Another trail came off this one, but where would it lead? A dead end? The wrong direction?
From Charles's reaction, it appeared it wasn't a good thing.
"Can we cut this one up?" Cameron asked.
"Too big. Take too long. We go back and try another way."
"Who would do something like this?" Cameron asked, walking with Faith and Charles back to the sleds.
"Someone who doesn't like snowmobilers, possibly. Cross-country skiers maybe." Charles pointed to ski tracks. "They can easily traverse the tree. Hard to say."
Faith looked disappointed, although she tried to hide the expression. They'd already been delayed over an hour. Now this would add another hour to the trip.
But the most worrisome concern was whether or not they were being delayed on purpose and if so, why. Or if the situation was more of a case of being forced to go in some other direction, which again led to the question of why. Although the downed trees might not have had anything to do with them at all.
When they reached the small road again, Charles motioned to the tree lying prone in the road. "We'll cut it up."
About time. Cameron grabbed the ax off his sled and stalked over to the tree. For a quarter of an hour, Charles and Cameron chopped off branches, and Faith hauled them into the woods. Another hour and Charles and Cameron had chopped enough of the trunk away to maneuver the dogs and sleds through the partially cleared path.
When they were on their way again, Cameron mulled over everything that had happened since he'd met Faith. He couldn't stop thinking about the way she'd beaten the wolf off him, or how she'd taken care of him afterward with such a tender, caring touch. And then this morning, the way she'd wanted him like he'd wanted her, settling his strange desire to leave the cabin and run through the woods with a few well-placed kisses and… well, hell, he had to admit she wasn't anything like the other women in his life. He even admired her for hauling off the branches while he and Charles chopped away at the tree. Marjory would have looked at her long fingernails and said, "No way." Katie would have pouted.
From roughing it, to trying out the spa in the bitter cold, to investigating a crime scene, to nearly creating her own as she readied a log to bash in her ex-boyfriend's cabin window, to standing up to Lila when she thought she was making the moves on him, Faith was the kind of woman he could really go for. Even though they barely knew each other, he felt a connection existed between them that made him feel as though he'd known her for so much longer. And yeah, he wanted to be there for her, to help her father out in his time of crisis while he searched for clues concerning his friends' whereabouts.
He shook his head at himself. He just hoped he wasn't being a sucker for lost causes again.
It didn't even seem like another two and a half hours had passed when Charles called out to his team, "Easy!" His dogs instantly slowed to a walk.
Cameron surveyed the two-story lodge in the distance and gave the same command to his team. Surrounded by spruce, the place looked like a rustic dwelling, probably having been inhabited for a couple of hundred years. Even Charles's main lodge had been built in 1860, according to the brochure.
"Trevor's campsite is about another hour west of here since the secondary road we took moved us out of the more direct route. This is Kintail's lodge and I thought you might check in with him to verify that Trevor was still at the campsite, although he might not know. But it looks like nobody's home." A hint of warning was in Charles's voice and Cameron wondered why.
Probably had to do with Cameron threatening to press charges about the wolf attack.
Like Charles's lodge had been when they had first arrived at his resort, the windows were dark, no lights on inside, and there wasn't any smoke coming out of the chimney. So it didn't look like anyone was home, which rankled. He'd really hoped to talk with this Kintail and get some answers about his friends.
When they finally reached an outer building, Charles pulled his sled to a halt, a good three hundred yards from the main lodge situated on the banks of a frozen lake.
Charles said, "Wait with the teams. Since Kintail and his people know me, I'll check the place out first. He wouldn't like it if strangers were snooping around the place without permission if they're not home." He handed Cameron a canvas bag. "Give the dogs treats while I'm at it, and they'll love you for life."
Without a backward glance, Charles hurried to the lodge while Cameron helped Faith out of her canvas bag.
She watched Charles trudge through the snow to the lodge. "He seemed kind of on edge, didn't you think?"
"He thinks I have issues with Kintail. And why wouldn't I? The guy's wolf bit me and he likely knows my friends' whereabouts, but isn't forthcoming with the location. At least his partner, Lila, isn't."
Faith shivered and Cameron reached over and rubbed her arms, but she turned her attention to the metal building. "Wonder if it's locked."
"Why?"
