Jingle Bell Wolf, page 22
“Okay. About swimming—”
“The pool is open already to guests.” Gabrielle smiled at him. “We can swim tonight after going with the sisters to the tavern for dinner. I’m ready to ski right now.”
“You got it.”
Before long, they were out on the slopes having a great time skiing. When it was finally ten, they met up with the sisters to have hot chocolate. Gabrielle’s friends were beaming.
“We were talking about how great this is going to be with you moving here. We’re making plans for several trips already,” Odette said.
Gabrielle laughed. “You would be welcome to visit anytime.”
“Hey, we thought we would take turns skiing with Landon down the expert slopes while one of us skis with you,” Odette told Gabrielle.
“Oh, I would love that. Great thinking!” Gabrielle hoped she wouldn’t screw up too much while she was skiing with her friends. She was used to messing up with Landon, and he was so good and helpful about it with her. It was funny how she’d thought it would be more embarrassing to fall in front of strangers than if she was falling all over the place in front of her friends. But she was comfortable with Landon now.
They finished their hot chocolates, and Gabrielle and Odette went on the chairlift first while Landon and Zelda followed behind them. Odette was the firstborn of the twins, and she was usually in charge, but the twins got along famously. They would disagree with each other sometimes, but it never lasted long, and then they were back to being a united front.
Gabrielle said to Odette on the ride up, “Landon asked me about the stuffed jaguar. Do you have some idea of who might have sent it to you?”
“A really far-out notion,” Odette said. “Still, we didn’t want to discount it, and it’s another reason we wanted you to stay with Landon and his sisters.”
“You were teasing when you mentioned the she-cat you were chasing down might show up here, weren’t you?” Gabrielle asked.
“Only half-heartedly. All the evidence suggests the woman killed her mate. They had a fight the night before at a restaurant and she said he’d started it, egging her on. And then he turned it around as if he was trying to calm her down and be the good guy in the whole situation. So what the patrons saw was her blowing up and him trying to settle her down.”
“And then he was found dead after that?” Gabrielle had bad outcomes with her clients sometimes because of pets dying, but she couldn’t imagine trying to track down a jaguar who had murdered his or her mate.
“Okay, well, that’s the thing. He convinced her to go boating with him in the Gulf of Mexico to make up for the fight they’d had. Again, that was witnessed. She seemed moody and not at all happy. He was cheerful, greeting everyone at the marina—”
“Making a show of it,” Gabrielle said. “As if he wanted everyone to remember them for the final scene to play out.”
“Exactly.”
They reached the top of the ski lift, and Gabrielle wanted to hear the rest of the story. She guessed Odette and her sister hadn’t wanted to mention the situation in front of Landon because he was a civilian. So was Gabrielle, but they knew she wouldn’t tell anyone about it.
They moved out of the way of the chairlift and skied off to an intermediate slope.
“You know Landon is deputized to arrest people in Silver Town,” Gabrielle said.
“Oh, okay, then I guess we should clue him in later. Are you ready to ski?”
“No, Odette.”
Odette smiled at her and they moved way over out of everyone’s way so other skiers could ski down the slope. “They went out on the boat, had dinner and cocktails, and she felt overcome with sleep—”
Gabrielle frowned. “Knockout drug!”
“Zelda and I considered it. Then she wakes sometime in the night, lights are out, she’s got blood all over her, there’s blood in the boat—”
“And he’s lying dead on the floor of the boat in a pool of blood.” Gabrielle could just visualize it.
“Nope. No body. It appears she killed him and dumped his body overboard. Of course she says she believes pirates boarded the boat while she was passed out, and she didn’t have anything to do with it. She calls for the Coast Guard and they come out, take her into custody, take the boat into shore, the sheriff’s department tests the blood, and it comes back that it’s her husband’s.”
“But?”
“When we find no body, that’s always…suspect.” Odette texted her sister, then pocketed her phone. “She’s released on bond, she runs. We track her down, turn her over to the agents that will incarcerate her in the JAG confinement facility, and you know the rest. Are you ready to ski down now?”
“Yeah, here goes nothing.” Gabrielle skied down the slope as Odette followed her. She did really well, and she was so glad that she didn’t mess up. When she got down to the bottom, Odette quickly joined her and got a text.
Odette pulled out her phone and responded to it. “I told Zelda I was telling you about our perp. She said if I wanted to go down with you a few more times, I can, and then we’ll swap partners. She’s having a ball skiing the experts with Landon. He’s even given her some tips.”
“Oh, great. He’s super patient and a really good instructor.” Gabrielle started to ski toward the chairlift again. “So about your runaway jaguar?”
“She doesn’t remember killing her mate. The thing I thought was odd was that both drinking glasses had been rinsed out.”
“So he washed up the glasses and then she killed him.”
“Right. But if it was as she said, he got rid of the evidence that he gave her a drug to knock her out.”
“But what about all the blood?”
“He could have taken some from himself earlier and then smeared it all over the boat in strategic places. Even donated some for the ‘project,’ saved it until he needed it, and voilà, no dead body, but it sure looks bad for her.”
