Page 17 of Wolfish
“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.”
“I was going to tell you not to put yourself out until you said you were making chocolate chip cookies.”
He laughed. “They’re the only cookies I know how to make.”
“They’re the only ones you need to know how to bake, as far as I’m concerned.”
They ordered their meals, and not long after, the waitress delivered them to their table.
Everything smelled so good. Selena dug right in.
“So what’s been your most harrowing case while you’ve been a deputy sheriff?” she asked.
“We had a shoot-out with three bank robbers in town. Peter and I were hit, but along with the other deputies and some wolves Peter had deputized, we managed to take them down. We have several citizens who are deputized to help in situations like that.”
“Oh, wow, I imagine that was harrowing. I’m glad you both were okay.”
“Yeah, it took a while to heal from our bullet wounds. I had nightmares about it for months. What about you?”
“Seeing remains that were a distant cousin’s was pretty shocking to me. Her ex-husband had shot and killed her because he didn’t want her to have half of the proceeds of the house, bank accounts, and other properties, I later discovered. I believe he didn’t want to let her go, either. I never knew them, but her DNA proved she was my cousin.”
“That had to be eerie. What happened to the ex?”
“It was eerie. He ended up in prison for life with no possibility of parole.”
“If she’s a cousin, is she a wolf?”
“Yeah. He was human. I did a background search on her and found she’d been married to a wolf. When he died, her family said she’d vowed never to mate another wolf. She’d been loyal to his memory.” She exhaled and said, “I finished up that case two weeks ago. I was ready for a break and a different place to live. At least I’ve never been shot at over my job, though I’ve been threatened about my findings and stalked a few times.”
“Not if I’d been there.”
“It would have been nice to have known you then. I didn’t think I would have anything to worry about in a wolf-run town.”
Daniel shook his head. “We still have criminal elements, both wolf and human, come through town.”
“Just like everywhere.”
“Exactly. Are the stalkers a reason for you moving?”
“Yeah.”
“If you had issues like that here, you would have the support of the entire pack to deal with them.”
“That’s good to hear,” she said, so glad she had moved here.
