“I will, thank you.”
Fletch looked forward to returning to Bend to visit his friends and say goodbye for now. He also needed to recruit someone to fly back to Caldwell with him to drive his truck back to the ranch.
Fletch and Kenney would fly the helicopters back to Prineville and return to Caldwell in his truck. It was the one problem he hadn’t worked out yet. Problem solved.
*****
Shannon had to find Fletch. She had to tell him how she felt. The one person that might know where to find him was Frank Miller. It was her night to cook and decided to treat everyone to ribs from the BBQ. After calling in the order, she had time to stop by Captain Miller’s.
She knocked on the door and waited. She was about to knock a second time when the door opened.
“Shannon, what a nice surprise. Come in.”
“I only have a few minutes. Is Fletch here?”
“No, he’s not. He’s in Seattle. Come in, sit down.”
“When will he be back?” As she sat down, she saw the wolf cub peek around the corner from the kitchen. “Is that Fletch’s pup?”
“Yes, I’m puppy sitting. Would you like to meet her?”
Shannon smiled nervously and nodded.
“Piccolo, come in, we have a visitor.”
Piccolo entered slowly. She remembered something about this person. She wanted to bite her. Piccolo growled.
“Piccolo, where are your manners?”
Piccolo dropped her head in shame.
“Hello Piccolo,” Shannon said softly, “I’m afraid I didn’t make a very good impression the first time we met. Is she really a wolf?”
“She is.”
Piccolo slowly approached Shannon and sniffed. Her ears went up like she remembered something and returned to the kitchen.
“What did I do?” she asked.
Frank shrugged. Piccolo returned a moment later. She carried Shannon’s sandal and placed it in her lap.
“Well, I’ll be. She hasn’t let anyone touch that, not even Fletch.”
“Where did she get that? I didn’t even know it was missing.”
“She had it when they returned from picking up his belongings.”
Shannon reached her hand out to touch the wolf. Piccolo sniffed her hand, then dropped her head, so Shannon could pet her.
“That is amazing.” Frank remarked.
“Why do you say that?”
“You just pet a wolf, a real one. Wolves don’t like people very much. She must know that there is a connection between you and her friend.”
“I wish there was. I need to see Fletch; I need to talk to him.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t going to be easy. Fletch knows that you are terrified of him.”
“I was, but not him, his bear. I’m not afraid anymore.”
“Oh? Why the sudden change?”
“I’ve seen his bear. Gary gave me the video footage of the fight between Fletch and Weston. I know the bear was him, I could never mistake his eyes.
“I’m afraid seeing his bear in real life is a whole lot different than on a computer screen.”
“I'm sure it is.” Shannon watched Piccolo. “Frank, how could that wolf know about me?”
“I don’t know. Did Fletch have something that belonged to you?”
“Not that I know of. I’d better be going. I called in an order to BBQ, I’m sure it’s ready by now.”
“If I hear from Fletch, I’ll let him know you stopped by.”
“Thanks.”
Frank walked her to the door. He watched as she got into her car and drove off. Piccolo stood beside him.
“What do you think, girl, do you think she’s the one?”
Piccolo looked up at him, she had the sandal in her mouth. It was too late to call Shannon back; she had already driven off.
“Do you think she forgot that on purpose?” They looked at each other. “Yeah, I do too.”
*****
Fletch arrived in Bend, Oregon, late Friday afternoon. It was only an hour flight from Seattle. He called ahead to find out who was available to pick him up; Lizzi Houston was happy to oblige.
On their way back to her house, she filled Fletch in on all the goings on. Ally Fisher and Misty Masters finally got out of their lease with a terrible landlord and moved in with her. She had room since her previous roommates had found their mates and moved out.
“What about you?” Fletch asked.
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. What are you doing? Are you still working at the hotel?”
“No, the hotel changed hands and let everyone go. They brought in all their own people.”
“Wow, that’s a bummer. So, you’re not working.”
“Nope.” She shook her head.
“How would you like to help me out for a few days?”
“Doing what?”
“I need someone to fly back to Caldwell with me and drive my truck back to Prineville, to my grandfather’s. I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Really, I’d love to. A chance to get some fresh air.” Lizzi would love to get out of Bend, even if it was only a couple of days. “When?”
“Can you be ready to leave tomorrow?”
“What’s the rush?”
“I’ve been assigned to run a new rescue operation in Great Falls, Montana. I have two weeks to get my affairs in order. While you’re driving my truck back, a friend and I will be flying two helicopters back to the ranch. Then my friend and I will drive back to Caldwell.”
“Who’s going to take care of the place now that your grandpa is gone?”
“Gramps hired an old friend to run the place before he died. He’s agreed to stay on for now.”
“You’re going to be so far away,” Lizzi said sadly.
“You can always come and visit. Montana is a great place for a bear vacation.” That got them both laughing as she pulled up to the house.
“I might just do that,” she said with a laugh.
Misty and Ally came running out of the house and almost tackled Fletch.
“We’ve missed you,” Misty said as she hugged him. As soon as she let him go, Ally did the same. “How long can you stay?”
“We’ll be leaving in the morning.”
