Legend of the White Wolf (16 page)

   The statement was more of a question, but she treated it as a statement, and none of his business. "You didn't say if you knew Lila Grayson."

   "No, I don't know of the woman or this Kintail. But I've seen their wolves. Your friend, where is he staying?"

   She hesitated. Hell, she was lousy at lying. "He's at White Wolf Den."

   "Appropriate. His name?" When she hesitated to say, Leidolf added, "I've been bitten by a wolf before, and maybe we can swap stories. Sometimes it helps to air our concerns with someone who has experienced the same… trauma."

   Faith hadn't even considered that Cameron might have been traumatized by the attack and thought it was a great idea, warming up to Leidolf instantly. "Cameron MacPherson. I'm sure he'd love to talk to you."

   "You said he was your friend, that he stayed at White Wolf Den, which means you were looking for someone else?"

   "Yes. I thought maybe this was his cabin. But obvi ously not."

   "He wouldn't happen to be Hilson Snowdon, would he?"

   "Uh, yeah, do you know him?" From Portland? Friends? She hadn't known Hilson to have any friends in Portland. But it seemed like too much of a coincidence that they both were from there and now here, at the same time.

   "I ran into him while he was pacing down by the lake. He seemed to be bothered by something. Didn't like it that I intruded on his privacy. Although from what I understand, he's the only other one here right now. So I assumed he was either Hilson or Cameron. And since White Wolf Den isn't occupied yet, or I should say until more recently, the one I met must have been Hilson."

   "Dishwater blond hair? Amber eyes?"

   "Yep. That would describe him. And irritated. I'm not sure he's in the mood for company. Would you like me to walk you back to your cabin? Or to the main lodge?"

   "No, thank you. Is his place in this direction?"

   "Next cabin over. Porcupine Cove. The other four places are under renovation. Or at least will be when the spring thaw comes."

   "Have you seen three men in their late twenties, and a gray-haired older lady around? Or had any trouble with theft?"

   Leidolf looked darkly amused that anyone might try to steal from him. "No. Why?"

   "They were at the hot tub last night, but apparently they aren't staying here. And two guys stole our snowmobiles, then parked them behind the shower facilities."

   "Sounds like pranksters to me. Using the facilities, but not belonging here."

   "But in the storm last night? Where would they have been from?"

   He seemed vaguely interested. "I don't know. But I'll keep an eye out for them. Are you sure you don't want me to escort you back to—"

   "Thanks, but I've got to run." She hurried off the porch, not having any doubts about what she had to do next and not wanting to delay the inevitable.

   "Be careful, young lady," Leidolf said, his voice a warning.

   Something about the man seemed mysterious. She couldn't put a finger on what made her feel that way. Something inherently protective. Even though he seemed intrigued with her, he seemed just as willing to help out her "friend," Cameron. Which she so appreciated. She wasn't sure after the way Cameron had reacted to the fact that she'd had a recently ended relationship that she could call him a friend any longer, though.

   And that bothered her a lot more than it should have for just having met the guy. But she felt some kind of connection with Cameron and… Well, hell, she was not willing to dwell on that issue, because once she got the flash drive from Hilson, she could just pack her bags and go, and get her life back together where she belonged.

   She thought about something more that Leidolf had said. Hilson was pacing and agitated. Why? Had he learned she had followed him here? Or had he tried to sell her father's research and hadn't been paid?

   She couldn't imagine he would want to use the research for himself, no matter what it was about. He was a stock broker, although because of the stock market, he'd lost a lot of money recently. Enough to make him want to steal her father's work for a tidy sum? She hadn't thought about that.

   Plowing through the fresh snow and getting way too much of it into her boots, she noted that no one had walked anywhere in this area since the blizzard had subsided. Everything was perfectly pristine. Which meant Hilson should be home and hadn't ventured out. Or he left during the blizzard or before it began. She should have asked when Leidolf had seen him last.

   What of the men and woman who had dropped by the hot tub? What if they were staying at one of the cabins that was closed due to renovations? It would make sense that they would be from some place close by and slip into the hot tub. Something else she should check out. But a nagging worry warned her she should have Cameron with her for that excursion.

   When she finally reached Porcupine Cove, she stared at the bristly, fat little critter carved on the sign. The place was dark, just like Leidolf's cabin had been. Maybe Hilson was taking an afternoon nap. He often did because he was such a night owl. Before she reached the porch, she saw dog tracks. No, not dog tracks. She'd bet her IRA that they were wolf tracks. All around the area, into the woods, up to Hilson's porch. Lots of wolf tracks. She thought it had to be several, or one very antsy, hungry wolf.

   She glanced around, suddenly feeling a flush of adrenaline, worried a wolf might be watching her. Not any wolf, but the one that had bitten Cameron. Not seeing anything, she hurried up onto the porch and raised her hand to the door. And hesitated.

   Steeling her back, she wondered if Hilson would hand over the flash drive without a fuss. He'd always seemed to genuinely care for her. But how could she be sure of anything where he was concerned now? She growled, then banged on the door as hard as she could.

   No answer.
Hell.
She twisted the doorknob.
Locked.
She hurried around the place, trying every window, peering inside. Everything was sealed tight. And just like Leidolf's place, this one was neat, bed made, no dishes on the kitchen counter, no sign of any bags, as if no one had ever stayed here. But Leidolf had said he'd met Hilson, so he had to be around. She looked back in the front window. If she broke a window, and managed to get inside, what would that accomplish? There was no sign of any of Hilson's belongings. But what if his bag was under his bed, and his clothes in the drawers?

