The Wolf Code

He was completely neutral.

I suppose that’s better than the Sheriff’s attitude, Senora thought.  She saw vehicles parked ahead, and she pulled into an empty space between the Coroner’s van and the Sheriff’s shiny, black SUV. 

Ty got out of the car, waiting for Senora to fall into step with him before he headed to the group that stood outside the enclosure. 

Senora looked at the men gathered round, then peered through the high chain link fence at the figure in the tall grass.  The wind blew gently, and Senora’s stomach turned at the smell of fresh blood and a lot of it.

“Has anyone touched the body yet?” Senora asked.  “Were you able to make a positive ID?”

“We made the ID with the drone,” the Sheriff said.  “But no, no one has touched the body yet.”

The men were still standing there, and no one made a move toward the gate where a pale looking woman in khakis stood waiting, her back to the gruesome scene on the other side of the fence.

“Are we waiting for something?” Senora asked.

“Not something, someone,” the Sheriff said, pointing to Ty.  “No one goes near these wolves without Ty.”

“I don’t understand.”

The woman in khakis spoke up then, her voice shaky.

“Our facility is as close to nature as possible and we have very little interaction with the animals.  We give them a home that is as close to their natural habitat as possible, and we leave them to their own devices.  We let nature run its course in most cases and only call in vets for certain things.  Because of this, we don’t really have somewhere to lock the wolves up in this enclosure, and they’re not used to humans.  We can have a vet come out with a tranquilizer gun, but he wouldn’t be here for a few hours if that, and we’re already having a hell of a time keeping them off the body.”

At the word “body,” the woman gagged and turned away.  Senora felt for her. 

“So, what are we going to do?” Senora asked.

“That’s where Ty comes in,” the Sheriff drawled with a smile.  “He’s our wolf whisperer.  He’ll keep them under control while you get a look.  Then, we’ll get the boys in there to bag it up and recover what we can from the scene.”

Senora scowled at the Sheriff’s flippant words when referring to Addie’s remains, but she let it go.  The Sheriff was an ass, and there was nothing Senora could say that would fix that. 

“We’re going in there with the wolves?” Senora asked.

“It is their home,” the woman said.  “I can let you in, but it’s up to you to get out without letting the wolves free.”

“Okay,” Senora said.  “And how is Ty going to help?”

“He’s got some sort of Indian powers.  They can talk to the wolves, you know,” the Sheriff said, and it was clear that the Sheriff was mocking Ty, even though Senora knew that the Sheriff wasn’t going to be joining them in the enclosure.

“Sheriff, you flatter me,” Ty said, but even Senora could hear the disdain in his voice. 

Senora smirked at the back and forth between the two men.  There was obviously no love lost between the two, and if Senora had to pick a side, she would pick whatever side the Sheriff was not on.  He was an ass, and Senora didn’t care for him one bit.  Her estimation of Ty went up a bit when she realized that he didn’t care for the Sheriff either.

Senora took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

“I guess we should get this over with,” she said.

The woman at the gate nodded and unlocked the heavy chain that kept out any would-be intruders.  Ty went in first, with Senora right behind him.  The Coroner hung back on the outside of the enclosure.  He stood beside the woman in khaki, waiting until the all-clear was given before putting his own life on the line.

Senora’s heart was racing as they entered the enclosure and went toward the body.  She stayed behind Ty, looking around him and catching sight of a large, reddish wolf pacing along the fence in the distance.

“It’s not going to eat us, is it?” she asked, then wanted to kick herself for the fear that she heard in her own voice.

“Doubtful, but we are messing with their meal.”

“Why aren’t they attacking you?”

“They’re not going to attack.  They’re shy creatures by nature, and as long as we walk in here like we’re not afraid, everything will be fine.”

“You don’t look afraid at all,” Senora pointed out.

“You do,” he said, chuckling.

He knelt beside the body and shook his head.

“This poor woman,” he said under his breath.

Senora got close, looking at the mess in front of them, and then trying to focus on Addie’s face and ignore the rest.  Despite the trauma to the rest of her body, Addie’s face was almost completely untouched.  Her eyes were wide with shock, and Senora was sure that the Sheriff was right about one thing: Addie had been alive for most of what had been done to her. 

Senora shuddered at the thought, noting the massive trauma to her body from the neck down, and was glad that Addie hadn’t lived through this horror.  It was hard to tell what was done by the murderer and what had been done by the wolves as they picked at her throughout the night, but Senora hoped that Addie hadn’t been alive once she was tossed into the enclosure.

Senora turned away, grimacing to keep her gag reflex at bay when a strong wind gust sent the rancid smell into her face.

“Are you alright?” Ty asked almost tenderly.

“I’ll be fine,” she said.  “We need to get the body out of here before people see her.”

“No one will see her here.  This part of the center is only open for special events, and there are none.  No one comes this way.”

“Regardless, we need to get Addie out of here.  I’ll need to get some DNA samples from the Medical Examiner to put in her file, but other than that, my focus is going to be on finding her killer.”