I spent a lot of time with her in the early months, Skylar commented from the step. Nearly twenty-four/seven, sleeping with her on a mattress for weeks, acclimating her to my human self and letting her know I would not harm her.
Shed taken the right steps for a wolf to live with humans. But Joe always favored reintroducing the animal back into the wild before such drastic measures were taken. On the other hand, if her pack had abandoned her, as they may do to the sick or wounded, he could be thankful Skylar had been there for her.
I suspect her mother was killed. Otherwise, Im sure she would have stayed around her pup in the trap.
Very possible. Wolves will never be pets, Joe said quietly. They will always have the wild in them. Right, Stella?
The wolfs tongue lashed his fingers, and he let out the breath he had been holding. Just one lick. She wasnt going to get overly enthusiastic about a new human, but she did seem to trust him. As proof, she allowed him to ruffle his hand over her fur and he went for the sweet spot behind her ear, giving it a light scratch. The wolf sat before him, reveling in the attention he gave her.
Shes beautiful. Im honored to meet you, Stella. But wheres your pack?
Pretty sure she was from the Boundary Edge pack, Skylar said. I checked the records with the wolf center. They hadnt recorded any births, but they dont have twenty-four/seven watch, either. And only one of the pack males is tagged with a tracking device. They were able to tell me about a year after Id had Stella that one of the females was missing. They hadnt found her body. So Im sticking with the dead-mother theory. Stella was a long way from home. That pack travels about ten miles north from here.
Im familiar with that pack, Joe said. Well, their territory. Never gotten close to any of them, but I have tracked them before. So Stella was found in a leg trap?
It was actually a snare. She was near death. Had been gnawing at her own leg. I waited and watched for other wolves, but there were none close. I figured she was about three months old at the time. Its been almost three years. Shell never be mine, but I am her person. I did take her to the pack rendezvous point about a month after shed been with me. Not a single wolf showed.
They were watching, Joe guessed. But by then Stella was marked by human scent. He combed his fingers through Stellas soft summer pelt. The brown, gray and black fur had likely received a good combing from Skylar, for he didnt notice any unpreened winter undercoat. She lifted her head, luxuriating in his touch. Thats too bad. She would thrive with others of her kind.
Shes not doing so terribly with me.
No, shes not. Looks healthy and happy.
The wolf tilted her head against his head and he took a moment to relish the contact. It was rare he got to experience the wild so close. And, yes, she was still wild. Hed wager any man who came toward Skylar with intent to harm, or whom Stella hadnt properly sniffed out, would risk a bite or worse.
You havent started your own pack, have you, Skylar?
Of my own design. I rehabilitate all breeds here. Goats, chickens, cats and snakes. Even had a baby moose once, but thankfully, she went back to her mother. Stella was my first and so far only wolf. Which reminds me, I have to run into town tomorrow to pick up some red yarn.
For rehabilitation purposes?
You met Becky. She wants a change of sweater. Very fashion forward, that chicken.
Somewhere on the edge of the yard, a goat bleated.
Beyoncé knows were talking about her, Skylar offered. Shes a dancer.
Joe didnt even know how to respond, so he let that one pass without comment.
Now Stella licked his face. So he sat on the ground and she stepped forward onto his legs. The wolf was big, perhaps eighty pounds, but not as big as some could get in the wild. Standing on their back legs, a wolf could rise well over a tall mans head. Their weight could range from seventy to one hundred fifty pounds, and they were strong and powerful. Stella seemed amiable, willing to accept him.
This is the first time shes ever welcomed a stranger so freely, Skylar said. Theres always been something special about you, Joe. I think youre a wolf whisperer.
Joe shook his head. Shed never teasingly called him Nature Boy, as his older brothers were apt to, which he appreciated. It was a nickname that had stuck since that fateful weekend hed gotten lost in the Boundary Waters. Just thinking about it brought up memories of Max Owen, and that forced Joe back to the present. Because he would not let Maxs bizarre death be ignored without discovering the reason behind it.
I just like animals, he offered. All animals. And I respect them. They have souls and are more a part of this land than we will ever be. But enough of the greetingwe have to get your person inside, he said to Stella. Shes been through a lot. And I want to head across the lake to look around.
