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Chapter 14

Being with Maisie last night was pure joy, and Robert decided that this was the end of his bachelorhood if she was agreeable. He had dated enough she-wolves over the years to know when he had found the right one for him. But he wanted to give her the time to decide and not rush things if she wasn’t ready.

He dressed and hurried to join everyone for breakfast, giving Maisie a kiss before they all sat down to eat. William gave him a conspiratorial look as if he knew just what Robert had been thinking. Robert and Maisie’s relationship was easy for all to see because of the affection she and he already shared with each other every time they saw one another.

While they ate, they began talking about the security videos.

“I keep thinking about the way that Ike, at least I figure that’s who that had to be at Heather’s pie shop,” Maisie said, “looked so surprised to see me speak with him like I knew him. I’m wondering if he was in the area because he was looking for his brother. What if Ike was acting so strange because he was trying to learn where his brother had disappeared to?”

“But why wouldn’t he have talked to you about Gus at the pie shop if that were the case? He didn’t talk to me either when he picked up Gus’s license,” Anne said.

“Maybe he’s not very outgoing. Gus was, but maybe his twin is more reserved,” Maisie said. “He hasn’t been answering his phone, but maybe the charge ran out or something else happened to it. We just don’t know. Also, what if Ike suspects that someone had done something to his brother, but he felt confiding in us wouldn’t help because we’re just a couple of women? Or maybe he even suspected Gus had been up to something bad and no way did he want to share that with other wolves.”

“Okay, you could be right on all accounts,” William said. “Anne gave me some of the backstory on all this. How about we inform Stuart, the owner of the male dog that is probably the father of Lady’s pups, that we’re looking for Ike? He lives in Glasgow, and we can tell him we found Gus’s body and we’re trying to locate Gus’s brother or any other family to give them the news. We looked over social media, and Ike isn’t on anything. We looked for Gus, and he wasn’t either. So except for their friends Stuart and Bruce, we don’t have anyone else to contact. Bruce lives in Edinburgh, so I think it would be best to contact Stuart first, since he lives in Glasgow where Gus and Ike lived.”

“I agree,” Robert said.

“I’ll call him,” Maisie said, “since Gus and I went out together that night and I found him in the water.”

Everyone smiled at her.

Maisie sighed. “Yeah, I know how that sounds. But hesaw another woman after me, and we do have the man in the hoodie.”

“And the wrist splint,” Edward said.

“Maybe Stuart or Ike knows someone like that.” Then she called Stuart’s number, and when he answered, she said, “Hi, this is Maisie MacTavish from the MacTavish Inn. I’m trying to reach Ike Anderson. His brother, Gus, stayed here with us, and—”

“Ike is trying to locate his brother. He hasn’t heard from him in a few days. He said he got his driver’s license from your place, that Lady had chewed on it, but that Gus’s car wasn’t there. So he has no idea where he went,” Stuart said.

“I’m sorry. We found Gus after Ike picked up Gus’s license. We’re trying to get ahold of Ike to tell him what we discovered, but he’s not answering his phone,” Maisie said.

“Hell, Gus is dead, isn’t he?” Stuart sounded genuinely upset about it.

“We wanted to tell Gus’s next of kin first, but yes. Do they have any other family that we can reach out to?” Maisie asked.

“No.”

“Okay, do you know anyone who knows Gus and is currently wearing a wrist splint for any reason?” she asked.

Stuart didn’t say anything for a minute.

“We’re all wolves, by the way. We’re keeping all of this under wraps. Wolves need to deal with this if the guy who”—Maisie sighed—“if the person who murdered Gus was a wolf. We need to deal with it ourselves if he was. We don’t know if the man we saw wearing a hoodie was the one who harmedGus, but he was also wearing a wrist splint, so we need to identify who he is and question him.”

“Jack Wolfson. If he’s the one you saw,” Stuart said. “He broke his wrist six weeks ago. For us, it would have healed in three weeks, half the time it takes humans to heal. He and Gus have been having an ongoing fight over a she-wolf. It’s crazy because I don’t think Chelsea Bowers is all that interested in either of them for the long term. It’s like they’re having all these issues with each other and Chelsea’s not even a consideration…or shouldn’t be. A few weeks back, Jack injured his wrist and was wearing a splint.”

“Do you have an address and or phone number for Jack Wolfson?” Maisie asked.

“I’ve got his phone number. He lives in Glasgow. We all met at a party that Ike and Gus had thrown at a club. Chelsea was there. She’d come with a female friend of Ike’s, and Jack and Gus both were interested in her.”

“Is… Is Jack on social media?”

“He is.”

“Please tell Ike to give us a call.” Maisie gave him her phone number. “We’re the ones who found Lady, and our friend who is a vet delivered her pups. Your dog’s pups too, as far as we know.”

“Aye. Bruce called me about that. That sure was a surprise. I’ll tell Ike to call you as soon as I can reach him,” Stuart said. “I believe he has a new phone number.”

“Thanks. What about the woman? Chelsea? Gus saw a woman the night he disappeared. Do you have a picture of her?” Maisie asked.