Legend of the White Wolf

by Terry Spear

Page 11

 

  "Six in the morning?" Hell, he thought that was just this morning's schedule, a way to get ahead of the incoming snowstorm.

  "Yes, that's when I'm always raring to go. "

  "I thought this was a vacation for you. " Now maybe he'd get the truth out of her.

  The sound of her laughter was lighthearted and fun loving. "My internal alarm clock wakes me at five every morning. It's amazing what I can accomplish by getting up early. "

  "Maybe you just haven't had the right incentive to stay in bed yet. " He was afraid his smile was a little too wolfish when her cheeks blossomed with color, but the coy smile she offered in return made her eyes sparkle with humor.

  She saluted him with her cup of green tea. He saluted her back with the awful stuff.

  Yeah, he'd make it worth her while to stay in bed until it was a decent wake-up time in the morning. Especially if he couldn't have a cup of coffee first thing.

  Now, he was glad he'd brought his made-especially for-couples sleeping bag. And to think the reason he'd taken that one and not his single sleeper was it would serve more like real bedding while he stayed in the cabin, and truthfully, it was lighter weight and easier to compress than his old one. For the first time, he didn't mind that an earlier girlfriend had ditched him before they had the chance to try it out. Or that his latest girl friend wouldn't have taken a step in any direction that had to do with sleeping bags.

  If he could just get a good fix on his friends and maybe even help Faith with whatever reason she was really here, this could turn out to be a nice little getaway. Notwithstanding that they had to get word to the police in Millinocket whenever they could that their snowmo biles had been stolen.

  After eating lunch, Cameron helped clear away the dishes. Without snowmobiles, or the lodge owners in residence at the moment, there wasn't much else to do with the snowstorm still pelting them, but hunker down in the cabin… or…

  Cameron glanced back in the direction of the main lodge. The cedar hot tub was supposed to be fired up nightly. Two heated shower facilities with flush toilets were connected to it. Since no one was here to object, maybe he'd heat up the hot tub a little early.

  "Did you bring a swimsuit?" he asked.

  Faith stopped putting some of her sweaters in a drawer of a small three drawer chest and looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Lake's frozen solid. And I'm not a member of the polar bear swim club either. "

  "I was thinking more in the line of a hot tub. "

  Her expression brightened considerably. "Oh, I forgot about that. " Then she seemed subdued again. "But the owners aren't here. " She returned to the kitchen and pulled the cans of groceries from a plastic sack, then tucked them under the cabinet.

  "And the owners should be in residence. Besides, we wouldn't do anything they wouldn't do if they were here. So I figure, why not?"

  She shook her head. "I thought you were an Eagle Scout. "

  "I am, but…" He shrugged. "So, do you have a swimsuit?"

  Looking thoughtful, she pulled a golden curl behind her ear, which made him want to nibble her lobe, right then and there.

  "I wonder how many other guests are here?"

  She was going for it! And he bet she didn't have a swimsuit.

  "Not many. Looked like at least half of the eight cabins were under renovation, closed tight. I saw lights on in one of the remaining ones. None on in the other. And of course there's mine, which is vacant. Otherwise, that's it. "

  "One renter. Could be an active family with tons of kids. What if they showed up about the time we did our illegal firing up of the hot tub in the late afternoon? Here we'd be, snuggled down in the hot soupy water, and kids with floaties would pour onto the deck, chattering, and laughing, and—"

  "I'll heat up the hot tub and be right back. " He didn't wait for another objection—if she was even going to offer one—shoved his jacket on, and hurried outside.

  He thought about what she might wear for their excursion. Something pink and lacy? White, maybe? Daring red? Black and seductive?

  The stiff wind hit him with a blast of snow. He wished he hadn't been in such a hurry and had taken his goggles and ski hat. Next trip, when he escorted his date to the spa, he'd be better prepared.

  When he reached the deck attached to the shower house, he plowed through the snow and retracted the cover on the spa. Steam rose from the heated water. He pulled off a glove and stuck his hand in. Warm, not really hot. After turning the heat up and the jets on, he pulled his glove back on and rubbed his hands. Billions of bubbles popped up, creating a white foam, soon hiding the Caribbean blue marble effect on the walls of the circular tub.

