a half. Between packing and driving out to your place, I didn’t have a lot of time. Maybe Conrad had his wife’s phone bugged so he knew who she was calling and learned I was coming up here to follow them. Still, how would he have gotten someone to take care of the plane that quickly? It would have had to be done during the night when none of you were around. And again, how would he have known which plane I’d take?”
Amelia finished gathering more kindling and rushed after Gavin. “Heaton knew the schedule for the next three weeks from the time he was let go. Then things changed at the last minute. So, he wouldn’t have known about that unless he’d bugged our phones. I can’t imagine he would have done that. Are you sure the wife who hired you isn’t involved in this?”
Gavin paused and looked back at her. “Why would you suspect that?”
Amelia caught up to him, and they walked back together. “She hires the pilot, who has an ax to grind, to take down my dad’s plane, and you with it. Maybe she planned to pin the crash on her husband somehow. Maybe she’s not as concerned about proving he is having an affair as she is about giving him real trouble. She doesn’t have to pay him any money if he’s in jail when she divorces him, right?”
“Sounds way too fantastic to me. Though she did say she wanted me on the job. No one else.” Gavin pulled out one of his fire logs, put it on top of the drier kindling, and used a battery-operated fire starter. A little curl of smoke appeared. He blew on it, protecting it with the tarp.
Amelia frowned at him. “Is that usual, a client asking specifically for one of you?”
“No. We work together or separately, anyone taking on the cases that come to the office. We’re all highly trained, and none of us have had any issues with clients before. She said she’d had me investigated and liked what she’d seen, but if I didn’t take the job, she’d get someone else to do it—someone not in our agency.” He shrugged.
“Okay, well, you might not think it’s enough to raise a red flag, but I think it’s important to rule out any other possibility.”
He poked at the fire for a moment and looked up at her. “I still don’t think she’d have anything to do with this, but she did ask if I’d have to take a plane.”
“You mean, that you wouldn’t have time enough to paddle out here?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Even if there’s only a slim chance that means anything, it’s still something to consider.”
“Which means we need to look into her background.” Gavin didn’t say anything for a moment, then poked at the fire again. “What if she’s having an affair and wants a divorce? Then she’s stuck with giving him money because that’s in the prenup agreement. If he’s not guilty of any infidelity and she’s the one at fault, she pays.”
“Wow, okay. So it’s still a possibility.”
The flames started licking at the kindling and the starter log. “We need to get word to the authorities. I’m afraid everyone’s hunkered down and no one’s coming here to drop off or pick up anyone because of the storm.”
“Gavin.” Amelia moved closer to him, concerned the perp might still be in the area and listening to them. She couldn’t help breathing in Gavin’s sexy male wolf scent. “What if someone did sabotage the plane, and he came here to make sure the deed was done?”
“That’s…possible. As a cop, I watched for suspects who might be observing the scene of a crime. Some run, but some stick around, blend in, pretend to be a morbid spectator to see the reaction of the police and everyone else there. Sometimes to gloat. Sometimes to overhear if the police have any clues.” He took hold of her hand and squeezed it with reassurance. Then he released her, walked over to the cooler, and lifted the lid. “Eggs and sausage or bacon?”
“Eggs and bacon, please.”
“The bacon and sausage are precooked, so there’s no worry about cooking them thoroughly enough, though as wolf shifters, we can manage what humans can’t. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.”
“I agree. What can I do?”
“If you want to get some water for the coffee, that would be great. Purification tablets are in that container over there.” Gavin pulled off his rain jacket.
“Are the eggs scrambled, shells and all?”
Smiling, he pulled the container from the cooler. “No shells. I remove them first and keep the eggs refrigerated.” He eyed them in the clear plastic container. “Amazingly, they weren’t scrambled, so your choice.”
“Whatever way is easiest.”
She set the coffeepot next to the fire and got a dish and filled it with water for Winston.
Gavin poured a little olive oil into the skillet, then added the eggs and bacon. “Lemon and pepper seasoning all right on the eggs?”
“Yeah. Sounds good.”
Gavin considered the eggs. “Well, how about scrambled eggs?”
She glanced at them, saw two of the four yolks had broken, and smiled. “Sure, that works.”
“I hadn’t expected to have breakfast with a pretty wolf on this mission.”
“I hadn’t imagined I’d be waking up with a wolf this morning either.” She set the coffeepot on the campfire, then brought over a couple of plastic plates for the food. “I would have been sitting out on my small porc
h, enjoying the flowers, butterflies, and birds… Well, I guess not, because of the storms. I might have been watching a show or reading a book. Never in a million years would I believe Winston would still be with me and I’d be having breakfast on an island in the middle of a lake with a white wolf and sharing a cozy hideaway with him.”
Gavin laughed. “At least you had protection.”
“Winston? He adores you. No protection there.”
“I meant from the wild beasts in the woods.”
She chuckled, her stomach beginning to rumble in anticipation of eating a good breakfast.
“You don’t have that Taser with you, do you?” Gavin served up the eggs and bacon, then made them cups of coffee.
“No. I had it in the plane.” She noticed how his face brightened a bit. “Don’t look so relieved. If there’s a bad guy nearby, I would have used it on him.” She sat down on the sleeping bag and took a bite of her eggs. “This is like a five-star camping trip. Thanks.” She began eating a slice of bacon. “Everything is delicious.”
“Thanks. My dad loved to cook. He always said if you starve everyone enough before you feed them, they’ll love anything you cook for them. He was right.” He sat down next to her on the sleeping bag.
Amelia ate another strip of bacon. “Your dad was. Not that what he had to say has anything to do with what you prepared. It’s great. We did a lot of camping in Alaska, super place to enjoy the wilderness. We usually didn’t have anything this fancy for breakfast, just hot oatmeal and coffee or cocoa to get us started in the morning.”