Why a Wolf Cries - Julie Steimle (read a book .TXT) 📗

they pulled into the canyon village parking lot closest to the education center, Audry and her passengers noticed some commotion going on in front of the building. There was a large tow truck carrying a badly rolled black car. Near it stood a camera crew from a local TV station making the report.

Randon let out a low whistle, peering out at it. “I’d hate to be the driver.”

Audry and Silvia nodded. Randon had given Silvia the front passenger spot, enjoying the view from the back seat up until then. When they parked and got out, they took a closer look at the wreck.

“Do you think he survived?” Silvia murmured.

Randon shrugged and took her hand.

Audry thought the pair made the cutest couple. She had never seen Silvia this happy. Her former roommate exuded light, almost constantly smiling. It nearly made her jealous.

“We should hurry and find Ranger Douglass,” Audry said, indicating with her head the direction of the small cabin.

Nodding, the couple followed quickly after her.

Passing the TV crew, they overheard some of the broadcast. “…here on the Dunraven Pass from Mt. Washburn. He lost control of his car and rolled off the road twice, according to a ranger heading back to the canyon village who saw it happen.”

“Ugh,” Audry shook her head. “Some people just don’t know how to drive on mountain roads.”

“That looks like it could be my car,” Randon murmured. “I think I have the same brand.”

Silvia nodded, murmuring, “Have you ever tried to drive it in the mountains?”

Shaking his head, following Audry away from the news people, he said, “No. But I have same car Rick does, and he would never buy a car that could not handle a mountain road. He’s all about quality.”

Audry peeked back. That car was the same kind Rick had? Her mind went back to Mr. Deacon at the hospital. His son was out there, camping. That couldn’t be his car, could it?

But they continued on to the cabin.

Audry tried the door handle. It was locked.

She knocked.

No answer.

Hopping to the window, Audry peeked in. There was just a crack where she could look through the glass. She could barely see into the room though.

 “Damn,” Audry swore. She turned to them. “We’ll have to find the ranger to unlock the door.”

“Ok.” Randon nodded, looking back to the main lodge. “Should he be there then?”

Audry shrugged, anticipating the inevitable trouble she would encounter as her chest tightened. “Probably. But, uh, I need to warn you—he was breaking rules by keeping the wolf for me so, we have to do this subtly.”

“We’re good at subtle.” Silvia grinned.

But Audry doubted Silvia really knew what subtle meant. Silvia was good at stealthy—and that was different.

Crossing quickly to the main building, once more they were in hearing range of the media crew. This time they were discussing angles for shots of the car and ways to spin what had happened. The threesome strode hastily past it all to go in the main doors, hoping their ranger would not be too difficult to find.

Inside, the regular tourist crowd milled about, though there was some discussion about the cougar attack among them and a sign standing in the middle of the floor warning people to stay in groups and watch their small children carefully.

“Well, at least they are doing that,” Audry muttered as they headed to the main desk.  

And she spotted him there, just in front. But Ranger Douglass was with a cluster of five park rangers debating something with a rather brawny ranger in a different uniform. Perhaps this new man was a superior. Yet when they got closer, Audry, Randon, and Sylvia recognized the man. Audry could not remember, though, where she knew him from or what his name was. He was just familiar.

“…in this scenario. An escort would have been appropriate. Now I understand park policy, but in this case it would have been prudent to listen to the one who brought the wolf here. A professional courtesy, at least,” he said.

Audry smiled. They were talking about her wolf.

Ranger Douglass saw her. But instead of smiling, he paled.

A rippled of horror went through her. Something had happened to her wolf. She was sure of it. Had he been caught? Had they killed the wolf?

She rushed up, Randon and Silvia hurrying to keep up. “What’s this? Sorry, um, I need to speak to Ranger Douglass please. It’s urgent.”

The visiting ranger turned. His face brightened upon seeing all three of them. But he looked to Audry. “Hello. Audry! Glad to see you.”

“I’m sorry,” Audry puzzled at his face. “Have we met?”

This ranger chuckled, peeking to Randon and Silvia. “Briefly.” He then nodded to the other two, sticking out a hand to Randon. “Nice to see you again, Randon.” He nodded more businesslike at Silvia. “Silvia.”

She smiled, though it was more like a smirk. They knew each other well. Audry could see it in their eyes and posture—and he did not really seem to like her. It was more like he tolerated her.

Then it hit Audry. This was Daniel’s good friend, James Peterson. She recalled him saying he worked as a park ranger out west—the setting of the conversation in Jessica’s home. The time and date…? Oh, when Ivy was born. He was evidently not a Yellowstone ranger, though. But it wasn’t as clear where he was from.

“Uh…” Audry looked back at Ranger Douglass who was still pale. “I’m here about my wolf. You were just talking about him. Is he ok? We’ve come to claim him.”

James smiled, then nodded to Ranger Douglass, taking a step back to allow the man to do the honors.

Nervously, Ranger Douglass parted through the group to get to her. He whispered. “Uh, I was caught. They did not approve.”

“Oh no,” Audry went pale. “My wolf…”

“But not to worry,” Ranger Douglass said, raising a hand. “This man arrived just in time. He said Mr. Deacon had sent him to claim the wolf.”

Randon and Silvia nodded, exchanging looks.

“So, the wolf was taken away,” he explained.

Looking over at James, Audry nodded, frowning. Though she did have that talk with Mr. Deacon the day before, she still was angry that the man was messing with the life of that poor animal.

