When the Wolf Prowls: A Cimarron/Melbourne Thriller - Book Three

by Vanessa Prelatte

  Rick closed the lid of the trunk and addressed the state troopers once again. “I’ve arranged for the CBI’s regional facility in Pueblo to send down a CSR team to process the car and the surrounding crime scene. Maybe they’ll get lucky and turn up some fingerprints or some other useful evidence. Meanwhile, what about tire tracks? Any evidence of vehicles other than the one driven here by the witness who found the car?”

  This time it was the shorter trooper who answered the question.

  “We didn’t find any. Not surprising, given the amount of rain we’ve had lately. A lot of evidence has probably been washed away.”

  Rick nodded and started back to his own car. Dawn fell into step beside him. Rick glanced at her and said, “Thoughts?”

  “He took Kit and Zoe, but he didn’t take their purses or their suitcases. And when Zoe was found, she was wearing clothes that obviously didn’t belong to her. So he has a place, and I’m willing to bet it’s in this general vicinity. A place he could take them, hold them for a while.”

  “I’m inclined to agree with you,” Rick said.

  Back at his own car, Rick pulled out his map once again. Spreading it out, he tapped a finger on their present location, just south of Colorado City.

  “He nabbed Kit and Zoe here. Now, we can calculate how far he drove from his starting point by using the information you and your partner got from the convenience store clerk. The clerk told you that Foxe said he had driven nearly two hundred miles. It’s only about a hundred seventy miles from here to Mountpelier. That’s a thirty mile difference. Add to that the fact that Kit and Zoe disappeared on Sunday, but according to the coroner’s report, Zoe was killed sometime late on Monday night or early Tuesday morning. That means Foxe has some place nearby where he kept Zoe, Kit, and the other woman.”

  Rick used a compass to draw a thirty mile radius around the spot where Kit’s car was found.

  “We need to comb this area. Show Foxe’s picture everywhere. See if anyone recognizes it. We can start with the hotel in Colorado City where Kit and Zoe spent the night and work our way back to the restaurant they ate at in Pueblo. Along the way, we can stop and canvass the gas stations and fast-food joints off each of the Interstate exits between here and Pueblo.

  “Meanwhile, I’ll coordinate with the state and local police and see if they can start canvassing the areas in the southern and western portions of the search area. Maybe we’ll catch a break, and someone will recognize Foxe’s photograph.”

  “And then, if you’ll excuse the play on words, we’ll have a better chance of tracing the fox back to his lair,” Dawn said with a grin.

  As it turned out, Dawn’s optimism was unfounded. Although the staff at the hotel recognized Kit and Zoe, none of them had any recollection of seeing a man who looked like Marc Foxe, or anyone else who had paid undue attention to the two girls. They drew a blank also at the various gas stations and fast-food outlets clustered around the exits off I-25.

  When they reached Pueblo and questioned the wait-staff at the restaurant where Kit and Zoe had stopped to eat, the results were the same as those from the hotel. Some of the staff recognized the girls, but no one had seen the man in the photograph.

  As they walked out of the restaurant, Rick said abruptly, “Look, it’s late. We should find a place to stay, call it a night. Unless you feel like making the drive back to Mountpelier tonight.”

  “I’m fine with staying here overnight,” Dawn responded. “But I need to stop at the store first and pick up a few things. A change of clothes, toiletries, that sort of thing. I didn’t bring my go-bag.”

  “I’ll drop you off at the store while I make hotel arrangements,” Rick offered.

  “Fine. I’ll be back in a few.”

  While she was in the store, Dawn took the opportunity to send a text to Ty:

  Case has taken me down to Pueblo. Sorry, but I need to stay here for the night.

  Ty responded almost immediately: It’s really late. Had almost given up on you. Thought I was in for more of the silent treatment.

  Dawn took a deep breath and texted back: No more silent treatment. I promised. It’s just been a long day. We had some really hot leads we had to follow up on.

  We? Who are you working with? Noritaki?

