“Anyone could have shot Eddie. Another hunter even.”

  “Another hunter illegally hunting like the four of you?” Peter asked. “You didn’t know if the boy had seen you all at the crime scene or not. But he did. We found him. He’s in safe custody and he’ll testify against all of you.”

  “I want to talk to my lawyer.” Xander folded his arms on top of his chest and looked mutinous.

  “Sure. One last time, I want to ask if you have any idea where Fennel might be? If you care about him surviving this,” Peter said.

  “I don’t know. When we split up, he went the way he thought the road would be. I went the other way. We…we didn’t agree about which way to go. Maybe he made it to the road when I sure as hell hadn’t. Maybe Jim picked him up already, or maybe someone else did. I really don’t know.”

  “All right,” Peter said, sounding satisfied. He looked at Dylan. “Do you have anything more you want to ask or say?”

  “No. I’m just glad we found you,” Dylan said.

  “Yeah, I agree,” Peter said.

  Then they left the room. Peter said to Trevor, “If he gives you any trouble, let me know.”

  “Sure thing, boss,” Trevor said.

  “I told Jake I’d help take some guard shifts while I’m here, but Peter said no to that,” Dylan told Trevor.

  Trevor smiled as he watched the doctor coming down the hall to speak with someone. “I bet.”

  “Guard duty?” Doc asked Peter, glancing at Dylan.

  “Hey, Jake said no and so would I.” Peter smiled.

  “Good.” Dr. Summerfield eyed Dylan for a moment and then said, “Come with me to an exam room.”

  “I’ll meet you in the lobby,” Peter said.

  Which surprised Dylan. He figured Peter didn’t really have any more to say to him about Xander. Maybe he wanted to know if the doc put him on more restrictions.

  “Yeah, Doc,” Dylan said, walking into the exam room. He was about to take a seat on a chair, but Dr. Summerfield motioned for him to sit on the exam table.

  The doc listened to his breathing, shined a light in his eyes, listened to his heartbeat. “Okay, I know you feel the need to find these guys, and I totally understand that. But we have a lot of people here who are looking for them, and I don’t want you injuring yourself to the extent that you could be permanently disabled.”

  “I agree.”

  “Okay, well, I have to say I admire you and Roxie for finding Xander. He wouldn’t have survived much longer, and he’s suffering from frostbite on his toes and fingers. It looks like I’ll be amputating some, so he didn’t get out of his situation completely unscathed.”

  “Hell.”

  “Yeah. I’ll let you go talk to Peter. I hope we get this situation wrapped up soon,” Doc said.

  “Me too, and thanks, Doc.” Dylan headed off to speak to Peter in the lobby.

  “Did Doc give you hell?” Peter asked.

  Dylan laughed. “Sorry that I started to talk to Xander while you were questioning him.”

  “No problem. You had been there from the beginning. You knew these men. I figured if I missed asking a question that might shed a light on something, you would think of it. We made a good team. So I was going to say that if you ever need a job here, I could hire you as one of my full-time deputies.”

  Dylan couldn’t believe it. He had no idea the sheriff would be interested in hiring him to work for him.

  “Yeah, after all that you’ve done and with your extensive criminal investigative background—don’t think I didn’t look into it already—we could use you here. If you ever decide you want to come down here and join the pack, you’ve got a job.” Peter shook his hand and then headed out.

  Dylan smiled at Peter. He really liked him. He was on the ball, already trying to steal him from the FWS to work for him.

  At the receptionist desk, Carmela smiled. “You didn’t expect that, did you?”

  “Nope. I love it here.”

  “Yeah, it’s a great place to live and to have a family.”

  “I can see that. Have a great day.”

  “You too,” she said.

  Dylan went outside and got into his truck feeling like he was walking on air. It wasn’t often—make that never—that someone out of the blue offered him a job that could be right up his alley. He loved the business of going after people dealing in wildlife issues. But he also loved the idea of living with other wolves, socializing with them, helping them, like they’d been aiding him. And of course there was Roxie. He didn’t think a long-distance relationship with her would work out. After this afternoon, hell yeah, he wanted to really get to know her better.