She looked up at him. "After we feed the dogs, we could stand in there out of the wind."
But the expression on her face was much more devious, and he assumed she had it in mind to do a little investigative snooping. Just his kind of woman.
He glanced back at Charles as he neared the lodge and hoped Kintail was home despite the way it looked.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Cameron gave her a handful of doggy treats, then headed to his team while Faith offered her portion to Charles's team.
Faith assumed Cameron had figured out her real reason to visit the outer building. Just the slight glint of recognition, the tilted up chin, his eyes lighting just a bit, and then the devilish smile. Yeah, he was all for it.
After giving Charles's dogs their treats, Faith stalked across the snow to join Cameron as he gave the last dog on his team a hug and back rub. She shook her head. "You're just one of the pack."
"The alpha leader."
She grabbed his arm and hurried with him to the barnlike building. "Did I tell you I like alpha males, and I love the way you handle the dogs, firmly but kindly?"
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were ready for another kiss."
And more, if the circumstances were more suitable. She smiled as they entered the outbuilding, but as soon as he closed the door, she headed for a stack of crates underneath a window that was about eight feet off the ground. "Looks like just some camping supplies," she said, lifting the lid of one wooden boxes. "Probably for their hunting excursions."
Cameron was checking out a box across the room, situated next to a couple of snowmobiles with the name, Back Country Tours painted on the side with a white wolf logo.
"Tents here." Cameron poked around some more as Faith pulled out a sleeping bag.
A little crinkling noise from inside the bag caught her attention, and she unzipped it to find out what it was. A candy wrapper. But deeper down in the bag, a receipt.
"Finding anything?" Cameron asked, surrounded by a growing mound of tenting gear.
"You sure know how to make a mess." She smiled when he did. She opened the receipt. The handwritten note listed food and other items from the grocery at the trailhead. "Nothing that would help. This receipt is dated yesterday for food supplies. But it only has the last numbers of a credit card, so no telling whose it could be." Something shiny caught her eye, and she reached in to pull out a can of pepper spray. "This could come in handy."
"Good as a deterrent for some wild animals if the wind's blowing in the right direction. Why don't you hang onto it? Nothing in this mess." Cameron began gathering up the tents and shoving them back into the box. But something hard in one of them stopped him. He pulled out the tent again and fished out a credit card from an inside pocket. "Trevor Hodges. Bet he doesn't even know it's missing."
"What are the last four digits on the card?"
"Four, nine, nine, two."
"Not the same as this receipt." She was about to drop the receipt in the bag and zip it back up, when something leathery caught her eye. She reached in and pulled it out. A gun holster. "David Davis," she read engraved on the inside.
Cameron dropped the tent he was about to shove in the box and stalked over to join Faith.
"David's," Cameron said, and the way his voice hitched a little, Faith knew this wasn't real good news. "He'd never leave his gun or holster behind. I don't like this."
The door lock made a clicking sound. Cameron raced to the door and twisted the knob. It didn't budge. "Shit."
Outside the building, Charles suddenly hollered, "Hike!"
"Son of a bitch!" Cameron rushed across the building to join Faith as she scrambled to climb on top of the crate to look out the window, but it was too short to reach.
"Was it Charles who locked us in?" she asked. She got back down and assisted Cameron in sliding another crate over, then helped him lift it on top of the other.
"Looks that way." Cameron sounded pissed.
He gave her a little boost up on top of the stacked crates. Using her gloved hand, she wiped away the dust on the window and peered through the still dirty glass. All she could see was the lake from this angle, not the dog sleds or the lodge. "Nothing." She hated to ask, but wanted to know what they were up against. "Did you bring your gun?"
Cameron patted his side, glad he'd been prepared. "Always." Except for when he went to the spa with Faith. But on an excursion like this, absolutely. No telling what they might have run into. Although he was thinking more of wildlife problems, like an attack wolf, not real human troubles.
Trapped in a snare is the way Cameron felt and his blood heated with anger. Just like the time he and Gavin were locked in a storage building when they discovered illegal smuggling. Only that time, the building had no windows, just metal walls that were weak and rusted. After a few well-placed kicks, he and Gavin had managed to knock out part of a wall. But thankfully, the district was empty, not a soul around. Although before long, Cameron figured they'd have trouble waiting for them outside this building.