The Wolf Code

Chapter 8

“I can’t do this,” Senora said, heart in her throat, her adrenaline spiking as she tried to calm the fear that was overwhelming her.  “This isn’t going to work.”

Ty closed his eyes.

“We don’t have time for this.  You have to trust me.  You can climb down this if you’ll take it one step at a time.”

“It’s almost straight down,” she said.

“I know,” he said, exasperated.  “You’ve said as much about a million times.  Time to buck up, buttercup.  We don’t have time for this.”

Senora closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but she didn’t feel any better.  The forest was hot and humid, the rain from the night before trapped in the dense foliage.  Ty was right; they didn’t have time to argue.  But Senora couldn’t ignore the fact that what he was asking her to do was not safe, and she couldn’t afford to die.  Addie was counting on her.

“I’ll help you,” Ty said, holding out his hand.

“I’m not scared,” she said indignantly.  “I don’t think it’s safe.  I jumped out the second story window, I went into the wolves’ enclosure with a dead body and I’ve done everything else that needed to be done.  But I’m telling you that this is not safe.”

Ty looked over the edge again, weighing her words carefully.  He shook his head, smiling as he put his foot out over the edge and braced it on the young tree that he’d pointed out as the first handhold of many on their descent. 

“See, it’s perfectly-”

The tree bent beneath his weight, and his face went blank.  His hand shot forward, grabbing a branch in front of him as the sapling roots pulled out of the muddy wall of the cliff face with a sucking sound, and Senora reached out and grabbed his other hand to yank him forward.

“I told you it wasn’t safe,” she said, feeling smug.  “It poured all morning and rained most of last night.  Even a city girl knows that lots of rain causes issues.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“No problem.  I would have been caught without your help at the hotel.  Saving you from your ego was the least that I could do.”

His smile faltered, and he narrowed his eyes.

“We have to get going,” he said briskly.  “It’s going to take us almost two hours to circle around, and the ground is going to be wet in a few places, which is going to slow us down even more.”

“I thought you said that down the cliff was the only way,” she said to his back as he started down a trail that ran parallel to the cliff and the river beyond.

“It was the only way that we have time for.  The longer we stay in this forest on this side of the river, the more likely that the Sheriff and his men will find us.”

“And if they do find us?”

“They’ll kill us both.”

“I don’t know why I’m surprised by that.  I guess I shouldn’t be.”

“You really shouldn’t.  Robin knew something that was worth dying over, and I’m sure the Sheriff is involved.”

They were walking nearly beside each other, with Senora only slightly behind as she struggled to keep up with Ty’s long stride. 

“If you knew he was corrupt, why not take care of it before this?”

Ty stopped and turned, almost bumping into her as he leveled his deep brown eyes on her.

“You’ve never lived in a small town before, have you?”

“Things run differently here.  You can’t just accuse the Sheriff of being corrupt without mountains of proof, and even then, it has to be enough to build a Federal Case out of.”

Senora scoffed. 

“I doubt the government is worried about what goes on in a little town in the middle of nowhere,” she chuckled.

“You’re here, aren’t you?”

“I was called by a mother with a missing person.  That’s my job, but that has nothing to do with small town corruption unless the Sheriff killed her.  I visit hundreds of towns every year that no one has ever heard of.  I do my job, and then I turn over the evidence to the local law enforcement to prosecute.  Out of all the cases I’ve worked, I’ve testified in court three times.  This is no different than any other time a desperate parent has called me in to help find their child.”

“Where do you think Mabel got the idea to call you?”

The silence between them was explosive.

“You had her call us?”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“This is bigger than just a corrupt Sheriff and a few of his men.  As much as I’d like to think I can handle this on my own, I could disappear today and no one would ever know.”

“He could kill me, too.”

  “And the FBI would investigate.  No matter what, that puts the spotlight on Glen Rose and the Sheriff.  Dale doesn’t want that kind of attention here.”

“So, dead or alive, I further your cause?”

He seemed startled by her blunt rephrasing, but she was right.  He was on a mission to save his town, and somehow, he’d forgotten that she was more than just an outsider there to help. 

“I’m sorry.  I’m not saying that you’re expendable.”

“But you are saying that whether I live or die, I serve my purpose.”

“You’re more valuable to me alive.”

“Why?”

“For one, because you care about the victims.  You haven’t turned cynical after years of working your cases, and you are willing to go into the middle of a pack of wolves to find the truth.  That’s not normal.  You care more about your victims than you do about yourself, and you have resources we don’t have here.”

Senora nodded. 

“Fair enough.  At least I know where I fit in with all this mess.  I didn’t expect to come looking for a lost woman and end up in the woods, running from the Sheriff with a stolen file from a therapist who-”

Senora heard a buzzing noise, interrupting her mid-thought.  Her hazel eyes met Ty’s at the same instant she placed the sound.

Without a word, he grabbed her hand, and they ran, dashing through the woods as fast as they could, Ty propelling her faster and nearly yanking her off her feet with each stride.  Her heart pounded as her adrenaline surged to new heights and gave her a burst of speed she hadn’t known was in her. 

She could hear the four-wheelers getting closer, and she pushed herself even harder without result.  Her legs could only carry her so far and so fast, and she was quickly reaching her limit as they dashed through the thick forest over the damp, uneven ground.

“Hurry,” Ty urged her.

“I can’t,” she said. 

Her hand was damp in his, and her skin was starting to slide.  He was losing his grip on her as her body fought the overuse and her lungs threatened to explode.

She was scanning the edge of the trail for somewhere to hide when Ty slowed and grabbed her upper arm.

“Hold onto me,” he said as he lifted her off her feet and flung her onto his back.

She grabbed onto his shoulders, about to protest when she felt his skin changing beneath her fingers.  She looked down as his shirt tore and thick, course hair sprouted before her eyes and his shoulders broadened.