Chapter 17

After making love again last night and doing just what Gavin suggested—watching more of the northern lights on full display—they got up late the next morning and had oatmeal for breakfast. Gavin pulled out the sat phone and called Eleanor, knowing Conrad would have been home long before this. “This is Gavin Summerfield. I lost the sat phone and had no cell reception in the Boundary Waters,” he said, leaving a message on Eleanor’s answering machine. “I didn’t see any evidence of what you were looking for. If you want me to investigate further, I can.” The message machine cut off, and Gavin called again. “The party returned home, but I had no way to contact you. The charges will be just for the first couple of days. I’m headed home now. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.” The message machine cut off.

“You had to leave a message,” Amelia said.

“Yeah. So we’ll see if she calls back to have me do any further investigation.”

“How much do you want to bet she won’t?”

“I agree with you there. I keep thinking about her wanting me, no one else, to investigate Conrad. And she wanted to make sure I was flying, not paddling in.”

“You didn’t say that before. The part about not paddling in.”

“I just can’t see how she could be connected to Heaton. I mean, why would she want me dead?”

“And Red wanted me dead?” Amelia asked.

“I would think if that were the case, she was involved in the jewelry heist. That’s the only connection between you, me, and Red.”

“She’s an heiress. If she was the one who hired the men to do the heist, why would she need the money?” Amelia asked.

“Maybe she’s not that financially set. I just assumed she was because she was worried about divorcing Conrad and losing some of her money in the settlement. But maybe that’s the reason she’s afraid of losing it. She isn’t as well off as I’d imagined. She’s also living in Seattle, where the jewelry heist occurred.”

“When we have better access to the internet, maybe we can learn more about her.”

“Yeah. I just couldn’t see the connection, but maybe it wasn’t about Conrad at all. We were loose ends in the heist. Come on. Let’s get on our way. While we’re in Seattle, I want to do some digging into her background.”

After packing up, they had paddled a couple of hours when they heard angry voices arguing on an island nearby. Gavin recognized the one canoe as the kind Asher had rented. “That could be Asher’s canoe.”

“Who in the world would he be arguing with?” Amelia whispered.

“Some hapless camper, probably.”

They pulled their canoe onto the shore.

“I’d feel better if you stayed with the canoe,” Gavin said, hoping she’d go along with the suggestion. “Unless he’s just angry with another paddler, if it’s Asher, this might have something to do with our case.”

“I’m sticking with you.” Amelia grabbed the camera, her Taser, and the sat phone.

“All right, but if there’s real trouble, you duck into the woods, get naked, and shift.”

They hurried toward the sound of voices just ahead, careful to be as quiet as humanly possible.

“You were supposed to take down the first group of passengers,” Asher said, his voice hot with anger. “My wife and her lover along with it.”

Gavin’s adrenaline was already filling every cell, and now he was angry. Whoever was out here had been in on the plot to kill Asher’s wife.

“I planned the whole thing that way, damn it! Based on the schedule, I had the timer set correctly. Your wife’s boss screwed everything up by arriving early and flying an hour earlier than scheduled. I mean, hell, how could I have predicted that? Flights might leave later or on time, but they don’t leave an hour earlier than scheduled—normally.” Heaton!

“Hell, that’s how I missed seeing the plane crash! I thought the flight hadn’t arrived yet, so I paddled there late and then had to see for myself who made it to shore,” Asher said.

“The PI said someone stole Amelia’s raft. Was that you?” Heaton growled.

Asher snorted.

“What the hell for?” Heaton sounded like he was still carrying a torch for Amelia.

“The bastard was involved with the police and put me away the first time. I figured if they were stranded on the island, they’d never know who did it and wouldn’t run into me later either. I heard them returning and had to drop the canoe.”

Gavin and Amelia moved into the brush, close enough that they could get a glimpse of the two men—Heaton and Asher Michaels—while being hidden from their view. Why wasn’t Gavin surprised? Obviously, Heaton had never left the Boundary Waters like he said he was going to. The men were facing each other, offering Gavin and Amelia a clear view of the gun Asher had pointed at Heaton.

