Chapter 4
He put a Bolo out on it to see if they could locate it in their area.
The damage to the other vehicle hadn’t been substantial so he wasn’t sure why the driver would hit it and run.
Still, he suspected he had a suspended driver’s license, maybe no car insurance, drunk driving, or using drugs, just multiple issues with the driver of the car that he could think of.
He called Peter to give him an update.
“You know, Selena found a skeleton,” Peter said.
“Uh, yeah, at the Southside Cemetery near the silver mines.”
“Right. Ellie was able to speak with his spirit and learned more about him.”
“Oh.” He hoped Selena wasn’t upset, feeling that her own work might have been less critical if Ellie could tell her everything she didn’t know about the man.
“Brett is running the story.”
There went Selena’s exclusive story for her book. He hadn’t even thought of warning her that Ellie, if she could see a spirit, might take over her investigation.
“Do you need me to check into anything else?” Daniel asked.
“There’s another hit and run, sounds like the same vehicle. We need this guy off the road now. He’s either drunk, on drugs, or the worst driver ever.” Peter gave him the directions, and Daniel hurried off to try to catch up to the guy.
On the way to the second crash site, he called Selena. “Hey, sorry about your skeleton case. I heard Ellie and Brett were there.”
She laughed. “Here, I did all that training for nothing. I’m fine with it. Ellie’s ability to speak with a spirit was fascinating and gave me more information than I could have ever uncovered, given the few records of that time.”
“I agree.”
“What about getting exclusive rights to the story?” Daniel asked.
“Oh, I think this will be even more noteworthy. My books are read all over, not so with the newspaper, I’m sure. I have to find lots of skeletons, or other headstones that I can read to add to the book. What are you up to? Have you found the hit-and-run driver yet?”
“No, and from the sounds of it, he hit another car.”
“Oh, no. Lousy driver and a menace to everyone.”
“For sure. He was headed toward the second cemetery you wanted to check out, but I would stay away from that area for the time being. I’m going in that direction to look for any sign of the car.”
“Where is the cemetery?”
“I’m serious. Don’t go out there. I don’t want to hear that you got in an accident with this guy.”
“Okay. I’m not about to.”
Daniel gave her the location of the second cemetery. “Remember, I’ll pick you up at six.”
“Yeah, sure, it sounds good.”
Then they ended the call, and she thought of going to that cemetery later tonight after dinner. But for now, she had more deliveries arriving at the store, and she hurried over there to put the merchandise up on the shelves.
To her surprise, she got a call from Brett. “By the way, I’m just giving the details in the newspaper on the skeleton, where it was found, age, not all that Ellie said.”
“Why not?” She was surprised.
“We post facts. Since some don’t believe in Ellie’s ability to speak with ghosts, we leave that out. I believe her, of course. But in your book, you’re free to reveal whatever you want.”
“Thanks!”
“I called to see if you could show me where you found the skeleton so I can take pictures of the spot.”
“Oh, sure.”
“Where can I pick you up?” Brett asked.
“At the shop.”
“Is this a convenient time?”
“It is.” It wasn’t close to the second cemetery, so they should be fine as far as not running into the black Mazda.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
They ended the call. She put out some more clothes on the racks, and then Brett pulled up outside the shop. She grabbed her jacket, locked the door, and joined him in his SUV.
They drove to the Southside Cemetery and, upon arrival, left the SUV.
She had every intention of checking out the area where she had heard the sound coming from the woods the last time to see if she could smell if someone had been there—human or wolf.
But first, she needed to show Brett the place where she had found the skeleton.
“The skeleton was sitting right here where rain had washed away the soil covering him. As you can see, rainwater runs over here between the gravestones. Eventually, it could erode more skeletons from the ground.”
“We can have some men divert the water.” Brett was snapping photos.
“That sounds good. I need to check out a place over here for a moment.”
“Another find?” Brett asked.
She hated mentioning it. “I thought someone was watching me the last time I was here. But I could have been mistaken.” She still felt spooked about it, like he would still be there.
They checked out the area, and her heart pounded as she smelled that a human had been there recently. “Unless I’m mistaken, that was the noise I heard. A human walking on the sticks and fallen leaves here.”
“Watching you.”
“Yeah.” Just like what had happened to her before. “Have you gotten everything you need?”
“I have. Do you want me to return you to your shop or the hotel?”