“Okay. Did a doctor check for a drug in her system?”
“It was too late, way past the twenty-fours that would show the drug was in her blood by the time she came to and notified the Coast Guard to get her back into the marina.”
Gabrielle didn’t ask anything more about the situation because she was too busy concentrating on getting on the chairlift. When they were both seated, they rode it up.
“So how does he benefit from pretending to kill himself off when he could just divorce her? At least jaguars can do that, unlike wolves.”
“He was in debt up to his eyebrows—gambling debts, was losing the house, and some loan sharks were after him. Zelda and I figured if he pretended to kill himself, he could get rid of both his debts and his wife, who he fought with more and more over his gambling issues.”
“That makes sense, then.”
They reached the top of the slope, got up to off-load from the chairlift, and skied down a couple more times. Then Odette switched with Zelda to ski with Gabrielle several times.
“So Odette told you about our perp.” Zelda and Gabrielle rode up the last time on the chairlift before it was time for lunch in town.
“Yeah. I feel sorry for the woman.” Gabrielle couldn’t imagine having a mate who would set her up to take a murder charge just so he could get out of the financial bind he was in from gambling. “Do you think the stuffed jaguar might have been from her? If so, why would she send one to you?” Gabrielle got off the chairlift, and Zelda joined her as they skied to the intermediate slope.
They stopped off to the side of the top of the slope like Gabrielle and Odette had done to stay out of other skiers’ way earlier.
“Because she likes us. She genuinely made a connection with us. While we waited for the other JAG agents to take her into custody, we mentioned we were supposed to meet you at the lodge in Silver Town after Thanksgiving. So she knew we were here. And she talked about her future plans, once she’s cleared of the crime. We never suspected she would escape her escort and flee again. She believes we’re on her side.”
“Are you?”
Zelda let out her breath in the frigid air. “Yeah. We believe her. Which was why we were trying to catch up to her so bad and missed out on part of our vacation to be with you. Of course once we learned you were having fun with a wolf, we felt better about not joining you right away. Making sure you wanted to join the wolf pack was also our priority.”
Gabrielle smiled at her friend. “Landon sure made a difference when I hadn’t had anyone to be with all this time. But I’m glad you’re here. I sure hope you can learn the truth soon about the jaguar.”
“She did mention double jeopardy. If she’s found guilty of murdering her husband by the jaguar court, and she learns he’s alive and she’s finally set free…”
“If he ends up dead for real this time—by her hand—they couldn’t try her again for the same crime. Payback’s a bitch.” Gabrielle mentally prepared herself to ski down the slope.
“Don’t you know it.”
Gabrielle skied off down the hill, Zelda following behind her. Both her friends had said nothing but praise about how well she was doing and how grateful they were that Landon had taken her to this level already.
But now it was time to regroup and have lunch with the ladies at the tea shop, and Landon was ready to have his hamburger.
“The ladies gave me a run for my money.” Landon gave Gabrielle a hug and a kiss. “This afternoon, I’m ready to go back to skiing with you down the intermediate slopes.”
She laughed.
“Don’t you believe it. He looked like a professional skier zipping down the slopes,” Odette said. “We’re going to sleep well tonight.”
“Yeah, for sure,” Zelda said.
Chapter 17
After Landon dropped the ladies off at Silva’s tea shop, Gabrielle made introductions. Silva was delighted to meet the twins. “I rarely get jaguars in here. I’m so excited to see you. Any friends of Gabrielle’s are friends of mine.”
“Since Gabrielle will be moving here, we’ll be coming to see her and I’m sure we’ll drop by the tea shop whenever we do. We love tea shops. And your place is just adorable,” Odette said.
“It sure is,” Zelda agreed.
“And the food and beverages are wonderful,” Gabrielle said.
“Thanks, ladies, and we’re so glad you are returning for good, Gabrielle.” Silva gave the ladies each a menu.
“We are too.” Zelda opened the menu. “Now she just has to pick up a mate and she’ll be all set.”
Silva smiled. “Well, if she hasn’t decided on one yet, there will be a lot just champing at the bit to date her.”
“That’s what we like to hear.” Odette was still perusing her menu. “I would love to have the corned beef on rye. And peppermint tea.”
“A grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich, please.” Gabrielle considered the teas. “White Christmas tea for me.”
“Oh, white tea with vanilla, almond, and cardamom sounds good to me. I’ll have one of those. And a brisket sandwich with onions and blue cheese. Yum. All of it sounds good.” Zelda gave Silva her menu.
“We’ll pick out pies afterward if we’re still hungry.” Gabrielle had worked up an appetite.
“Sounds good, ladies.” Silva went back to the kitchen to give the orders to their grill cook.
“We’ll have to show you our giant snowman all lit up with Christmas lights when we return from the tavern for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, we had hoped to make a snowman with you, but we’re glad you got to make one with their family. We’re so short on time, we’ll have to do it some other time with you when we visit you in the winter,” Zelda said.
“That sounds good.”
“Besides, we want to spend tonight’s time running as jaguars with you,” Odette said.
“Yeah, that will be fun with Nicole too.” Gabrielle sipped from some of the water one of the waitresses had served.
