Isabel and the Wolf: (Part 2) (10 page)

Drowsily she picked up her phone and messaged him, asking if he wanted to meet the following day. He didn’t reply immediately, and she took herself to bed, eager for her cool, white sheets.

Peter hadn’t replied by the time Isabel woke up either, nor by lunchtime. It was now quite a while since they’d last parted, and a worry that he really had been in danger in the forest, however ridiculous it sounded, started to niggle at her. When she stopped for a break, she decided to call him. His cell rang 10, 15 times without going to voicemail. The tone sounded different from normal, but she couldn’t figure out how. Maybe it was a faulty connection. She dialed again. The same thing happened. The ring tone seemed to be more melodious than usual. She let it ring out this time, and after around 50 rings, the line went dead, without a voicemail option. Isabel dropped the phone on the counter in her kitchen. She couldn’t message him again, that’d look weird and desperate.

In the afternoon, she called Marianna and Bill’s house to tell them that she’d chosen Spanish as the theme for dinner the following day.

“That’s perfect! Just bring a tapas dish, honey,” Marianna said. “There are a few people coming, so there’ll be plenty of food!”

Before Isabel headed out to buy some ingredients, she called Peter again. This time his phone was dead, again with no voicemail.
Maybe he hasn’t checked it for a while, and then it just died
, she reasoned.

*

Isabel’s evening was spent making a tortilla which, after a couple of aborted attempts, turned out pretty well, along with a chickpea and chorizo salad. She called Peter twice more, feeling like an obsessive freak, but his cell remained switched off. Embarrassment at her stalkerish behavior was giving way to concern for him. A few scenarios popped into her mind, each equally ludicrous. He’d crashed his car on the way home from seeing her and no-one had picked up his phone, so it had finally died; he’d been abducted by whatever ‘danger’ he’d run away from in the forest; he’s sick and lying in a state of delirium in his house, unable to get to his phone.
Or maybe he’s trying to get rid of you
, a spiteful little voice whispered. She forced it out of her mind and Skype called Kara instead to chat about their plans for the weekend.

“Three days until I see your cute little face again!” Kara yelled at the screen, skipping any preliminaries like “hello”, or “how are you?”

“Hey, you can see me now! You don’t need to come all the way down here for that!” Isabel said, laughing.

“So, can you pick me up from the airport?”

“You bet!”

“And what are our plans for the evening?”

“Well, I’m guessing you’ll be tired from your long journey, so I thought we’d get takeout and watch a film,” Isabel said.

“What? Are you serious?” Kara’s scowling face filled the screen. “Have you got middle-aged since you’ve been there?” Isabel let out a shout of laughter, her words having had the desired effect.

“Yeah, and then we could have some hot milk and be in bed by 10pm.” Kara laughed raucously.

“Ok, so we’re going out, obviously!” she said.

“Yeah, I’ll show you what Silver City has to offer on Friday night, and then we could go to one of the bigger towns – Albuquerque or Santa Fe – on Saturday? I don’t really care what we do though, I’m just excited to have my best friend here!” Isabel finished, and Kara flashed most of her brilliantly white teeth.

“Same babe, I’m easy,” she drawled, treating Isabel to her lecherous wink. “So, what do peeps wear around here? Is it all cowboy boots and kaftans?” Isabel laughed.

“You’ve got some amazing clichés going on,” she said. “People are generally pretty relaxed, but if you turn up looking like a hipster, you’ll be getting plenty of attention.”

“Ok, I get it. I’ll leave my giant glasses and mom jeans at home then.”

“Nah, mom jeans are fine, but that ridiculous hat you’re always wearing…”

“You’re such a bitch, Bella,” Kara said with warmth. “Ok, I gotta bounce, off on a date with Sunday’s dude. Looking forward to hearing all about that animal you’ve been having in your bed… Grrr!” Kara blew a kiss and signed off.

*

Peter’s phone wasn’t switched on the next day either. Isabel called four, five times, her stomach tight with unease, spiced with a fear of rejection.

