“If you’d made it back to Denver, what would you have done?” Dylan asked. “With regards to the boy?”

  “Nothing. That was all on Jim.”

  “Fennel said that you would find the boy in Denver and talk with him.” Dylan was just curious as to what Xander would say in response. Since it had never come to that while they had Luke in safekeeping, it would all just be Xander’s word.

  “Fennel might have said so, but I didn’t plan to have anything to do with it. Or with Jim any longer. If he could turn on a lifelong friend like that, none of us were safe around him. Besides, Jim has a history of flying off the handle.”

  “Oh?”

  “Jim’s juvenile records were sealed, but yeah. His dad, who was a lawyer at the time, got him off on all charges.”

  “What had Jim done?” The news wasn’t surprising to Dylan. Oftentimes someone who was involved in illegal activities had started out at a younger age.

  “We were all out hunting with a friend named Holson. We were sixteen at the time, and Holson was riding Jim about dating some girl in high school. Holson was asking if he couldn’t do any better than that, and Jim was getting madder about it by the second. I don’t know why Holson would rile him like that. It was really stupid. We were all carrying rifles. Holson knew Jim had a temper, but he just kept at it, and Jim shot him dead.”

  “Hell. How did he get off? Besides that his father is a lawyer.”

  “The finding was an accidental shooting while hunting. The rest of us, Eddie, me, Fennel, all knew better. But we all agreed to say that it was an accident. I wonder if Eddie would have said something differently way back then if he had known how it would have ended for him on this hunting trip,” Xander said.

  “No kidding. Okay, so who tried to stop Jim from shooting Eddie?” Dylan asked.

  “What?”

  Dylan would have thought that despite the heat of the moment, everyone would have remembered the part where someone shouted to Jim not to do it, according to Luke’s recollection. “Someone told Jim not to shoot Eddie?”

  “Oh, uh, yeah, that was me.”

  “So you did try to stop Jim from shooting Eddie.”

  “Uh, yeah, but Jim just went ahead and did it because when he gets that riled up, there’s no stopping him.”

  “What is Jana’s last name?” Dylan asked, wanting to get a confirmation from her about the dating situation. Maybe she hadn’t stopped dating Jim and was still seeing him while she was dating Eddie also.

  “I…don’t know her last name. It just never came up in any conversation.”

  “Do you know how Jim met her?” Dylan asked.

  “At a pub in Denver, but I don’t know which one.”

  “Okay, thanks.” Dylan took their empty coffee cups. “If you have nothing more to say—”

  “Watch Jim get off. He always does. If either Fennel or I had shot Eddie, Jim would have thrown us under the bus.” Xander stood up, and CJ came in to put him back in the cell.

  “Thanks for talking to me,” Dylan said to Xander.

  “You gotta get him or I’m afraid Fennel and I aren’t safe,” Xander said, then left the interrogation room with CJ.

  Then CJ brought Fennel into the room to speak with Dylan and left them alone. “Okay, so where do you think Jim might have gone?” Dylan asked.

  Fennel shrugged. “Back to his grandfather’s cabin? I don’t know.”

  “If we can get him into custody, the better off you and Xander will be.”

  Fennel told him about the other places Jim might be. The same ones that Xander had mentioned. Dylan wondered why Fennel would have been hesitant before to tell him where Jim might be holed up for now. If Dylan were Fennel, he’d want Jim caught. Then again, maybe Fennel felt some loyalty to Jim, no matter what had happened between the friends.

  “You never said how Jim nearly killed you,” Fennel said, fishing for information, looking a bit smug again.

  Dylan leaned back in his chair, figuring the way Fennel was acting, he had hoped Jim had killed him. “Is there anything else you can tell us that will help us to apprehend Jim?”

  “Nope. That’s all I’ve got. Good luck.”

  Dylan left the room, and CJ took Fennel back to his cell.

  Dylan went to speak with Peter after that. “Okay, so can we get a team together to check out these places?”