   She wouldn't know for sure unless she made the effort. If she could find the flash drive, she would have done what she came here to do, make her father proud, and learn what he was up to for so long. He would have enough time to prepare his presentation, and that's all that truly mattered. Plus, she'd make a million copies of his research in the meantime, in case Hilson had a mind to snatch it again before her father gave his presentation.

   She searched for something to break a window, then spied a log stacked on a rack, half buried in snow. She struggled to get one of the logs off the top, where it was frozen to the others. After several minutes of trying, she broke it loose, stumbled back, and lost her footing. Landing in a pile of snow, she was glad it softened her fall.

   She scrambled to her feet, grabbed the small log, and headed for the porch. As soon as she readied it for a good hard window-breaking swing, she heard someone rapidly approaching from behind.

HOLDING THE LOG IN HER CLUTCHES LIKE A WEAPON, FAITH whipped around, her face white with fright. Then she let out a frosty breath as if she'd found an angel instead of the devil.

   "What are you doing?" Cameron asked, closing in on the porch. He'd followed her trail here, although a stop at Leidolf's place had given him the information that she had gone to see Hilson at the next cabin on the path around the lake.

   He assumed she might have decided to return to the ex-boyfriend to renew her relationship with him, which didn't sit well with Cameron, even though he shouldn't have cared one way or another. On the other hand, he thought she might be planning to have words with Hilson. And although it wasn't any of his business, he wanted to make sure she was going to be all right. That this Hilson Snowdon wasn't a violent type. But he never expected to see her like this.

   She lowered the log and frowned at him. "What are
you
doing here?"

   He chuckled darkly and joined her on the porch, then took the log from her. "Apparently, I'm here to stop a breaking-and-entering criminal trespass in progress. What's going on, Faith? What's the deal with you and Hilson and Trevor Hodges, your father, everything?"

   "I thought you were pissed off at me and didn't want to talk."

   He tossed the log into the snowbank off the side of the porch and reached out to run his gloved fingers over her cheek, red again now from the cold. "I want to know what's going on. Maybe I can help."

   "The… the man who was dead that you went to see, he wasn't one of your partners?"

   "No. I have to think they're both fine." But he appre ciated that whatever issues she was dealing with, she was still concerned about his situation, even if it meant she tried to sidetrack him about her own troubles. For some reason, he wanted to talk to Faith about the strange way he was feeling, and about the odd conversation he'd had with Charles. Something about Faith made him want to share with her things that he didn't even want to disclose to his partners. Not even with his former girlfriends. "Faith, we've got to talk. Hilson doesn't appear to be here, so why don't we head back to your place and get warm and discuss this?"

   "You were angry with me over Hilson." Her eyes flashed annoyance along with the accusation.

   He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her tight as he guided her off Hilson's front porch. Angry, yes. He couldn't help thinking she had unfin ished business with Hilson that meant she might end up going right back to the bastard. The first girl Cameron had dated had done the same to him. He sure as hell didn't want to fall into the same trap again

   But somehow this whole scenario was different. He wasn't willing to let her go back to Hilson, if she had half a notion to get sidetracked in that direction. And why he was even thinking along those lines, he wasn't sure. Maybe that he figured the guy didn't deserve a second chance.

   He noted the wolf tracks all over the place and eyed the woods, looking for any sign of the wolf or wolves now. Nothing. Yet, a trickle of concern wormed its way into his blood, the feeling that any second now the wolf that had bitten him might materialize out of the snow-filled scene and attack. But he didn't worry about himself, as much as he worried about protecting Faith.

   As they crunched through the snow back toward her cabin, Cameron kept an eye out for trouble, trying not to alarm her. But he wanted to know what her deal was with Hilson, so he figured he might as well share his own story first. Maybe that would encourage her to talk. At least he hoped so.

   "One evening, my girlfriend, Marjory, was talking to me about a vacation we'd planned to Canada, and then the next morning she called it quits."

   "I'm so sorry, Cameron."

   He shrugged, although he hadn't gotten over the hurt. Not exactly. "My fault."

   She looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

   "Ah, Faith, I didn't want to upset you." He figured she must have been through the wringer with Hilson recently and the parallel was making her feel badly, but he wanted to get this out in the open. "Later that night when I was on a stakeout of a house where a guy lived who'd been skipping child support payments, he grazed me with a single shot fired. Marjory decided she couldn't deal with the life-and-death dangers I might be involved in. I could understand that to a degree. But, there was someone else."

   Faith shook her head. "Like my mother."

   Cameron looked down at Faith, not expecting that. She didn't say anything more, just watched her boots as she navigated the trail of tracks they'd left in their wake the first time.

   When she didn't speak, Cameron figured he'd have to coax it out of her later and continued. "Gavin, one of my partners, discovered the truth. He'd just happened to see Marjory at Starbucks with another man. He didn't think anything of it at first, but the guy was acting a little too intimate, hand on her thigh, head leaning in toward hers to whisper something in her ear. So although I didn't know it, Gavin began following her, assuming I'd be pissed if I learned of it. But he's like that, can't let a notion go. And he wanted to prove to himself she wasn't being unfaithful. He didn't want to see me going down the same road again."

   "This happened to you before?"

   "Yeah, guess I'm just a magnet for cheating women." Cameron squeezed her tight as they trudged through the snow, loving how her body warmed his, wishing that he hadn't upset her though. He wondered if this was what rebound was all about. He supposed that Marjory had been the reason for such a whirlwind romance after Katie had dumped his butt. Now was Faith the same to him? There to fill the void in his life, but when he had his act together and she did, too, they wouldn't suit?

   Getting way ahead of himself, Cameron cleared his throat. "Gavin followed Marjory and her boyfriend to the guy's apartment. And after that, every time she said she was supposed to be one place or another, Gavin would jot down exactly where she'd been. With this guy."

   "Who was he? Anyone you knew?"