Kodiak's Claim (2 page)

“What if Travis is hit out of range?”

“Think he’d listen to an order to tuck tail and run?”

Brody snorted.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Stupid hotheaded cub. I’ll make sure he’s armed and stress caution. Hopefully, he’ll use common sense and run if the numbers are against him. Then again, knowing my dumb-ass cousin, he’ll attack no matter the odds, which is why I want him paired with Boris. But do it on the down low. Have Boris sneak on board and stay out of sight in the sleeper so if anyone’s watching they don’t know about him.”

“Boris? That crazy fucker? You want to put him in a confined space with Travis? Do you hate your cousin that much?”

A smile was his reply. Boris might not play with a full deck, not since his return from overseas, but he was dependable. And deadly.

“Boris it is,” Brody said with a shake of his head. “I’ll give him a shout.”

“No. I will.” Putting Boris anywhere close to a fight was guaranteeing bloodshed. Reid wanted to stress the importance of keeping one of the thieves alive for questioning.

“And I’ll warn Travis to behave. In other words, try and stay on Boris’s good side, especially if he prefers to keep all his body parts intact.”

Boris didn’t suffer idiots, one of the reasons Reid liked him so much. He’d also trust the man with his life. “Can you think of anyone better though to have my cousin’s back?” Other than Reid, who would ensure he also manned part of the return route in case trouble came knocking. He could use some stress relief and nothing worked better than dishing out violence. “Besides, maybe it’s time we hit back. Showed them we’re onto their game and not about to give in.” Because no way was he explaining to his Aunt Betty-Sue why her one and only son, Travis, got killed or went missing when he could have stopped it.

That woman wielded a mean wooden spoon.

When her boss told her she would be traveling to a remote part of Alaska, Tammy had no problem imagining a small rustic town, something picturesque with log cabins, big pine trees, a quaint general store, and a big moose wandering through town. Or wait, was she thinking of Canada?

No matter. What she’d not counted on when her plane landed was that the only way to get to Kodiak Point this time of the year—the heart of winter when night pretty much lasted something like twenty hours a day—was by hitching a ride.

Forget renting a car and driving. Not only was she refused by the agencies she queried, but some outright laughed.

“No way you’re making it there alone. You’re talking about the northern wilds. We don’t let tourists drive up there by themselves. Not unless you don’t mind your body being found when shit thaws in the spring.”

Not exactly the most encouraging thing she’d ever heard. However, the insurance company she worked for insisted on sending her out in the field. Three separate claims involving trucks and entire trailers full of goods missing, and signs of foul play against the drivers, meant someone needed to investigate the business profiting from the so-called incidents, especially when her agency’s attempts to question were stonewalled by the owner of the company, whose answer for everything was a vague, “Read the state trooper report.”

She’d read the bare-bones report. What a joke. No suspects. No clues. No evidence other than bloodstains and three tractor trailers vanished into seemingly thin air. Accidents happened, especially in harsh conditions. Could they have slid off the road and sunk under some ice? Gotten lost in a whiteout? Gotten beamed up by aliens?

Sure. It was possible. But three in less than a month? All traveling to and from the same town? All for the same company? Add in the fact that they vanished into seemingly thin air. That smelled like fraud.

So there she was at the airport, arguing with the car rental place that point-blank refused, but snidely suggested she look into catching a ride on a dog sled.

Not happening. Nor was she clinging to some stranger on the back of a snowmobile. A resourceful employee, Tammy had a better idea.

Bright and early the following morning, Tammy stood in the loading dock area at the warehouse where Kodiak Point got its grocery supplies. She leaned against a blue big rig wearing her brand-new, red parka and knee-high moon boots, new because it seemed an Alaskan winter was on a whole different level from the winters she was accustomed to. Cozy in her new gear, she held her post until a tall fellow appeared, the exterior lights of the truck yard illuminating his approach. Eight a.m. and still no dawn. Ugh. She wasn’t sure how Alaskan residents handled all this infernal darkness.