  “Yep. The same guys are going to back you up, including CJ. We’ve got to get this done before the Valentine’s Day party.” Peter smiled.

  Dylan knew Peter was only joking. Who knew how long it would take to get this done? “Hey, if it runs longer than that, I want everyone to return to the party. I’ll get him on my own,” Dylan said.

  Peter shook his head. “Are you kidding? Daniel and Bryan are single so they don’t have any issue with not returning in time for the celebration. But CJ, Michael, and you? I don’t even want to think of what the she-wolves would say about that. If you don’t find Jim at one of the locations in a reasonable amount of time, return here before the big event, and you can go out again after Valentine’s Day.”

  “Yeah, that will work.” Though Dylan hated to have to tell Roxie he was leaving again. He was certain she would understand, but he just didn’t want to leave her. That was a complete turnaround for him from being gone all the time and glad to do it, tracking down perps, to wanting to be around home all the time to see Roxie. “Okay, I’ve got to get packed, and I’ll meet everyone—”

  “At the lodge with snowmobiles gassed up and ready to go.” Peter slapped him on the back. “CJ, are you ready to go?”

  “And get this done? Hell, yeah.”

  Then Dylan headed back to Roxie’s house and called her. “I have some locations where Jim might be hiding out.”

  “Don’t tell me they’re in Denver or another state.”

  “Nope. Only fifteen to twenty miles from Jim’s grandfather’s place. So the same crew is going with me as before.”

  “Oh, that’s not bad then. You’ll locate him in no time at all.”

  “We hope so, but we plan to come home if we don’t find him before Valentine’s Day.”

  “Unless you have a lead. The guy’s a murderer. He attempted to kill you too.”

  “And he killed a friend when they were sixteen and got away with it.”

  “No way,” Roxie said.

  “Yeah, so he’s gotten away with murder already. If I have anything to say about it, he’s not getting away with Eddie’s murder.”

  “I agree. If you can’t make it back in time for the Valentine’s Day party, you can wear your tux for our wedding. I already reserved all three banquet rooms for June eighth, new moon, no issues with shifting.”

  He wanted to hug and kiss her. “I can’t wait.”

  “Yeah, my sister and sisters-in-law and Nicole’s mother are helping me plan the whole thing.”

  “If you need me to do anything, just let me know.”

  “So you’re going now?”

  “I’m almost to the house. I’m going to pack up and meet everyone at the lodge. Then we’re heading out.”

  “Okay. No matter what I’m doing, just come and say goodbye before you leave,” she said.

  “Absolutely. I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye, honey.”

  “Good. I’ve got to run. See you in a few minutes then.”

  He was glad she wasn’t upset with him about not being there and even being understanding if he couldn’t make it back in time for the party. He didn’t want to miss it for anything, unless he was about to capture Jim.

  He arrived at the house and pulled his camping gear out of the garage. Once he grabbed some clothes and slipped them into his backpack, he packed up food for a few days in case they had to be out for that much time.

  Then he walked over to the lodge and found Roxie talking to Kayla at the front desk. He kissed Roxie. “Sorry that I have to run off again.”

  “No way,” Kayla said. “You need to stop this guy from hurting anyone else.”

  “I so agree.” Roxie hugged him. “Hmm, just come back to me in one piece.” She kissed him long and with feeling.

  God, she felt so good pressed against him, and he wished they had time to make love one more time before he ran off into the snowy woods again.

  “I’ll be waiting for you. Is Michael going with you again?” Roxie asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll call up Carmela and have dinner with her until you return if she’d like.”

  “Nate will be home tonight, but if he goes out of town overnight while Dylan and Michael are gone. I’ll let you know, and I’ll eat with the two of you,” Kayla said.

  “Absolutely,” Roxie said.

  Then the guys started showing up.

  “Are we ready to go?” CJ asked.

