You Had Me at Wolf

by Terry Spear

  When they reached the top, Blake and Nicole off-loaded and moved out of the way. Nate joined them, and the three of them skied to where they thought the men had gone down. It worked better to have two skiers keeping the guys in their sights rather than trying to wait on a third or fourth person coming up on a chair.

  They didn’t see any sign of the cousins, but then they smelled that the men had skied beyond where the trail ended and ski boundary signs were posted, warning of the danger beyond that.

  “They went past the ski boundary signs.” Nicole was irritated to the max. “We’re not following them.” She saw the expectant looks on her mate’s and brother’s faces, ready to track the men into danger.

  “Right,” Blake said, but she knew him better.

  If she hadn’t been up here with the two of them, she knew they would have followed the cousins’ trails.

  They began looking through the trees, searching for any sign of them on the forbidden slopes. Nate pointed to deeper snow on a ledge, which was off-limits to skiers for good reason. It was extremely steep, some trees covering the slope, and perfect for creating an avalanche.

  She yanked off her backpack and pulled out her binoculars. “Ohmigod, yeah, it’s them. All three of them. Foolhardy daredevils who don’t give a damn about anybody else,” Nicole said, irritated with the men. “If they cause an avalanche, several people on the slopes could be buried.” She saw Rhys shouting at Eli. “They’re fighting. Rhys is motioning to Eli to return to the marked ski slope.”

  Nate already had his binoculars out and was observing them too. “You’re right. Eli’s shaking his head, pointing down the mountain. He wants to go down that way too.”

  She handed her binoculars to Blake.

  “Hell,” Blake said. “Those men are nothing but trouble.” He handed the binoculars back to Nicole and then called a number. “Hey, this is Blake Wolff up near Dead Man’s Leap. We’ve got three men in the danger zone on a narrow ledge of piled-up snow on North Ridge who could very well cause an avalanche. Can we get the area cleared that might be affected? Thanks.”

  Nicole was glad Blake could do that.

  They all looked down the mountain to see what kind of traffic they still had. At least the ski lifts had stopped because of the weather, but skiers were still making their way down the slopes.

  Nicole hoped Blake hadn’t called in a false alarm, but anyone with any good sense would know the danger these men could potentially create. “Rhys shoved Eli, and his brother fell on the ledge.” After that, ripples of snow spilled down the steep slope, and her heart went into overdrive. “My God, they’ve started an avalanche.”

  A cracking sound filled the air, and then snow—growing in volume like a massive wave of frozen water—was picking up speed, rumbling like thunder. The ledge the two brothers and cousin had been standing on collapsed, and the snow carried them tumbling down the steep slope. Nicole and the others looked on in horror, glancing down at the skiers hurrying to ski out of the path of the deadly mass of advancing snow that could travel up to a hundred miles per hour. No one could outski it.

  Blake made the call to emergency services with an update. “An avalanche is thundering down the mountain. Okay, good.” He turned to Nicole and Nate. “I need to get down there and help with rescue.”

  “Us too,” Nate said, Nicole agreeing.

  “Landon will be bringing Rosco to the search for victims,” Blake said.

  “I’m glad for that. He did great when you were in training with him.”

  The snow came to a dead stop at the base of the mountain, and Nicole knew what that was like, first to be carried on the fluidly moving snow, then to being buried in it like she’d been entombed in cement. Little ripples of snow continued to fall, and Nicole, Blake, and her brother needed to traverse the hill and ski down the intermediate slope where the avalanche hadn’t reached the run.

  “I don’t see any sign of our suspects,” Nicole said.

  “Buried,” Blake said.

  Adrenaline pumped through Nicole’s blood as they skied down to reach the others who were already forming lines, using long poles to probe for figures under the snow.

  Nate told Nicole, “You don’t have to do this.”

  Blake glanced at her, probably wondering why she wouldn’t want to help.

  “Nicole was buried in an avalanche and knows all about it.”