“From what I hear, someone else paid you to take the plane down too. Maybe someone with more money. Maybe someone who was targeting a different passenger or group of passengers.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Heaton looked nervous now, like that’s exactly what had happened and he’d been caught up in the scam.

Gavin had to wait and listen, to learn what he could of the truth before he could attempt to take them down. Then he saw that Amelia was recording everything on his camera.

“I had drinks with one of the pilots who works with you, and he said he figured his manager hired you to take it down. The manager wouldn’t care who was on it as long as the old man was flying it. So a second person paid for the job, other than me?” Asher asked.

Heaton looked as pale as if he was going to pass out. “Will you put the gun down?”

“We had a deal. You kill my wife, along with everyone else on the plane to make it look accidental. At the same time, you’d get rid of the guy who fired you. I get rid of my unfaithful wife and her lover. And you’d do it so it looked like a damn accident. You said you’d be able to. No problem.”

“I would never have double-crossed you. Do you think I have a death wish?”

“My wife has gone home, and I’ve lost the chance I had to make this look like an accident. She’ll be wary of a second attempt now. No telling what she’ll do—leave notes with her family, saying to suspect me if she dies accidentally, probably. She’ll most likely cancel her insurance policy. I can see coming home to sign divorce papers. Which is not where this was supposed to go. Now aircraft investigators are looking into the accident. What if they implicate you? You said no one would ever consider it any more than pilot error. If they decide you did it, then where does that leave me? I’ll tell you where that leaves me. They’ll question you, and who will you say paid for this? Me.”

“I didn’t have anything to do with the change in schedule. And I swear they’ll never be able to figure out that it was sabotaged.”

“You’re a loose end I can’t afford.”

Before Gavin could take Asher down to stop him, Asher fired five shots at Heaton.

As soon as Gavin broke through the brush to tackle him, Asher turned the gun on him. Heart racing, Gavin dove for cover and quickly rose to shoot Asher twice in the shoulder. Crying out, Asher dropped the gun, cursing, and Gavin rushed forth to retrieve it before Asher could regain it. Gun secured, Gavin shoved Asher to the ground and pinned his good arm behind his back. Heaton was gasping for air. He sounded like he didn’t have long to live.

“Sorry,” Heaton croaked out to Amelia. That was the last breath he would take.

Amelia had been video recording all of it to protect themselves and document the confessions, but once Gavin had taken Asher down, she’d rushed forth to check on Heaton. She shook her head at Gavin. “Asher killed him.” She pulled out the sat phone and called the sheriff’s office with a report about the shooting and their location. “Yes, my boyfriend’s a former Seattle cop and a private investigator in the area. He’s got the suspect pinned down for now. I need to run and get some rope to tie him up with,” she said to someone on the phone.

She dashed off, leaving the camera with Gavin as she continued to talk to the authorities.

“Feels like déjà vu, me taking you down, only this time, it’s for cold-blooded murder instead of dognapping,” Gavin growled at Asher, furious with the man. “Maybe you’ll stay in the slammer for longer this time. Like for life.”

Forever, Gavin was hoping.

When Amelia returned with the rope and the first aid kit, Gavin tied Asher’s hands in back of him.

“Damn it, you’re killing me.” Asher scowled at him.

“Yeah, tell someone who gives a damn.” Even though Gavin and Amelia had assumed some of what had happened might be true, hearing it for real had to be upsetting to Amelia. Gavin gave her a hug and saw the tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry about Heaton.”

She nodded. “Though he deserved what he got.”

Gavin knew she meant because he was a wolf who had intended to kill her father and the others for money and revenge. Gavin bandaged Asher’s shoulder.

“I’ll get the emergency blanket in case he goes into shock.” She raced off again.

“And some water!” Gavin called out to her. They’d have to wait a considerable time before anyone could reach them, but he suspected they’d be better off paddling to a location where Heaton and Asher would be picked up.

“Okay!”

