“They should. It’s good wine.” Jake took another swallow.
“It is, and until last week, Miranda’s folks kept my folks well stocked with it. Understandably, the Randolph pack is being less generous with their wine. It’s all a mess, and sad, too. My parents get along great with her parents, or at least they used to. Now everyone’s tiptoeing around the subject of Bryce’s defection.”
Jake topped off their glasses. “If he comes back, can he fix this?”
“Probably. He can be a charmer.”
“So he could show up and convince everyone to forgive him?”
“Oh, yes. But he could also mate with a topless Vegas dancer simply to prove a point. When we were children he’d go along quietly for months, and then something would hit him wrong and he’d blow his stack in a rather spectacular fashion. I thought he’d outgrown that pattern, but apparently not.”
“I think we should blame it all on Duncan MacDowell.”
Giselle laughed. “Wish I could, but we all have free will, Jake.” She took another sip of her wine. “Let’s change the subject. I happen to know you didn’t fly all the way down here to talk about my brother. What’s up with WARM?”
“It’s growing.” He briefly described the trips he’d made and the network he’d created. After their food arrived, she encouraged him to elaborate, and he became so engrossed in his subject that he barely noticed what he was eating.
When the waitress came to clear their plates, he realized that he’d talked nonstop through the entire meal. “Sorry about that, Giselle. It’s a wonder I didn’t put you to sleep with that monologue.”
“I love listening to someone who’s passionate about a cause.”
“Yeah, for five minutes, maybe. After that it’s overkill.” He grinned at her. “I’m blaming Duncan MacDowell. The thought of that Were and all he stands for gets my blood pumping.”
“Well, it sounds like he has a worthy opponent in you.”
“Thanks for that. And now that I’ve bored you to death, can we stay for coffee so I can ask you what I came down here for?”
“Sure.” Giselle caught the waitress’s eye and ordered two coffees. Then she gazed across the table at Jake. “I’ll bet I know why you’re here.”
“Wouldn’t be hard to guess. I want you to head up the WARM organization here in San Francisco.”
“I can’t.”
He didn’t want to hear that. “Giselle, at least think about it.”
“I have.” She reached across and touched his arm as if in silent apology. “I knew that’s why you were coming down, so I’ve given it plenty of thought, but . . . I have several issues. One is that I’d have to resign from the council.”
“I know.” They’d served together on the council of the Worldwide Organization of Werewolves under Howard Wallace, the council’s first president. Although Jake had resigned, Giselle was still a member.
“I believe in WOW, Jake. I think I can do some good by being on the council.”
“I used to think that you could help balance the scales, but I’m not sure that’s possible. Considering that Howard’s two sons are mated with humans, we can guess how the organization is going to evolve.”
“You might be surprised. Now that Kate and Duncan are mated, she’s having a steadying influence on WOW and on Duncan, too.”
“You’re sure that’s not wishful thinking?” Jake still felt betrayed by that union. Kate used to be a powerful leader in the movement to end Were-human sexual involvement. How she’d ended up with Duncan, who held the opposite view, was a mystery to Jake, and he didn’t see how any good could come of it.
“I know he’s still fire and brimstone on his blog, but privately he’s less convinced he has all the answers. I know you think he’s corrupted our Kate, but the sword cuts both ways. I also trust Howard not to send us off a cliff.”
The coffee arrived, which gave Jake a chance to regroup. He waited until she’d doctored hers with cream before throwing out a revised suggestion. “Okay, so forget heading up the San Francisco division of WARM. You can work in the background and we’ll put someone else in that position, someone you handpick.” He lifted the coffee mug to his lips.
“I can’t do that, either.”
He set the mug back down without drinking. “Why not?”
“It’s all tied in with my brother. Before he left, I had my hands full as the chief accountant for Landry Enterprises. Now I’m doing that plus some of the board duties Bryce handled. Both Mom and Dad had to step back into positions they’d turned over to Bryce, as well.”
