“Hello, Fred. This is Detective Adam Holmes with the Portland Police Bureau.”
“Hey, Adam, glad to hear from you. What do you need?”
“I’m trying to locate a woman by the name of Sierra Redding, one of our”—Adam didn’t see anyone within hearing distance—“pack members. She took a flight out earlier this morning from Portland, Oregon, to Killeen, Texas. Then booked another flight somewhere else. Thanks.”
“Yeah, I know her. I’m on it.”
It helped to have a red wolf working security at the airport!
Chapter 4
On South Padre Island, Sierra finally settled into her condo on the Gulf, the fresh air blowing in her face as she sat on the patio on the second floor. She smiled as she looked out on the blue water, a light smattering of white clouds drifting across the blue sky, then took in a deep breath and sighed. She’d been upset with Richard the whole flight here, not knowing what to expect, but now that she was here, she was glad. Someone was sailing farther out in the Gulf, and a couple were walking along the white sandy beach, hand in hand. Four kids—anywhere from toddler size to maybe about eight—were building sandcastles, their parents sitting nearby watching them. Seagulls screeched to each other high above, eyeing Sierra speculatively, hoping for food. But she’d read the signs on the second-story balcony. No feeding the birds. She could imagine the mess they would leave behind as they congregated on the patios looking for handouts.
Heck, if Richard had been at home and she’d stayed with him, she wouldn’t have half as nice a time. They would be sitting in his condo eating what she had cooked and watching TV. He didn’t take her anywhere. They just enjoyed each other’s company. It was all right when she actually lived in Killeen, but not now, when she had to spend a lot of money and time to visit him.
But if she’d been here with him, that could have made the experience perfectly fine.
She had even had the notion that while she was staying with Richard, she didn’t have to worry about the message from the cryptic DM. So much for that thought, because she was on her own—not that DM’s cohorts would come all the way out here to make trouble for her. The thing of it was that if Richard hadn’t encouraged her so much to come to Killeen, saying that he missed her all the time, she probably would have ended the relationship already.
Sierra went back inside her condo to put her bathing suit on and glanced at her cell phone, sitting on the chest of drawers in the room. She had turned it off when Jethro had called her number several times. She didn’t need to hear his explanation of what was going on with him and the human woman. She only needed to talk to Richard, and she knew that wouldn’t happen. When he was in the field, he was focused on that and only that.
She grabbed her suitcase and pulled out the blue swimsuit she’d thought she would be using to swim at the clubhouse pool with Richard. This place had a swimming pool with a view of the Gulf and the sugar-white beaches. Even better.
She glanced at her phone. Nope. She was on vacation. She didn’t have a care in the world. After she swam in the pool and went out someplace to eat a seafood dinner, she would take a wolf run on the beach when it got dark. Then? Maybe she would curl up in bed to watch something she wanted to see. She was not going to let Richard ruin her two-week vacation.
And that was just what she did. It was a moonless night, the beach free of people, and she left her condo as a wolf. They did allow pets; she made sure of it. She raced onto the beach and ran for a couple of miles, enjoying the Gulf breeze in her face, the sound of the waves gently washing ashore, the feel of the sand between her wolf toes, and the smell of the salty sea in the air.
Later that night, she was enjoying a historical adventure on TV when the hotel phone rang. She answered it, thinking there was something wrong with her credit card or someone had seen her let her dog run out on the beach off leash or something. “Hello?”
“Hey, Adam here.”
She sat up straight in bed. “Adam? What… How…” If he’d tracked her down, something had to be terribly wrong.
“Jethro called your brother who called me to use my expert detective talent to locate you. Your cell phone must be turned off.”
She muted the TV and relaxed in bed again. “Can’t a woman take a vacation without interruption?”
“Not when her brother is worried sick about her because things fell through with her vacation and she has disappeared off the face of the earth.”
She was glad Adam didn’t mention the reason things fell through with her vacation. Despite not wanting to feel that way after what Richard had put her through, she was glad to hear Adam’s voice. It was deep and warmly reassuring and she couldn’t help but think about the difference in the two men’s voices. Adam’s was soothing, comforting, when he wasn’t being in charge of a crime scene. Richard’s voice was just as deep, but it didn’t have the warmth that Adam’s voice had. Why in the world was she even thinking of that at a time like this?
“Hey, not that you would want me to come join you or anything, but if I wasn’t swamped with work and didn’t have to teach my new partner the ropes before I can even think of taking a vacation, I would do it in a heartbeat. South Padre Island? I had to look it up, and I have to say it really looks like a nice place to visit.”
“It is. So you have a new partner?” She was surprised to hear it because he hadn’t said anything about that before. She guessed he had just learned of it. She hoped the new partner worked out as well as Josh had. The two of them had made a great team. And being wolves in the same pack had made it even better.
“Yeah, and the best thing is that she’s a red wolf too.”
Sierra couldn’t believe it. She was thrilled that he had another wolf partner, but she was really shocked to learn he did. And that the detective was a she-wolf on top of that? Sierra was almost disappointed. And she didn’t know where that feeling was coming from either. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope. I couldn’t have hoped for better.”
“Because she’s a she-wolf.”
“Hell, she may be married or engaged to a wolf. I don’t have any idea. I just stuck her with a bunch of my cases and have been trying to locate you ever since.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She truly was because she knew how hard Adam had been working on his caseload and she wished her brother hadn’t burdened him with her problems. She was glad Adam had a partner to lend a hand now, but she was surprised he hadn’t made the time to learn more about his new partner, though Sierra appreciated that he’d looked into her disappearance for her brother.
She hadn’t thought anyone would know she wasn’t at Richard’s. She just planned to return home after her vacation and take an Uber to her place, and she hadn’t intended to tell anyone what had happened. Jethro had totally screwed that up for her.