  Nicole said, “I’ll be fine.”

  “You didn’t tell me that,” Blake said, looking worried. “You don’t have to help us if it bothers you.”

  “No, it’s like paying it forward after the men, women, and rescue dog found me. I don’t want to ever have to experience that again, and I certainly don’t want anyone else to have to either. Or end up in a coma or die.”

  She didn’t know what was the worst: the crushing snow, claustrophobia, carbon dioxide replacing the oxygen in the air, breathing more rapidly, being disoriented, the unending cold, or knowing the clock was ticking and every minute counted if they were going to find her alive and not brain-dead. She’d panicked, screamed, and shouted, to no avail. She’d been lucky and had landed on her face in the snow, allowing for a pocket of air to surround her so that she could breathe for longer. A pocket of air the size of a grapefruit could allow someone to breathe for up to two hours. People who landed on their back in an avalanche usually didn’t fare as well. The packed snow could weigh more than a ton.

  If they didn’t get the victims out within the first twenty minutes, the chance they wouldn’t find them alive grew. Half of avalanche victims died within the first twenty-five minutes. Ninety-five percent would die within the next two hours.

  She’d been unconscious for some of the time, which had helped save her breath and her life. And when she’d heard the dog’s muffled barking from way up above her snowy prison and people talking, she’d had hope.

  Already, she witnessed dogs and people digging out four different victims. Not their suspects, but skiers who got hit by the avalanche farther away. Thank God Blake had called in the emergency before it had occurred, giving them time to clear the slopes as much as possible and to have equipment and volunteers arriving soon after. Those who were being pulled out now were unsteady but standing on their feet, a couple of them wanting to help with the search. She hated the cousins for pulling this crap, just to get some thrill, when it would scar others for life, ruining an otherwise fun ski outing for them.

  Two German shepherds, a yellow Labrador retriever, and Rosco were bounding through the snow, searching for buried skiers or snowboarders. Dogs and the lupus garous could smell humans buried under as much as fourteen feet of snow, which was how a big, old friendly German shepherd had found her. She’d loved him to death for being her savior. The cold, isolation, and not being able to move an inch for three hours had made her pray others were searching for her.

  After two hours, little hope remained for victims, so she’d been one of the really lucky ones. She’d suffered from dehydration and hypothermia but no other injuries.

  Roxie and Kayla joined them with poles to use to search for victims, but Nicole, Nate, and Blake and his sisters headed for the area where they thought the cousins might be located, closer to where the avalanche started. The search would continue until everyone was accounted for. She knew someone would be gathering information about who was still out here skiing. That was why it was so important that people didn’t venture on these trips alone. If they knew they had ten victims, they’d continue to search until all ten victims were recovered, dead or alive.

  Landon stayed with Rosco, serving as his handler, sticking with him wherever he was going. That was the thing about the dogs. They didn’t discriminate about who they would search for next. Whoever they found was a good thing.

  Victims were being taken by sled to the first-aid hut, ambulances arriving in the parking lot already.

  The wind was wh
ipping the snow around, the visibility only a few feet as the snow continued to fall in masses of flakes.

  Dogs were barking while Nicole was probing the snow, telling herself these men needed to be tried for their crimes. They didn’t deserve to die, unless they had murdered Rhys’s parents. She had to find them. If they had a real near-death experience, would they finally come clean?

  She finally had a hit. “Here!” she shouted.

  Some of the rescuers came to help her dig out the person with shovels. He was buried deep, about eight feet, whoever it was. Then she recognized the ski jacket way down below. Eli.

  It had been an hour since they had started searching for the victims, and Eli was unconscious, his hat and gloves lost. When paramedics began to work on him, she waited until they’d restarted his heart and then reluctantly left him, continuing to help the others probe for other victims. He might have been brain-damaged. Or he might still die.

  Not too far from where Eli had been buried, Nate got a hit. “Here!”

