Of Wolves and Men (19 page)

Suzie sat with them. “You…um…okay now?”

“I don’t know.” Roman wiped his mouth on a napkin. “I was me all night.”

“Maybe it’s gone?” She tilted her head.

“I doubt it. But I hope so.”

“How you doin’, Charlie?” she asked.

He nodded, mouth full, eating quickly. “Late.”

“Those fellas from the ATF were sure nice.” Sherlane stood behind Charlie, putting her hand on his shoulder. “I liked that Phil fella.”

“He’s a good guy.” Roman sipped his coffee. “He could use a nice woman to keep him in line.”

“All you men can.” Connie held the coffee pot over Charlie’s cup, topping him off.

“True.” Sherlane giggled.

“Not all.” Roman glanced at Charlie and winked.

Charlie blushed and scooped more food into his mouth. “How much of a head start did those boys get?”

“You mean, Butch, JP, and Goat?” Suzie looked at the clock. “Not long. Fifteen minutes?”

“Shoot.” Charlie ate another bite of food. “I have to head up to the barn, Roman. You sit and finish.”

“I can help you.”

“Uh, them horses aren’t happy about you hangin’ ‘round them. You just eat and chat with the women.”

“Charlie,” Roman said, knowing he didn’t want to become a wolf in the kitchen. “I’ll come.”

As if he finally got the message, Charlie nodded. He stood and brought his plate to the sink, handing it to Connie. “Wonderful as usual. Thanks, Connie.”

“You’re very welcome, Charlie.”

Roman finished the food on his plate and did the same. “I could eat a few helpings of that, easy.”

“Anytime. No one goes hungry here.”

Charlie grabbed his coat and made for the door. Roman was wearing one of his old ones. The minute they opened the door, Harley was there waiting, ready to bark and bite. Charlie nudged him inside and again put a door between them.

They jogged to the barn. Roman knew Charlie had a job to do, and he hoped to help him out. A truck load of workers had arrived and were busy inside the barn cleaning stalls and grooming the horses.

Charlie headed for the open barn doors. Instantly, the sound of the horses making noises of distress became loud. Roman stopped in his tracks. “Shit.”

“I figured. Stay out here.”

“Tell me what I can do to help?”

“Don’t scare the ponies.” Charlie laughed and entered the barn.

Roman backed up, knowing his scent was as terrifying to the horses as his presence. He stuffed his hands into the jacket pockets and looked out at the horizon. A rider was coming down the mountain path. Roman made out the patches on the painted horse before he could see who was riding it. Butch. It was Butch coming down the hillside.

As Butch drew near, Roman spotted something hanging from the saddle. The rage in his blood was instant. He raced towards Butch to confront him.

Butch’s horse reared and showed the whites of its eyes in panic at Roman’s approach.

Butch tried to control him, as he suddenly turned into a bucking bronco rider. “You’re scaring my horse! What the hell’s the matter with you? Easy, Scout, easy boy.”

“What did you do to her!” Roman clenched his teeth.

“To her? Are you referring to my gelding?” Butch hopped off his horse, gripping onto the rein to prevent the horse from fleeing. “It’s a he without balls, Roman, not a ‘her’.”

Roman pointed to the dead coyote lying upside down on the horse’s back. “You killed her?”

Charlie must have heard the commotion because he hurried towards them.

Roman grabbed the dead coyote and wailed as he recognized her as the she-coyote that had followed him to the ranch. “Why? What did she do to you?”

“I didn’t kill her!” Butch struggled to keep Scout under control. “And if I did? They’re considered a nuisance and we can kill as many as we like.”

Roman attacked Butch. The horse reared and bucked as several men tried to contain it.

~

Charlie raced to the scene of the battle in fear. The minute Roman dove at Butch, he changed.

An enormous black wolf was on top of Butch, trying to rip his throat out.

The clothing fell off of Roman as Charlie wrapped both arms around him from behind, trying to pull him off. Roman spun back and bit Charlie’s hand.

Charlie reacted in pain, but didn’t let go. “Roman! Calm down!”

“What the hell?” Butch wrestled with the big wolf. “I can’t believe my eyes! This is Roman? He was just a man! Charlie, get him off me! I didn’t kill the coyote. Her heart was cut out!”

“Roman! Are you listening? She was killed by the cult. Calm down!” The spot where Charlie was bitten began to bleed and throb painfully.