“We?” Misty questioned.
“Lizzi and I are flying to Caldwell in the morning, but we’ll be back in a couple of days,” Fletch told her.
“Well, come in the house and relax. You can tell us everything that’s happen over a couple of cold drinks.”
“That sounds like a great idea.”
Lizzi led the way into the house, while Misty and Ally walked with him arm-n-arm.
“Everyone will be over later,” Misty announced.
Fletch was glad, he’d get a chance to say goodbye to everyone all at once.
By midnight, Fletch had told them everything that had happened since he saw them last. The EMT training, his job in Idaho and Montana, and finally about Shannon. He told them what happened to her.
“Fletch, I’m so sorry. I know how much you wanted a family, but you can’t leave her like that,” Misty told him, “if she’s your mate. You’ll both suffer a terrible loneliness.”
“I know that, but she doesn’t. Remember, she’s human. If we don’t bond, she would eventually forget about me. She needs time to get over everything she’s been through. You’ve been there, you can understand that, all of you can.”
“I have to agree with Fletch,” Lizzi spoke up, “now that she has remembered what happened, she needs time to cope with it. She’ll know where to find him.”
“What if she doesn’t?” Misty remarked.
“It’s time I hit the sack.” Fletch didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “We have to get up early and I miss my little one, I can’t wait to get back. She probably thinks I abandoned her.”
All conversation halted and they all stared at Fletch.
“What did I say?”
“You have a little one?” Misty squeaked.
“Oh, no – no. I adopted a wolf cub. I named her Piccolo; little one. She’s staying with a friend of mine.”
“Phew, I almost had a heart attack, I thought you had a kid.”
“No, nothing like that. I found the cub just before that psycho found me. Cane wanted to put her down, but I wouldn’t let him.” He pulled out his phone and showed them a selfie of him and Piccolo.
“Wow, she’s beautiful. Are you going to keep her?” Ally asked.
“I won’t force her to stay with me. We’re friends. She can come and go if she wants. She’s going to love Montana.”
*****
Fletch called Gary to find out if he could borrow Kenney for a couple of days. He explained what he planned to do, and Gary gave him his blessing.
“Fletch, what about Shannon?”
“What about her? She made her choice.”
“Fletch, it wasn’t her fault, it was my mistake not telling her. She loves you, Fletch, she told me.”
“If you could arrange for her not to be there, I’d appreciate it. She needs time, Gary, just like I did. She’s my mate, nothing will change that. When she’s ready, she’ll know where to find me.”
“She’s going to hate you.”
“You have to learn how to hate, before you can learn how to love, but you know that already.”
Gary paused.
“I’ll make sure she’s out of here. Do you need to talk to Kenney?”
“I called him. I'll be back in town tomorrow; we’ll rest up and leave Monday morning. Do not tell her, Gary.”
“Fine. I'll talk to you before you leave. Fletch?”
“Yeah?”
“I wish you weren’t leaving. I’ve enjoyed working with you. I was hoping you’d take over here, when I retire.”
“You’re going to retire? When?”
“Next summer.”
“What are you going to do? Where are you going to go?” Fletch asked.
“I haven’t decided yet. Why?”
“I need someone to oversee my grandfather’s ranch in Prineville, Oregon.”
“Really.”
“Yup. Think about it. Talk to you soon.” Fletch hung up and went to bed.
Chapter 36
Fletch and Lizzi flew out of Bend, Saturday morning and arranged for Frank to picked them up. Piccolo was beside herself; she was so happy to see him.
Fletch introduced Lizzi to Frank and Piccolo.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Houston.” Frank shook her hand.
“Please, call me Lizzi.”
She knelt down to be level with Piccolo. Piccolo sniffed her. She smelled a little like Fletch’s bear. The cub looked up at Fletch.
“That’s right, little one, she’s just like me.”
“Do you have any bags?” Frank asked. “We need to get a move on.”
“We’re good, we have our carry-ons.”
“Let’s go.” Frank led the way. “Did you want to go over to Air Rescue? You’ll need to check out the choppers.”
“No. I told Gary we’d be over on Monday morning. He’s going to make sure Shannon isn’t there when we get there.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, she’s gone.”
“What do you mean? I talked to Gary last night and she was here.”
“Well, Gary called to leave you a message. Shannon asked for some time off this morning. She caught the earliest flight to New York City, I brought her to the airport myself. Her flight took off just before you landed.”
“Wow.” Fletch didn’t quite know how he felt. Lizzi put her hand on his arm, just as a reassurance.
“So, what will it be? Do you want to stop and say a quick hello?”
“Yeah, sure. It will give Lizzi a chance to see the sights and I can show her my new toys.”
“Ha! We have sights?” Frank questioned.
That made Fletch laugh with him.
“You’re right. We don’t have sights.”
“Hey guys,” Lizzi objected, “when you haven’t been out of Bend, Oregon, in ages, anything is a sight.”
“You have a point,” Fletch laughed. “Let’s go say hello.”
As they drove to the hangar, Fletch thought about how shorthanded Air Rescue was going to be.
