Jingle Bell Wolf by Terry Spear

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.”

“I’ll tell her we’ll help her, but no on her assisting us. It would be too dangerous.” Odette texted her.

“And if she’s guilty of the crime—just saying—you don’t want her involved in anything that might look like collusion on your part,” Landon said.

“Agreed,” the sisters said.

“Can’t they trace her phone?” Gabrielle asked.

“She said she’s got a burner phone,” Odette said.

“Did you ask her about the stuffed jaguar?” Gabrielle asked.

“Yeah. She said it was from her. She suspected our boss had made us come after her, and she wanted to give us a small token of appreciation for what she’d put us through when we were supposed to be on vacation. She appreciates us for believing her about her mate.” Odette got another text. “Okay, she’s glad we’re going to help her. And she has a clue he’s alive.”

“What? Why didn’t she tell us before?” Zelda asked.

“She just had a friend send a video to her that appears to be her mate getting money out of an ATM. So apparently she’s solicited a friend to help.”

“Oh, wow,” Zelda said. “Let me see it. Yeah, that sure resembles him. But her friend could be as much at risk if she has no law-enforcement training.”

Gabrielle looked at the photo of the guy. “So he’s a blond. Color of eyes?” Gabrielle asked.

“Blue. He’s a good-looking guy. It’s too bad he’s such a heel,” Zelda said.

“You’re right about Melany’s friend though, and the danger she could be in. I’ll tell her again she has to let us handle it. She says her husband didn’t have an account at the bank that she knew of. Which means he must have socked some money away and planned this whole thing sometime earlier. He had to get more money before he disappeared for good,” Odette said.

“You would think he would have gotten it beforehand.” Landon parked back at the lodge and they showed him the photo.

“Something must have happened and he didn’t have a chance to grab the money,” Odette said. “When he went to clear out his account, the bank wasn’t open, so he went to the ATM.”

“Man, okay, we need to get on this,” Zelda said. “He had to have used a different name when he went to the bank.”

“Exactly,” Odette said.

Landon asked, “Why don’t we have Nicole and her brother check into it while you enjoy the rest of your vacation? Nicole has actually worked several cases where a person pretends to be dead for whatever reason and they take on a new identity. I’m sure she would be glad to help if her caseload isn’t too bad.”

“Yeah, we can do that,” Odette said. “Since she’s worked other cases like this, she might have some good ideas about what we need to look for. We’ve never had a case to work that’s similar to this one.”

They got out of the car and Landon called Nicole as they headed into the lodge. “Hey, Nicole, we need your services. Nate also, or if you are too busy, he could help out.”

“Yeah, sure, I can. What did you need looking into?” Nicole was always there for the pack first.

He explained the situation with her while the sisters and Gabrielle waited to see what would happen next. “I’ll give the phone over to Odette and Zelda, and they can give you more details.”

After they spoke for a few minutes, Odette said to Nicole over the phone, “Thanks so much for helping us out. I’ll send you the video, bank location, all of that.” She sounded cheered.

Landon was glad Nicole could help the sisters with their case.

Then Odette ended the call and gave Landon a hug. “Thank you! Now we can meet with Nicole. Afterward, we’ll have dinner and then later, a jaguar–wolf run with Nicole and Gabrielle.”

“Yes!” Zelda said.

“That’s great news,” Gabrielle said.

“Nicole is good. If anyone can track down Melany’s mate, she can.” Landon took Gabrielle’s hand. “Are you ready to ski?”

“I sure am.”

Nicole waved at the sisters and joined them. “My brother wants in on helping to solve this case too.”

They smiled.

Zelda said, “I’m so thankful. If we can absolve the woman of the crime and charge her husband, that will be the best Christmas present ever.”

“I agree,” Odette said.

“We’re off to ski.” Gabrielle snagged Landon’s hand and headed for the office. “Let’s go. Unless you would rather ski with the expert skiers.”

“No way. I’m with you the rest of the afternoon.”

“I’m so glad you said that. I don’t know what I would do about it if you preferred skiing with them.”

“Ditch me for someone who was a better sport.”

“No way.” In the storage room, they put on their ski boots and then she wrapped her arms around Landon. “You are the best sport of all. You were willing to give me up to allow me some time to ski with my friends, and you were a good sport in skiing with them too.”

“Well, I had fun with the ladies. They certainly know how to ski. I think, being jaguars, they have some natural skills that make them really good at skiing, even though they don’t go to the resorts that often.” Landon kissed Gabrielle, and then they grabbed up their skis and poles.

“I agree with you there,” Gabrielle said.

