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

by Vanessa Prelatte

  “Katherine Blakewood?” Rick inquired.

  Kit nodded. “Yes, that’s me.” She looked over at what was left of Marc. “He’s dead? Good,” she said.

  Facing Dawn and Rick, she inquired, “Are you going to have to arrest me? I’m the one who shot him, you know.”

  Dawn and Rick had lowered their weapons. “There will have to be an inquiry, but no – we’re not going to place you under arrest, Miss Blakewood,” Rick responded in answer to her question. “You took action to save Danny’s life. We realize that, and will testify to that fact. No question that it will be found to be justifiable homicide.”

  “Well, that’s a relief.” She sank down beside Danny. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Sorry for what?” Danny replied.

  “For letting Sherri get away from me. I took my eyes off her while I was calling for help, and she went looking for you, apparently.”

  “I had to,” Sherri piped up. “He needed me.”

  Kit leaned over and stroked Sherri’s hair. Looking at Luke, she said, “You must be ‘Uncle Luke’. I’m glad you’re here. These children are going to need you.”

  Sherri crawled over into Kit’s lap. “Uncle Luke says he’s going to stay with us until our mother’s all better, but I want you to stay with us too, Kit.”

  Kit looked startled. Turning to Dawn and Rick, she exclaimed, “Their mother’s alive? What about Zoe?”

  But the hope died in her eyes as they shook their heads.

  “I’m sorry, Kit. Zoe didn’t make it," Dawn said.

  Kit bowed her head and wept silently. Uncomfortably, Luke said, “Look, how about I take Kit and the children back up to the cabin. I don’t want them around that” – he nodded toward Marc’s body – “any longer than they have to be.”

  Dawn looked at Rick, who nodded.

  “Go ahead,” she told Luke. “We need to stay here and secure the scene, but taking Kit and the children up to the cabin sounds like a good idea.”

  Luke stood up and gave a hand to Danny, pulling him up as well. Reaching for Sherri, he said, “You still like piggy-back rides?”

  Sherri nodded, so he shrugged out of his pack and hoisted her up onto his shoulders.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Luke led the way. Danny followed, with Kit taking up the rear. As they neared the spot where what was left of Marc Foxe lay, Kit thought back to another time, remembering a little girl with bright red hair, big blue eyes, and a smile that seemed to embrace the entire world.

  Pulling herself back to the present, she stopped for a minute by the body. Then she whispered, so softly that only Danny heard her,

  “For Zoe, you bastard. For Zoe.”

  Chapter 43

  Dawn sat at the table in the cabin, a cup of coffee in one hand and a pen in the other. She wanted to begin working on her report while everything was still fresh in her memory, and, with her cell phone unusable, she had asked Luke for pen and paper so that she could begin writing her report the old-fashioned way.

  Rick had spoken with the County Sheriff, who was working with the Pueblo SAR group to send a team in. However, it was now fully dark, and with the situation under control, they were going to wait until the morning before setting out for the cabin.

  After Rick had finished speaking with the County Sheriff’s office, Luke, with Danny’s help, had prepared a quick meal for all of them. There were plenty of canned goods at the cabin, so Danny had filled a pot with beef stew and put it on the stove to heat up. Next, Luke had opened up some canned potatoes and used them to make some home fries in a skillet, while Danny had popped the lids on some tinned peaches and spooned them into bowls to finish off the meal.

  After they had finished eating, Luke had made some coffee while the rest of them worked together to clear the table and wash the dishes. Once the dishes were taken care of, Dawn and Rick moved back to the table to work on their reports.

  After plugging away at her report for a while, Dawn realized she was getting a crick in her neck, so she decided it was time to put her pen down and take a short break. Massaging her neck with one hand, she looked around at the others in the cabin. Rick sat opposite her, using the word processor app on his cell phone to write his own report. Luke had built a fire and was relaxing in a comfortable-looking chair set to one side of the fireplace, long legs stretched out, with Sherri glued to his lap. Kit was seated in an easy chair on the other side of the fireplace, and Danny was sitting cross-legged on the floor between them, gazing into the fire and munching on some trail mix.

