by Terry Spear
“She was unconscious?” Tom asked.
“She appeared that way,” Cody said. “She looked like she was asleep and didn’t move. Then her arm jerked and it appeared she’d come to. Anthony called the emergency in.”
“Is that what all of you saw?” Tom asked.
“Yeah, I guess.” Cody dusted snow off his black ski bib. He wore his trademark rainbow-colored jester hat, the bells ringing on the four tassels every time he moved.
“You didn’t really see what happened?” Tom asked.
“No, just like Anthony said. It appeared the same to me.”
“What about the guy? Did you recognize him? See what he wore?”
“Who cared about him?” Anthony asked. “We were too concerned about the lady.”
Tom looked at the girl. “Minx?”
She made a face, her cheeks red, her blond hair hanging half-loose from her knit hat. “Well, I mean, I guess. If that’s what they saw, that’s what happened.”
“You don’t think so?”
Their expressions skeptical, chins tilted down, eyebrows raised, the boys looked at her as though they didn’t believe she had seen anything different.
She shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”
Tom hated when kids caved in to peer pressure. “What do you think happened, Minx?”
“The guy hit her on purpose.”
***
That’s what Elizabeth had thought, too. At first, when she fell down the mountain, she was too shocked and too anxious about stopping her fall before she smacked into a tree and fractured her skull to focus on what had occurred.
She eyed Tom. His hair was ruffled by the wind, his cheeks red, his sunglasses too dark to reveal his eyes. Wolves liked to see a person’s eyes. They could gather a wealth of information from them. He gave her a dimpled smile despite her scowling at him.
“You’re sure the guy pushed you? Didn’t just lose control and shove into you?” Tom asked.
“Okay, possibly, yes, he was out of control, reached his hand up, and shoved at me to get his balance. It’s possible. Sure.”
Tom said, “But not likely.”
“No.”
“Come on down to the hut so we can get your statements in writing,” Tom said to the teens.
Elizabeth tried to remember what had happened right before the skier shoved her. She’d taken a picture of the man who had acted so hostile toward her on the chairlift. He’d taken off from the lift and headed for the slope. By the time she had reached it, he was already skiing down it. He’d stopped and peered up at her, as if checking to see if she was photographing him. How would he know she had followed him?
Maybe the guy in the chair behind them was this guy’s friend, and the man had looked back to see if his ski buddy was joining him. That would make more sense. But if they were ski buddies, why hadn’t the two men ridden the lift together?
“Let’s get you to the base of the mountain and our first-aid hut,” Tom said to her.
She took a deep breath, feeling warm, wrapped snug in the blanket.
She had to admit that despite being annoyed they’d make such a fuss over her, the guys were all cute. The ski patrollers, the teens, the sheriff. And as wiped out as she felt, she would have had a really tough time making it down the slope on her own—and very likely would have taken another spill.
“Do you suspect that the man targeted you specifically?” Tom asked.
She frowned at him. He couldn’t know anything about her uncle, could he?
Tom looked at her questioningly, then smiled a little. “All right. We’ll discuss it more after we get you to the hut.”
“I thought you were working until sunset,” Peter said. “I can follow her to the hospital.”
“I’ve got it covered. Jake’s coming to relieve me,” Tom said.
Radcliff shook his head. “You notice how the brothers stick together?”
Yeah, Elizabeth thought, and they might stick together to kick her out of the territory when Tom’s brothers learned what she was.
***
Tom wasn’t sure what to think concerning Elizabeth’s allegations. Skiers and snowboarders knocked others down on the slopes all the time, and it didn’t mean anything except that they were out of control and practicing unsafe skiing or snowboarding. Since she wasn’t from here, he didn’t think she’d have any enemies. Unless she’d annoyed someone on the slope, and Tom had yet to learn of it.
He fully intended to get to the bottom of this. Peter would handle it from a police perspective, while Tom would stay on top of it from a pack sub-leader point of view.