They headed out of the office, through the lodge, and outdoors to ski. It was snowing lightly, which made skiing all the more fun.

While they were in line for the chairlift, Gabrielle sighed. “I hope Nicole and her brother help the sisters solve the case.”

“I do too. What an awful situation for Melany. I hope they can find her husband and clear her quickly.” Though he still wondered if she had killed her husband and it was all a ploy on Melany’s part.

Then they were getting on the chairlift and Gabrielle got quiet. Landon knew it was because she wanted to concentrate on getting on the chairlift without mishap. Once they were seated, she said, “How did the Secret Santa gift get into the room?”

“What?” This reminded him of when Gabrielle had been pondering how Rosco had found the kitten.

“The stuffed jaguar wasn’t shipped to the hotel. It was wrapped up and then left in the room. How would it have gotten there?”

Landon was thinking she was just like Nicole in the way she solved puzzles. “I’ll have to check with the staff that was on duty when you found the package in your room. Since we hadn’t thought it was anything sinister, I hadn’t checked into it. But if you think Melany is here, we need to make sure the sisters know about it.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

They got to the top of the ride and left the chairlift and skied to the slope. Landon paused to pull out his phone and text Roxie: We need to know who delivered the Secret Santa package to Gabrielle’s and the sisters’ room. How did they know it belonged in their room? What did the person look like who left it?

Roxie texted back: So we have another mystery afoot.

Landon replied: Agreed.

Roxie texted: I’ll get right on it.

Then Landon put his phone in his jacket pocket and zipped it. “Roxie will question everyone about it.”

“Oh, good.”

Then Gabrielle skied toward the expert slope. He was so surprised.

“One time down an expert slope,” she said. “Then when I’ve moved here and can ski more regularly, I’ll get better at it, but I wanted to just try it this one time before I get too tired this afternoon.”

“Right. You’re still acclimating to our higher altitude too. I’ll be with you all the way.” He was glad the altitude difference hadn’t made her sick.

She pointed down the slope. “There’s Odette! And Zelda is probably at the bottom.”

Then Gabrielle took a tentative slide and started down the slope. She was doing well, slowly but surely turning on the steeper slope, the moguls more defined, resting on top of them, and then going to the next one, taking her time.

He was skiing down far enough to get close to her but pausing on a mogul above her, waiting for her to navigate the next section so he’d be there for her if she got into trouble.

She kept going until she was finally at the bottom of the slope, and he skied in to join her.

“Woo-hoo! I did it. Just this once, though. I’ll have to get better at this. That’s tiring.”

“You did great.”

She had made it down without any spills, and her form would get better with practice. For now, she did swell with taking on an expert slope and making it down fine.

She smiled up at him, her nose and cheeks rosy. “Well, it was fun. More fun if I could have just zipped down it like other skiers were doing.”

“We all have to start somewhere,” he said.

“That’s true.”

He maneuvered next to her to hug her, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her mouth. “You are so much fun to be with, and I’m proud of you for trying new things even if you don’t feel you’re ready for them yet.”

“Hmm, you are such a great instructor. You say all the right things.”

“You’re a great student, willing to try anything just once.”

“But we’re skiing the rest of the time on the intermediate slopes,” she said.

He chuckled. “That works for me.”

“And maybe a green one at the end of the day.”

He smiled. “Whatever works for you.”

They skied the rest of the day on the intermediate slopes, even for the last run down. “Swimming in the pool after the tavern tonight,” she said.

“Absolutely.”

“Ohmigod,” she said suddenly, “I know where I had seen the dark-haired woman in the lodge. That’s Melany. She had her hair up in the photo so I couldn’t place her. But she’s Melany Williams, the jaguar Odette and Zelda are looking for.” She immediately got on her phone. “Odette, I think Melany is staying at the lodge!”

“Yes! She is,” Odette said.

Gabrielle and Landon headed into the lodge where they met up with Odette and Zelda talking to Nicole.

“She’s here, Melany Williams, our perp,” Odette said excitedly to Gabrielle and Landon. “You were right. We gave her photo to the clerk, and she remembers her registering and asking if we had come in yet. It turns out Melany was afraid to actually get in touch with us once we got here, just in case we were only humoring her that we believed she wasn’t lying to us about the status of her mate.”

“You have her in custody?” Landon asked.

“Yes. Your sheriff took her into custody until our people can pick her up,” Zelda said.

“Do you want to come with us to the tavern for dinner, Nicole?” Gabrielle asked.

“I’m going to have dinner with Blake and then run with you all later,” Nicole said.

They said they would see Nicole in a bit, and Landon drove the other ladies to the Silver Town Tavern for dinner.