Linda Johnston - Loyal Wolf

He rode in the passenger’s seat of Kathlene’s SUV. She’d indicated that her partner was in current possession of her sheriff’s department cruiser.

They had been relatively silent on the drive from town, with Ralf staying right behind them. Jock had insisted on paying for their lunch, and she’d thanked him. He didn’t need to tell her it was part of his government expense account.

He wondered what she was thinking as they drove along the lane that would take them to the driveway to the Clifford Cabins—that also, eventually, would pass by the area that was the object of their investigation.

But they weren’t going that far. Not this afternoon.

“So tell me what made you decide to move to Cliffordsville for your law-enforcement career,” he finally said. It was similar to what they’d talked about yesterday, noncontroversial—although she had grown quiet when he had asked about her early background.

“I’d just heard that Clifford County was looking for new deputies here,” she said, glancing toward him.

Lord, was she gorgeous, even decked out in that uniform with her hair pulled back. Or maybe having her face barely adorned like that added to how beautiful she was, with nothing artificial making her look like anything but herself. Oh, she did wear some lip gloss. Maybe she had a little makeup on, too.

But mostly, she looked like one lovely lady. One lovely, hot, enticing lady.

“Did they hire you right away?”

She nodded. “But that was Sheriff Chrissoula. Before our current sheriff, Melton Frawley, took over after Chrissoula retired six months ago.”

“And was that around when the anarchist group started to move in?”

She again shot him a glance. “How did you know? Or did you just guess? Yes, it’s my belief that Sheriff Frawley may have rolled out the welcome mat. Or even if he didn’t, he also didn’t tell the group to get lost.”

“Do you think he’s one of them?”

She shrugged her shoulders that still somehow managed to look slim and sexy despite her uniform. “I hope not, but I can’t say for sure. Now—” she turned her car onto the driveway toward the cabins “—what is it you want to show me here?”

“You’ll see. I think it’ll explain a lot to you, at least about last night.”

She parked, and Ralf pulled in beside her. The parking lot had a few more cars in it now, but no other people were visible around the row of rustic cabins surrounding the parking area.

Kathlene didn’t wait for Jock to open the door for her, but he hadn’t really expected her to. She clearly didn’t want to rely on anyone behaving in a gentlemanly manner.

And somehow her independence only added to her attractiveness to him. To a point. Ignoring politeness was fine.

Ignoring danger was not.

She began walking along the paved path toward the cabin where Ralf and he were staying. “No,” Jock called. “This way.” He gestured toward the cabin next door. “Got the key, Ralf?”

“Sure do.”

His aide moved to the front of the group, holding the key card in his hand.

“You’ve rented this cabin, too?” Kathlene looked confused.

Why did he want to kiss that puzzled frown away...?

“I’d like you to meet Click,” Jock said, and nodded to Ralf.

Ralf pushed the door open and was nearly bowled over as Click leaped out, eagerly wagging his tail and greeting one of the humans who was his closest friend.

“You brought a dog?” Kathlene asked. She shook her head, then smiled. “The dog I saw last night? He’s not a wolf, then? He’s a pet?”

Instead of waiting for his answers, she dashed off toward where Click and Ralf were now roughhousing.

She obviously liked canines.

Couldn’t he find anything to dislike about this woman—except for her carelessness in the face of danger?

He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

* * *

At first all Kathlene wanted to do was hug the obviously excited dog. He looked familiar—moderate sized, with shining, light brown eyes, pert ears and lots of tawny fur that looked almost silvery in the light. He clearly loved people, since he bounded from Ralf to her and back again in this cabin that looked nearly identical inside to the one where the men were staying. Click basked in the attention they both gave him and snugged his head against her for multiple pats.

“He’s so sweet!” she exclaimed, kneeling with one hand on the floor to keep her balance as the dog pushed at her for attention and made snuffling noises. She loved dogs. Meant to adopt a rescue someday when her work schedule was less crazy and more predictable. If it ever was. “Is Click yours, Ralf? Or Jock’s?”

Why did the men exchange glances about that? It was an easy question.

Wasn’t it? And if not...

“He’s mine,” Jock said, and he joined the excited doggy love fest, too.

But the hesitation before he knelt and roughhoused with Click had reminded Kathlene of all the mystery surrounding this dog. Why hadn’t they mentioned they had brought a pet along?

She asked them. “I can understand your wanting to have a dog with you. Is Click a trained search dog?” Or was there some other reason he’d been brought here—then hidden?

And why hide him from her?

“That’s right.” Jock stepped back. “He’s trained to do other things, too, like sniff out particular subjects we need to find and follow.”

“Is that why he was wandering around the ranch compound last night?”

Of course it had been Click. And yet there was something about the shape of his head, the length of his legs, the fullness of his coat, that didn’t look exactly the way Kathlene remembered. But she’d been stressed then. Her recollections might not be entirely accurate. Plus, she hadn’t been that close to the dog.

“Yes, that’s right,” Jock said. “He’s got some other skills we’re working on, too. He’s not fully trained, so we weren’t sure at first about bringing him, and when we decided to we just figured we’d keep him hidden, at least initially, until we decided how best to use him.”

Kathlene supposed that made sense—but she wasn’t fully convinced.

And yet why would they lie to her about that?

She stood, leaned down and stroked the soft fur around Click’s shoulders as she looked straight into Jock’s eyes.

The guy looked the picture of innocence, as if all he had told her was the absolute truth, even if it sounded somewhat contrived.

He clearly wasn’t going to give her any explanation of why he might be prevaricating.

“You look like a good friend of Click’s, too,” Kathlene said to Ralf. “Are either of you skilled trainers, or does someone else do that?”

“A little of both,” Ralf said. “I like to work with canines, tell them what to do, that kind of thing.” He gave a big grin that he aimed at Jock, whose return smile looked almost nasty.

What was the gist of their unspoken conversation?

They obviously weren’t going to tell her, any more than they’d explained Alpha Force or included her in their planning.

“Can we take him for a walk now?” she asked the men.

Another hesitation before Jock said, “Sure. There aren’t likely to be a lot of people around now, in the middle of the day when they’re off doing whatever they’re here to do.”

Which again didn’t make sense to Kathlene. They apparently didn’t want Click to be seen by many people. When did they walk him, then?

After dark, at least. That was the one obvious time. Early morning, before many people were up and about? That still wouldn’t allow Click to relieve himself in the middle of the day as well as other times, which might be hard on the poor dog.

She knew she wasn’t going to get answers now, so she didn’t bother asking.