As Joe stood, the wolf followed, watching him guide Skylar up the stairs by her arm. She was reluctant to accept the assistancehe could sense her tug in resistancebut finally she relented and her body hugged his as he walked her across the deck toward the patio doors.
Skylar Davis possessed an independent streak deeper than his ability to express his true feelings toward her. Theyd known one another since high school, and hed pined over her from afar since then. Theyd become friends as sophomoresbiology class had paired them over a frog dissectionand following high school, college had separated them for years. But theyd both found their way back to Checker Hill, and one another. A few years ago, they had decided to take a chance at dating. Thing was, their schedules had never meshed, and each time Joe had asked Skylar if she was free, she had been seeing someone else. Vice versa, for one time shed asked him out when hed been dating a girl from Duluth.
There had been that time at a wedding reception for a mutual friend. Theyd both been drunk. And, well, what had ensued that nightor rather, hadnthad changed things between them.
And then Joes best friend had stepped into the picture and had turned Skylars head completely away from Joe. And that was the reason he hadnt spoken to her in a year.
Joe cast a glance down toward the extinguished fire pit. A wedding dress lay smoldering in bits and pieces. Hed like to ask about that, but hed wait for a better time.
SKYLAR WATCHED AS Joe pulled onto the long, pine-bordered driveway that curled out to the county road. He intended to cruise to the other side of the lake and take a look around. All in a days police work, she felt sure. Impressive, since she was aware hed worked a full shift today and shed thought conservation officers generally stuck to checking hunting licenses and beach patrol.
No, she knew that wasnt right. The conservation officers in the Boundary Waters had their hands full with poaching, theft of natural resources, search and rescue of lost hikers, and they were even called in to consult on murder cases when a body was found in the woods. They carried all the usual authority and powers a police officer would.
Much as she hadnt expected Joe to knock on her door this evening, she was thankful now that it had been him. Because she neededsomething. Help? Support? This keeping her mouth shut about the minor indiscretions Davis Trucking employees committed and hoping her relationship with her uncle would improve was getting her nowhere.
Much as she hadnt expected Joe to knock on her door this evening, she was thankful now that it had been him. Because she neededsomething. Help? Support? This keeping her mouth shut about the minor indiscretions Davis Trucking employees committed and hoping her relationship with her uncle would improve was getting her nowhere.
Still, Malcolm had offered to buy a section of her land. Then shed have seed money to build the shelter. But at what price was her alliance to her uncle? Would her dad have wanted that? Hed kept the land pristine. Had always refused to sell to his brother so he could fulfill plans to expand the business. Malcolm had no love for the environment, while Merlin, Skylars dad, had been a certified tree hugger.
And now shed been threatened. Seriously. She could have been killed. Had the threat come from Malcolm? That didnt make sense. If he wanted to buy her land he should be kissing up to her. And yet
Two days ago, Skylar had stumbled onto something she shouldnt have seen. She wasnt sure what had been in those freezers in the Davis Trucking warehouse, but the man with a rifle in hand whod discovered her had not been happy to see her.
What to do?
Because, much as Uncle Malcolm had stood for the opposite of everything her father had, he was still family. And family meant something to her.
But family didnt fire warning shots at one another.
Chapter Four
The drive around the lake did not bring Joe to the spot where hed determined the shooter might have been standing. Calling for backup, he got an answer from a state patrol. An officer could be around in twenty minutes. Joe predicted a hike through the woods to get to the position across from the lake to the Davis home, so he waited for the patrol officer to arrive. Otherwise, theyd never find each other in the thick pine and birch forest that offered only narrow trails here and there.
As a conservation officer, he spent 90 percent of his time roaming the woods and lakes in his territory. He knew this area. But he hadnt spent much time on this lake. It was small and usually only boated by the residents living around it.
Antsy, and wishing hed taken an hour in the gym this morning to work out, he bounced on his feet. His hiking boots were not the most comfortable for such movement, but he liked to stay limber. He snapped up his knee and kicked out in a Muay Thai move that could knock an opponent flat.
