Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,3
just jot down what I’ll need.”
She reached into her purse with one hand, taking out a small memo set that had a pen clipped to one side of a small pad. The logo of her company was emblazoned on the front as she flipped it open and started to write. While she did that, the others kept talking.
“There’s also the matter of Buford Somersby,” Jim mentioned. “The warehouse worker who wanted so desperately to get into that freezer section. He had to be in on it with the witch. He wasn’t under her spell. He was part of her organization. Had to be.” Jim’s expression was grim.
“He already skipped town,” Arch put in, looking disgruntled, but resigned. “Trail is either clouded by dark magic or getting cold by now. Or both.”
And that’s where, Martin realized, he could be of some help. Since it looked like they were staying for the weekend, he would do his best to use his superior tracking skills to help them find their target. He could at least get them headed in the right direction before he took his small family home.
Chapter One
Jim Hanson, ex-Navy SEAL and nephew of Arch Hanson, a legend in his own time, stepped on the gas of his pickup truck. He was part of a small convoy, following both the Ebersole family’s truck and Helen Richards’ compact car as they all got on the highway, heading east. Jim was really following Martin Ebersole’s lead. Helen was just traveling with them as far east as the trail led them, for added safety. Her sister, Kiki, had insisted.
Oddly enough, Kiki and Helen’s mother had called last night to discuss Helen’s return travel arrangements. Their mother was clairvoyant, so when she suggested Helen tag along with the trackers, Helen had agreed without argument. After their mother had hung up, both Kiki and Helen had exchanged a knowing look and explained that it was just easier and usually better to do what their mother asked them to do. She always had a reason, and things always worked out better if they listened to her casual advice.
They’d started out early this morning from the hotel. Jim’s uncle, Arch, was going to hang out with their human ex-Navy SEAL friend, Ben Steel, for a few days before heading back to Pack territory. The bear brothers—Ace, King, and Jack Bishop—and their mates were staying on at the paper mill in West Virginia for a while, just to make sure things settled down for the human workers of the plant, and that no uncomfortable questions were asked. Or, if such questions were asked, that they would be there to run interference and provide the right answers.
All three Bishop brothers were now working for SeaLife Enterprises, the conglomerate that owned the paper mill and many other businesses. It was based out of Grizzly Cove these days, Jim had heard, under new ownership. The story he’d been told had to do with a mermaid who had sought refuge in the cove and mated with one of the bear shifters who lived there. She’d inherited SeaLife Enterprises on the death of her stepfather, who had turned a once-legitimate business into something dark and sometimes illegal.
The new owners were working to fix that, one business at a time, which was why Jack Bishop had been sent out to West Virginia, in the first place. That he’d found his mate while uncovering the evil that had taken over the paper mill was a huge bonus. Mates were hard to find. Some shifters went their entire long lives without ever finding that one special person meant for them.
Arch was a lot older than Jim, and he’d never found his mate. Jim was at the age where he was looking to settle down, but it was in the hands of the Mother of All whether or not he’d find the special woman meant just for him. He prayed that it would happen, but he wasn’t going to beat himself up if it didn’t. He had a good life with a loving family and great Pack, though there was a complication that made mating—even dating—next to impossible most of the time. Jim sighed inwardly. Something would have to be done about it, at some point, but he’d been hoping the situation would resolve itself without him having to do anything overt.
If he found his mate, he’d have to act. Until then, he could let things ride and just keep on keeping on. Doing jobs with Uncle Arch