Made it past them.
Her shoulders sagged in relief.
Tired.
Her tummy churned. Should he stop and rest? She had no idea. She didn’t know how far he had to go before he was safe.
Getting close, though.
That was good news. She wondered if he’d moved deeper into the forest. Maybe he had a cave back in there, away from the frequently traveled hiking trails. Thank heavens Lionel was young and fit, because he’d have the stamina to follow the wolf to wherever he was going.
Her cell phone chimed again. Weird, Lionel texted. Moving toward Mr. Hunter’s cabin.
Jake Hunter?
Yep. Wolf stopped in trees. I’m pulling back.
Don’t let him C U.
I won’t.
Rachel whirled and ran back inside to get her binoculars. Suddenly things were starting to make sense. If anyone in the neighborhood would keep a pet wolf, it would be Jake. He was something of a lone wolf, himself.
She thought of his green eyes, so like the wolf’s. Maybe Jake felt a kinship there. He’d also been quick to buy that carving. She couldn’t figure out why he wanted to get rid of it now, though.
As she trained her binoculars on Jake’s cabin, she pondered his odd behavior regarding the carving. Maybe he planned to surrender the wolf to a zoo or sanctuary. If so, he might be riddled with guilt.
Now that she’d spent time with that magnificent animal, she thought he certainly should feel guilty even considering doing such a thing. She realized that if Jake planned to surrender the wolf, he wouldn’t want the carving around to remind him of his former companion.
She couldn’t know any of that for sure, but she intended to find out. She owed the wolf her life, and she was going to protect it from any threat, especially if that threat came from Jake Hunter.
Her phone chimed again. Holding her binoculars with one hand, she pulled out her phone and took a quick look at Lionel’s text.
Can U C him?
She put down the binoculars long enough to send a reply. No.
In trees near Mr. Hunter’s place.
Picking up the binoculars again, she focused them on the tree line to the right of Jake’s cabin. Deep shadows pooled under the trees made seeing anything difficult, but . . . there. That darker shape could be him. She watched a moment longer and decided it very well could be him.
She laid the binoculars on the railing and texted Lionel. Think I C him.
Want me to keep watching?
No. Go on home. And thanks!
Welcome!
Rachel tucked her phone away and picked up the binoculars again. Yes, she was now almost positive that black shadow under a large pine tree was the wolf lying down. She tried tuning in to his thoughts but got nothing.
Poor injured wolf. He was probably worn out from the effort of getting around the lake without being seen. He still instinctively stayed out of sight, and Jake, if the wolf indeed belonged to him, would have reinforced that instinct.
If the cabin was the wolf’s ultimate destination, he’d have to cross that treeless stretch, which was currently bathed in sunlight. Another hour and it would be shaded, though. Another hour after that, and it would be nearly time for Jake’s nightly skinny-dipping session.
Had he been at all worried that his wolf had been gone for twenty-four hours? Of course, she still couldn’t prove for certain that the wolf was his, but the evidence was mounting. If the wolf went up to the cabin, then she could justify driving over there.
Jake must have really kept that animal under wraps, though. She’d never seen it except for one glimpse four years ago. The wolf was news to Lionel, obviously. Ted might know. She decided to call him.
But first she dragged an Adirondack chair over to the railing and made herself comfortable. If she was right about the wolf’s plan, she had an hour to wait before he made his move. Propping her elbow on the flat arm of the chair, she braced herself so she could look through the binoculars while talking on the phone.
Ted answered, but there was noise in the background. Oh, right. He hosted some guys for a poker party once a week, and this was the night. She modified the question she’d been about to ask because she didn’t want Ted to discuss potential wolf ownership with his cronies.
“Sorry to bother you on poker night,” she said, “but I have a quick question.”
“Sure. I had a lousy hand, anyway.”
“Do we have a leash law in Polecat?”
“We might. I don’t have a dog, so I never paid much attention. Why?”
“I saw a dog roaming around Jake’s place and I wondered if it was his.”
Amusement laced Ted’s reply. “So if Jake’s in violation of a leash law, you want to nail him for that?”
“Darn right. A dog could get hurt wandering around loose.” Or a semitame wolf could tangle with a bear and almost get himself killed.
“Sorry, Rachel, but Jake’s not your culprit. He doesn’t have a dog. He travels so much it wouldn’t work out.”
“Yeah, guess you’re right.”
“You should let him know about the dog, though. If it’s a stray, one of you should call the shelter and have it picked up.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that. Have fun with your buddies.”
“I will. Fortunately I’m not in it for profit.”
“That’s a good attitude, Ted. See you later.” She disconnected.
Good old Ted wasn’t motivated by profit in any sense. She suspected that with his overhead he barely broke even at the general store. But he made enough to live on and stay in the place he loved best on earth. That was nothing to sneeze at.
Meanwhile Jake Hunter apparently made a tidy profit with his wilderness guiding business. She had no quarrel with his success, but she wondered if his long absences meant he was shirking his responsibility to the wolf, the one that nobody seemed to know about.
That was assuming the wolf was his, or at least used his cabin as a home base. She still couldn’t prove that for sure, but she was determined to find out. Settling back in her chair, she adjusted the focus on the binoculars and prepared to wait for shade to find that open stretch between the tree line and Jake’s cabin.
She didn’t mind the waiting, but she was getting hungry. Candy bars waited in her kitchen, but she didn’t dare go get them and risk missing the wolf when he moved. She felt certain he wouldn’t stay where he was. Gut instinct told her Jake’s cabin was his final destination.
But she had to be sure before she went over there. Assuming she did that, she might want to decide what she planned to say. For starters, she’d ask if the wolf was his. Whether he admitted it or not, she’d know from his answer. She was good at reading people.
Then she’d tell him about the incident with the grizzly and how she’d tended the wolf’s injuries. Last of all, she’d ask if he intended to keep the wolf or turn him over to a zoo or wildlife sanctuary. If she could get him to admit that he was planning to do something like that, she would offer to take the animal herself.
How that would fit into her life was a big unanswered question. She’d already debated the issue and had decided she couldn’t commit to keeping any animal, let alone a wolf. But this was the creature that had saved her life, and she would do whatever was necessary to ensure his welfare.
Maybe she could ask Lionel to help out when she had to travel. She could cut down on the number of trips, too. Some commissions required her to be there during the installation and some didn’t. She could become pickier about which jobs she accepted.