  I wish, but no such luck. I’ve been assigned a new temporary partner. Brace yourself. He’s CBI, and it’s just my luck that it turned out to be Rick.

  It took a minute or two this time before Ty responded.

  Rick Rikovsky? As in your ex-fiancé?

  That would be the one.

  He make a move on you?

  He’s been testing the waters.

  Oh? And how are the waters?

  Frigid. Think glaciers, Arctic cold.

  Good to know. When will u be home?

  Not sure. I’ll keep in touch.

  Do that, Dawn. Do that. And there’s one thing I want you to remember.

  What’s that?

  I love you. That’s the most important thing.

  I love you too. Look, I have to go now. Talk to you in the morning, okay?

  Okay. Talk to you then.

  Ty put his cell phone away and looked at Brody, who was leaning against the pool table, arms folded.

  “From the scowl on your face, I get the feeling that there’s trouble in paradise,” Brody observed.

  “It’s nothing. Dawn has to spend the night in Pueblo, that’s all.” When Brody raised his eyebrows, Ty added, “It’s work-related. No big deal.”

  “Right. No big deal. Uh-huh. Not buying that for a second, Lew. Time to 'fess up, buddy. What’s going on between you and Dawn?”

  “We had a little disagreement at the hospital yesterday.”

  “Disagreement? What about?”

  Ty quickly filled Brody in concerning what had happened in the hospital cafeteria and Dawn’s reaction to it.

  When he was finished, he concluded, “It was no big deal. All I did was look. All guys do that. A man who stops looking might as well be dead.”

  “All you did was look? I can’t see Dawn getting so upset if that’s all that happened.”

  “Okay. Maybe I did more than look. Maybe I flirted a little. But from a distance, Brody. I didn’t touch the woman. I didn’t even say a word to her. It’s like I told Dawn. It didn’t mean anything.”

  “From what I know of women, it matters to them. Body language counts, Lew. I hate to break this to you, but you’re going to have to apologize.”

  “Well, I wasn’t doing anything seriously wrong, so I shouldn’t have to apologize.”

  “That’s right. Theoretically, you don’t have to apologize.”

  “Theoretically? What do you mean by that?”

  “Well, there are theories and there are theories. There’s a whole spectrum of theories. Like on one end of the spectrum, there are well-respected theories. Like quantum theory, for example. And then, on the other end of the spectrum, there’s the theory of phrenology.”

  “Phrenology? You mean that whacked-out theory that you can tell how smart people are by feeling the bumps on their heads?”

  “That’s the one. So, like I was saying, there’s a spectrum. Guess which end of the spectrum I think that your theory about not having to apologize falls on? Here’s a hint: it’s not on the quantum theory end.”

  “You seriously think I have to apologize? For just a little harmless flirting?”

  “I’m not saying you have to do anything. Just pointing out that some theories stand on mighty shaky ground.”

  “Well, you’re not married. It’s different when you’re married.”

  “Right. You have to apologize more often.”

  “Well, that’s kind of hard to do, given that she’s barely speaking to me. Not to mention the fact that she’s down in Pueblo with her ex-fiancé.”

  “She’s in Pueblo with her ex-fiancé? I thought you told me that the reason she was in Pueblo is work-related.”

  “It is. The CBI has apparently horned in on the c
ase, and her ex- fiancé is a CBI agent. He was assigned to work with her.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Special Agent Adam Rikovsky. ‘Rick’, for short.”

  “And she was engaged to him? What happened? Why did they call it off?”

  “She caught him in bed with another woman. You know Dawn. No way she was going to forgive that.”

  “So she got burned by her ex-fiancé. Must have hurt her really bad, Lew.”

  “Yeah. She already had all sorts of commitment issues even before that, because of what happened to her family. She shied away from any sort of intimate relationship for a long time after that. It was a big risk, a big step, for her to get engaged to Rick. And when he messed it up, she was determined not to take that kind of risk again.”