“You must be ready to wring his neck.”
Her fingers tightened around her coffee mug. “Pretty much. But that said, I’m going to tone down my activism for the time being. Bryce might screw up and mate with a human, and if he does, I’ll be the family peacemaker. I always have been. So I need to leave myself some middle ground to stand on.”
Jake knew when he was fighting a losing battle. “I understand. But if you’d be willing to recommend someone else from this area, that would help me.”
“Be happy to. I know who would be perfect. I’ll introduce you to Evan when we take our run tomorrow night.”
“Do you have time for the run? Sounds to me as if you’re stretched thin.” Concern for her schedule wasn’t his main reason for asking. With the evening drawing to a close, he became aware of a growing urge to scrap the rest of his plans and hop on a plane bound for home.
When he’d left Polecat this morning, he’d been intent on putting distance between himself and Rachel. He’d accomplished that, but instead of relief, he was battling an uneasy feeling that he needed to be at home to keep an eye on things. He might have underestimated Rachel’s determination to find that big black wolf.
“It’s all planned, and I’d have some disappointed Weres if we didn’t do it . . . unless you have to get back sooner. In which case, we’ll run without you, I guess.”
“No, no, I don’t have to get back.” He just felt compelled to. Maybe he was spooked for no reason. “I’d love to take that run. It’ll give me a chance to talk with Evan.”
“Then the run’s a go. I didn’t ask you how long you were staying. I hope at least a few more days, so you can enjoy the city.”
“That would be nice, but my flight leaves the morning after our run.” That hadn’t been his original itinerary, but it was now. Maybe he was being ridiculous to think Rachel might snoop around his place while he was gone. But he also couldn’t remember locking his back slider.
Damn, he might not have, because he was so used to leaving it unlocked. Surely Rachel wouldn’t consider actually going into his place uninvited, though. Yet he remembered her fury when he’d denied having a wolf on the premises. He hadn’t lied. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t a wolf. He only looked like one sometimes.
But she’d acted as if she thought he was hiding something, which he was. She also believed her “wolf” was being neglected. By him. Her love of wolves might cause her to do something uncharacteristic, like trespassing on his property.
Well, so what if she did? She wouldn’t find a wolf or any conclusive evidence one had been there. But if she went so far as to dig through his stuff . . . that possibility made him as nervous as hell. Yeah, he needed to get back, the sooner the better.
“It’s a shame you can’t stay longer,” Giselle said. “But if anybody understands tight schedules, it’s me.”
“Yep.” Jake sipped his coffee. “I can’t let anything slip through the cracks.”
Chapter 9
Rachel had spent an inordinate amount of time driving around the lake, hoping to catch a glimpse of the wolf somewhere near Jake’s cabin. Even so, she didn’t immediately figure out that he’d left town. But when she phoned the general store at closing time to casually ask Ted about it, he confirmed that Jake was gone.
Ted had agreed to collect Jake’s mail from the rural box by the road, as usual. “He went to Frisco for some reason,” he informed Rachel. �
��Said he’d be home day after tomorrow. You need to see him?”
She was ready for the question. “I’m planning to take some day hikes for inspiration. I thought he could help me figure out the best options.”
“I thought you were mad at him.”
Trust good old Ted to come up with the significant point of the discussion. “I am, but he’s an expert in this field, so I can’t let my irritation keep me from getting good advice, right?”
“I suppose not. That’s a very mature attitude to take, Rachel.”
“Thank you. I thought so, too.” Good thing she was on the phone instead of looking straight at Ted. If he could have seen her face, he would have realized she was handing him a line of bull. Phones were an excellent invention. “Well, gotta go.”
“Right. See you later.”
She hung up quickly because she wanted to hotfoot it over to Jake’s now that she knew he was gone. Too bad she hadn’t tweaked to it sooner, but at least she had tonight and tomorrow to snoop. Somewhere on his property she would find evidence of a wolf. Then she would confront him with it.
