The Search (19 page)

They heard the wolf howl as they were driving to the ranch. Monty sat upright in the backseat, looking eagerly at the mountains.

"I'd forgotten about the wolf." Sarah's gaze followed Monty's. "At least he's still alive."

Beautiful . . .

"But dangerous, Monty. And you don't need a challenge after what you've gone through lately."

The wolf howled again.

"Call of the wild," Logan murmured. "Incredible."

"And the National Wildlife Federation wants him to stay wild. So do I. I wish the damn wolf would quit coming down and raiding the ranches." She parked in front of the cabin and jumped out of the jeep. "Come on. I'll give you a cup of coffee and then you can call Margaret or whoever is available to come get you. I don't know why you didn't let me drop you off at your Phoenix house."

"I had to deliver you to your door. Galen would have said it was the polite thing to do. I'll take that cup of coffee." He got out and limped into the house. "I can use it."

She flicked on the lights and went to the cabinet. "You don't look so good. You need more than a cup of coffee. I didn't see you taking any of your painkillers on the plane."

"I ran out yesterday. I guess the doctor thought I wouldn't need any more."

"He didn't know you were going to abuse yourself like you did these past five days." She started the coffee. "I don't think he would have recommended all that digging, much less sliding down that mountain."

"It had to be done." He settled himself in the easy chair and propped up his leg on the hassock. "You should understand. I've never known a more passionate advocate of that philosophy."

The wolf howled again.

She stared out the window into the darkness. "I wish he'd stop. He's unsettling Monty."

"We wouldn't want that to happen. I seem to have a calming effect on him. Why don't I stick around for a while?"

She had been half expecting that suggestion from him. She should have followed her instincts and dropped him off in Phoenix. If she hadn't been so tired, she would never have let him get his foot in the door. "Nothing's changed since the night you first came." She brought him his coffee. "I don't want anyone staying here."

"Things have changed. We've gone through a lot together. I don't think you regard me as the enemy any longer."

"That doesn't mean I want you in my house. Why the hell did you come anyway? When you first showed up I thought you were just out of your head. We both know any action you take against Madden doesn't have to be done from here. Something's weird."

"Can't we argue about this in the morning? I'm pretty tired."

"Then finish your coffee and call Margaret."

"I'm too tired." He set his cup on the table beside him and smiled faintly. "You wouldn't kick a wounded man out of your house."

"Maybe I would." She let her breath out in a resigned sigh. He was playing on her feelings, but he did look terribly pale, and she knew what he had gone through in Taiwan. "Okay. Tomorrow. But that chair isn't as comfortable as those cushy recliners on your plane. By morning you may be ready to leave."

He closed his eyes. "You can never tell. . . ." He was asleep.

She sank down on the couch and gazed at him in frustration. Deja vu. Why couldn't she get rid of him? She didn't want him there. That he had become too much a part of her life in these last days made her uneasy. She had seen him tired and discouraged and hurting. She had seen his tears. He disturbed her, and she had enough disturbance in her life. This was her home, her haven, and she wanted no strangers--

But that was the crux of the problem. He was no longer a stranger. She didn't know exactly what Logan's place was in her life now, but he could never be a stranger again.

The wolf howled.

Monty lifted his head and whimpered deep in his throat.

She couldn't blame him. The wolf's cry was terribly melancholy and heartbreakingly wistful.

And closer.

Stay in the mountains, she prayed. Those ranchers will shoot you. There's danger here. They think you're a threat and don't care if you're wild and free and beautiful.

Monty put his head on his paws. Beautiful . . .

Chapter 8.

"Get up, Sarah."

She opened her eyes to see Logan standing over her. She had been sleeping hard and for a moment she thought she was back in Taiwan.

"Come on. He's gone. I can't go after him by myself." He half walked, half hopped toward the door. "Hell, I couldn't catch up with a turtle."

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What is it?"

"Monty. He took off out that dog door like a bat out of hell. He heard something."

She swung her feet to the floor. "What?"

"I don't know. I didn't hear anything. I'd just opened my eyes and saw Monty get up. He listened for a minute and then took off." He opened the door. "Does he go out much at night?"

"No, but it's not completely unusual."

"I tell you he heard something. We'd better go after him."

Logan was clearly worried, and his concern was infectious. Monty had probably just gone outside to relieve himself, but she had to check. She grabbed a flashlight and followed Logan. "Monty!"

She waited.

"Monty!"