Hed developed an interest in martial arts from watching his mother practice her moves from the karate class shed taken when her boys were younger. Hed started with karate, but after watching a few National Geographic specials and sports TV, hed fallen in love with the ultrahigh kicks and swift elbow strikes Muay Thai offered. It was all about brute power. It worked his body in every way possible, and kept him limber and sharp. And a well-honed body only enhanced an ever-growing soul. He was constantly learning. His greatest teachers? Nature and the wildlife he had taken an oath to protect.
But honestly? It was a good means to get out his anger by kicking the sandbag now and then.
Pausing at the harsh, croaking call of a blue heron, Joe lifted his head and closed his eyes. He had to smile at that sound. Such utter peace here, away from the city and major highways. He opened his eyes, scanning the treetops in hopes of seeing the heron nest, but the canopy was thick. The last slivers of sunlight glinted like stars.
A car honked and Joe waved to the approaching patrol car. Brent Kofax was with the sheriffs department. In cases where someone had been shot, or threatened, they usually joined the investigation. He stepped out of the car and gave Joe a thumbs-up. Joe had worked with Brent on a few occasions when backup was necessary. Usually when he knew hed be approaching a boat full of drunk fishermen, or that one time Joe had needed someone to help him sort out steel traps from a burned-out Quonset building.
What do you have tonight, Cash?
Joe shook Brents hand and pointed over his shoulder toward the lake. The Davis woman who lives across the lake was shot at earlier this evening. Judging by the trajectory of the hit, Im guessing the shooter might have been in the woods about a quarter mile up. I need another set of eyes. You ready to do some hiking?
I always know youll give me a workout when I answer your calls. Already changed into hiking boots. Lets do this!
From his car Joe grabbed a backpack that contained evidence-collection supplies, water and snacks, as well as a compass and other survival equipment. He never ventured into the woods without it. At his hip, he wore his pistol, a Glock .40 caliber. Brent carried a 12-gauge pump shotgun, standard issue nowadays.
The two men picked carefully through the brush and grasses, dodging roots and ducking low-hanging pine tree branches. Brent was an avid hunter, unlike Joe, but he wouldnt criticize the mans need to kill innocent animals for food. The day he started doing that was the day he volunteered to have his life held under a microscope and examined for faults. He had many, but cruelty to animals was not one of them. His anti-hunting stance got him some razzing from his fellow conservation officers. They tended to think that COs with wildlife management training let their love for nature get in the way of their police work. The opposite was true. Joe protected the citizens as well as the animals.
They hiked half a mile through thick pine and aspen. The sun had set, and he and Brent were now using flashlights, but the moon was three-quarters full and there was still some ambient light glimmering off the calm lake water. Thanks to Joes sharp eye, they found a deer trail, as well as scat droppings under some fallen maple leaves. Their path kept them within a thirty-foot distance from the lake shore. The shooter would have gotten close enough to the edge of the forest for a good, clear shot, Joe decided. Thankful for the beaten-down brush, he tracked until he spotted shell casings. Ballistic evidence. Excellent.
They stood twenty feet in from the lakeshore, well camouflaged by tall brush and a frond of wild fern. With shell casings just behind him, and the grass trampled down around them, Joe figured this was where the shooter had been positioned. He studied the ground, which was folded-down marsh grass and moss. If it had been dirt, he might have found impressions from a tripod the shooter would have surely utilized to hold steady aim and sight in the Davis property nearly a mile across the lake, as well as shoe tracks.
You never cease to amaze me, Brent commented as he bent to shine his flashlight on the shell casings. What? Did you grow up in the woods like Mowgli, or something?
I think Mowgli lived in the jungle, Joe commented. But there had been a time, in his family, when his brothers had referred to him as Mowgli, until theyd decided on the more annoying Nature Boy.
It wasnt often a boy found himself lost in the woods for three days, and was finally led out and home by a pack of wolves. That experience had changed Joes life. First, his parents had hugged him and showered him with kisses. Then, theyd grounded him for wandering off by himself without taking a cell phone along, despite the fact that it wasnt easy to call home in the middle of the Boundary Waters where cell towers were few and far between. But Joe had taken the punishment and had used it to study up on wolves, and from that day forward his direction had been clear. He wanted to work with wildlife and protect them from the hazards of living so close to humans.