Silver-White (The Great North Woods Pack #1) (18 page)

“You’ve got that much right,” Evie said.
“And I’m right close to showing you exactly what we look like. Explain yourself,
now
.”

“Look,” he said, “if it makes you feel
any better, those people …cats, whatever. They want me dead now too.”

“Why do they want
you
dead?”

“The mole always gets killed once it fails.
If I’m out of the way, I guess the cats figure they can play ignorant when the
Ludlows come calling. They don’t know your grandfather the way I do, Evie. They
think he’s as bad as they apparently are. They’ll kill me to keep me from
talking to him. Your grandfather seemed quite sure of it. Or at least feared
it.”

“Keep going,” Evie said. Her anger had
been slightly softened by intrigue, and perhaps a tiny amount of compassion.

“I worked for your grandfather last
fall,” Dale said.

“I know that. Get to the point.”

“Okay, well, everything went fine for a
few months. Then out of the blue one day two guys stopped me in the parking lot
at my work, asking how I liked working for Mr. Ludlow. I said, ‘Good,’
automatically, because that was the truth. Before I could ask them any
questions, they offered me double what I was getting paid from Joe Ludlow—which
was good money—if I kept them informed of any strange happenings I might
observe or overhear. ‘You’re kidding,’ I said. I was about to walk away. ‘No,’
they said, and one of them handed me an envelope with five hundred dollars in
it. ‘To show you we’re serious,’ he said.”

Evie furrowed her brow. If she hadn’t
known better, she’d have sworn she was talking to a small child. “Two strange
men offered you money … and you took it?”

“I honestly thought it was just someone
jealous of your grandfather’s business success, Evie. Logging, sawmill, milk
cow espionage. He
is
a very successful
man. Do you think I had a clue about wolves or cats or their feud? I was trying
to pay off my student loans, not get myself killed. Now look.” He waved his
arms. “I’m a prisoner in a basement for my own safety, locked in the holding
cell for naughty wolves. It smells like
hell
in here.”

Evie had watched his eyes and face as
he’d spoken. She was sure no spy interrogator, but she could tell a liar when
she saw one. This guy, Dale, didn’t seem to be lying. He was scared for his
life.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” he said.

“I didn’t say a word.”

Dale moved across the dark room and sat
back in a folding chair. “If you’d still like to kill me,’ he said, “Here, I’ll
make it easy. I won’t even fight back.”

“I’m not gonna hurt you, you
moron
,” Evie said. She stepped into the
room and sat on the other folding chair. “So, my Papa put you down here to hide
you?”

“Yeah, he did. For a wolf, he’s quite a
gentleman.”

“Ha-ha.”

“Seriously, after your … uncles, or
whatever, roughed me up, your grandfather sat me down for a talk. He said if I
went home again—which I can’t because my car’s in Cold Springs—someone would surely
be waiting for me.”

“Wait,” Evie said. “Who roughed you up?”

“Two big Ludlow guys. Lester and Paul.
They grabbed me right from my Mom’s driveway, tossed me in a truck, and brought
me here. They said Joe requested my company for the evening.”

“That sucks,” Evie said, picturing her
two burly uncles against this guy. “Sorry you’ve had such a bad night.”

“It’s not your fault,” he said. “But
thanks.”

“So … how much are your student loans?”

Dale laughed lightly. “Really?”

“Hey I’m tryin’ here.”

“Almost eighty grand if you count the
credit cards.”

“Dang, boy,” Evie breathed. “Maybe you
should just let them all kill you.”

“Yeah, maybe I should.” He stood and
paced the small room for a moment. He seemed more energetic again after his
death wish while sitting in the chair. “But Joe said he’d help me make a new
start somewhere, if I wanted. Me and my mom. Supposedly your uncles have taken
her somewhere safe, too.”

“That sounds like my grandfather,” Evie
said.

“I don’t know where he has in mind, but
anywhere has to be better than the basement, right?”

“Sure. And it beats getting used for
fertilizer.”