“How was he when they took him away?” Audry asked, meeting the ranger’s gaze to read him.

Shaking his head, Ranger Douglass leveled with her. “He lost a lot of blood. I don’t know how he will be, to be honest.”

Audry paled.

“But James is a trained ranger,” Randon interjected. “And I do believe he is skilled in some animal rescue.”

Meeting Randon’s gaze, Ranger Douglass eyed him critically. “Yes. I supposed. And who are you?”

“Sorry.” Randon grinned, extending a hand. “Randon Spade. I’m a veterinarian. I am also familiar with that wolf.”

Ranger Douglass’s eyes widened on him. He leaned back. It was peculiar, Audry thought, that such a remark would invoke such a response. The ranger embraced Randon’s hand and shook it. “Can I speak with you in private?”

Audry stepped back as both men walked to the side with hushed whispers between them. Audry tried to overhear, but Silvia said at the same moment, “So the wolf is now in the hands of Mr. Deacon’s people. He’ll be all right then.”

“Will he?” Audry questioned her. She found it difficult to feel it would be all right when that wolf kept getting shot at and attacked due to his connection with the Deacon family.

“Most definitely,” Silvia brightly declared. “This is good news, Audry. We now know the wolf is being taken care of by the best. Remember, Mr. Deacon is wealthy. He can get the best health care for that wolf.”

Which was true. Yet Audry could not help feeling that something else was going on, and the wolf was not fine. She wondered if any of these folk would lie to her about the wolf dying. And for that matter, how would she feel if she found out that was the truth of it?

James the ranger walked up to her. “Hi, Audry. I just want to thank you for your timely care and rescue of that wolf. I don’t think he would have survived without you.”

She looked to him, flustered. “How do you know the wolf?”

Shrugging, James said, “I’m from Middleton Village. He’s from Wolf’s Wood.”

Silvia nodded. “That’s true. Ancestral land.”

James shot her a dirty look.

“The point is,” James said to Audry, ignoring Silvia. “The fact that you persisted in making sure the wolf got care is… without a doubt, admirable. But I think Mr. Deacon is worried about the risk you take in such a dangerous career.”

“Because I am a woman?” Audry snapped. Her hands propped onto her hips.

James shook his head. “Because Rick likes you.”

She blushed. Her arms dropped.

“Rick would like to see you safe.”

She rolled her eyes this time. It was embarrassing.

“And when he heard about the cougar incident, and that you were involved, he did something hasty and…” James shook his head, sighing.

“And what?” She folded her arms, scowling now. Rick was so meddlesome sometimes.

Silvia drew in a breath. She looked out toward the doors. “He didn’t.”

James met her eye. Something unspoken passed between them, and he nodded. “Yes. You guessed correctly. That wreck is his.”

Audry was confused. “You lost me.”

Meeting her gaze, James opened his mouth to explain.

“We should head back to Cody.” Randon walked up with Ranger Douglass. “We have no reason to be here anymore. And you should be with your family.”

Rolling her eyes, Audry nodded. “I’m sorry to drag you all the way out here for nothing.”

“No, it’s not for nothing,” Randon said, smiling at her. “We’re glad you thought of us. I’m just sorry we cannot be more of service.”

“But the cost of airfare…” Audry clenched her teeth, thinking about it.

Randon and Silvia both waved it off.

Audry turned toward Ranger Douglass. “Thank you for your help. I hope this does not affect your job.” She peeked over at the other rangers who looked varying degrees of harassed, annoyed, and somewhat mutinous. They did not seem to like James very much, either. It gave her the impression of local police being upset whenever a federal agent showed up. And she started then to wonder… was James a federal agent? Like a federal ranger or something?

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Ranger Douglass said, peeking to James. It gave her the impression that he had just given a job offer with better pay—most likely by Mr. Deacon.

But since that came to mind, Audry asked the question of the century. “Do any of you know why Mr. Deacon is so interested in that wolf?”

Ranger Douglass paled, peeking to the others for help.

Randon smirked, shaking his head. “He’s more like connected than interested.”

“I told you. He’s from our hometown,” James replied frankly. “He feels personally responsible to all wolves from our hometown.”

“But why is that wolf all the way in Yellowstone?” Audry demanded.

“He travels,” Randon replied with a nonchalant shrug.

“To Germany?” Audry snapped, as Randon had seemed way too flippant for her taste.

They stared at her.

She shook her head. “I met Rhett Williams. And he said he saw that wolf in Germany.” When they opened their mouths to question how Rhett would connect that wolf and her in a conversation, she snapped. “He recognized the wolf on my tee shirt. We bumped into each other at a post office. Besides, I saw the scars on that wolf’s body when I was treating his wounds. He was also attacked in Germany, wasn’t he? What the hell was an American wolf doing in Germany?”

“Oh…” James nodded. “I can tell you. I was in Germany then.”

“You were?” Her gaze fixed on him.

James nodded more. Randon and Silvia watched as he explained.

“He came with us,” James said.

She stared wide-eyed at him. “You brought him?”

“The wolf is tame,” James explained. “And highly intuitive.”

Randon struggled with keeping a straight face. Audry knew from that, that James was lying.

“He came with us, insisting—”

“Bull crap,” Audry snapped. Her arms tightened across her chest.

Silvia said, “Well, what do you want us to say? That Rick