The guy stopped in front of her. He grinned, a toothpaste-white smile as he said, “Good morning. Can I help you?” Given his handsome looks, which comprised a square jaw and dirty blond hair with a hank that kept falling over his eyes, she could just imagine the ladies loved him. But given he was probably about five or more years younger than her, and a sure skirt chaser, his charm failed to melt her.

“You most certainly can help me. My name is Tamara Roberts, and I’m here on behalf of…” As she launched into her spiel about who she worked for, and why she waited by his truck, the genial smile on the fellow’s face shrank. He let her speak her piece, but when she finished her speech with, “which is why I’ll be catching a ride with you,” he finally interrupted.

“You want me to take you with me?” He didn’t even try to couch his shocked tone.

“Yes.” She’d already elaborated on the reasons why and saw no reason to repeat herself.

“But I’m a transport truck, not a taxi.”

“I understand that. However, there is no other means it seems at the moment of reaching your town or company, other than the obvious. By truck. A truck route, I might add, that I was sent out here to investigate. So unless you have something to hide—”

“Of course not.”

“Then I don’t see the problem. You’re already going to Kodiak Point. I need to get there and observe your business at work. Seems like a win-win situation to me.”

Apparently he didn’t perceive it in the same light. “I need to call my boss.”

“Going to warn him? Maybe call off plans to have this truck
mysteriously,
” she added finger quotes for emphasis, “disappear.”

“Are you calling me a thief?” His brows soared with incredulity.

She shrugged. “I don’t know yet. That’s what I’m here to find out. But your arguments are making you look pretty suspicious.”

“And I’m beginning to think you’re nuts, lady.”

Familiar words. “Join the crowd. So, what’s it going to be? Are you taking me, or am I calling my boss at head office and letting them know that your company is impeding my investigation?”
Please let him agree.
She didn’t need him calling her bluff. Her boss had no idea of the troubles she was having, and she preferred it stayed that way lest he think she was complaining. She had her eye on a position opening up that would entail better cases and more money. If she could succeed in proving fraud and preventing a payout, it would earn her some major brownie points.

The guy scrubbed a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. “I guess I’m taking you with me. But I warn you, there’s no pit stops on the way. If you’ve got to pee, then you’re doing it in a cup, and if you’re hungry, you’d better have food. Once we hit the road, we don’t stop until we get there.”

An almost eight hour drive. Double ugh. “Don’t worry about me. I’ve got the bladder of a camel.”

“And the boss has the temper of a bear,” the young guy mumbled as he wandered away, logbook in hand to perform his circle check on the truck.

Tammy didn’t release her sigh of relief until the guy rounded the corner of the truck, checking things off his list. She’d not been sure her ploy would work. Sure, it seemed like the best plan at the time, but when it came to actually implementing it, she’d harbored some misgivings.

The idea of riding with a stranger admittedly worried her a touch. When she’d told her mother this morning as she packed her toiletries before checking out of the motel, phone tucked between her ear and shoulder, her mother had done her best to plant all kinds of doubt.

“You’re going to be alone with this man for how long in that truck? Are you out of your mind, Tamara Sophie Roberts! God only knows how long since he’s seen a woman.”

“Probably not as long since I’ve been with a man,” she muttered, shoving a pair of brand-new woolly socks into an open crevice. Since her flaming breakup, she’d stayed away from the opposite sex, not out of depression or heartache, but more because she was tired of dealing with the bullshit.

She’d really thought Asshat, her last boyfriend, was the one. Or at least she tolerated him well enough to try and live with him. However, it was as if that closeness was the trigger that turned him from all right boyfriend into douchebag. It didn’t take long once he moved in before the snide remarks about her eating habits began. Then came the hints, which got less and less subtle, about her needing to lose weight and exercise more. But, for the sake of trying to make things work, she’d tolerated his annoying litany—until she caught him cheating.

Speaking of annoying, her mother wasn’t done.

“The situation isn’t funny, Tammy. A young lady shouldn’t travel alone with a stranger. What if he decides to take advantage of you? Or the truck slides off the road? I’ve been watching that ice trucking show with your father. Do you know how dangerous it is?”