He took hold of the trace of the toboggan while Kemp took the tail rope to help guide it down the trails. The patrollers all preferred grabbing the trace rather than the tail rope to transport a patient. The lead was responsible for primary braking, choosing the best route, and any change in speed and direction. In other words, he was in charge, which was the way Tom liked it.
The tail operator usually wasn’t needed much unless the trail was particularly steep, as this one was, and then he might be required for secondary braking. He might also be needed to observe the patient’s status, though in this case, Elizabeth wasn’t in any kind of life-threatening condition. Peter pulled that duty instead of being the tail operator, trying to stay close to the toboggan and still interested in the she-wolf, Tom suspected.
Kemp was also responsible for monitoring traffic, as well as keeping the rope under proper tension and parallel to the fall line to halt the toboggan immediately if necessary.
Tom put his hand on the crossbar to brace during the steepest parts of the descent while side-slipping down the mountain. Kemp gripped the tail rope with both hands, underhanded, through the loop at the end. He matched Tom’s speed.
“You okay?” Tom asked Elizabeth as he paused.
“Yeah.”
Once he got them off the expert trail, he eased them onto Fox Run, an intermediate slope.
The teens skied past them, while Peter followed behind the toboggan and Radcliff skied next to it. The ski patrollers got another emergency call and Radcliff answered it. He waved at Tom and Kemp. “A guy jumped off a chair on Lift 3. Possibly broke both legs. Got to go.”
Tom shook his head.
“Automatic revoking of ski pass,” Kemp said cheerfully.
Tom smiled at him. “You think he’d ski the rest of the season with two broken legs?”
Kemp laughed. “As gung ho as some of these guys are? You never know.”
When they finally reached Meadow Lane, one of the bunny slopes, they had to watch out for all the new skiers taking spills, running into each other, or falling without even taking a step.
“We’re almost there,” Tom said to Elizabeth, glancing back. She had closed her eyes, and he worried she might have passed out from a head trauma. “Elizabeth?”
“Elizabeth, are you all right?” Peter asked, getting close.
“Yes,” she said, sounding annoyed. She still didn’t open her eyes.
Peter smiled at Tom. “She doesn’t like the attention.”
She would get it whether she liked it or not, Tom vowed.
When they arrived at the first-aid hut, Tom came around to the right of the toboggan and unstrapped Elizabeth. He and Kemp lifted her onto a gurney that a couple of the staff brought out to them. The teens were waiting for them to give Peter their full statements.
“This is so unnecessary,” Elizabeth griped, her voice still muffled by the oxygen mask.
“Are you always like this when you’re a patient?” Tom asked.
She snorted. He chuckled.
Peter took her skis and poles, and Minx offered to hold her camera. Tom wheeled Elizabeth into the hut.
“I’ll pick up your bag at your locker and follow the ambulance to the hospital in Silver Town.” Tom wi
nked at her.
She rolled her eyes. That earned her another smile.
Jake walked through the door to the hut, his expression dark. “I received updates about the lady as I drove over here to take your place this afternoon. Do you need me to take her to the hospital instead?” Jake sounded damned serious.
His brother had to be kidding!
Chapter 6
As soon as Jake Silver took a deep breath, Elizabeth knew he was sampling her scent, checking out the wolf-coyote.
The natural instinct to do so existed in both wolves and coyotes. She wished she didn’t feel so defensive. It didn’t mean he judged her for what she was. But based on past treatment, she automatically assumed the worst.
She didn’t have any sisters, and her half brother, Sefton, had only used her as the butt of his jokes before he moved in with their uncle. Sefton had never teased her in a lighthearted way, like Jake did Tom. She could tell Jake was pulling Tom’s leg, even though he sounded so serious. He smiled at Tom with a devilish glint in his eye.
“Cantrell sent me a short video of you,” Jake said to Tom.
Tom looked clueless. Thinking it was the pay-for-view video of her and Tom kissing, Elizabeth felt her cheeks heat all over again.