  “She ended up marrying you, didn’t she?”

  “Well, yeah, but…”

  “But what? C’mon, Lew – give.”

  “I got her drunk, okay? It’s the only way I could get her to the altar. And as soon as she sobered up and got her bearings again, she wanted to get a divorce.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. And you can’t tell anyone. Not even Mom and Dad know. All anyone knows is that we eloped and got married in Las Vegas.”

  Brody reached for a beer and took a swallow. “Okay, Lew. Thanks for the info. Now I have a question for you: what are you doing here?”

  “What do you mean by that? You know exactly what I’m doing here. I’m sitting here in my house pouring out my guts to you.”

  “Let me rephrase my question. What are you doing here in Mountpelier? Your wife is down in Pueblo with her ex-fiancé. Why aren’t you on your way down there to join her?”

  “If I do that, it means I’ll be making the first move. I’m tired of being the one who makes the first move.”

  “She texted you, right? I’d call that the first move.”

  “She’s still mad, and I still don’t get why she’s making such a big deal about it. I don’t think she’s ready to cease hostilities yet.”

  “Cease hostilities? Now, there’s a thought. You know what that’s called in a real war, Lew? It’s called a truce.”

  Ty brightened up at the suggestion. He was a military man. Truces were good. He could do a truce.

  Chapter 31

  True to her word, it took Dawn less than fifteen minutes to pick up what she needed and return to the car.

  “You find us a hotel?” she asked Rick.

  “Yeah. It’s not too far away. Maybe ten minutes or so.”

  When they pulled into the parking lot at the hotel a short time later, Rick looked at Dawn and said suggestively, “So – what do you think? It would be a shame to book two rooms when only one would do.”

  “One room? Only in your dreams, Rick. And you go first. Then let me know what floor they’ve put you on. I’ll make sure they put me on a different one.”

  She opened the passenger-side door, swiveled in her seat, and exited the car gracefully. Leaning back in for the bags containing her purchases, she caught Rick’s eyes. He still hadn’t moved out of his seat.

  Rubbing his neck, Rick said, “How about a late dinner, then? You’ve hardly eaten anything all day.”

  Dawn bestowed a thin smile upon him.

  “The store I stopped at had a sandwich shop inside. I picked up something to eat from there. I’ll be having dinner by myself, in my room.”

  She straightened up, shut the car door, and began walking toward the entrance of the hotel. She heard a door bang behind her, and within seconds, Rick was at her side. A sidelong glance at him confirmed the fact that there was a scowl of displeasure on his face. Good.

  She looked around the lobby as they entered. It was not a bad place, she decided. Not top-of-the-line, but not a dump, either. The Internet travel sites would probably have rated it at about two point five.

  The problem was that since she had married Ty, she’d left all the travel arrangements to him. And for Ty, it was five-star hotels all the way.

  She gave herself a shake. She wasn’t going to think about Ty. She was getting spoiled, she decided. It was a perfectly good hotel.

  They stopped at the front desk to register. The desk clerk beamed at them. “You two need a room for the night?”

  “Rooms, plural,” Dawn responded. Jerking her thumb at Rick, she said, “Him first.”

  After Rick had finished registering, she asked him, “What floor did they put you on?”

  Shoving his hands in his pockets, he growled, “Second floor.”

  “Great,” she said. To the desk clerk, she said, “Got anything on the third floor for me?”

  The desk clerk blinked, but responded, “Uh – yeah. I can put you on the third floor. No problem.”

  After he handed her the key card to her room, Dawn smiled and said, “Thanks.”

  She turned around, spotted the elevator, and started toward it. Rick fell into step beside her.

  He was silent as they rode up in the elevator together. When the car stopped on the second floor, he said, “See you later, Cimarron. Maybe I’ll come up and visit you.”

  “I wouldn’t, Rick. I’d hate to see you make the trip for nothing.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. You never know your luck.”