“First off, Mom, no one’s taking advantage of me.” Unless she felt like it. “And second, the whole reason I’m out here is to investigate why their trucks are having so many incidents.” Which, on second thought, kind of lent credence to her mom’s argument.

Hmm. Better not dwell on that aspect. She’d have to trust those she investigated wouldn’t sabotage a delivery with her aboard. That was sure to raise even more flags with her insurance company.

And so went that conversation for an irritatingly long half hour. In the end, Tammy prevailed, mostly because she hung up when her mother launched into her theory that the Northern Lights were some kind of nuclear radiation that would affect Tammy’s eggs and mess up her chance to have a baby.

The fact that Tammy needed a man to make the baby wasn’t something her irrational mother bothered to factor in, and if the Northern Lights were indeed some leftover radioactive waste from crashed aliens, then Tammy could only hope she’d end up with some cool superpower, like one to spot assholes and run the other way.

The driver came back into view, still ticking away at his checklist, and having gotten her way, Tammy decided it was time to play nice.

“So you know who I am, but you’ve yet to give me your name.”

Actually, she knew who he was, Travis Huntley, cousin to the owner of Beark Enterprises. Knowing he was related in some fashion to the owner, and main suspect, was, in a sense, a relief. What were the chances they’d sabotage a truck with a family member aboard?

“I’m Travis.”

“Sorry if we got off on the wrong foot, Travis.”

He chuckled. “You just took me by surprise. If you’re that determined to get to Kodiak Point, then I’ll take you. But once you get there, you’re on your own with my boss.”

“Your boss being Reid Carver?”

“That’s right. And he doesn’t like surprises.”

“You know him well then?”

“I sure do considering he’s my cousin, which is why I’m warning you right now, he’s not going to like the fact you didn’t give him notice you were coming.”

“Does your cousin have something to hide?”

If she hadn’t been watching his face, she might have missed it—a guarded look, there one second, gone the next. He hid the fleeting glimpse with a bright smile, showing off impressive canines. “Reid, hiding something? Nope. He’s exactly what he appears to be. A big ol’ bear with a loud roar and I’m-the-alpha attitude.” For some reason, Travis seemed to find his words amusing, or so she judged by his smirk as he finished his routine check of the truck.

Having read up on the whole trucking thing on her flight over—a flight made longer by the lack of decent food—she understood it was mandatory that all drivers perform a visual inspection of their vehicle every time they left on a run. Lights, tires, hydraulics, even the oil levels and other fluids, as well as any scratches or dents, were supposed to be reported in their log. All part of reducing the number of accidents and ensuring fleets were maintained and not posing a safety hazard to not only the drivers but also others sharing the road.

Checkmark in his favor, he’d done it, but was it his usual practice or something he’d just done because of her presence? She’d have to get her hands on his logbook for a peek later.

“Is that your stuff?” he asked, inclining his head toward her pile of luggage—two suitcases and a satchel purse.

She nodded.

“I’ll toss it in the sleeper.”

“Is that where I’ll be sitting for the trip?”

“Not unless you like to share. Boris is back there sleeping, and he’s not a dude you want to wake up.”

Advice Travis didn’t seem to heed. He’d no sooner seen her seated than he clambered in on his side, then he heaved her luggage through the opening to the back.

“What the fuck?” grumbled a voice. “Are you that determined to die young, cub?”

“Watch your language, Boris. We’ve got a lady on board.”

A grizzled face poked between the dark curtains covering the back. “Since when are the girls you pick up, ‘ladies’?”

Tammy bit her lip as Travis frowned. “Are you implying something?”

“No, I’m outright stating.”

She dove in to his rescue. “I’m not one of Travis’ lady friends. I’m here representing the insurance bureau, investigating the recent spate of accidents your company has been having.”

Her announcement met with a grunt, and Boris fixed Travis with a stare. “Does Reid know?”

Travis shook his head.

“Your funeral.” With a snort, Boris disappeared into the back.

“Pleasant fellow,” she remarked as Travis put the truck into gear.

“Boris? Bah. He’s just a big old moose. I’m actually surprised we got that much out of him. The man thinks grunting is a language. But he’s a good guy, deep down inside. Real deep,” he added in a slightly louder voice.