  He drove to the lodge at the ski resort, telling himself he needed to think this over a bit more before he made a decision of that magnitude. But he was thinking that this could be just what he needed in his life.

  Chapter 12

  Blake and Landon were off taking care of banquet room parties and didn’t hear the commotion in the restaurant as Roxie tried to defuse the situation with the men. Four local wolves eating an early dinner nearby, all retired military and fit to take out any combatant, immediately rose from their table and headed toward Roxie and Minx to help them out.

  “This is slop. I told you we shouldn’t eat here. Gouging prices and meals not fit to consume,” the one man said to his friend, loud enough for everyone in the whole restaurant to hear.

  Which infuriated Roxie when she saw the two men had eaten everything but a couple of crumbs from their blue cheese triple-meat burgers. All the french fries on their plates were gone too. She knew a con when she saw one. “You ate the meals in their entirety. You didn’t leave a scrap of food. Which tells me the burgers and fries were pretty good.” Roxie looked over their dinner bill again. “Not only that, but you drank three beers apiece and they’re part of your bill.” They were just trying to get out of paying their dining bill.

  She said to Minx, “Minx, you can go.” She wanted the young waitress out of the way in case this got physical. Roxie was trained in hand-to-hand combat. Minx wasn’t.

  “Hey, guys, just pay the bill. They don’t need any scam artists in here. The food’s excellent and everyone knows it. Hell, people come out of their way to eat here for special occasions even,” Michael Hoffman said. He was relatively new to town, a retired army Special Forces officer. He had been eating dinner with his brother, Daniel Hoffman, his brother-in-law, Bryan Wildhaven, and his wife, Carmela, who were all also retired military.

  Roxie wouldn’t have to lift a finger this time. She had plenty of muscle to help her out.

  “Butt out,” the one man said to Michael.

  Roxie suspected the two men had drunk more than just the three beers at the restaurant. Most likely, as inebriated as they were, they’d been drinking on ski breaks. Drinking too much and civility didn’t go hand in hand.

  “We’re not paying for this crap,” the other man said, shoving Roxie out of the way, only because the three men and Carmela that had come to her rescue looked like a wall of muscled power and he was trying to make a hasty getaway in the opposite direction through the weakest link, which he figured was her.

  As soon as he shoved Roxie, she went to take him down with one of her maneuvers, like she’d done with the drunk guy in the lobby earlier, but Daniel took hold of the man and slammed him on the floor before she could. And he did it with a lot more force than she could!

  Everyone in the restaurant—wolves and humans who didn’t know they were watching wolves—cheered.

  The other guy raised his hands to show he wasn’t intending to leave, but he wasn’t bringing out a credit card to pay for the bill.

  CJ soon ran into the building and caught Landon’s attention where he was just leaving one of the ballroom functions he was managing.

  The two of them raced to the restaurant and then Roxie explained everything. Daniel told them about the man on the floor needing to be charged with battery for shoving Roxie.

  “It looks like you licked your plates clean. You need to pay up,” CJ said to the men.

  She guessed the guys had thought they could bluff their way through this. But the wolves stuck together.

  “Let me up, man,” the one on the floor said.

  Michael helped him up and CJ cuffed him.

  “What’s that for?”

  “For battery and attempted theft of goods,” CJ said.

  “I’ll pay the damn bill,” the other man said. He got his credit card out and Roxie ran it.

  She got a stolen-card notice. She handed it to CJ. “Stolen credit card.”

  CJ handcuffed him too. “We’ll sort this out down at the station.”

  Peter arrived then and helped CJ haul the men out of the restaurant.

  Dylan was just coming into the lobby when he saw the sheriff and deputy taking two men out of the restaurant in handcuffs. Peter said to him, “I told you I’d hire you on the spot if you want to switch jobs. As you can see, we do have a need for another full-time deputy.”

