After Dylan took a break to talk to Roxie on the phone, he and his team made their way to about a mile from the first of the cabins that was closest to the lodge. They parked their snowmobiles and walked so they wouldn’t alert Jim if he was staying there. As soon as they started trudging through the snow to the cabin, Dylan got a whiff of Jim’s scent. “I smell that Jim has been here.”
“But the scent isn’t recent,” CJ said, smelling the area.
“Yeah. Unless he has holed himself up in the cabin and hasn’t gone anywhere since he left his scent out here, but I smell other recent scents, so someone else might be staying here right now,” Dylan said.
“I bet Jim came by to see if he could stay here for a while but realized someone was already here,” Bryan said.
CJ and Dylan went to the front door of the cabin while the rest of them circled around the place, observing the windows just to make sure no one climbed out of one of them. CJ knocked on the door, and a blond, bearded guy with the brightest blue eyes came to the door. “Yeah?”
“I’m Deputy Sheriff Silver looking for a Jim Johnson as a person of interest in a case.”
The man rubbed his whiskered chin. “What does he look like?”
CJ showed him a picture of Jim.
“What’s he wanted for?”
“For questioning in a hunter’s death.”
The guy’s eyes widened. “Yeah, the guy was here. He was looking for a place to stay and had been here before, he said. He was carrying a rifle. I should have figured something was wrong with that picture. It’s illegal to hunt with a rifle right now, which is why we’re out here with our bows.”
“Can I get your name please?” CJ asked.
“Yeah.” The man gave him his name, phone number, and address so CJ could make a report of it.
“All right, so what did he say exactly, to the best of your knowledge?” CJ said.
“Jim said he got hit by that snowstorm and he needed to get warmed up and have a good night’s rest. The cabin has two bedrooms and there are four of us staying here, so we let him sleep on the couch, gave him dinner that night and then breakfast in the morning. He thanked us and left that morning.”
“When was he here?” Dylan asked.
“Two days ago.”
Dylan let out his breath. If only he’d known about this before. Xander hadn’t been talking earlier though, and Fennel hadn’t mentioned it to them when they had first questioned him.
“Did he say or give you any clue as to where he was going next?” CJ asked.
“No. I asked because I wondered where he was going to go. He said he wasn’t sure. I asked him if he was out here on his own. He said he was with two other hunter friends, and they’d gotten separated in the snowstorm.”
“He was at the Silver Town Ski Resort staying at the ski lodge. He was driving an SUV. When he came here, was he on foot?” CJ asked.
“Uh, yeah. If he was driving a vehicle, he didn’t park it at the cabin. He hiked here carrying a backpack, and he was half-frozen. He really didn’t look well, which was why we took a chance and fed him, then let him stay with us.”
He must have ditched Eddie’s vehicle. It would make sense. He was familiar with this area, so he could really get around. But still, where had the vehicle gone?
“Do you have any idea which direction he went when he left the cabin?” CJ asked.
“No. We said goodbye to him and then we gathered our gear to hunt and left.”
“All right. Well, thanks. If he returns here, please call us.” CJ gave him his business card.
“Sure thing.”
“Where are your friends?” Dylan kept thinking they’d suddenly come out of a bedroom or something. It seemed odd they wouldn’t be here with him. Dylan had been waiting for CJ to ask, but when he didn’t, he figured he’d better.
“They went hunting with their bows without me today. I’ve been feeling under the weather. I think I ate something that didn’t agree with me last night. But my friends were fine. There wasn’t any reason for them to hang around while I’ve been in and out of the bathroom most of the night and this morning. When they return, I’ll ask if they remember anything else, and they can give you a call.”
“Okay, good, thanks,” CJ said.
Then CJ and Dylan left, and the others joined them to head out to the snowmobiles and drive in the direction of the next cabin on their way.
The sun was already setting, which meant by the time they reached the cabin, it would really be dark. They still needed to set up camp and have dinner. Then they would let their families know they were safe and where they were. Being able to see well in the dark was one of the great benefits of being wolves.
They parked and CJ told them the game plan again. “Since Jim stayed with the other hunters for one of the nights, I suspect he has tried to do the same at all the places he has stayed before. Keep alert. Same configuration as before. Dylan and I will go to the front door. The rest of you will watch the windows on the back and ends of the cabin.”
Then they moved off toward the cabin, saw lights on inside, and heard lots of laughter. Dylan hoped he and CJ didn’t ruin their evening, but he did smell that Jim had been here. Recently too. Yesterday or today, much earlier today, possibly.
CJ knocked on the door, and everyone got quiet inside. Dylan wasn’t surprised. Whoever was staying here probably wouldn’t be expecting company.
“I’m Deputy Sheriff CJ Silver with some of our deputies from Silver Town,” CJ said, calling out when they didn’t answer the door.
They understood why the people in the cabin were reluctant to open the cabin door to strangers in the night when it was so remote here. Then again, hopefully these people hadn’t done anything criminal.
They saw a man peek out a window.
CJ showed him his badge. The man opened the front door. “Yeah?”
“We’re looking for a man who has been hiking out here, armed with a rifle and backpack, Jim Johnson. Has he been by here?”
“We were out cross-country skiing all day, and when we returned just before dark, we found someone had broken in and taken some of our food,” the guy said.