Jake was as rugged looking as Tom, but his eyes and hair were darker brown. He was tall and commanding, equally in control. She wondered if their brother Darien appeared much the same. She could easily imagine humans getting them mixed up.
When Jake turned his full attention on her again, his expression grew wary, like he was looking out for his brother’s best interests. A warning. Don’t mess with the Silver pack unless you want to face down some angry wolves.
Jake didn’t have to worry about her intentions. Joining a gray wolf pack here or anywhere was out of the question because of what she was. She had to admit that she found it refreshing to see a pack run their own town and ski resort, instead of hiding among humans and pretending to be just like them. She also liked how protective Jake was of his brother.
Long ago, she’d learned that she just didn’t fit in anywhere. Men—human or otherwise—were a definite hazard to her health. Case in point: whoever had pushed her down the black-diamond slope had meant to injure her. Why? For taking a few pictures of the mountains? Of a skier in action?
What if the skier hadn’t wanted her to capture him on camera in action or any other way? She frowned at that. She realized that even if her camera was broken, she did have the card with the pictures of the man who had ridden the lift with her, if he was the other guy’s ski buddy.
She had a flash of recall. She had taken a backward shot to capture the interesting vista from the lift, and she was certain the man on the chairlift behind her would be in the picture. Maybe blurred. She couldn’t remember exactly what she’d been focusing on.
“I got pictures of them,” she said.
Tom asked, “Of whom?”
“Of the man who pushed me down, if he rode the lift behind us, and the other who might have been with him. I don’t know how good the photos will be.”
Jake glanced at her camera, his face brightening at once. “You’re a photographer.” As if he suddenly recalled what she was doing up there.
She felt like laughing. Now it didn’t matter who she was or what she intended—if she liked photography, she had an in with Jake. “I write for a newspaper.” She took decent pictures, but she didn’t want him to think she was a professional photographer.
Tom frowned. “We’ll check out the pictures after Doc Weber runs some tests on you.”
She hoped the pictures would reveal something useful. But now she had a new problem. She had to get hold of North and make arrangements to meet him somewhere else at a later time. She wouldn’t be able to return to the ski slopes this afternoon.
***
Jake had to be kidding about taking care of Elizabeth. Jake had a mate, whom he adored, so Tom knew his brother wasn’t interested in the she-wolf. It seemed more like a case of him trying to give Tom a hard time. Or maybe Jake was worried that Tom would show interest in the wrong she-wolf. He wondered what video Jake was talking about, particularly since his brother couldn’t hide the hint of a smile that surfaced when he mentioned it.
Now Jake appeared every bit as interested in her camera and the pictures she’d taken, and nothing else mattered.
“I already offered to go with her,” Peter said. “Tom’s not budging. Although I also want to get a look at those pictures if this was foul play instead of an accident. And Cantrell’s video, if anything important is on that.”
“I agree about the pictures, Peter.” Tom gave his brother a sideways glance, wondering about Cantrell’s video. “I’ll take care of your ski rentals, Elizabeth. After I’ll get your stuff from your locker, I’ll meet you down at the hospital.”
“I need to get up the mountain,” Jake said and slapped Tom on the back. “Keep me posted on the little lady.”
Tom squeezed Elizabeth’s hand with assurance. “I’ll see you real soon.”
He caught Jake’s eye, saw the way his brother watched them, and shook his head. Tom loved his family, but he hadn’t realized what it would feel like for him to be under the magnifying glass and not them when it came to interest in a woman.
Cody, Anthony, and Minx quickly took Elizabeth’s ski rentals in hand and offered to turn them in. Thanking them, Tom headed for her ski locker where he could pick up whatever she’d left there. He hoped the man who had run into her had only done so because he was being a jerk, instead of doing so on purpose.
