Garrett heaved a sigh. “All right, but keep in contact with us and let us know where you are. And don’t do anything heroic and get yourself killed. I don’t want to explain another body to the local law enforcement.”
Raven followed Aidan out of the cabin, her heart heavy with fear and worry. She’d made so many mistakes, and Fox was paying the price.
Aidan looked her up and down, his mouth tightening. “You should stay here.”
“Don’t waste your breath. I’m going with you.” She dropped her gaze and zipped up her parka. It was too hard to meet his eyes. If she’d only told the truth about Fox from the beginning. If she’d followed her heart and allowed herself to trust Aidan. Hell, if she’d just grounded Fox this morning, he’d be home safe right now. There were so many things she could have done better. Should have.
“Put these on.” Aidan reached up and grabbed a pair of snowshoes hanging on the outside of the cabin.
“How do you know they walked out of here?” she asked, strapping the snowshoes to her mukluks while he did the same with another pair.
“There were no other tire tracks when we pulled up.” He scanned the area. “Roland’s been coming and going from somewhere. I’m willing to bet whoever killed Roland either followed him here on foot or came with him.” Aidan pointed north. “I think we should head that direction.”
She reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. “Aidan, there’s a black wolf that direction.”
“I know. I think we should follow him.”
“Are you crazy?”
“Undoubtedly,” he muttered. “Trust me,” he said louder, following the wolf, who’d loped ahead, almost out of sight. Aidan stopped, bending down and fingering tracks in the snow with his glove-covered hand. “What size shoe does Fox wear?”
“Ten. I’ve always said he’s got big paws to grow into.” Her throat closed off with emotion. “Why?”
“I’ve got two sets of footprints. One looks like it could be Fox’s, but the other is considerably smaller. This has to be the way they went.”
They set off through the heavy forest of tall spruce mixed with birch that grew on the northeast side of the hill. Neither talked as they climbed through the sharp cold, over deep snow drifts, consumed with fear over Fox. Suddenly, Aidan stopped.
“What is it?” Raven demanded.
He knelt, and took off his glove, touching something dark in the snow.
“What is it?” she asked again, her voice higher pitched with worry.
Aidan stood and turned to face her. “I don’t want you to overreact.”
“Don’t tell me not to overreact when you aren’t telling me anything.”
He grabbed her shoulders. “There’s blood on the trail.”
“Oh, God.” Her knees buckled, and he gave her a hard shake.
“Raven, you’ve got to keep it together, or you’re no help to Fox or me. Understand?”
She swallowed back moans of anguish rushing to be let out, and nodded.
“We don’t know whose blood it is. Knowing Fox, he’s creating a lot of problems for the person who took him.” Aidan looked deep into her eyes, his beseeching. “You with me?”
“I’m fine.” She nodded for emphasis even though she was anything but fine. “Let’s hurry.”
“Good.” He grabbed her hand either to make sure she would stay on her feet or to help give her emotional support, for whatever reason she held tight to his gloved hand. When she saw the frozen droplets of blood, she tried to keep in the whimper, but it escaped her tightly sealed lips. Aidan squeezed her hand and continued to pull her along behind him.
From the corner of her eye, she caught another set of tracks. “Are those wolf prints?”
“Try not to think about it.” Aidan kept trudging through the snow, but he adjusted his hold on the rifle.
“Wolves are tracking them too, aren’t they?”
When he didn’t answer, she pulled out the thirty-eight special and held it ready in her free hand.
The trees thinned as they crested a small rise. Aidan stumbled to a stop. “Oh, hell.”
There, a few feet from them in a slight depression, lay Lucien. Raven rushed and fell to her knees, leaning over his prone body. Her hand trembled as she reached out to touch him. A sob erupted as she felt the stiffness of the animal. “Who is this monster? Why kill a dog?”
“Probably because he came after them,” Aidan said, anger and pain in his voice. “He must have tried to protect Fox.”
It went unsaid that whoever would kill a dog wouldn’t have any problem killing a kid.