A woman joined him at the door. “He took all our bread and sandwich meats, the ass.”
“Did he actually break in?” CJ asked, noticing there seemed to be no damage to the cabin.
The guy looked at the woman.
“Everyone thought someone else had locked the door. So I guess it wasn’t locked and he just walked in while we were off skiing,” the woman said, sounding annoyed.
“Yeah, it won’t happen again,” the guy said.
“He didn’t take anything else?” Dylan asked.
“Some of my socks,” the guy said. “I figure he needed clean, dry socks. He was gone before we got here.”
“This is what he looks like if you see him.” CJ showed the couple his picture. Then another couple came out of a bedroom to see what was going on, and they looked at Jim’s picture. They shook their heads, indicating they hadn’t seen him before.
“So who is he? What’s he wanted for? Do we have to be worried?” the first guy asked.
“He’s wanted for questioning concerning the shooting of his hunter friend.”
“Hunting with rifles? That’s illegal at this time of year,” the second guy said.
“Shooting a friend is illegal,” the girl who was tucked under his arm said.
“If you see him, call us.” CJ gave them his business cards. “We’re setting up camp about a mile from your cabin. The men with me are all deputized. So if you see him or have any kind of emergency, just call and—”
“Hey, if you’re out here looking for this guy and still have to set up camp in the dark, it’s going to be too hard for you to make your camp. And if you haven’t eaten, why don’t you eat with us?” the first guy said.
“Are you sure?” CJ asked.
“Hell, yeah. We’re firemen when we’re not having fun skiing. We work with you guys, so you’re welcome to join us for a meal and some beers. There’s plenty for everyone.”
“Yeah, we have a huge pot of hot chili on the stove,” the one woman said. “Come on in.”
This was an unexpected perk. Dylan was glad that they were going to get a hot meal and cold beers, and they didn’t have to fix a meal themselves after they set up camp.
“You can even sleep on the floor of the living room, if you want,” the other fireman said.
Dylan wondered if they kind of wanted them to be here to protect them in case Jim showed up.
“We can set up camp where we left our snowmobiles,” CJ said.
Dylan tried not to show his exasperation with CJ. He was going to be working with him as a deputy sheriff soon. But maybe CJ sensed something wasn’t right, and he wanted to discuss it with them privately.
“It’s too dark out,” the guy insisted. “You’re more than welcome to stay here. And really, if this Jim character is a problem and tries coming back here, we’ll feel better if we have a bunch of deputies on hand.”
That was exactly what Dylan had figured, but CJ was in charge, and he’d leave it up to him as to what they would do.
“Yeah, sure,” CJ said. “We can do that and thanks so much. We’ll just get our snowmobiles and park them here. We have our backpacks with them.”
“All right. We’ll serve up the chili as soon as you return,” the first woman said.
When Dylan and his team reached the snowmobiles, they all took a moment to call their families to let them know where they were. CJ explained, “I didn’t want to impose on their generosity but then realized they’d feel better with our protection.”
“I’m glad you decided we should stay there,” Dylan said.
“Hey, I saw you looking a little peeved at me.” CJ smiled. “And I’ve got to work with you, so…”
Dylan smiled. “I was thinking the same thing.”
The guys chuckled. Michael said, “I was hoping you’d tell CJ we were staying, Dylan.”
Daniel said, “Me too.”
Bryan just smiled.
Then the guys all called home.
“Hey, Roxie, how are you doing?” Dylan asked as soon as he got hold of her.
“Oh, Dylan, I’m so glad to hear from you. Everything’s fine here. Oh, we had a fight between two skiers. Peter had to come and was going to arrest the one, but his friend said he wasn’t going to press charges. They wouldn’t say what the argument was about, but they did come to blows in the lobby. I had a time reining in Rosco, who wanted to break them up. Blake and Landon stopped them, and Kayla called the sheriff. So that was my excitement for the day. Where are you at on this business with Jim?”
“We went to the first cabin closest to the resort, and Jim had actually been there, had meals with them, and stayed overnight.”
“Oh no. So you just missed him. What about Eddie’s SUV?”
“Jim had hiked in, the people said. So now we’re at the second cabin on our list, and the people invited us to have dinner and stay with them overnight.”
“Oh, wow, that’s great. I’m so relieved all of you are safe and going to have lodging and hot food for the night.”
“Yeah, we’ll get warmed up and sleep in our sleeping bags by a fire. It couldn’t have worked out better. They said Jim entered the unlocked cabin and stole some of their food while they were cross-country skiing.”
“Why would he stay in this area if he had Eddie’s vehicle and could have gone anywhere?” she asked.
“That’s what has me bothered. I mean, it’s possible he figured the SUV was too hot to drive in, but… Oh, everyone’s waiting on me. I just wanted to call and tell you we’re good and we’re safe.”
“Thanks! Call me before you take off in the morning. Where are you going next?”
“To the abandoned cabin. I’ll call you in the morning. Love you, Roxie.”
“I love you, Dylan.”
Everyone was smiling at him, ready for a hot meal.
“Sorry about that,” Dylan said to the other men.
“Been there and am still there,” Michael said.
“Me too,” CJ said.
They all laughed and headed for the cabin, a hot meal, beer, and a good night’s sleep, if Dylan could quit thinking about hunting Jim down for a minute or two.