  As Dawn continued trying to work the crick out of her neck, Luke looked down at Sherri and said, “I think it’s getting close to bedtime for you, sweetheart.”

  Sherri peered up at him through her tangled curls and replied, “I’m not sleepy. I don’t want to go to bed, Uncle Luke. I want to stay with you.”

  “I’ll be right here, I promise,” Luke responded. “Look, do something for me, will you? Lie down in bed for a while and try to sleep. If you can’t drop off and want to get back up, that’s fine. But at least give it a try, okay?”

  Sherri glanced over at her brother. “What about Danny?” she inquired.

  After a look from his uncle, Danny said, “I’m going to spread out my sleeping bag beside your bed and try to get some shut-eye myself. It’s been a long day, and I could use some rest.”

  “I think I’d better call it a day too,” Kit said. “How about I lie down with you, Sherri?”

  Sherri looked from Kit to her brother and then back at her uncle. “I guess that would be okay,” she said.

  At her response, Luke arose from his chair and carried Sherri into the sleeping area of the cabin, which was sectioned off with a couple of screens from the rest of the interior space. Danny followed, carrying his sleeping bag. Kit brought up the rear of the little procession.

  Presently, Luke reemerged from the sleeping area and walked over to the table to join Dawn and Rick. Addressing Dawn, he said, “There’s another bed back there, so when it’s time to turn in, you go ahead and take it.”

  Turning to Rick, he said, “There are a couple of extra sleeping bags stored in those bins over there.” He pointed to a storage shelf built into the left wall of the cabin’s living area. The entire shelf was filled with airtight plastic bins. Right after dinner Luke had withdrawn some sheets, blankets, and pillows from a couple of the bins to make up the beds in the sleeping area. As he did so, a pleasing fragrance of lavender had filled the room.

  “I figure you and I could spread the sleeping bags out in front of the fireplace when we’re ready to call it a night,” Luke said to Rick.

  Until that moment, Dawn had not been sleepy at all. Tired, yes – but too wired up to go to sleep. Now, however, she could barely keep her eyes open. Pushing her chair back from the table, she said, “I think it’s time for me to call it a night. I’m off to bed. Good night, you two.”

  After Dawn had gone off to bed, Rick and Luke spread their sleeping bags out in front of the fireplace. Rick had a hard time falling asleep, however. One thought occupied his mind. Marc was dead, and now Rick would never have an opportunity to question him. They might have closed one case, but Rick had another one still open. And with Marc dead, Rick was no closer to answering the one question he most wanted an answer to. What had Marc done with the body of his step-sister? Where was Samantha Hartingen?

  Chapter 44

  The next morning, Dawn watched as the officers from the County Sheriff’s office placed the mortal remains of Marc Foxe into a body bag. The County Sheriff himself was there. He had returned from vacation the previous day and had taken over the lead on the investigation.

  Once the body had been placed in the body bag, the Sheriff gave a signal, and Luke Coalbank, who had been waiting for it, began descending the path from the cabin, followed by Kit, Danny, and Sherri. Luke had insisted that the children remain in the cabin until the body was out of sight.

  As they reached the
foot of the path, Luke picked Sherri up and cradled her in his arms. They had all been interviewed by the County Sheriff’s team – all except for Sherri. She had clammed up and refused to speak. As the only witness to what had happened the night Zoe had been killed and her mother injured, Sherri was essential to the County Sheriff’s investigation, but he had refused to press her. Questioning Sherri would have to wait until after she had gotten some counseling from a child psychologist, he had decided.

  Now Luke approached his old friend and said, “Tank, I need to get these children out of here, pronto. I want to take them home, pack a few things up, and head for Mountpelier. We need to get to Alison as soon as possible.”

  Sheriff Tankerton nodded. Earlier, up at the cabin, he had told them that he and his team had traveled by horseback up to a point he called “Wilson’s Meadow” before the terrain had forced them to finish the journey on foot. Tankerton had left the horses there, with one man left to look after them. After taking in the situation at the cabin, he had offered to allow the six of them – Luke, Danny, Sherri, Kit, Dawn, and Rick – to use the horses for the return journey. He had arranged for his office to supply fresh horses for him and his team later in the day.