  Rescuers joined him to unbury the victim. Nicole continued to probe for other victims while watching to see who Nate and the others pulled from their snow cocoon. William. He was unconscious, too, but after the two men were worked on, they were strapped to sleds and taken to the first-aid hut.

  Nate gave her a thumbs-up. The cousin was going to be okay. She noticed the rescuers were all moving in their direction with the dogs. It appeared they’d rescued everyone except for Rhys.

  “Who are we looking for?” Jake Silver asked.

  “Rhys,” Nicole said. “His cousin and brother were there and there.” She pointed to the locations. “Rhys is probably somewhere nearby. The last I saw of them was Rhys shoving Eli and knocking him on his butt on that ledge of snow. Then it all came down.”

  She noticed all the rescuers were listening raptly, needing to know where the last victim might be. Time had already run out for the victim statistically, but miracles did happen. She remembered hearing about a teen who had survived twenty hours under the snow when he and his buddy had gone out of bounds and snowboarded down a ridge between rocks and trees. It took rescuers forever to find him. Their probes kept hitting rocks and tree branches buried under the snow. Fifteen years old with the rest of his life ahead of him, all shot to hell with one adrenaline junkie move. His best friend wasn’t so lucky. They discovered his body first, lying face up, and he had suffocated. The other boy had been found facedown, with a pocket of air and unconscious. No injuries other than dehydration and hypothermia, which could have killed him too. At least for him? He vowed no more snowboarding off-trail.

  Snow continued to fall all around them, the winds making it so much worse as they continued to probe the area, searching for the last man. She was glad everyone else had been found.

  “Did everyone else survive?” she asked Jake.

  “Yeah, one broken arm, bruises, lots of scared folks. We rescued six. But everyone else has been accounted for.”

  “Good.” Then Nicole got a call, and she poked her probe in the snow and pulled out her phone. The call was from Peter. She’d assumed he was out here.

  “Hey, I’m arresting William and Eli. We got the DNA results back from the evidence you had submitted. We have two hits on the 9mm gun,” Peter said. “They’re Rhys’s fingerprints. Or I should say Oscar Kovac’s. That’s the good thing about him having been in the military. They had to fingerprint him and do background checks before he could join the service and become an MP. The cigarette butt came through for Eli. He’d been arrested for petty theft so we found his fingerprints in the system. The men are at the Silver Town Clinic being looked after. No sign of Rhys yet?”

  “We’re still looking for his body, three hours and counting.”

  “Okay, well, the other two men are waiting for you when you feel you can leave the site.”

  “Thanks so much, Peter. I could hug you.”

  “You’re welcome. I heard about the other PI. We had to make sure you got the kudos for the job.”

  “Thanks.” Nicole ended the call and told everyone the good news. They all paused for a group hug.

  She would be so irritated if they didn’t find Rhys alive. Sure, they wouldn’t have to waste taxpayers’ dollars on trying him, but it didn’t seem like justice.

  After three more hours, rescuers were returning to the lodge for late lunch breaks and warming up and then switching out with others. The snow conditions were the worst. Even Landon had to take Rosco in for a break to eat and let him rest for a few hours. Most of the other dogs had already returned to the lodge to eat with their handlers and take a long rest.

  “We need to take a break,” Kayla said.

  Nicole heard it in her voice. She wanted to help Nicole finish the mission, but the hopes of finding Rhys alive were dimming by the minute.

  “Yeah. The rested crew is coming back out. Why don’t we head back in to warm up together? As a family.” Nicole smiled at Roxie. “You no longer have to be undercover.”

  “I’m thrilled for that!” Roxie gave her another hug, and then the Wolff family and Nate headed for the lodge, eager to get warmed up.

  They were worried about more avalanches occurring during the snowstorm. While the family was inside ordering their steaks, intending to spend more hours out working in the cold after they rested for a while, Jake joined them.