For the first time, fear iced through her. Monty always answered her.

Unless he couldn't.

She heard something in the distance. Not a bark. A moan?

"I hear something." She set out at a run. "Go back to the house."

"The hell I will. Where are the keys to your jeep?"

"I always leave them in the ignition."

"Well, that's safe."

She paid no attention as she ran west, where the sound had come from.

Darkness.

Silence.

"Monty!"

No sound.

"Answer me!"

A low moan in the distance.

Monty. She knew it was Monty. She flew over the hard-baked sand, the beam of her flashlight spearing a wide circle from side to side in front of her.

Then she saw him.

Blood.

Monty was lying in a pool of blood.

"Oh, God." She flew toward him, tears running down her face. "Monty."

He looked up at her, his eyes full of pain.

She was almost to him when she saw what his big body had blocked from view.

Gray fur, silver eyes staring fiercely in the light, and lips drawn back from gleaming white teeth.

And a front paw caught in an iron-jawed trap. The blood was trickling from the wolf, not from Monty.

Monty nestled closer to the wolf. Pain.

"Get away from him, Monty. He'll hurt you."

Monty didn't move.

She knelt down beside them. "I'm going to release the trap. Just get out of the way."

He didn't move.

"Okay, be stupid." He wasn't the only one who was stupid. Trying to free the wolf from this trap without putting him to sleep first was asking for trouble. She took off her shirt and wrapped it around the arm nearest the wolf. "I'm going to get you out of this," she said softly. "Give me a break, will you?"

The wolf snapped. Sarah snatched her arm out of harm's way just in time.

"Okay, no break." She reached for the iron teeth of the trap. Quick. She had to be quick.

The wolf snapped again. This time he drew blood.

She sat back on her heels. "Look, do you want to bleed to death? Let me help."

The wolf lunged toward her and then collapsed with a cry of pain.

Monty crawled closer to the wolf.

"No!"

Monty ignored her and laid his head across the wolf's throat.

She held her breath. "What are you doing, boy?" Any minute she expected the wolf to rise up and slash at Monty.

But the wolf lay still.

Unconscious?

No, she could see the gleam of his slitted eyes. What was she doing, sitting there? It didn't matter what weird thing was happening between Monty and the wolf. Seize the moment. She started working at the trap, every moment expecting the wolf to make a move.

Lights suddenly speared the area.

The jeep.

"Stop, Logan." She froze, her gaze on the wolf.

No motion. As if Monty's touch on his throat were paralyzing him.

"Can I help?" Logan called from the jeep.

"Get the first aid kit under the front seat and then come and help me with this trap. I'm not strong enough to do it alone."

A moment later Logan was kneeling beside her, his gaze on Monty and the wolf. "What's happening here?"

"I've no idea. I think Monty's hypnotized him or something." She opened the medical kit and withdrew a hypodermic and sedative. "Get ready to spring the trap after I give him this shot."

"Why not afterward?"

"He'll run away. I have to take care of that leg before he bolts." She kept her eyes fixed warily on the wolf as she gave him the injection. No movement. Maybe the pain of his leg dwarfed the little pinprick.

Monty was the one who gave a low moan as if in sympathy with the wolf's agony.

"Just keep him quiet a minute more and we'll have him out, Monty," she murmured. "I don't know what you're doing, but keep doing it." She said to Logan, "Be ready to jerk open that trap when I tell you." She put her hands beside Logan's on the iron. "On the count of three. One, two . . ." She glanced at the wolf. He had gone limp. "Three."

She and Logan pulled with all their strength. The iron jaws slowly parted. "Can you hold it open while I get his foot out?"

"Do it," he grunted.

Carefully she freed the wolf's leg. "Let it go."

The trap snapped shut with a lethal click. How she hated those traps. She unwound the shirt from around her arm, formed a pressure bandage, and bound the wolf's leg. "Get in the jeep, Monty."

Monty hesitated, then got to his feet and ran toward the jeep.

"What now?" Logan asked.

"We get the wolf back to the cabin, where I can tend him."

"A wild animal?"

"A wounded animal." She picked up the wolf and carried him toward the jeep. "Come on. I need your help. You'll have to drive while I keep an eye on him."

"Okay." He struggled slowly to his feet as she settled the wolf in the backseat. "There's blood on your arm."

"He barely broke the skin." She jumped in the passenger seat. "Hurry. I'm not sure how long he'll be under, and I want to work on him without giving him another shot."