“The shop, thanks.”
Once Brett dropped her off, she got a call from Daniel. “Did you get the hit-and-run guy?”
“No, but I heard someone was stalking you.”
Brett must have texted Daniel about it. “Or he just happened to be hiking and came across me and was curious as to what I was doing in the graveyard. Still, he didn’t say anything to me, and it creeped me out.”
“I don’t blame you—being in a cemetery, being watched by someone unknown. When you go to the graveyard the next time, whichever one it is, let me go with you.”
“You’ll be my firepower.”
“You better believe it.”
She couldn’t believe how fast the news traveled in the pack.
“Are you free?” Daniel asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
“I want you to take me to the location where you smelled the man.”
“All right, sure.” She was surprised, but glad that he wanted to learn more about the man, so if he encountered him, he would know who he was.
When they arrived at the location, Daniel smelled around.
“That’s his scent,” she said.
“It’s one of the men who came to the Silver Town Tavern when we ate dinner there.”
“The drunk, rowdy guys?” she asked.
“Yeah, the fairer-haired of the three.”
She shivered. “Okay, that’s creepy. He was the one who had thrown the business card down. He was supposed to leave town. What would he be doing at a cemetery?” She hadn’t been near him at the tavern, so she hadn’t smelled his scent.
“Did you have a light on?”
“Yeah, because despite our wolf’s night vision, seeing worn headstones is difficult without a light.” She looked around the area and saw where he had been standing.
“So even though he couldn’t normally see you in the dark, when you had a light on, he could.”
“Right. I wonder where his other friends were.” She began stripping off her clothes.
“I can’t imagine they would have been far away unless they dropped him off in the woods to pee or something. What are you planning to do?” Daniel asked.
“See if the others were with him, but farther from this spot.”
“As a wolf.”
“For sure.” She turned into her black wolf. He quickly stripped off his clothes and shifted into a beautiful, dark-gray wolf with a white mask. He affectionately nuzzled her muzzle.
She nuzzled him back, and she loved that wolfish interaction between them.
Then, they sprinted through the woods, trying to find the scents of the other men.
They soon found the men’s scents nearer to the highway.
The other man had joined them. He had just wandered farther than the others and had come upon an unusual sight—a woman exploring the cemetery at night.
Then Selena and Daniel returned to their clothes, shifted, and dressed.
“I feel better about it. They were relieving themselves, and one saw me. I’m sure they’re gone from here,” she said.
“I feel the same way. Are you ready for dinner?”
“I sure am.”
Then they headed for his SUV and drove to the ski lodge.
Inside the lodge, stone pillars met high timbered ceilings, and hikers and other guests were sipping drinks in the lobby, while a family of four splashed water at each other in a large, enclosed indoor/outdoor pool.
It looked refreshing. A two-sided fireplace had a fire going on this fall night while a big old St. Bernard curled up on a dog bed next to it, getting special treatment from a few kids petting him or her.
Selena glanced at the gift shop where skeletons sat in the display window wearing children’s ski goggles. Selena smiled, glad the ladies had bought them and displayed them so cleverly.
They headed for the restaurant, and Roxie greeted them as soon as they entered. “I’ll seat them,” she told the waitress.
Such exceptional treatment by a co-owner of the lodge and restaurant.
“Where would you like to sit? Overlooking the pool or the mountains?” Roxie asked.
“The pool.” Though the view of the mountains appealed to Selena too.
“We have a special membership for the pool so that wolves in Silver Town can swim here, even if they’re not staying at the lodge. Members usually use it when hikers are out hiking or skiers are skiing, and the pool is empty.”
“That sounds great.” Selena thought that once she had a helper at the store, she could go swimming when the pool wasn’t busy.
“Maybe we can go swimming here together,” Daniel said as Roxie handed them their menus.
“I would like that.”
“I guess you haven’t caught the hit-and-run driver, or we would have heard back,” Roxie said.
“No, nothing yet,” Daniel said.
Then Roxie left so they could decide what to order.
“I’m going to get the rib-eye steak dinner,” Selena said.
“Salmon for me.” Daniel closed the menu and watched the family of four—parents, most likely, and two teenage boys playing with a ball in the pool. “So when are you going to have your grand opening?”
“Saturday. I’m going to get everything ready, and it should be done by then.”
“All right. I’ll schedule some baking time in.”