  He would have opted for one that was couple-sized, but the spa looked like it could hold six to seven adults, not half as cozy as he would have liked. And the awful thought it could be filled with lots of kids came to mind. He turned on the lights around the edge of the tub, then found a snow shovel in a utility shed, and cleared as much of a path on the deck as he could up to the cedar surrounded spa from the changing rooms. He envisioned Faith in the tub with him and how hot things could get if he and Faith could have more privacy. Too bad they didn't have one inside their own cabin.

  Then he went inside the changing room to warm it up so they could shed the majority of their clothes. A gust of bitter cold wind blew in through the doorway and he turned, thinking Faith couldn't wait to join him. But no, it was some other woman, and he felt a pang of disappointment. If she was a guest, that was the end of his plans to share some private time with Faith. But then he wondered if this woman was one of the owners ready to give him a dressing down for heating up the hot tub without permission.

  "Lila Grayson," she said, slamming the door shut behind her with a lot more force than needed.

  Lila Grayson, the one from Back Country Tours—it hit him as odd that she'd arrive here of all places. Wearing ski boots, an ivory wool sweater, and ski pants, she looked ready for cold weather expeditions, minus the ski jacket. Tangled by the wind, her platinum blond hair drifted past her shoulders. Her golden eyes wary, she was a looker, with skin the same color as her clothes and ruby lips glossed for show. High angled cheekbones gave her the look of a movie star, but her tiny nose contradicted that image. She pulled off her glove and extended a hand.

  "Cameron MacPherson," he said, shaking her hand. "You run Back Country Tours?" Now maybe he'd get some answers concerning his friends.

  She lifted her nose and sniffed. "You were in my office earlier today? Along with a woman friend? Found one of my employees dead, according to the police?"

  So, she hadn't just happened to run across him here. She was investigating him.

  "Yeah, I was looking for you or your partner, Kintail Silverman. Two of my friends went on a hunt and haven't returned. "

  "Owen and David are quitting. Haven't they told you?" She raised a brow and smiled just a hint, but it was icy like her whole demeanor.

  "Quitting the hunt. "

  "No, quitting your business. They're going up north with us, joining our hunting guide team. They're tired of the P. I. work. Didn't they tell you?"

  Cameron stared at the woman as if she'd managed to turn him into a frog. "I'll hear it from them first. "

  "Owen said he called your partner, Gavin. Said he told him they were quitting the business. Since you were…"—she smiled—"checking out our office, I figured you might not have gotten the official word yet. "

  "I'll get the official word directly from them. "

  "Hmm," she purred and took a step toward him, and he envisioned a lioness on a hunt, her eyes fixed on him, just waiting for the right moment to pounce and rip out his jugular. She reached her hand out and trailed her fingernails down his sweater. "Maybe you could quit your job, too. Come join us. "

  That's when the door suddenly opened and Faith stalked inside, a frozen smile on her lips, her eyes narrowed in a confrontational way. She looked
as though she was ready to punch out her competition, and he loved it. "Forgot your towel, honey. " Faith waved the blue towel at him and slid her arm around his waist, snuggling up next to him. She gave Lila a get-lost look.

  He was ready to play the lover's role for real.

  Lila sniffed the air. "She's the one with you at my office this morning. Are you looking for his partners, too? Or something else?" she asked Faith.

  Faith stiffened. "Office? You're from Back Country Tours?"

  "Lila Grayson. "

  "I'm looking for Trevor Hodges. He works for you, right?"

  Her smile faked, Lila said, "Not of late. What did you want him for?"

  "He guided my father on a… tour. I wanted to see the route they took. "

  Lila narrowed her eyes. "And you are?"

  "Faith O'Malley. "

  The woman's eyes widened a little in recognition. Then she smiled slyly. "Well, old Trevor Hodges could be anywhere out there. " She waved her hand around in the direction of Baxter Park and the surrounding woods. Then she glanced outside at the steamy spa. "Don't want to let your water get cold. " She smiled again at Cameron. "Offer still stands, if you decide to come work with us. "

  "Have David and Owen meet me at the lodge, and I'll hear for myself if they plan to quit our partnership. "

  "I'll be sure to give them the message. " Lila whipped around and headed out of the building, shoving the door against the wall as she left the place.

  Faith hurried to close the door against the blowing wind.

  "Why did she recognize your name?" Cameron asked, pulling off his sweater.

  "Dad seems to have made an impression on a lot of people. And she might have met him when he hired Trevor to take him on the tour. " Faith dumped her ski coat on one of the cedar benches.

  "I thought maybe there'd been some trouble when your father came on his trip here. At least the way Lila responded it sounded that way. "