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“Oh, I’m good.”
“Okay, that’s good. Where to now?” he asked her as they got into his car, and he started driving on the gravel road. He could see how the sound would wake people if they were light sleepers. Of course as wolves, they’d hear it even if it was an asphalt or cement drive.
“His sister said Everest and her brother had a big fight at the Red Dog Pub.”
“So shedidtalk to you.” He switched direction and headed for the pub.
“Yep. We need to speak with the weak link.Sarah. Apparently, she was drunk, like they all were, and she sat on Phil’s lap. Everest was furious and physically slugged Phil, but Phil laughed it off, which infuriated Everest even more.”
“How does his sister know about this?” Nateasked, surprised. “I thought she didn’t frequent the pub like her brother and his friends did.”
“Phil’s sister, Vicki, went with a girlfriend to the pub after seeing a play just to learn what Phil and his friends saw in the place, since they went there all the time. Everest saw Vicki, grabbed her, and made her sit onhislap in retaliation to see how Phil liked it. Phil punched Everest in the face. They brawled, the bouncer threw them out of the pub, and Vicki said that was the last time she’d seen her brother.”
“Does Vicki think Everest killed Phil?”
“Yeah, but she’s scared to say so. Everest’s daddy’s a prosecutor, and she said Everest has been in trouble before—drunk driving, hit-and-run—and the lawyers keep getting him off of any charges. So if Everest did kill her brother, he might never be charged with a crime, and he might even go after Vicki for saying anything about it.”
“Okay, she could be in danger too. I guess that’s why Phil’s parents didn’t want a PI agency in Green Valley to look into this. Maybe they thought Everest’s daddy would shut them down.” Then Nate explained the business of Phil’s friends going to his house at all hours of the night and everything else that Nicole hadn’t learned while she was outside on the porch.
“Did you ever look in his house to see if there were any drugs or anything else that could clue us in to his whereabouts?” Nicole asked.
“Yeah, the first time I spoke with his parents, but the place was clean. And you know, with our wolf’s enhanced sense of smell, I would have smelled drugs if there had been any, but there hadn’t been. Still, it makes you wonder what was up. They could have been just handing the money over there but keeping the drugs away from his house.”
“I think it sounds pretty suspicious,” Nicole agreed. “His parents’ gut instincts say the same thing. They’re suspicious. Especially since he hasn’t returned home and they haven’t had any word from him.”
Chapter 4
At the ski lodge, Kayla was serving as the catering manager for a wedding where a bridezilla was having a major meltdown about the banquet room being too small. But Kayla had set it up with her nearly twelve months ago, told her the seating arrangements and the occupancy size, and asked the bride if she was sure she didn’t want to reserve two banquet rooms at the time. Bridezilla had said no, it was too much of a cost. So what did she think? She could pay for one room and get two now when it was actually the big day? Their other banquet rooms had been completely booked two weeks after the bride’s was reserved.
Roxie had planned to be the catering manager for this wedding, but she was dealing with a registered couple whose charge card had been declined. The siblings often flip-flopped roles depending on who was involved with some crisis at the time. Kayla would rather have handled the credit card issue, but Roxie had already been trying to cope with the couple, who were in the wedding party and having their own meltdown.
Blake was dealing with a complaint that someonestaying in the room next to theirs had a couple of barking dogs. He usually helped as a catering manager or a banquet manager of any function that didn’t have to do with weddings. As to a guest having dogs in one of the rooms, pets weren’t allowed at the lodge. Only Rosco was because he was the owners’ and because he was an avalanche rescue dog. They’d also used him on searches for missing hikers in the summer, though the wolves used their own heightened sense of smell to search for lost visitors. Their cat Princess Buttercup stayed in their office until she went home at night.
So Blake had gone up to see about the barking dog issue.
Landon was helping set up the banquet room next to the bridezilla’s where a party was ready to get underway for a sixty-year-old man’s birthday celebration.
Kayla swore the bride was giving the guests attending the birthday party the evil eye for daring to take up the room she should have had. Kayla was trying to arrange things in the room in a better way to accommodate the bride’s guests and wedding party. When things were running smoothly, Kayla loved wedding parties that were held here. They were great moneymakers for the lodge. But when they had to deal with a bridezilla, no amount of money was worth it, she felt. She was ready to return to their office and crawlinto her shell to work on promotions like she loved doing. Dealing with confrontations was not her thing.
Kayla loved her siblings. She knew if Roxie hadn’t been busy with the credit card issue with the one couple, she would have taken Bridezilla off Kayla’s hands. Her brothers were another story. They didn’t want to say something to an out-of-control bride they could regret later.
Come to think of it, Roxie tended to speak her mind too. So if someone was being a royal pain in the ass, she’d probably say something about it.
The bride frowned, flipped her blond hair over her shoulders for the millionth time, and stalked across the floor to speak to one of her bridesmaids who had just arrived. “I told you to dye your hair brown so I would be theonlyblond in the wedding party. I have to stand out in the photos.”
Kayla raised her brows. Talk about a prima donna. If Kayla had a good friend who had said that to her, she would have straightened her out.
Scowling, Bridezilla pointed at her bridesmaid. “You’re dismissed.”
“What?” The blond bridesmaid sounded shocked.
Kayla parted her lips in surprise. She couldn’t believe the bride would go that far and do that to her friend!
Bridezilla shrugged and folded her arms across her waist. “I made itveryclear to you yesterday thatyou had to change your hair color to brown. But youdidn’tdo it. Sofine. You can’t be at the wedding.”
The bridesmaid’s jaw dropped. Her eyes were filled with tears. Her mouth was quivering. Kayla wanted to give her a hug and tell the bride off, but her parents were paying for the venue.
“Go!” Bridezilla waved her hand at the door. “Next time maybe you’ll listen to my rules.”