After a few minutes, Amelia returned with water and a blanket. “The Lake County Sheriff’s Office told me that with 2,300 square miles to cover, they have only three duty stations. They have to call the U.S. Forest Service, because they fly in to remote areas from a seaplane base. The seaplane is out on another mission. An injured teenager whose canoe flipped over in rapids. He was caught between the rocks and has been in the water for eight hours. Three others with him are still in the water too. No one has been able to reach them yet.”

“Okay, so what does that mean for us?” Gavin asked.

“You shouldn’t have shot me! That’s what it means,” Asher growled.

“The sheriff’s office is calling a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter team, or MART, that works rescue missions with the Saint Paul and Brainerd fire departments. They need two hours’ notice to get everyone on board. They’ll have to get as close as they can to our site, portage, then go by canoe the rest of the way here. Seaplanes just can’t get into some of these lakes, like this one. I’d say we should take him to be picked up earlier, but we can’t leave Heaton here, or a bear or wolves might find him and think he’s supper.”

“He’s dead,” Asher reminded them.

“We can’t split up. I don’t want you alone with Asher, and I don’t want you staying here with Heaton, should a bear or a pack of wolves show up. We stay together,” Gavin said, determined to protect her at all costs.

“And I could die. Then that would be on your head,” Asher said.

Gavin snorted. “Not something I’d lose sleep over.”

“I have the camera recording that proves exactly what happened and shows Gavin acted in self-defense. If you die, no great loss to the world,” Amelia said.

“How about we carry Heaton’s body out in one canoe, you in the other?” Gavin asked.

“I’ll go with the woman.” Asher had to be crazy if he thought he had any say in this.

Gavin shook his head. “You’ll go with me.”

“He doesn’t want to go with the dead body. Some boyfriend he makes,” Asher gritted out.

“Okay, so how are we going to get them there?” Amelia asked.

“I’ll tie Asher’s hands in front, and he can help me carry Heaton to the beach.”

Asher grunted. “Over my dead body.”

“That could be arranged.” Gavin didn’t want to untie Asher. He didn’t trust the man, and he wasn’t sure what kind of a shot Amelia would be if Asher tried to fight him. Gavin didn’t think she could help him carry Heaton. Even if she could, they would both have their hands full. On the other hand, Asher was human. Gavin didn’t trust that he could wait it out on the island for an emergency crew to get to them before Asher could be in real medical distress.

“I’ll call the sheriff’s office to let them know where we’re headed.”

“Okay. After you do that, keep the gun on him and shoot him if he tries anything,” Gavin said.

She conveyed the information to the sheriff’s office about where they were and where they were going and that they would meet up with them in four hours.

When she ended the call, Gavin handed his gun to Amelia. She slipped Asher’s gun and the sat phone in the camera bag. Thankfully, she’d had enough presence of mind that she’d used the bottom edge of her shirt to handle the weapon.

“Don’t shoot me by accident,” Asher warned her.

“Don’t worry. I’ll only shoot you on purpose, if it’s necessary.”

Gavin untied Asher’s wrists, then retied his hands in front of him. “Okay, let’s get going.” Gavin had Asher carry the upper part of Heaton’s body, while Gavin carried his legs so he could keep an eye on Asher.

“You can take our canoe,” Gavin said to Amelia as she followed behind the men. If Asher did anything stupid, like trying to tip over his canoe, Gavin wanted to make sure they didn’t lose their possessions.

“Do you need my help with Heaton?” she asked.

“No. We’re good.”

“Speak for yourself,” Asher said, grunting.

With Asher stumbling under the weight of Heaton, it seemed to take them forever to reach the canoes and load Heaton into his own canoe. “I’ll tie Heaton’s canoe to mine,” Gavin said, not wanting Amelia to have to deal with it. He made up a towrope, MacGyver style. “Come here, Asher.”

“This isn’t necessary. I can help you paddle.”

“Like hell you can.” Gavin could just imagine getting a paddle upside the head.

After retying Asher’s hands in back, Gavin helped him into the front of Asher’s canoe. Then he waited while Amelia got into hers. “We’ll push hard to get there by tonight. Hopefully, the EMTs will arrive and the police, and they can take care of these two.”