  “Hey, they’re calling off the search for a few hours, letting the dogs get some rest. We’re keeping everyone off the slopes so a few wolves can do a search. Because of the low visibility, no one can see them out there, and it is the off-limit area. Peter asked me to see if you want to go into town to speak with Eli and his cousin. Roads are really bad, but I can get you there, Nicole,” Jake said.

  She glanced at Blake.

  “Whatever you want to do is fine with me. If you want me to come with you, I will. Or I can take a run on the wild side and try to find Rhys.”

  She was torn. She wanted to search for Rhys too, but she did want to learn what she could from Eli and William and then let Taggart know where she was at on the case.

  “All right.” She knew Blake didn’t want to sit around while she interrogated someone. She thought Nate might want to go with her, but she knew him well enough to know he’d prefer running as a wolf on a rescue mission.

  “I’ll go with Blake,” Nate said.

  Landon didn’t jump right in, but then said, “Okay, I was thinking of holding off on any more searches because I’ll need to take Rosco out again in a few hours, but if we can find the bastard as wolves, I’m all for it.”

  Kayla and Roxie smiled. “I’ll help with the lodge,” Kayla said.

  “I’m going to enjoy my newfound freedom,” Roxie agreed.

  Nicole smiled at Landon. She suspected he wanted in on the excitement as much as anything. They didn’t need to try to break their necks skiing down out-of-boundary ski areas but could get just as much of an adrenaline rush from searching for a victim and finding him.

  “Okay, as soon as I eat, I’ll go with you to town, Jake,” Nicole agreed.

  “I’ll just grab a bite to eat then too.”

  “Join us. We’ll make room,” Blake said to Jake, even though they were already a little crowded at their table.

  Chapter 21

  Jake grabbed an empty chair, and the Wolff family and Nate squeezed in more at the table to give him room to join them. Nicole could tell from the way he was smiling that he was glad to be invited to join the Wolff clan.

  Nicole noted that the restaurant was filled to capacity with guests and rescue workers, and even more famished folks were eating their meals in the lobby. Of course, guests could always go to their rooms if they needed a place to sit down to eat. But most everyone was talking about the avalanche and rescues and enjoying the camaraderie, eager to get back out and ski once the weather let up.

  Until they found
Rhys, the area where he and his kin had started the avalanche would be off-limits while searches continued to try to locate him.

  “You know, this makes me think Rhys is really fine, that he escaped the avalanche, and it’s just a ploy to obtain another life insurance policy payout,” Nicole said as their steak platters were served.

  Jake had ordered a steak, too, and it came a few minutes later.

  “Does he have another life insurance policy?” Blake asked, cutting into his steak.

  Nicole did a search, not having thought of that, though she should have. “Yeah, he does. It’s a different insurance company.”

  “And the payee?” Blake asked.

  “Kent Albright.”

  “Who’s that?” Blake asked.

  “Maybe Eli’s alias?”

  “So William wasn’t in on this little scam,” Roxie said.

  “It appears not, which I thought was kind of interesting. Maybe Rhys felt Eli was old enough now to be responsible and pay him half of the money when he came back from the dead. If Eli is Kent Albright. But this time, Rhys could be dead for real,” Nicole said.

  “It would be suspicious if William kept getting payouts from dead people.” Nate took another bite of his steak.

  “True.” Nicole smiled at Roxie. “I bet you’re relieved not to have to stay at the lodge in hiding all the time.”

  “I am, but if you need my help with any of your new cases, don’t hesitate to ask,” Roxie said, sounding adamant.

  “Me too,” Kayla said.

  Landon and Blake agreed.

  Nate laughed. “Seems you have a whole investigative team.”

  “That goes for you too,” Roxie told Nate. “We’re family now.”

  “All I’ve got to say is when you arrived to do your mission here in our territory, we all benefited,” Jake said, smiling.

  “Well, I know where to go when I want some photos for our new house. Do you take wolf portraits?” Nicole asked Jake.

  “Sure do. Family sittings, wolf and otherwise, and wolves at play. Some of those can be the most fun,” Jake said.