A distinct sound of a shotgun chambering a round made Charlie turn to look. Vernon had his gun pointed at Roman, his finger on the trigger.

“No! Vernon! That’s Roman! Don’t you dare shoot!”

“I don’t care who the hell it is. If he don’t stop attacking Butch, he’s dead!”

Charlie strengthened his hold on Roman and roared as he picked the big wolf up, off of Butch.

Butch scrambled to his feet, gasping for breath.

Roman went limp in his arms, whimpering the saddest sound Charlie had ever heard. He forced Roman to the ground and knelt on him, pinning him. “He didn’t kill her. Are you hearin’ me?”

Roman lay still under Charlie, his gaze in the direction of the dead animal.

“Put that gun away.” Charlie caught his breath.

Vernon lowered the barrel. “What did I just see, Charlie? You got some explaining to do.”

“It’s a curse.” Charlie lessened his hold on Roman, but didn’t let go. “Poor Roman’s under a spell. Don’t you believe he wants to be this way for a minute.”

“If I didn’t see it with my own eyes.” Butch untied the coyote from the saddle and laid her down beside Roman. “Look. You can see the same thing that happened to that doe happened to her. Honest. I didn’t do nothing but bring her back for Doc McMurray to see.”

Roman closed his eyes and used his paw to cover them.

If Charlie thought wolves couldn’t weep, he was wrong. The emotional pain Roman was enduring was extreme.

As Roman calmed down, Charlie looked at his hand. Roman’s sharp teeth had cut him down to the bone. He shook his arm to rid the pain but he needed to stop the bleeding.

While Roman stayed still against the cold ground, Charlie felt him change again. He slid off Roman, resting his hand on his back. “Get me them clothes, Butch.”

“I’m not going near him.”

“Goat, can you?” Charlie reached out to the pile.

Goat crept over to the clothing, looking terrified.

Roman groaned in agony and slowly became a man while everyone watched in awe.

“Thank you, Goat.”

“We need a priest. Someone has to perform an exorcism or something.” Goat backed up once he dropped Roman’s clothing next to him.

“Maybe. Go call the local minister, Goat. I’m willing to try anything.” Roman was shivering as Charlie helped him get dressed. Slowly Roman sat up, sliding on the jeans and putting the t-shirt over his head.

Charlie looked around at the group of working men, gaping at him. “Butch, get these wranglers back to work. The barn won’t clean itself.” He checked his hand and was upset with how bad the bite was.

“Okay, boys. Show’s over.” Vernon waved them back into the barn.

Roman put the jacket on then inspected the coyote. “Baby. What did they do to you?” He petted her coat gently.

“Did you know this animal?” Charlie asked. “Was she one of you?”

“No. She wasn’t. We just met one night. She was very sweet.”

“I’m sorry, Roman.” Charlie stood up stiffly. “I need a first aid kit. You gave me a good bite.”

“No!” Roman hopped to his feet and grabbed Charlie’s hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know I did it.”

“I know.” Charlie rubbed his back. “Vernon, can you call the sheriff’s office and tell them about the latest sacrifice? Me and Roman will call the ATF agents.”

“I should tell the sheriff about Roman.” Vernon walked back to the house, shaking his head, the shotgun still in his hand. “Too many crazy things going on lately.”

“I’m sorry, Vernon!” Roman called after him, then bit his lip and looked at Charlie.

The tears in Roman’s eyes broke Charlie’s heart. “Here. Call Phil.” Charlie handed him his phone and entered the barn to wrap his hand up.

JP helped him. “You should go to the emergency room, Charlie. You need stitches.”

“I’m okay.” He knew he wasn’t. He used disinfectant spray and the sting nearly made him scream. JP wrapped gauze around his hand to stop the bleeding.

~

“Phil? Roman. Look, the cult just sacrificed a coyote at the ranch.”

“Shit. We have every agency in the area a BOLO alert, Roman. We will find them.”

“Well, get our group up here and let’s comb the area by the reservoir. That’s where all these animals are being dumped.” Roman made a move towards the barn to see how Charlie was. The horses were in the open paddock so it was empty. When he stood at the open barn door, the workers gave him a look like he was Satan. Many made the sign of the cross and backed away from him.

“Okay. I’ll get the troops together. What’s the best access to that area?”

Roman left the barn and knew Vernon would not be happy with his tourist trade being infiltrated with federal and state officials. “I have a feeling the best way up to that area is through this ranch, but Mr. Norman will not be pleased.”