Dale laughed ironically. “Thanks for
that image. Very nice.”

“You got it, snitch.”

“If only I hadn’t seen you, Evie. You
don’t know how much I wish I missed that meeting. How could I
not
notice a teenaged girl with white
hair?”

“What about it?” she asked defensively.

“That was the big thing the cats—the
older one that pays me, Mr. Lyle—was obsessed with. After I’d been watching for
a while, he said if any young Ludlow showed signs of white hair, there’d be a
bonus for my prompt report. I’ve seen most of the Ludlows here and there and
I’ve paid close attention. Nothing for a long time. But then I saw you this
morning … a pretty young girl with white streaks in her hair. I couldn’t help
but notice. So I made the call as soon as I left.”

“Did you at least get your bonus?” Evie
asked.

Dale shook his head, laughing. “No, not
yet. After speaking with Joe, I assume their idea of a bonus would’ve been to dump
me in the river.”

“Well,” Evie said as she stood from the
chair, “I hope you learned your lesson. My Papa is a kind man, but look what
happens to people that try going against him
and
his family.”

“Yeah,” Dale said. “Next time someone
offers me a job, I’ll remember to check if they’re in the Wild Kingdom mafia.”

Evie did not smile. She was getting
quite warm again. “You know, you’re pretty snide for a guy hiding in a
basement.”

“Sorry. I’m just mad at myself, okay?”

“Well, Dale, I don’t
completely
wanna kill you anymore,” Evie
said. “I actually feel sorry for you.”

Dale sat down again, running his hands
over his head nervously. Apparently his mood took him from high to low every
few minutes.

“Of course,” Evie went on, “that would
change if you ever tried to tell our secret. I’ve had a lot of mood swings lately,
and trust me, they’re not pretty.”

“Believe me,” he said, looking up fast.
“I’d rather go on The View and say I was abducted by UFO’s than have Joe Ludlow
after me. Your uncles gave me a little preview of the wolves. Said your
grandfather was even worse. Yeah, well, they were enough to convince me. Even
before Joe had his talk with me tonight, I was ready to cooperate.”

“When did this all happen?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know … a few hours
ago. I don’t have my phone so I’ve lost track of time.”

“Listen,” Evie said. “I know it wasn’t
fun, but I’d say my uncles saved your life tonight. I saw what the other
Ludlows did to the cats that came here to kill me after your little report. I’ll
bet they headed straight for you after they left here. And let me tell you,
they were
not
happy.”

Dale stared at Evie. “They wanted to
kill
you?
Seriously
?”

“Papa implied it, yes.”

“
Why?
Why
you
? Isn’t this all … a little
hard to believe?”

“Don’t you worry about it. You know too
much about us as it is.”

“Haven’t you asked your grandfather?”

“I said, don’t you worry about
my
business!”

Dale stood up again. “I’m sorry, Evie. I
swear I had no idea they wanted to kill you. That’s the truth.”

“I’d say you have an idea now, don’t
you?” she said and turned away. “I’m gonna go get a little sleep before the sun
comes up. Enjoy your stay in our
smelly
room. It suits you just fine.”

“I’m sorry,” Dale said again, quite
pathetically.

Evie closed the door and bolted it
without another word. He sounded sincere, and in a way she did feel bad for him.
But more so she felt the urge to bite his head off for the trouble he’d caused;
the ratio was about 60/40 in favor of decapitation. Leaving him before the odds
worsened was the greatest kindness she felt capable of.

-13-

Evie woke at first light. She was
sprawled on the couch, still wearing her robe. From upstairs she could hear the
quiet sound of the shower running, and for a while she lay still, watching
through the glass doors as the sky slowly lightened. The early sun touched the tops
of the distant trees, showing their color sharply clear over the pastures below
still in shadows.
Considering
she’d slept only a few hours, she felt remarkably fresh and clearheaded.

When her grandparents came down the stairs
she sat up.

“Have a good run?” Papa Joe asked her
from beside the coffee pot.