  Bidding goodbye to Sheriff Tankerton and his team, the small party set off for Wilson’s Meadow, with Luke leading the way. He informed the others that it would take them about an hour to get there.

  When they reached Wilson’s Meadow, they found the horses waiting for them. The deputy who had been left with the horses had already been apprised of the plan, so he greeted them as they approached and offered to help them in any way he could.

  There were only five horses, but that was no problem, since Luke had already decided to put Sherri up on the same horse with him. He approached a big chestnut gelding and mounted it. Kit lifted Sherri up to him, and he settled the child on the horse in front of him.

  Danny walked over to a smaller horse and swung himself up into the saddle. Kit chose an appaloosa, roan in color, with the typical mottled spots on its hindquarters.

  Dawn walked up to a gray mare and stroked its nose gently. “Hello, there,” she greeted it. “I have a feeling that the two of us are going to become friends.”

  Before she mounted, however, she noticed that Rick was standing a little way off from the last horse available, eying it dubiously. It occurred to her then that she had no idea whatsoever regarding Rick’s riding capabilities.

  Trying to be diplomatic, Dawn said, “So – when’s the last time you were on a horse, Rick?”

  “I think I was about twelve,” Rick replied. “I hope it’s like riding a bike. Once you learn, you never forget.” He walked up to the horse, a big, black Quarter Horse, and patted it awkwardly.

  Dawn swung up on her own horse, and Rick followed suit. Luke led the way on his horse, with Danny and Kit following, then Rick, with Dawn bringing up the rear.

  Using the horses cut their travel time in half. Within three and a half hours, they were all back at the Coalbank ranch. Dawn and Rick said goodbye to Luke, Kit, Danny, and Sherri. Then they retrieved Rick’s car and headed back east.

  By late afternoon, they had made their way back to Pueblo. On the way there, Rick informed Dawn that his plan involved staying over another night in Pueblo so that the two of them could meet with the local team the following day and work on a final report with them.

  A short distance away from the hotel they had stayed in before, within walking distance, was a large shopping center. Dawn requested Rick to set her down there, stating that she needed to pick up a few things.

  Rick shrugged and dropped her off at the shopping center as she had requested. Dawn went into a store and bought the one thing she really required, a disposable cell phone. She needed to call Ty, and she wasn’t going to borrow Rick’s phone in order to do so.

  When they had spoken to the Country Sheriff’s office the night before, she had gotten on the line after Rick had finished his report and asked the sheriff to do two things: contact her superiors in Mountpelier to update them on the case, and call her husband to let him know where she was. She had also asked him to pass on the information to Ty that her SAT phone was broken, so she would be out of touch for a little while.

  The phone she purchased wasn’t the greatest, but it would do until she could get herself a new satellite phone. Dawn walked out of the store, found a bench outside under some trees, and placed the call to Ty.

  He answered immediately. “Dawn? Where are you? Are you going to be able to come home soon?”

  “I’m back in Pueblo,” Dawn responded. “I’m planning on renting a car and driving home shortly. So I’ll be there in a few hours.”

  “Don’t do that. Get yourself out to the airport instead. I’ll send a plane for you.”

  “That isn’t necessary.”

  “I know it isn’t, but it’s what I want to do. I’d fly down myself to get you, but I’m in Louisiana.”

  “Louisiana? Are you in New Orleans?”

  “No – not New Orleans. Brody and I are in a really, really small town called Germonde. We had to take care of some business here. It’s a long story, so I’ll fill you in on it when you get home, okay?”

  “Okay, but you needn’t bother sending down a plane for me. I’ll just do what I originally planned and rent a car. It’ll be fine.”

  “No, it won’t. I’ve just remembered. One of my pilots, Jack – remember him? He’s Mom’s favorite pilot. Anyway, he’s been complaining that he hasn’t been getting enough flying time lately. You’d be doing him a favor if you’d let him fly down to Pueblo and pick you up.”