“Okay. The gun’s easily reached, so if Asher tries something, I’ll just add another hole or two,” Amelia warned. “Or I could use the Taser.”

“As if I’m going to do anything.”

Amelia lifted her paddle. “Are you sure I shouldn’t tow the canoe? You’ve got more deadweight in yours, and you’re dragging the other one behind you.”

“We’ll be fine. And, Asher, if you begin feeling light-headed, lie down in the canoe,” Gavin said.

“I’m surprised you would be concerned.”

“Why? Though we have the camera recording of all that you said and did, we still want you to pay for your crime,” Gavin said, damn serious.

“And you don’t want them investigating you for shooting me.”

“It was self-defense, pure and simple. Of course they’ll take my gun and check my story as part of the routine investigation.”

“You didn’t have to shoot me twice!”

“You didn’t drop the gun the first time I shot you. I wasn’t waiting for you to shoot me. Then what a mess we would have been in!”

After they were ready to leave, they paddled for hours. The EMTs would have to use the portage to join them, unless they could convince Asher to carry his own gear and canoe, but he probably wasn’t in any shape to do it.

“Are you doing all right?” Gavin asked Amelia. She looked tired.

“Yeah. Maybe we can stop and eat soon.”

Asher was now lying down on the bottom of the canoe, sleeping or out of it.

“Is he all right?”

“Sleeping, I think. Let’s paddle to the beach over there, and we can grab something to eat and check on him.”

“How far do you think we have to go?”

“Another six miles.”

“Okay, that’s good. I can do another two hours after we eat some lunch.”

They pulled onto the beach, and Gavin woke Asher up. “We’re having lunch. How are you doing?”

“I’m dying.”

“So melodramatic. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before you pull a gun on a former cop.”

Amelia made them tuna fish sandwiches, and after they ate, they were on their way again.

Asher lay back down in the bottom of the canoe, and a couple of hours later, they finally reached the island where they’d meet the police and EMTs. No one was there when they arrived. Gavin hoped they were just taking longer to get here and hadn’t been confused about the meeting location. Another hour passed, and Amelia was about to call the EMTs and police when they saw four canoes headed their way.

Amelia wanted to jump for joy at seeing them. She waved vigorously instead. They’d helped Asher onto his own sleeping bag and had taken care of him the best they could.

After the EMTs stabilized Asher, they took him in one canoe, and some of the police towed Heaton in the other.

The police questioned everyone thoroughly, while Gavin and Amelia explained the business with the downed plane, the shooting, and the confession. Amelia hadn’t wanted to give the camera to the police, though they needed to use the video-recorded confession on it. She wanted to send a copy to Gavin’s and her email to ensure the video recording didn’t get “lost.” But they had no internet out here, so she couldn’t do it. And they needed to give the video to the police so they could see she and Gavin were innocent of any wrongdoing.

Gavin identified the location where the shooting had taken place, and the police were heading there to get any evidence from the scene that they could. Then they released Gavin and Amelia so they could be on their way.

They were so tired from staying up so late last night that they stopped early, had dinner, and retired. Being newly mated, they managed only a catnap before making love.

The next morning, they got up even earlier to make up for stopping early the night before.

When they finally arrived in Ely, David was waiting for them. He hurried to greet them, giving Amelia a warm hug as if they were old friends. “I can’t believe Owen, and now you, found a beautiful Arctic she-wolf to mate.” He said to Amelia, “Faith said you don’t have any sisters.”

“Sorry, no.”

“That’s a shame.” David helped them carry their gear and the canoe to the Suburban. “Faith and I picked up your vehicle, Gavin, and it’s at your home now. She said you were flying out to Seattle. Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you? Those gray wolves could eat you alive.”

“I really think too many of us would catch their attention. I don’t plan to stay long.”

“You’re taking Amelia?”

“Yes,” she said. “I’ve been part of this whole fiasco from the beginning, and I want to learn the truth too.”

“Do you need me to drive you to the airport? Or home?” David asked.

“Home. Thanks, David. We’ll repack, get washed up, and head out again. That way, we’ll have the car for when we return.”