Frank looked at him.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“I was just thinking about how shorthanded Gary is going to be for a couple of days. Shannon was still here when he said it was okay for Kenney to help me out. Now it will just be him and Stan.”
“All you can do is double check with him when we get there. I’m sure he’ll work it out.”
*****
Frank pulled up to the hangar. The bay door was open.
“They are either on their way out or have just come back.” Fletch remarked.
“I think they’ve just come back. I remember hearing something on the scanner earlier.”
Fletch exited the truck, Lizzi and Piccolo were on his heels.
“Hello in the hangar!” Fletch yelled.
“Hey, look who’s here!” Stan called out.
As he walked toward Fletch, he noticed a beautiful woman at his side. She was shapely and had long, wavy black hair that fell past her shoulders. He was instantly self-conscious of how he looked. He always looked like hell after a run.
Lizzi watched the most gorgeous man headed her way. He wasn’t as tall as the others, but that didn’t matter, she wasn’t all that tall herself. His black hair was slightly on the long side, but it was sexy. What took her breath away, was his beautiful brown eyes.
Fletch gave him a handshake and an embrace with the other arm.
“Good to see you, man. Sorry I left so abruptly.”
“You don’t have to explain; I’d have done the same thing if someone slug me like that.”
“Fletch! You didn’t tell me about that,” Lizzi interrupted.
“Stan,” Fletch said with a laugh, “this is my good friend, Lizzi Houston. Lizzi, this is Stan Sullivan.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He shook her hand and looked at Fletch. “Do you have any other beautiful women with you,”
“Nope, just this one.”
Lizzi blushed. She wasn’t used to being called beautiful and she definitely didn’t consider herself so.
“Thank you for the compliment, that’s very kind.”
“Kind? It’s the truth.” Stan didn’t know what else to say. By the time he thought of something, Kenney and Gary had joined them.
Fletch introduced Lizzi to Gary and Kenney.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Gary greeted her. “Have you guys had lunch? We missed breakfast and planned to go over to the Runway when we’re done checking our gear. You’re welcome to join us.”
Fletch looked at Lizzi and Frank. They both agreed. Piccolo looked up at him and licked her lips.
“Looks like it’s unanimous,” Fletch replied, “count us in.”
“Great. You can go ahead, and we’ll catch up.”
“I’d like to show Lizzi the helicopters, Grumpy and Gramps.”
“Well, you know where to find them. I’ll give you a yell when we’re ready.”
Fletch took Frank and Lizzi out back. Piccolo was by his side as he walked to the first of two helicopters. Fletch hadn’t seen them since before they were inspected. They were still shiny clean.
“Wow, they really cleaned them up.”
Fletch open the door to Grumpy and Piccolo tried to jump in. She was still too small to jump high enough to get into the chopper.
“Hold on, little one.” He picked her up and set her inside. She climbed into the co-pilots seat.
“Hey, Fletch,” Lizzi pointed at her, “looks like Piccolo is a natural.”
Fletch gave them both a tour. Frank knew the helicopters were there, but before this, there was no interest in them.
“I always thought they were junkers,” Frank told them.
“They really weren’t that bad. They
were just outdated.”
Stan called from the back door and let them know they were ready to go. Gary talked with Frank while they walked, Fletch told Kenney his plans. That left Stan to escort Lizzi.
“I think we’ve been forgotten, but that’s alright. You have my undivided attention.” Stan played the gallant and gave her his arm. Lizzi thought it was great. She accepted and hugged his arm.
“Do you think they know we’re here?” Lizzi whispered.
“Who cares,” he whispered back, “we have each other. How long have you known Fletch?”
“We met about a year ago.”
It suddenly dawned on him how they knew each other.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to get personal.”
“Stan, it’s alright, I’m okay. Fletch told me all about you. You’re a black bear, right?” He gave her a nod. “So am I,” she whispered as she squeezed his arm.
“I thought you were.”
What they didn’t know, was, they were mates. They continued on in silence.
*****
“So, what are your plans?” Gary asked Fletch, while they waited for their food.
“The plan was, Kenney and I would fly the choppers to my grandfather’s ranch. Lizzi will drive my truck so we have transportation back.”
“Why drive? You can fly back, like you did this morning. I’m sure a ticket is cheaper than the price of gas at the moment, plus it wouldn’t take you as long.”
“You have a point. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Because you were trying to solve all your problems alone, instead of asking for help.”
“He’s got your number,” Lizzi laughed. “Fletch has always been that way.”
“So, it’s settled, then. You and Kenney can fly back, and I won’t be without a crew for so long.” Fletch agreed.
“Aw, that’s not fair,” Lizzi piped up, “I was looking forward to that drive. I never get to go anywhere.”
“Do you have to get back right away? You could always stay here for a while,” Stan smiled. “I’d be happy to show you around.”
“Where would I stay? I can’t afford a hotel. I don’t have a job right now.”
Stan looked at Gary.
“Sorry Stan, she can’t stay at the hangar, she’s not an employee. It’s a liability thing.”
“I’d be happy to have Lizzi as my guest for a few days.” Frank volunteered.
Haunted by the Wolf- Shannon Page 19