I groaned when my phone alarm played a charming little tune designed to assure me that today would be carefree and beautiful. I had my serious doubts.
However, by the time I slid onto Bluebell’s tan leather seat and started her up, the sun was out and it was fifty degrees. Bluebell sprang to life and her engine almost purred, she was running so smoothly. I slapped her dashboard and told her she was my favorite.
What would Stone think if he knew I talked to my car? What would Jonas think?
And why did I care what either one of them thought? If I wanted to talk to Bluebell, by Jove, I’d talk to Bluebell.
I picked up a large cup of Dunkin’ D, so I was feeling even more sassy as I pulled up the long drive to the wolf preserve. I found myself wishing I wouldn’t see Carson, Veronica, or Dennis Arden today, since all three of them seemed to push my buttons.
Thankfully, I ran into Rich first. He was watering the pansies in the window boxes and turned to greet me with a smile.
“Good to see you. Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
I didn’t know if I could ever refer to any day on this now-tainted preserve as beautiful, but I capitulated. “It’s great to finally have some warmer weather, for sure. If you want to hang on a sec, I’ll just run in and throw my lunch in the fridge and grab my vest, then I’ll be right out to help you.”
“Sure thing.”
Evie was nowhere to be seen, even though someone had flipped the visitors’ center sign to Open. I hustled into the kitchen and shoved my lunch bag into the stainless-steel fridge, trying not to look at the off-white fridge standing next to it. I hoped against hope that Rich wouldn’t make me feed the wolves, but if he did ask me to do it, could I really refuse? I had signed the contract, after all, and if I shirked on my duties, Dahlia wouldn’t give me a good referral when I left. I needed all the positive reviews I could gather in Greenwich society.
I slowly pulled on my vest, steeling myself for whatever chores Rich assigned me. I doubted he’d send me into the wolf enclosure alone; besides, he would surely know how to handle the animals if they got too unruly.
Evie rose from behind the counter when I came out, and I realized she’d been there all along, just hunkered down where I couldn’t see her. It was almost like she’d been hiding.
I took a second look at her, trying to figure out what she was up to. She was dressed, coiffed, and made-up so perfectly, I got the impression she’d donned her armor for the day. The woman looked like she’d stepped off the Paris runway.
She didn’t initiate conversation, which was odd. She had struck me as quite an extroverted extrovert.
“Hi,” I said, cutting the awkward silence. “Did you ever reach Dahlia?”
“I finally did. They don’t have much Wi-Fi on the preserve she’s visiting. Anyway, the soonest flight she could catch was this evening, so she’ll be back tomorrow. Sergeant Hardy recommended she come as soon as possible, because he’s releasing the story to the news tonight.”
We both had a moment of silence, fully aware that reporters would likely be crawling all over the place by morning.
“Are you working on paperwork today?” I probed.
“What? Oh, no. I was just…straightening some things.” Her eyes darted to the window. “In fact, I need to get back to it now.”
She ducked behind the desk, making herself invisible again.
I took a glance out the window, but no one was out there. Evie was definitely in a clandestine mode for some reason, but maybe she was like me and was trying to avoid interactions with certain people. I didn’t have time to sit around and speculate on the motivations for her behavior.
“Okay, well, ’bye,” I said, then walked outside. Rich had already pulled out the wheelbarrow and buckets, so it looked like I’d be joining him for wolf-feeding duties once again. Neither Jonas nor my family would be happy to know I was heading back into the enclosures.
But if Rich could do it, so could I. He also shouldn’t be going in there alone, and we were the only ones handling chores around here. I grabbed a pair of disposable gloves and followed him to the side door.
He gave me a grateful smile as he propped the kitchen door open. He started passing the meats to me. I’d gotten more proficient at loading the buckets, and in no time at all, we were poised to head back into the woods.
“You’ll be on water duty again, if that’s okay,” he said. “I’ll handle the food.”
“Thank you.” While I didn’t really want to go back in with the wolves, at least I wouldn’t have to act as the animals’ waitress, hand-delivering their food.
When Rich pushed the gates open at Thor’s enclosure, Freya was the first to approach—and she headed straight for me. Her head was lowered and her tail wagged as she careened into my shins and started rubbing around my legs.
Rich was making his way to the wolves’ metal dish, but he turned. “You okay?”
“Sure, yeah.” I turned on the water, hoping Freya would be distracted by the sound of her meal dropping into the dish. But even as Thor and the other wolf swirled around the food, Freya stayed firmly planted at my side.
Almost like she was protecting me.
Did she sense my increased anxiety? It was definitely possible. Or maybe she was looking for comfort herself. I stole glances at the crooked white scars on her nose. She had a kind of imperfect, tragic beauty.
I looked over at Rich. Thor had finished gobbling his own food. The beefy wolf-dog shoved his muzzle into Rich’s outstretched hand, clearly demanding attention. Rich scratched Thor’s ears and rubbed his rump, talking to him all the while. Thor sank into a blissful heap on the ground.