  “Yeah, let’s go so we can reach that first location pronto,” Dylan said. He kissed Roxie again and embraced her soundly. “I’ll keep you posted when I can.”

  “Okay, good.”

  Then the guys took off with their camping equipment and loaded everything on their snowmobiles. Dylan was so ready to get this done. He just hoped they’d find Jim at one of the cabins. The first one they looked at preferably, so they could get this over with.

  “We had to release Xander and Fennel on bond. They’re returning to Denver. But at least we have both their testimonies,” CJ told Dylan. “I don’t think they’re going to run unless they’re afraid of Jim, should he return to Denver.”

  “Yeah, I agree.”

  Then they all mounted their snowmobiles and headed off in the direction of the first of the cabins. Dylan sure hoped they’d find Jim and no one would get hurt.

  Chapter 19

  “Hey,” Kayla said to Roxie as they watched Dylan leave the lodge with the other men, and she gave her a hug. “I know you were really excited to have a mate and a date for the Valentine’s Day party finally, for the first time in years.”

  Roxie sighed. “Yeah, but I was being honest when I told Dylan they had to catch this guy. Sure, if they haven’t had any luck and want to come home for the party, great. But if they are following his trail, they’ve got to get him.”

  “I know. But I also know you’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t make it home in time for the party.”

  “I’ll take Rosco tonight.”

  “Okay, and Buttercup?”

  “Absolutely. She misses her buddy if they are apart.” The two of them were practically inseparable when it came to bedtime.

  “I have firsthand knowledge of that,” Kayla said.

  That night, Roxie had a pepperoni pizza with Carmela at her place and they had wine with their dinner. Even though the ladies wanted to have meals with their guys, they were enjoying dinners with each other until the men were home. When Roxie returned to her house, she said to Rosco, “Are you ready for a walk?”

  He was wagging his whole butt hard, eager to go on his walk.

  She attached his leash to his collar. “Okay, buddy, let’s go.” She loved taking Rosco on walks, even though lately Dylan had distracted her. She loved just smelling the chilly breeze, feeling the soft flakes of snow fluttering around her face, listening to the breeze teasing the branches surrounding them.

  But then she saw a wolf she’d never seen before—his face mostly white, the top of his head and saddle nearly black, his torso and legs blond except for a black collar of fur. A lupus garou? A wild wolf? She wouldn’t think one would come that close to her and her family’s homes. If it was a lupus garou, she wondered if he was thinking the same thing about her—that she was one of his kind. If so, was he staying at the lodge? But then she remembered the twin brothers’ description of the wolf near the lodge when she and Dylan were eating at the tavern. And she wondered who he was, if it was the same wolf.

  She couldn’t smell his scent, but she really wanted to. She began moving toward the wolf to see if she could get a whiff of his scent. Rosco was quiet because he was used to wolves and being around strangers at the lodge and elsewhere, so he didn’t bark at the wolf.

  The wolf stood its ground for a few minutes more and warily watched them, appearing a little unsure how to react. Then he bounded off into the woods. That worked out even better for her. She and Rosco continued to walk toward where the wolf had been standing, and this time, she got his scent. It still wasn’t anyone she knew, but she was wary of his actions. Maybe he was a lupus garou and staying at the lodge but was afraid she wasn’t one of his kind. But Rosco was so noticeable at the place, she couldn’t imagine a fellow wolf staying there who wouldn’t recognize him by sight or scent.

  She sighed. “Rosco, do your duty. I’m getting cold.” She punctuated her comment with a shiver. She looked up at the starry night sky and thought of Dylan out there with the others and wished he had been on the walk with her and Rosco. And once they returned home? They would have warmed each other up right properly.

  The next morning at work, Kayla said to Roxie, “We saw you walking Rosco back to your house last night. We could have gone with you if you’d let us know when you were going.”

  “When you and Nate were having a date night? No way. I did see a wolf I didn’t know out there though.”

