Page 19 of Nanny for the Wolf Daddy

He watched Violet and Kelli play, wondering about his next move. His mind was running through possibilities when his phone rang. He answered it without thinking and got a cold shock when it was one of his investigators.

He’d been so caught up with Violet that he’d forgotten he still had a job to do. Elise and Nevel were still missing, and he had to get out there and find them. Nox stood and hurried away, taking the call in the next room.

“What have you got for me?” he snapped.

“We found Archie,” the guy said. Nox had a few investigators on the case, and Bill was one of his wolves that worked in the local police force.

“Where?” Nox asked.

“He runs a still up in the mountains in West Virginia. He’s a hillbilly, Nox. This guy looks like he barely knows how to tie his own shoes. He’s known to be illiterate and apparently almost blew himself up once when he first started making moonshine.”

“How the hell would a moron like that be able to kidnap two fully grown wolves?” Nox said in astonishment.

“No one can figure that out. What do you want to do, boss?”

“I’m heading up there,” Nox said. “I’ll scope it out. Don’t worry, I’ll be discreet. I’ll call with an update as soon as I have one.”

“Okay, boss,” Bill said. “If you need us, just howl.”

“Will do,” he said, hanging up.

Nox took a minute to say goodbye to Violet and Kelli, telling her he had to head out on business. Kelli was happy to let him go since he’d been on baby duty all day. Nox felt good as he headed out to the car, finally running free and hunting down his brother instead of waiting and worrying, doing nothing but feeling helpless.

I haven’t been doing nothing. I’ve been falling in love.

With Kelli or Violet? The answer was obvious.

Both.

Even though his adrenaline was high, the drive soothed him. The sun had set, and it was dark by the time he approached the address. Like many country properties, it was far from any roads and not marked well. He had to guess if he was at the right driveway.

When he pulled up beside a ramshackle house with a massive barn out back, Nox half expected someone to come running at him with a shotgun. To his surprise, an older fellow strolled casually out to the porch, idly smoking a pipe.

“Ya lost boy?” the old timer drawled. Nox got out of the car, purposefully making his movements hasty and clumsy.

“I, ah ... I was told I might find a fella named Archie in these parts.”

“What might ye want ol’ Archie for?” the old timer said.

Nox approached the porch. There was only a low light on in the house, but the barn out back was well lit.

“Well … I don’t want to say. Not to anyone except Archie.”

The old man walked slowly down the steps and looked at him closely. Nox noticed the old man’s eyes were clear and sharp.

“I might be Archie. Depends what you’re here for, young fella.”

Nox felt his suspicions jump up a notch. The old guy was not simple. He was shrewd.

“To be honest, I’m a little down on my luck. I moved to the country a while ago to take the family out of the city. I was drinking out back with some locals, and they said the moonshine business was running hot if I wanted to make some money.”

“Did they?” Archie said, blowing out some smoke. He glared into the darkness, very cleverly not reacting or demanding to know whotheywere.

“They did,” Nox agreed, feeling a need to fill the silence.

“I tell you what, young fella,” Archie said, sucking on his pipe. “How ‘bout you bring the missus and the young’un to a barbecue out here? We can all get to know one another, and then I’ll decide if the moonshine business is for you.”

Nox stared at the man. He hadn’t admitted he was Archie, nor had he confirmed he made moonshine. The guy was much smarter than he’d planned on. He wasn’t sure where to go from here.

---