Freya wasn’t nearly as forward as Thor, but she’d positioned herself at my feet, making it difficult for me to move. I had to admit, this wolf was really growing on me. “Think of the wolves as wild, not pets,” Katrina had warned. Yet these animals acted so much like domesticated dogs, I had to keep reminding myself of that fact.
I cut the water when the trough was half full, and Freya obligingly stood to let me pass. As we moved out of the enclosure with no incident, I let out a relieved sigh.
“They’re not killers.” Rich’s voice was firm as he rattled on ahead of me, the wheelbarrow wheel bouncing.
“But the wolves in Njord’s pack are,” I responded sharply.
He shot me a grim look. “I still can’t believe it. I’ve worked with those wolves from the time we got them. And Njord—I was there when he was born.”
I hurried to catch up to Rich, unsure if I’d heard him correctly. “You worked with them from the start? Along with Dahlia, right? Shaun told me how she’d spent so much time getting them acclimated and all that.”
Something flared in Rich’s eyes. “Sure, Dahlia tells everyone what a godsend she is to these broken, unwanted animals, but in reality, she’s played little part in their day-to-day lives. She buys them, then leaves the rest to me. I’m the one who integrates the wolves into the packs. I’m the one who feeds them. I’m the one who watches for signs of illness. Dahlia might pretend to be some kind of wolf-savior, but to be honest, I’m betting the wolves would hardly recognize her.”
I lagged behind, stunned into silence. Why would Dahlia tell such outright lies to Shaun and others, taking credit for what Rich had done? What was the point of starting a wolf preserve if you didn’t really care about wolves?
Unless she was making really good money from it, which I couldn’t imagine, given the amount she was charging for tours. Maybe the wolf preserve was just a front…like a money laundering operation? Maybe Evie was acting all nervous because she knew the IRS was watching them?
I shook my head. I had been watching too many spy shows. Since when did the IRS make spying house calls? Money laundering probably didn’t occur in real life as often as it did on TV, especially in an affluent town like Greenwich.
Still, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility. I would watch Dahlia closely when she returned to see if she even interacted with the wolves.
If she didn’t…ugh. That probably meant she hadn’t really planned on helping Rich when she returned, which meant she would have to ask me to extend my contract.
I stared at Rich’s back, knowing I couldn’t leave the poor man alone on chore duty so close to his daughter’s wedding. His highest priority was to finish the floors for her, so that she and her new husband could move into their home with minimal delays.
Rich shoved the wheelbarrow up a little incline and I picked up the pace. The second enclosure came into view.
The enclosure where Shaun had been mauled and partially eaten.
I cast about for some kind of conversation that would take my mind off our impending duties, but I wound up returning to the revelation Rich had just shared. “So…you don’t think anything’s off with Dahlia’s business, do you? I mean, why would she invest so much in something that she’s not even interested in?”
Rich’s jaw tightened, and he didn’t answer. Instead, he strode up to the gates and quickly unlocked them.
Apparently, our discussion of Dahlia’s business dealings was closed.
Njord sat just behind the second gate, his golden gaze fixed on us. Although his fur looked a bit cleaner—probably from Rich’s brushing yesterday—it was still discolored enough to remind us of what he’d done. I was relieved when he trotted behind Rich toward the food bowl.
I walked straight toward the spigot. On my way, I noticed that the other two wolves in this enclosure—standard timber wolves, I’d guess—resembled each other so closely, they could be related. Maybe some family packs were allowed to stick together in captivity.
I was about to ask Rich about them when Njord snarled and snapped at the others. Rich backed up from the food bowl to give the animals space, but he didn’t appear nervous. Sure enough, all three dove into the meat like it was their personal kill, with Njord commandeering the lion’s share.
Rich walked over to me and hooked his thumbs into his belt loops. He gave me a keen look. “How are you really doing with all this?”
I thought about it. “Okay, I think.”
For the moment, I actually believed it. Aside from their recent little spat over food, the wolves had seemed calmer and more satiated today. In fact, they were already meandering off without having eaten all their meat.
Then it hit me that they had probably eaten their fill of Shaun the day before. Bile rose in my throat.
“They’re not even hungry,” I said bitterly.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Rich agreed, not picking up on my disgusted tone. “I mean that they were so ravenous yesterday. I fed them after the police left, and they seemed abnormally hungry.”
“Probably like they said, it was a sort of feeding frenzy.”
“That really doesn’t explain it. It’s almost like there’s an underlying cause—something I’m missing.” Rich backtracked toward the gate, so I turned off the water and tagged along. As I passed Njord, he actually bumped his wet nose against my hand, but I couldn’t imagine petting the same animal that might have killed Shaun. The wolf sat down as we went out the gate.
How likely was it that a wolf that had just tasted human flesh wouldn’t turn around and try to attack another human? That he would act calm the next day, as if nothing had happened?
Like Rich said, something seemed off about the whole situation, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.