“I’ll check the topography and see if there’s a back road in. You said by the reservoir?”

“Yes. The area I suspect is the border between this ranch and the federal reserve.” He noticed Charlie coming out of the barn, gauze wrapped around his hand. It was obviously painful since Charlie was still nursing it, holding his hand upwards.

“Okay, Roman. I’ll get back to you when we have everything organized.”

Roman flipped the phone shut and handed it to Charlie. “Phil’s getting a group together to search up by the west fence.” He moved closer. “You okay? How badly did I get you?”

“Bad. I’m wondering whether to go to the hospital for a stitch.”

“No. Oh, Christ. I’m so sorry.”

“Ya fight a wolf, ya get bit.”

“Look, Charlie…” Roman held his injured hand gently. “My influence here has been

devastating to you. As if the mess I’ve made of your job isn’t bad enough. Now I’ve bitten you.”

“Don’t fret. Okay?”

Roman glanced at the hive of activity that surrounded them. The wranglers were busy cleaning and tending sixty horses. “Does Vernon have a tourist ride up to the mountains scheduled?”

“I assume so.”

“Yeah. About that.” Roman rubbed his face tiredly. “This place is going to be a swarm of government agents within an hour. I need to tell him.”

Charlie appeared grim. “I think Vernon is already at the end of his rope with this.”

“I know. Hopefully the agents will find these morons, arrest them, and I can get on with my life.” The minute he said it, he could see the effect on Charlie’s face.

“Yeah, you do that, Roman. You go ahead and get on with your life. I need to do the same thing.”

“Charlie…” Roman called after him as he walked away. He looked at the sun coming up over the horizon and sighed.

Chapter 14

Charlie tried to continue working but blood kept seeping through his bandages. He

saddled Spirit and walked out of the barn staring at the morning sunlight sparkling on the frosted ground.

Most of the wranglers were finished cleaning the barn and were spreading hay in the open paddock for the horses to graze on. Charlie heard Vernon raising his voice and looked down the drive. He and Roman were in a heated debate.

Charlie exhaled a vaporous breath in the chilled air and nudged Spirit to walk towards the two men. Before Charlie had closed the gap between them, a caravan of black SUVs and sedans, marked patrol units from Utah State Patrol, the local sheriff’s departments, as well as a helicopter had arrived.

“Vernon, you are not goin’ to be happy with me, are you?” Charlie stopped Spirit and watched the action. Several men in black jackets with white lettering—‘FBI’, ‘ATF’, and

‘USP’— were exiting their vehicles to talk to Vernon.

He couldn’t hear their conversation, but the body language was enough to figure it out.

Vernon waved his hands in frustration while the other men obviously were trying to convince him how necessary the search of the area was.

The moment before Charlie turned Spirit away from the group, he met Roman’s eyes.

The sadness in them was too much for Charlie to bear.
Yes, Roman. You want to get back to your
job. Your life. I understand. Who wouldn’t?

Charlie headed to the west fence line to see if it needed any repairs. Usually with the death of an animal, the fence was damaged.

He heard the clop of hooves on frozen ground and saw Butch riding Scout beside him.

“Your hand still bleeding?” Butch asked.

Charlie didn’t answer, assuming JP had filled Butch in on the damage.

“You need to stay away from that guy, Charlie. He’s dangerous.”

“You mind your own business.”

They continued in silence for a while, then Butch offered, “I found the coyote in the exact spot we found the doe.”

“Okay.” Charlie glanced down at his hand. He was resting it on his lap as he rode. The sting and throb from it was getting worse.

“Are those agents going to search the woods?”

“Yup.”

Just as he said it, the helicopter passed overhead.

Spirit snorted and his ears flipped around at the sound.

“We have a group of fifteen trail riders scheduled for noon.” Butch shielded his eyes to stare up at the helicopter.

“Great.” Charlie had no idea how long it would take the agents to scour the countryside. It was just past seven now.

“Vernon won’t take kindly to his business being affected.”

“I know!” Charlie was losing his patience. With the anger he felt a twinge of pain in his gut.

After a few deep breaths he calmed down and the twisting inside him stopped. Before they arrived at the west fence line, the noise of four-wheel-drive vehicles coming up the trail behind them echoed in the vast space. Charlie stopped Spirit and turned him around while Butch did the same.