  “Is there a mirror anywhere near where you are right now? Because you might want to check your nose. I’ll bet it grew to about the size of a yardstick with that whopper you just told, Pinocchio.”

  “Hey, I’m telling the truth. Just ask Jack when he gets there. He’ll confirm everything I said.”

  “I’ve not doubt of that. Most of your employees will say whatever you tell them to.”

  “C’mon, Dawn. Just think about it. You must be pretty tired by now, right? Instead of a long, exhausting drive home, you can sit back and relax in comfort while Jack does all the work. It’s a win-win situation.”

  Dawn gave way. She was tired – tired to the point of exhaustion.

  “Okay. I give up. We’ll do it your way. Send a plane down, and don’t forget to tell Jack that he’s been complaining about not having enough flying time. I’m sure he’ll love that one.”

  “I’ll have it arranged in a few minutes. It’s not a long flight from Mountpelier to Pueblo, so Jack might even be there by the time you get to the airport. How are you going to manage that, by the way?”

  “The hotel I stayed at before has a courtesy van. I’ll arrange to take it to the airport.”

  “Fine. My car is already parked at the Lewellen Air offices. You can take it, and I’ll arrange for alternative transportation. Just ask my receptionist for the car keys. I’ll see you tonight, then. And we’ll talk, okay? About everything.”

  “It’s a deal. See you tonight.”

  Disconnecting the call to Ty, Dawn placed another call, this one to Lieutenant Westbrooke. After giving the lieutenant an oral report on the case, Dawn asked about Rafe, and was happy to be told that he had been released from the hospital earlier that day and was on his way home.

  When she returned to the hotel and walked into the lobby, she was surprised to see Rick there, apparently waiting for her.

  “I thought you’d have gone up to your room by now,” she commented.

  “I did go up, but then I came back down again. I thought we might go out to dinner.”

  “Thanks for the invitation, but I’m not planning to stay here that long. I’m heading back to Mountpelier within the hour.”

  Rick frowned. “What’s this? I thought we’d agreed to spend the night here and meet with the local team tomorrow, get their final report so that we can incorporate it into our own.”

  �
��No, Rick. We did not decide that. You decreed it, and I was too tired to argue with you. I don’t need to meet with the sheriff’s team tomorrow. Since the suspect is dead and we don’t have to prepare for a trial, my lieutenant is perfectly fine with waiting for the sheriff to send a copy of his report. I don’t even have to file my written report until Monday. So I’m not staying here tonight. I’m going home.”

  “Just how are you planning to do that? You have no transportation. You came down in my car with me, remember?”

  “Ever hear about the concept of renting a car, Rick?”

  He frowned, annoyed. “Yeah, I guess you could do that. But why bother, when you could stay the night here and drive home with me after the sheriff’s meeting tomorrow?”

  Dawn sighed. “It’s easy to see that you’ve never been married, Rick. When you are, you try not to spend too many nights apart. It’s bad for the marriage.”

  Rick wasn’t about to give up. “So you’re actually planning on renting a car and driving back right now? You’re in no shape for that. You’re exhausted, D.C. Don’t try to deny it.”

  “You know, my husband just told me the same thing. That’s why he’s sending a plane down to pick me up instead.”

  Rick looked nonplussed for a minute, but quickly recovered. “I’d forgotten for a minute that you married a rich man. Must be nice. How do you plan on getting to the airport?”

  “I’ll take the courtesy van.”

  “No, you’re not. I’m driving you.”

  “There’s no need. The courtesy van will be fine.”

  “I’m driving you anyway.”

  When they pulled up to the drop-off area at Pueblo Memorial Airport, Dawn turned to Rick and said, “Thanks for the ride.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll copy your lieutenant as soon as I finish my report.”

  “I’ll ask her to copy you when I finish mine as well.”

  Dawn opened the passenger-side door. Before she made it out of the car, Rick said abruptly, “You know, I never really got over you, Cimarron.”