Grabbing her backpack, she climbed into her truck and drove around the lake. But as she started to park in front of his cabin, she thought better of it. Several yards beyond his cabin, an old logging road wound back into the woods. That would work.
She passed his cabin, turned off there, and parked where her truck couldn’t be seen from the road. Might as well not advertise her presence. Polecat was a small community and she’d rather not have anyone ask why she’d been at Jake’s. Aside from not wanting to state her reason for being there, she wouldn’t want anyone to think she was a friend of his.
She definitely was not. Although he had the gall to deny it, he was harboring a wolf, and not very humanely at that. Initially she’d told him that she wouldn’t turn him in to the authorities, but he’d destroyed her goodwill with his arrogant attitude. The wolf was the only thing keeping her from calling the law down on Jake’s head. She didn’t want to cause that poor animal any more stress than it had already endured.
Maybe if she went over there, the wolf would come out of hiding. She wondered if Jake had made any provision for it before he jetted off to San Francisco. The more she thought about his cavalier behavior toward such a magnificent animal, the more she fumed.
With her truck tucked out of sight, she slipped on her pack and walked back to his cabin. She’d start in the back because she wouldn’t expect to find the wolf anywhere near the road. She had dog treats in the backpack, along with a collar and leash. She’d bought the supplies the day after her run-in with Jake and had taken the precaution of driving forty miles to another small town’s general store so she wouldn’t arouse Ted’s suspicions. She’d kept the dog treats and leash with her whenever she’d gone out searching for the wolf.
She hoped that the treats might convince the wolf to let her collar and leash him. Then she’d use more treats to coax him back to her truck. She had no compunction about stealing the wolf out from under the nose of an untrustworthy person like Jake, but the wolf might not cooperate. When she’d had him at her place, he had been hell-bent on getting back over here.
The wolf’s devotion to a man who had only a casual interest in his pet’s welfare stuck in her craw. Such unquestioning loyalty reflected well on the wolf, but he might pay dearly for it if Jake shipped him off to a zoo or a sanctuary in the near future. She couldn’t bear the thought.
If she couldn’t steal the wolf, she might have to negotiate with Jake to buy him. But first she had to get that infuriating man to admit he had such an animal. Every time she pictured him standing there stony-faced while he lied through his teeth, she felt like hitting something. Like him.
She was so wrapped up in her murderous thoughts that she almost stepped on an outstanding piece of evidence. With a soft cry, she leaped back before she crushed an imprint in the moist earth next to the lake. The paw print was large, and while it could have been made by a dog, she knew it hadn’t been.
Stepping carefully, she discovered several similar paw prints. Taking out her camera phone, she snapped pictures of them before following the trail that led directly to Jake’s deck. Let him deny this. She took more pictures to document what she considered concrete evidence.
Once on the deck, she glanced around. When she’d used her binoculars to scan the area, she hadn’t paid much attention to Jake’s outdoor furniture. He had an expensive gas grill and an elevated patio table surrounded by four tall chairs. Probably suited a big guy like him.
Finally she walked over to the slider and peered in. No wolf stood on the other side. No doubt the slider was locked, but she tugged on it anyway, for good measure. It glided open smoothly, as if recently cleaned and oiled.
Heart pounding, she quickly closed it. She was willing to trespass on the outside of his property, but going into his house when he wasn’t home was a whole different level of invasion. On top of that, the wolf might be inside silently guarding the house.
She didn’t think the animal would attack her after recently saving her life, but she would be encroaching on his master’s territory. That might change the rules. Turning away from the unlatched slider, she studied the deck, not sure what she might be looking for.
There! Crouching down, she examined some bits of black hair caught between the deck’s weathered gray floorboards. She took pictures of that, too. Unfortunately, Jake had hair just like it, so this bit of evidence wasn’t so telling.