  “I might just have to take you up on it.” Dylan glanced back at Roxie and Landon talking to Minx, and he wondered what had happened this time.

  Before he could ask, Peter said, “The men wouldn’t pay their bill and then one offered a stolen credit card for payment, not to mention that the other shoved Roxie.”

  Dylan couldn’t believe it. He wanted to take care of the guy who shoved her.

  “Both Roxie and Minx are okay. Talk to you later,” Peter said.

  Dylan shook his head and hurried off to the restaurant. Peter and CJ took the men outside to their vehicles. Hell, Roxie’s eye was just healing up where the one guy had hit her, the bruise green and yellow now. She didn’t need another. He had smelled the beers on the men’s breath. They were intoxicated like the other men had been.

  Roxie glanced over to see him and still looked angry, but then her face brightened and she hurried to meet up with him.

  He pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug. “Hey, you need a protector.”

  She laughed. “So do you.”

  “I agree. Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. It just got ugly when they tried to say our food wasn’t good, but they’d devoured every bite and then refused to pay for it.” Roxie introduced Dylan to the two men he hadn’t met yet that had helped her out, and they all greeted him.

  Landon was talking to Minx, asking her if she was okay. Then Michael and his kin sat down to eat the rest of their meal.

  “We’ve had a few cases of dine and dash where the patrons tried to slip out without paying for a meal, and we’ve always caught them and criminally charged them. This was different because they thought they could say the food was bad and not pay for the meal,” Roxie said.

  “Well, having eaten here already and seen all the reviews of your restaurant, I know that’s not the case,” Dylan said.

  “Yeah. What did Xander have to say?” Roxie asked.

  “Nothing much. He didn’t know where Fennel got off to. He wouldn’t tell us anything about the case. But with Luke’s testimony, at least everyone will know the truth.”

  “That’s for sure and that’s why he needs to be kept safe at all times.” Roxie led Dylan into the lobby.

  “I agree. Do you need my help with anything?”

  “No, just relax in the lobby. I’m going to work, but you can just take it easy.”

  “You are sure you don’t need me to do anything else?”

  Roxie could tell Dylan didn’t like the idea of just relaxing. He was probably always on the go.

  “Have something to drink on the house.”

  He laughed. “All right.”

  She got him a beer out of the kitchen and handed the bottle to him. “Now go sit down and people watch.”

  He thanked her, then took his beer into the lobby and sat on a chair near Rosco’s bed. Rosco immediately got up to greet him, and he started petting the dog. Roxie smiled. She liked a man who knew how to relax as well as get a job done.

  Roxie ended up helping Blake with a large anniversary party. When they finally finished with it that evening, she glanced out the ballroom door to see what Dylan was doing. He was gone. She wasn’t surprised. She just hoped he wasn’t out running around looking for Fennel.

  “Hey, we’re done here,” Blake told her. “Why don’t you go home and watch over Dylan? But no more running off without telling us where you’re going from now on.”

  “Right. Landon has lectured me. Kayla has given me her two cents’ worth. Even Gabrielle said never to worry about Landon and her getting enough sleep because of the babies. She knew that was one reason I hadn’t called them. Nate even called to say how upset Kayla was.”

  “Okay, good. I hope that you got the message,” Blake said.

  She knew her family only wished the best for her and wanted to keep her safe. “I did. Thank you. But thanks for the congrats for saving Xander’s life too.” She looked around at the lobby. “Dylan left.” Then she noticed Rosco wasn’t in the lobby, and she saw Kayla was at the front desk. Landon finished up with the venue he was taking care of and joined them. “Where’s Rosco?” Roxie asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve been with you for the last couple of hours,” Blake said.

  Landon shook his head. “I’ve been busy too.”

  Roxie and her brothers headed to the counter to speak to Kayla. “I thought Rosco was just lying on his bed,” Kayla said.