A few minutes later, Silva came back with all their meals.
“Boy, these look delicious,” Gabrielle said.
“They sure do.” Odette took a picture of her and Gabrielle’s meals.
Zelda took a picture of her own.
Gabrielle knew the sisters loved to share the meal photos they took on various assignments with others in the JAG agency. “You might entice a whole bunch of jaguars to visit here.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t the wolves be surprised.” Zelda took a bite of her sandwich.
Odette sipped her tea. “This is so good.”
“Mine too. I tried something different last time. Everything they have here is good.” Gabrielle took another bite of her sandwich.
“So what do you think about Landon? Is he your dream mate?” Odette asked.
Gabrielle smiled. “He is. I figure I’ll continue to see him when I return.”
“And only him.” Zelda sounded like she would be in his corner if Gabrielle decided to check out the competition.
But Gabrielle didn’t have any need to. He was the kind of guy who was more real than anyone she had ever imagined being with. He was great fun, and her time spent with him was thoroughly enjoyable and the nights—heavenly. She knew she wanted to continue being with him like that when she returned here.
“You’re going to miss him, aren’t you?” Odette said.
“Yeah. I am.” Terribly, she knew. She hadn’t even left and she was already feeling a quiet desperation to wrap things up in Florida as fast as she could and hightail it back here to be with him.
“Then like we said, we’re giving you every opportunity to see him as much as you can before we all leave,” Odette said.
“You two are the best friends ever. I didn’t want you to feel I was ditching you to be with a guy,” Gabrielle said, then finished up her sandwich.
“No way. This is why we coerced you into coming here.” Zelda drank some more of her tea.
“You did, and boy am I grateful.”
“We know you would do the same for us if you had the chance,” Odette said.
“I sure would. You two are so picky when it comes to male jaguars.” Gabrielle finished her tea.
They laughed. “We haven’t gotten lucky like you.” Odette poured herself some more tea. “This is so nice. I just love Silva’s tea shop.”
“It’s lovely. We always enjoy visiting tea shops wherever we go. When I came to this one with Landon’s sisters, I knew I had to bring you here. And you’ll love the Silver Town Tavern too.”
“I’m sure we will,” Odette said.
“We need to get you back to the lodge and skiing with Landon though, before it’s too much later,” Zelda said.
Gabrielle paid for their meals, despite their objections. “You earned it. Thanks for coercing me to come here.”
“What are friends for?” Zelda asked.
“I couldn’t have asked for better friends, that’s for sure.”
“We feel the same way about you,” Odette said.
They all said goodbye to Silva. “We’ll take a rain check on the pie,” Gabrielle said, “and when we return, we’ll be sure to come for another girls’ luncheon.”
Silva smiled. “I’m so glad to have met you all and I look forward to seeing you again.”
Gabrielle called to tell Landon they were ready to go. “Are you ready to ski?”
“I sure am. I’ll head over there now.”
The ladies all walked outside to free up their table and wait on Landon.
“Did you have a good hamburger?” Gabrielle asked him on the car’s Bluetooth as he drove from the direction of the Silver Town Tavern just down the street.
“Yeah, Sam made me an extra big one. He said that was because he knew the jaguar sisters were running me ragged on the expert slopes. I still can’t believe how fast the word gets around in a pack like this one.”
“It’s a close-knit pack, that’s why.” And Gabrielle was glad to join them.
* * *
Landon pulled into a parking space and parked at the tea shop, and the ladies all climbed into his car. He was ready to enjoy more time with Gabrielle, no matter what was on the agenda next. “Did you ladies have a nice meal?”
“The best,” Zelda said as Odette got a text on her phone. “Well, not better than your bar and grill, but it was just as good.”
“Silva’s food is good. We’re glad she realized her dream and opened it up and mated Sam, the wolf that owns the Silver Town Tavern—with Silva now,” Landon said.
“So they own two of the eateries in Silver Town?” Zelda asked.
Landon drove them back to the lodge. “Yeah, they do.”
“Okay, while I was skiing with Landon, I told him about our case, since Gabrielle told us he was a deputy sheriff.”
“Yeah, if you need my help with this in any way, I’m here for you,” Landon said.
“Well, we might just need you. I just received an update from the jaguar we were trying to chase down.” Odette read the text off her phone. “‘I know you’re good at your job.’”
“So good we didn’t catch up to her.” Zelda sounded annoyed.
“I know. Right?” Odette read some more of the woman’s message. “‘Instead of trying to hunt me down, why don’t you go after the real bad guy and get me off the hook?’”
“Her husband, I bet,” Gabrielle said.
“Yep.” Odette continued, “She wants us to clear her name and she wants to help us do it.”
“She shouldn’t have fled the JAG agents,” Landon said.
“She needs to be in custody for her own protection. Otherwise, I’m all for looking further into the situation,” Zelda said. “Even if the boss says we have another assignment, we can certainly investigate it, too, but she’s not trained to do this kind of investigative work. If her husband learns she’s trying to get him arrested for setting her up for murder, no telling what he might do to her.”