  Kayla let out her breath in exasperation. “You should have told us.”

  “I went off to smell his scent in case I saw him at the lodge sometime. Well, smelled him at the lodge, rather. He wasn’t menacing. He seemed harmless. So what’s on the schedule today?” Roxie just hoped her sister wouldn’t tell Blake and Landon about it. They’d both give her grief for not going with someone else if lone wolves they didn’t know were hanging about.

  “I have a wedding to take care of. And you can start crafting the Valentine’s Day decorations if you’d like.”

  “Oh terrific.” Roxie much preferred decorating to handling wedding parties. Except when it came to her own. Kayla took care of the promotions. She needed to make up brochures and would redo their website after the Valentine’s Day party for Mardi Gras. That morning, Roxie began creating a banner to turn the lobby into a theme of romance and love, thinking all the while about her very own wolf sweetheart and so glad she’d have him to celebrate with this year.

  A group of teens, including Luke, the Silver triplets, Luke’s girlfriend, Everleigh Boatman, and her brother, Benjamin, came to the desk and offered to help make more Valentine’s decorations.

  “Our art teacher wanted us to use our artistic talents to create decorations for Valentine’s Day. To make it really special, we wanted to hang them here at the lodge where so many people can see them, if it’s all right with you,” Luke said.

  “Oh, that would be great.” Roxie was so pleased Luke was getting to do fun things like that with a bunch of other wolf teens and was happy to do it.

  They brought in plastic tubs of art materials and began making a “Happy Valentine’s Day” banner. The kids also made string hearts of beiges, reds, pinks, and white to put up in various places as decorations. They worked on green garlands and added red hearts on sticks that Lelandi had purchased for them. Lastly, they created a heart wreath that was covered with red crepe paper and little red hearts to hang on the wall behind the reception counter when it was time. This was the first year the teens had helped with decorations, and everyone was having a blast. Roxie treated them to a free lunch at the restaurant before they returned to do some more schooling.

  She couldn’t wait to roll out the love carpet in terms of creating decorations for the special occasion. She tended to be that way. Before she was even finished with one event, she was ready for something new and different. After this, they were having their very first Mardi Gras party!

  For the rooms that were rented for a Valentine’s Day getaway vacation, they would add rose petals, a heart-shaped box of candy, heart gift cards for the various shops in town, candles, a vase of flowers, and heart balloons. With Kayla’s promotional moxie, they were having rooms booked way ahead of time just for the Valentine’s Day couple retreats! They would also decorate the restaurant in a love theme of red roses and tapered candles on all the tables.

  Kayla went back into the office and started creating brochures that they would print out, which meant Roxie had a moment for lunch. She walked inside the restaurant, and as soon as she did, Luke waved to her. “Come join us,” he said.

  That made her feel great. Roxie joined the kids, and Minx hurried over to get her order. “The tuna salad and a cup of hot tea. Thanks, Minx,” Roxie said.

  “Be right back with it.”

  “Thanks so much to all of you for helping to create the decorations for the lobby. They’re just beautiful,” Roxie said.

  “You’re welcome,” Benjamin said. “It was fun doing it and being able to show it off to everyone coming through here.” Then he cleared his throat, looked serious, and said, “So would you ever bite a human?”

  Feeling a little panicked at hearing the question, Roxie quickly looked to see if anyone else could hear them. At least all the customers around them were wolves for now. “If I had no other choice, I might have to.”

  Luke frowned at Benjamin, then took a sip of his soda. “I told them I would bite someone only if I felt I didn’t have any choice.”

  “Sure, it’s understandable.” Roxie realized this had to be the thing all the kids wondered about. Getting into a situation like that and having to deal with it. They were taught not to bite humans when they were wolves—or otherwise—but in a dire case where a wolf didn’t have a choice, she could understand it.

  “But you might not bite a human,” Cathy, one of the Silver triplets, said. “I mean, even if you thought you didn’t have a choice.”