David said, “Faith and the kids are going to pick Winston up. They can’t wait. And frankly, everyone else is excited too. It feels like Christmas in summer around here. Winston will be here with us when you return. Owen and Candice have already said they want equal time with the pup. You may never get to see him.”

Amelia laughed. “I’m so glad the other family didn’t get him. Sounds to me like he’s got several families to love on him.” She was so grateful Gavin had wanted Winston to join their family.

“A whole pack,” Gavin agreed.

She was a little apprehensive about this new mission and hoped they learned the whole truth about what was going on with the sabotage of the plane. She also hoped she was a help to Gavin and not a hindrance.

She still couldn’t believe Heaton had planned to kill her father. Glad he couldn’t hurt anyone further, she just hoped Asher was put away for a very long time.

When they arrived at Gavin’s home, a log cabin sitting in the woods on a lovely lake, Amelia couldn’t have been more excited.

David helped Gavin with his bags and the canoe, while Amelia carried her bags to the door. A dog woofed inside, startling her. “Winston?”

David smiled but didn’t say anything.

Gavin unlocked the front door and pulled it open. Winston bounded out to greet them, startling her.

Then several people inside shouted, “Welcome to the pack, Amelia!”

And that was Amelia’s first meeting with all the pack members. She’d been worried whether she’d fit in. Now she was sure that wouldn’t be a problem as Cameron and Faith’s two boys and girl all gave her a hug. Everyone else in the pack hugged her after that, Gavin finally giving her a whopper of a kiss while everyone hooted and hollered. She was both embarrassed and thrilled.

They had a big dinner of grilled steaks, corn on the cob, green beans, watermelon, and ice cream, while everyone told wolf stories. And Amelia knew as she sat with Gavin on a stone patio, Winston at their feet, with the others sitting about on the various chairs around a fire pit, that she was finally home.

Faith said, “We’ve been talking about how Amelia and her family are Arctic wolves and royals and how this could be beneficial to us. At the same time, we don’t want to be a burden to them if we’re having difficulty controlling our shifting during the full moon. We want your family to feel as though they’re part of ours, and anything we can help you with, we’re here for you.”

“Thank you,” Amelia said. “I’ve got to say that having a larger group of Arctic wolves as friends is a good thing.”

“Some of us met your family when we went to get Winston. We couldn’t wait to get him. They’re lovely. We’ve already talked among ourselves about having them join our pack, though we hadn’t had a chance to discuss this with Gavin or you yet.”

“I’m sure they would be interested, but I can’t speak for them,” Amelia said, glad that Gavin’s pack wanted to include her family but not sure her parents would like being told what to do.

“We’re completely democratic in our rules. Though Cameron and I have been kind of running the pack, we’ve discussed having your parents take on the pack as our leaders.”

Amelia’s eyes misted. She couldn’t help it. Not only was it a great honor, but her parents had never been asked to do such a thing.

“We know you have to leave for Seattle, but when we get together the next time, we’d like to propose this to your parents, if you think they’d be agreeable,” Cameron said.

“Of course.” Amelia thought they would be, but she couldn’t speak for them.

Everyone began talking about plans for the fall, and Amelia caught Gavin smiling at her. She took hold of his hand and squeezed.

Despite loving the reception she’d gotten and enjoying this festive time with the pack, Amelia was eager for everyone to leave because she wanted to try out a real bed with Gavin instead of a sleeping bag on hard ground. He was still smiling at her as if he knew just what she was thinking, and then, as if the whole pack could read their minds, everyone began to clear out, congratulating the two of them and leaving them alone.

Except Faith, who made them an offer. “I know you have to leave for Seattle, and you might want some time alone. We wouldn’t mind taking Winston with us.”

The kids looked so eager that Amelia laughed. “That would work out great. Give him all your loving, and we’ll pick him up when we return.”

Winston was everyone’s dog, and he went eagerly with the kids and everyone else.

“You’d better have a soft mattress, Gavin” was all Amelia said as she dragged him into the house and down the hall, looking for his bedroom.