  *****

  Unfortunately, luck seemed to have deserted Danny, Kit, and Sherri. They had been making good progress earlier in the day, but suddenly Danny had stopped.

  “Wait a minute,” Danny ordered. Kit and Sherri stopped in their tracks. They saw Danny, who was in the lead, bend down and examine something on the ground.

  “Is something wrong?” Kit inquired.

  “Bear scat,” Danny replied briefly. “Wait here. I’m going to scout ahead a little.”

  He walked a little farther along the path, but then he stopped, for he had seen what he dreaded to see.

  Returning to Kit and Sherri, he said, “We have a problem.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Black bears on the path up ahead. A female with two cubs. Luckily, we’re downwind, so they haven’t scented us yet.”

  “I thought that black bears weren’t known for attacking humans,” Kit commented.

  “They’re not as notorious as brown bears or grizzlies, but attacks have been known to happen. Especially when the bears are hungry, or protecting cubs.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “We’re going to have to go another way. It’ll take us longer, but it’s the smart thing to do. If we had a rifle or two, we might try to go around them, but with only one knife between us, I’m not willing to take the chance.”

  “All right,” Kit said, resigned. “Which way do we go now?”

  “There’s another path, one that climbs up the side of the mountain. The problem is that we’ll have to backtrack a little to get to it, and it will take us longer. It’s not nearly as direct a route as this one. So we won’t be able to reach the cabin by tonight. We’ll have to find shelter and camp out for one more night.”

  With that, Danny turned around and resolutely led them back the way they had come.

  “Isn’t there another way?” Kit asked doubtfully. She was staring at the path Danny was heading for, a narrow path that snaked up along the mountainside.

  “There are other ways,” Danny replied. “But they are all really out of the way, and they are all open – no cover. He’d spot us for sure, if he’s tracking us.”

  Indicating the mountain trail, Danny insisted, “This is the best way to go. He’s less likely to figure we’d go this way.”

  “Yeah – he’d have to figure we would be crazy to make the attempt,” Kit commented dryly. “Your father and your uncle actually took you up this way?”

  “Just once,” Danny admitted. “They wanted me to know this way, just in case.”

  Privately, he was a little scared, but he refused to show it. Going up this way with his dad in front and Uncle Luke just behind him was one thing. But leading the way himself? T
hat was a whole different ball game. He shook the feeling off. A man did what he had to.

  “I’ll go first,” Danny said briskly. “Sherri, you follow me. Kit, you’ll follow Sherri. Remember to hug the cliff. Don’t get too near the edge.”

  Danny started up the path. At first, it wasn’t so bad. But then the heavens opened up, and the heavy drops of rain began to pour down upon them. To make matters worse, about half-way up, the path narrowed so that it was barely a foot wide.

  Danny stopped and turned to his sister.

  “Sherri, hold onto my belt for this part,” he ordered.

  Sherri nodded obediently and moved closer to him. As she did, the ground suddenly began to give way beneath her feet. Her arms flailed wildly as she slipped and pitched to the side, but it was no use. She lost her footing and fell.

  Danny turned and grabbed for her hand, but his angle was wrong, and he just missed. Kit dove forward at the same time, however, and caught a handful of Sherri’s hair. Quick as a panther, she snaked her other hand out and managed to grab Sherri’s left wrist.

  Kit was prone on the path now, Sherri dangling over the edge. And her grip was slipping.

  “Sherri, hold on!” she screamed.

  Danny scrambled to the edge and tried to reach his sister’s other arm. It was dangling at her side, out of reach.

  “Sherri, look at me! Don’t look down! Look at me!”

  Sherri’s eyes had been fixed on the ground far below, but at Danny’s command, she looked up and met his eyes.

  “Good girl,” he said. “Now reach your other hand up and grab mine.”

  “Hurry!” Kit urged. “I can’t hold on much longer!”

  Sherri took a deep breath and reached out with her right arm. Danny grabbed hold of it, and together, he and Kit hauled Sherri up until she was level with what was left of the path.