“I did,” Evie answered lazily. “Thank
you, Papa. And I’m sor—”

“Leave it,” he said. “Where’d you run
to?”

“All over. Out to that oasis with the
spring water. Up and down the trails. And by the way, I really liked that girl,
Emmy. We had so much fun.”

“That’s Doctor Wilson’s daughter,” he
said. “Their family has been with the pack since the beginning. David and Emmy
are both good kids.”

Evie leaned against the back of the
couch, smiling as she recalled the night.

“Eli didn’t bring you by the big hotel, did
he?” her grandfather asked after some time.

“Should he … not have?”

“Now and then is all right. But don’t
push it.”

“Okay.” Evie smirked. “So like … once a
week is fine?”

“If you really must,” he said with thin a
grin. “But as I said, don’t push it. What starts as fun can easily turn into
fear for the paying guests.”

“Before you get preoccupied with fun,” her
grandmother put in then, “don’t forget that you’ve got a landscaping project to
tackle today.” She said this referring to the destroyed burning bush from the
prior evening.

Evie tensed, thinking fast. “What’s with
the basement boy?” she asked to dodge the topic.

Joseph Snow eyed his granddaughter, and
after a moment let the other topic go. “Did you smell him or hear him?”

“I smelled him. He never made a peep.”

“I underestimated your nose,” he said.
“Your senses are developing marvelously. I smell him too. I trust that means
you left him with a pulse.”

“
Barely
,
Papa.”

“Oh he’s not such a bad kid,” her
grandfather told her when he’d settled on the opposite couch with his coffee.

“He’s not too swift.”

“On the contrary, he’s actually quite
bright in many ways. What he lacks is practical sense, and, of course, the
knowledge of shape-shifters.”

“Must we start the day with this topic?”
Evelyn said, sitting with her own coffee. “I believe I’ve been more than
tolerant.”

“He’ll be gone soon, my love,” Joe said
to her, and then turned back to Evie. “Today will be a busy one for me.
Hopefully tomorrow I can begin focusing solely on you and your training. It’s
been a rocky start.”

“What will you do with him?”

“Move him away. Give him a fresh start
far from the cats who know him. I owe him that much at least, using him as I
have.”

Evie furrowed her brow. “You knew he was
spying?”

“Of course.”

“And you kept him around anyway?”

“Absolutely.”

“Shouldn’t he have gotten at least fired
for spying?”

“Your grandfather sometimes enjoys his
position too greatly,” Evelyn said. “He’s long outlived most of the cats of his
generation. These younger ones are fools, believing my husband is vulnerable to
their silly tactics. He makes sport of them whenever he can.”

“Not sport,” Joe defended. “I merely
keep my senses as sharp as possible; the gullible are easy practice. And I prefer
to keep my eye on those keeping an eye on me.”

“You mean you played him,” Evie said.

“I suppose I did.”

She gave him a mock glare. “Not nice,
Papa.”

“I never intended harm. The entire deal
turned out much differently than I expected. I was torn about letting him see
you yesterday; I should have gone with my gut and cancelled the meeting. But
then, I had hoped after working for me for so long, he might keep his mouth
shut.”

“They would have found out about me
anyway, right?”

“Eventually.”

“He told me they paid him,” she said. “Is
it really all about money?”

“Yes,” her grandfather answered sullenly,
“it is about money, but it goes well beyond it. More so the cats that paid him envy
the land, the control, the security I have here. Keep in mind, as you saw, these
are not African cats that live gladly in large prides. Instinct drives these
differently. Most often they function as loners, mating pairs or small family
groups, as with the two brothers from last night. The original rivalry between
us is no different than that of typical wolf packs versus typical cougars. Both
are predators requiring much space and much prey, and safe grounds on which to
raise their young. Add to that the competitive striving of human nature, and
you end up with a very bitter rivalry. The North Pack controls the safest lands
in the northeast. So, most of them hate us with a passion, chiefly me.”