***
When Tom arrived at the hospital, the waiting room was empty, mostly because wolves didn’t get sick often and healed quickly on their own. Humans were the only ones who needed much care, but the town had a sparse human population. The receptionist, a middle-aged widow, smiled at him. Maggie was dressed in her usual black and white kitty-cat scrubs. Everyone teased her about wearing cat scrubs when she was a gray wolf in a pack of mostly gray wolves.
“Hi, Tom. Thought you were on ski patrol today.”
“Just this morning.”
“Did you need to see the doctor?” Maggie rose from the chair.
The news would get all over town when he told her he’d come to check on Elizabeth. “I’m waiting to hear what Dr. Weber has to say about Elizabeth Wildwood.”
“Elizabeth Wildwood.” Maggie’s tone of voice and smile said it all—she figured he had something going with the wolf-coyote. “Do you want to have a seat?”
No, he didn’t. He just wanted to learn about Elizabeth’s condition as soon as possible. “I’ll just walk back.”
Before he reached the hallway to the exam rooms, Maggie said, “She’s pretty. Not from around here. Is she moving to town?”
“No.” He wanted to end the discussion without another word.
“Ah. So… there’s nothing to the video.”
Tom paused. “What video?”
“The one that Cantrell took. Didn’t you know about it? He’s charging ten dollars a view. Everyone who’s gotten word of it is paying for it. Even your brothers, I heard.”
Tom said again, “What video?”
Maggie blushed. “Of you kissing a woman on the slopes. I’d say it was… Elizabeth Wildwood.” She smiled. “Really nice kiss. If the eligible she-wolves weren’t already interested, they’d be pounding on your door. And the bachelor wolves? They’ll take notes.”
Tom let out a disgruntled sound and headed for the exam rooms. “I’ll kill Cantrell.”
If Elizabeth had been one of their wolf pack, Tom could have walked back and learned the status of the patient, no questions asked. He would have informed Darien of her condition right away.
Even with her not being part of the pack, Darien would have to be told about her condition since she’d been injured in their territory. That was a pack’s way
of doing business. Patient-client privileges were not relevant here. Especially if they learned that the man who had pushed her was a wolf from their own pack and had done so with malicious intent. It was also important to protect the pack from another that might be angered that she’d been injured here.
Tom met Nurse Matthew standing in the hall, typing notes on a computer. New to the pack, the tall, dark-haired man wore blue scrubs and sneakers. When he saw Tom approaching, his somber expression turned into a scowl. Matthew didn’t have much of a sense of humor. The hospital needed him, although he hadn’t fit in well with the other wolves.
Tom had welcomed Matthew to the pack and attempted to draw him out of his lone-wolf mind-set, but he remained standoffish.
Matthew blocked Tom’s path right away. “She’s in with Doc.”
So Matthew knew exactly why Tom was here. And he didn’t like it.
“I know that.” He had only assumed, but he didn’t want to indulge Matthew. “I’ll be in the staff lounge. Tell Doc I need to see him when he’s done.”
Matthew gave a reluctant nod. He had worked in a strictly human hospital before this and had not been with a pack before. He didn’t care for pack politics, but he did like to see to the care of wolves and not just humans. Darien had high hopes that the nurse would come around eventually and join in the other wolf activities in the pack. They needed his nursing skills no matter what.
Tom had pulled Elizabeth’s camera out of his bag the first chance he’d had to see if it worked. He’d thought he might be able to take a look at the display, but he couldn’t get the camera to turn on. Broken? Hopefully it was something easily fixed.
He poured himself a cup of coffee in the staff lounge and glanced out the window. A couple of vehicles drove by—a black pickup and a white minivan. Because of the snow accumulation, the streets were quiet.
Doc Weber walked into the lounge and poured a mug of hot tea. A red wolf from Lelandi’s pack originally, he was gray haired, shorter, and staying here to take care of Lelandi and her babies. Now Jake’s wife would be having hers, and Doc Weber said he’d stick around a while longer. Tom thought he’d stay forever, considering how fond he’d grown of their pack.