  Then Dylan came into the lobby walking Rosco. Everyone sighed with relief. “What? Everyone was busy, and Rosco was dying to go out,” Dylan said.

  They laughed. “Thanks so much for doing that,” Roxie said. “Let’s go home and have dinner.”

  She was glad she had started a meal of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. It would be ready to eat as soon as they arrived home.

  “Boy, this smells so good,” Dylan said once they’d ditched their outer winter gear, and he began pouring their glasses of Chablis.

  “Yeah. I love making pot roast, corned beef, or brisket in the slow cooker so the meal is done when I get home. I have lots of leftovers and sometimes I’ll freeze some of it for another day. Sometimes I make it for some of my family members or all of them. Other times, they’re busy and it’s all just for me.”

  He chuckled. “Well, this is going to be delicious.”

  He set the table and she brought over glasses of water. Then he began to dish up the food.

  She placed a tub of butter on the table.

  “I rarely eat at the dining table back home,” Dylan said.

  “Don’t tell me. You’re at your desk searching for clues about the guys you’re after.” She carved up some of the corned beef that was cooked to perfection and served it on his plate while he was dishing up potatoes, cabbage, and carrots.

  “Yeah. This is so much nicer. Having your company, eating your great cooking, learning about your day.”

  “I’m usually sitting in the living room watching TV and eating. So this is a nice change for me too. More like the old days when I ate with my family at the table.”

  “Well, this is really nice for me for sure.” He mashed his potatoes with his fork, and then he buttered them.

  They were enjoying their meal when Roxie got a call from Nicole. She figured Nicole needed her to do babysitting duty. “What’s up?”

  “Hey, we’re having that rewilding meeting tonight at seven. I was supposed to be there, but I wondered if you could take my place. The babies are so needy right now.”

  “Yeah, sure, Nicole.”

  “What about Dylan?” Nicole asked.

  “He can come with me or chill out here.”

  Dylan glanced at her and smiled.

  “Okay, I’ll be there. No worries.” Then Roxie ended the call with her sister-in-law. “I have a meeting to go to at seven at the lodge. Do you want to go with me? It’s about rewilding some of the area around the coal mines that have been closed for a decade to return the land to nature.”

  “Yeah, that’s right up my alley. Anything to do with returning habitat to the wild animals works for me.”

  “Good. We are just in the planning phase. We won’t actually begin planting until the snow has melted, but we want to be ready for that. All the businesses in town will be represented and individuals involved in it will be at the meeting. You don’t have to go if you don’t want.”

  “No, I’d love to go.”

  After they ate dinner, they watched a thriller and then it was time to go to the meeting. Roxy was glad Dylan wanted to go with her. They arrived at the lodge and went into one of the banquet rooms. Everyone took their seats. Michael and Carmela Hoffman, who were in charge of the project, got up to talk.

  Carmela spoke first. “While serving in various areas of the world as an army officer, I always dreamed of how wonderful it would be to reclaim dry, desert regions and turn them into forests, a place for biodiversity for wildlife habitats for our kind and for the wild animals that share our world. When I saw the old coal mine, I wanted to turn the lands into a wildlife nature reserve, and everyone in the pack was in agreement. We have several steps we need to take to accomplish this here where the old coal mines were closed down. First, we’ll need a rooting medium for the forestation to work. We’ll need to have a good four feet of soil and weathered brown sandstone mixed together for deeply rooted trees. We plan to get started on this as soon as the snow has melted, and we can grade the land and then add the mixture.”

  Michael continued. “After that phase is done, we’ll be lightly grading the soil medium, loosely compacting it so the tree roots can grow. We’ll do this when we have dry conditions. With a good soil medium that’s only lightly compacted, the trees will grow much faster. Then we’ll plant a variety of native-crop trees for diversity. A fifth of the seedlings should be trees that can exist in an open environment until the other trees fill in. They’ll be mixed with the rest of the varieties like they are found in a natural setting. They’ll help to improve the soil and make a home for wildlife.”