But he couldn’t explain the paw prints, unless he had the ability to change into a wolf and . . . She gasped and went very still. Now, there was a crazy thought—a completely impossible concept that had no business taking up residence in her brain.
Standing, she gazed out over the lake toward her cabin, as if the familiar sight of her house and her workshop would help ground her in reality and wipe out that scary idea she’d just come up with. If anyone could read her mind right now, they’d ship her off to a mental ward. Sure, legends were fun to think about, but nobody actually believed in such things as . . . werewolves.
Suddenly breathing became a real chore and her stomach didn’t feel so good, either. She was letting her imagination run away with her again, of course. Werewolves existed only in books. They didn’t live in cabins on Polecat Lake, drive trucks, and run trekking companies.
Except that would explain everything. She remembered the angry red welts on Jake’s torso, welts that were on the same side as the wounds the wolf had received from the bear’s claws. Jake’s nose had been bruised, too, as if someone had hit him. Someone with a baseball bat.
The air was soft and warm on this summer evening, but Rachel couldn’t stop shivering. No doubt this was a horrible nightmare and she’d wake up from it in a few minutes. She pinched herself, and it hurt like hell. So much for that remedy.
The cry of a hawk overhead caused her to glance up . . . and remember. Years ago she’d been obsessed with Ladyhawke, a movie about two lovers placed under a spell. At night he’d turned into a wolf and at dawn she’d become a hawk. Rachel’s young heart had been captured by the love story, and she’d watched that movie over and over.
Had the story stuck in her mind and emerged now to create this wild scenario? Possibly. Her imagination could be her greatest asset or her biggest enemy. Even her friends said so.
And wait. Jake had a grill, for crying out loud. A werewolf wouldn’t need a grill. So there. The grill and the patio furniture were both normal guy stuff that didn’t fit with her goofy werewolf idea at all.
Also, she’d allowed herself to become too invested in the fate of Jake’s pet wolf. Of course he had one, and it was either in his cabin or in hiding somewhere. Jake might not have any intention of sending it to a zoo, either. Yes, she owed that wolf a lot, but he seemed happy enough here with Jake.
She might want to start minding her own business. She had a commissioned work in progress, and her client would be expecting it to be finished and hanging in the lobby of his o
ffice building within the next month. Taking a deep breath, she started back down the steps of Jake’s deck. Time to head home, brew a nice pot of tea, and get back to work.
Before she did that, though, she’d call her parents. She hadn’t done that in a couple of weeks. Inviting them up for a visit sounded like a really good idea, too.
She imagined how great it would be to see her mom and dad again, and the fun they could have grilling outside, just like her neighbor Jake, who was certainly not a werewolf, while they enjoyed the view of the lake and the mountains. She was a good ten steps away from Jake’s deck when she admitted why that image appealed to her so much.
She was scared to death. Scared and running away from something that might be outside the bounds of her experience. Way outside. Like a little girl, she wanted her mommy and daddy to make everything nice and safe again.
But damn it, she’d seen those welts on Jake’s torso and the bruise on his nose. She hadn’t imagined them, and she hadn’t imagined a wolf that had shown up right when she needed saving from a bear. Maybe that hadn’t been a coincidence, after all.
Jake had been careless enough to leave his sliding door open. Or maybe it was an ingrained habit. The wolf, who might or might not be Jake, needed an unlatched slider for easy entrance and exit.
She’d come this far. If she left now without checking inside his house, she might never learn the truth. She might search the place and find nothing conclusive, but at least she would have made use of this time while he was gone.
Retracing her route and climbing the steps back up to his deck took more courage than she’d expected. She felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. The wolf, an actual one, might still be inside the cabin, though, and she needed to be careful.
Then she thought of the message taught by the fairy tale. Despite his fearsome looks, that beast hadn’t been dangerous. She had no reason to fear the wolf, either. The creature that had attacked the bear, whatever that creature was, had been intent on her safety, not her destruction.
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