I laughed, and he winked, then lifted his head like he’d just caught a scent.
“Something?” I asked.
“Maybe?” He turned his head north, then south, his nostrils flared. “I thought I smelled strawberries and fire. It’s gone now. Probably just someone’s perfume or a vape.” He waved one hand low, dismissing his reaction and, I knew, letting the other wolves know everything was okay.
“Have you filed a police report on the Heartwood?”
“Yeah. Fawn went to handle it. Mantel, huh?”
“It’s where I saw it. Maybe someone moved it, took off when I got there, then circled back?”
He shook his head. “Maybe. We didn’t smell anyone who shouldn’t be there.”
So he’d known I’d been there.
A car rolled by slowly, the driver rubbernecking. I gave a reassuring wave, and he engaged the gas pedal and went on his way.
“So how long are you going to be out here?” It was early, and traffic was light, but the road would soon get busy with the valley-to-coast and casino-to-coast traffic.
“Just an hour or so. We’re only stopping people who are pulling over for gas or food.”
“You’re a traffic hazard.”
“Noted,” he said.
“I’ll be back by in an hour. What am I going to find here?”
“I have no idea,” he said gamely. “We won’t be here by then.”
I flipped a thumbs up. “We’ll follow up on the theft.”
“Oh, before you go,” he said. “I heard Bertie was looking for some volunteers for Saturday’s event.”
“Really?” I feigned innocently, “Isn’t that interesting? I had no idea. Too bad I’m out of town.”
He didn’t have to be a werewolf to catch that lie.
It was Jean’s turn to volunteer, anyway. My youngest sister had once again, wriggled out of helping with the last festival, the Slammin’ Salmon Serenade, leaving our newest reserve deputy, Kelby, who was a giant, to deal with it all. Kelby had taken it in stride. She’d even stood in as the queen of the parade, earning buckets of respect from me.
And from Bertie.
We were all secretly hoping Kelby would volunteer for all of Bertie’s community events since she’d handled the first one so well.
“Have you posted this at the casino?” I held up the flyer.
“Not yet.”
“Consider it done.”
“Thanks, Chief.”
I got back in the car and flipped off the lights. True to their word, the Wolfes were only pulling over cars stopping for gas, food, or general curiosity.
The Wolfe pack were solid, down-to-earth kind of people. Easy to make conversation, easy to laugh.
I mean, they were scary as hell when they were pissed off or wolfed-out, but when they walked the moonless days with the rest of us, they were easy to mistake as human.
Which was why I wasn’t worried about what would happen if they found the thief before we did. I knew they’d follow the law and bring the person—supernatural or otherwise—to the station.
