Silence of the Wolf(79)

Radcliff frowned. “Yeah, what is she doing here?”

“In a blizzard?” Kemp asked.

“With you?” Radcliff leaned against the kitchen counter, crossed his arms over his chest, and raised his brows.

“Long story, but essentially she fell out of the sky.”

Radcliff poured cups of coffee for all three of them. “You want any, CJ?”

“Yeah.” CJ still looked pale except for the dark circles around his eyes.

Tom figured he hadn’t slept well last night from the pain and probably from the confinement.

Both brothers stared at Tom, waiting for him to say something further about Elizabeth.

“Plane crash. Elizabeth was kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped,” Radcliff said, not asking a question but mulling it over.

“She’s okay, though?” Kemp said, glancing back at the bedroom door.

“Yeah, she’s like an angel without wings and as close as I’ll get to heaven.”

Kemp turned to his brother. “I told you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, yeah, that her leaving like she did wouldn’t mean she was gone forever. And there wouldn’t be any chance for us when she came back.”

“Hey,” Kemp said, “next time a woman like that is at Bertha’s B and B and needs a ride to the slopes, have her call me.”

“But give Bertha my number,” Radcliff said, grinning.

Getting serious, Kemp cleared his throat. “Are there any more survivors?”

“No.”

“If somebody’s looking for Elizabeth, we need to get her to town just as much as we do CJ,” Radcliff said.

“My thoughts also. The weather seems much better today. Now that you’re here, we’ll have safety in numbers. After we have some breakfast, we’ll head out. Is anyone else up here looking for me?” Tom asked.

“Are you kidding?” Kemp said, grinning. “Half the town is searching for you. Even farmer Bill Todd, though Darien asked him to stay at home. The man insisted he had to look for you, saying it was all his damned fault you were such a blamed fool.”

Tom chuckled. He liked the farmer, but he knew why Darien didn’t want the human out searching. “Someone from the pack is with him, right?”

“Sam is. And to ensure nothing goes wrong, Deputy Trevor is sticking close to him in case Bill sees a wolf and gets trigger happy.”

“We just got a jump start on the rest of the searchers.” Radcliff sounded proud of himself and his brother. “As soon as we learned you were missing and the storm had cleared, we put on our ski-patrol hats and were on our way.”

“Thanks, guys. You don’t know how welcome your arrival is.” Tom glanced at CJ, pinning him as the man who could still cause the most trouble if his brothers intercepted them on the way home.

***

Elizabeth couldn’t find enough warm clothes—no boots, no parka or gloves, not even another ski hat—so she opted to be a wolf for the run into town. Tom wasn’t happy about it, even though he had suggested she might have to do that, but it was the only thing she could do. The men had a devil of a time dressing CJ. His leg throbbed really badly, though he tried not to show it. When they pulled sweats over his injured leg, he passed out. They quickly wrapped him in blankets and strapped him onto the toboggan before he came to.

Eager to run, Elizabeth paced back and forth in the living area, out of the men’s way. She couldn’t contain her excitement.

“You stay close to us, Elizabeth.” Tom crouched beside her and ran his hand over her head. “Don’t stray.”

“No rabbit chasing,” Radcliff said with a wink as he zipped up his parka.

“No deer chasing.” Kemp smiled at her while he slipped on his gloves.

“No chasing wolves down,” Tom said, ultraseriously.

She licked his mouth and the brothers chuckled.

Once they had bundled up, they carried the toboggan outside.

Tom shut the door to the cabin, then joined the men and Elizabeth in the snow. Wearing snowshoes, the men trudged through the drifts while Elizabeth ran ahead. She had to. Walking at a snail’s pace next to the men wasn’t an option, as far as she was concerned. Besides, she’d keep an eye out for CJ’s brothers, and if she smelled a whiff of anyone she didn’t know, she’d warn Tom and the others.

Tom slung the rifle over his back, while Kemp pulled the toboggan for the first part of the journey.

Tom and Radcliff hollered out every once in a while to let the searchers know they were all right, if any of the searchers could hear their voices. They’d have a fight if CJ’s brother came after them and meant to cause trouble.

Elizabeth was certain the brothers wouldn’t come for them, though. Too many people were out combing the area for Tom. And if the brothers did come upon Kemp pulling the toboggan and Radcliff and Tom, what could they do? If they wanted to take CJ with them, they’d still have to transport him to the doctor. So she felt the brothers would leave them alone.