In the evening, she went to Marianna and Bill’s place.

“Bill’s told me there’s no need for any matchmaking tonight,” Marianna said with a grin, meeting Isabel at the door.

“Uh, maybe,” Isabel replied. “I have kind of met someone, actually. But it’s early days, so I don’t want to jinx it by talking it up too much!”

“Fair enough, hon,” Marianna said, taking the two dishes she’d brought from her. “These look delicious!”

“First time I’ve made them, so I hope so!” Isabel replied. Rob was there, without Josie, and so were Ingrid and John from the previous dinner, and another couple and two single girls.

The evening was as relaxing and fun as the time before. Everyone’s cooking efforts were at least as enthusiastic as hers and her tortilla received a lot of admiration.

After dinner, Isabel happened to catch Rob by himself in the garden.

“Where’s Josie tonight?” she asked.

“Oh, she had to teach tonight. She holds a painting class one evening a week downtown,” he explained. “Actually – ” He leaned towards her and lowered his voice. “I wanted to ask you before, but it seemed a little weird to call you and ask you – you saw her quite recently, right?”

“Uh huh, we went out for brunch.”

“She told me she saw you, and said you guys had fun together, but when she came back, she was real quiet all evening, and seemed kind of upset. I just wondered if anything had happened while you were out, or if she mentioned anything to you?” Isabel stared at him for a moment, taken aback by the question. She made a split-second decision.

“No, not at all. We had a good time, like you said, and she seemed fine when we went our separate ways,” she lied.

“Hmm, it’s just not like Josie to act like that,” Rob said. “Oh well, I guess it’s nothing.” He shrugged and refilled Isabel’s glass. “So, how’s life been treating you since we last met?” Isabel gave him a rundown of what she’d been doing, omitting references to Peter, but she was distracted by thinking about how Josie had acted in the diner. It had slipped her mind as soon as she’d met up with Peter, but now, with Rob also noticing that Josie had been upset, the incident came back to her.

“My best friend Kara is coming to visit on Friday,” she told him.

“She’s picked a good time,” Marianna said, joining the conversation. “There’s a dance down at the dance hall. You guys should go, it’ll be fun!”

“We’ll definitely check it out,” Isabel replied, smirking at the thought of the snarky comments Kara was likely to make about it.

*

Isabel was on the Black Peak road. She scarcely knew how she’d got there. Her only thought was that she had to make sure she’d done all she could to check that The Wolf was ok. He was foreign, and she had no idea how long he’d been in the US. It could’ve been ten years, it could’ve been a month. Was it possible that he didn’t know anyone here; that there was no-one to call him and register that his phone had been switched off for days? She didn’t know. He was absolutely the most mysterious person she’d met in her life.

She drove fast with her music loud, trying not to think about anything at all. Pulling into Peter’s driveway, she groaned at the sight of the black shutters obscuring his windows.

“Damn it,” she muttered. As she got out of her car and walked towards the house, they seemed hostile, telling her to turn back. They did have a point. What had she expected to see through the windows anyway – Peter lying collapsed on the ground? Now she was close to the building, she could see that they were closed firmly, as she’d expected. She crept up to the window on the left of the front door and pressed her eye up to the point where the shutters met. The tiny crack revealed nothing but pitch blackness. She moved to the right-hand window and was rewarded with the same view.
You’ve done all you can – it’s ok to leave now,
her sensible side told her. Hardly knowing what she was doing, she walked around to the shutters on the side of the house. The first one revealed more darkness. Then, she walked down a narrow pathway to the second one, and nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

*

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Isabel and The Wolf: Part Three

Stunned by what she's just seen at Peter’s house, Isabel flees to the forest. In her shock and confusion, she veers off the main track and can’t find her way back. The possibility of spending a night lost and alone in the Gila wilderness suddenly becomes very real.

Just as her panic reaches its peak, Jed, the sexy sheriff comes to her rescue for the second time. Isabel can’t help but be tempted by Jed’s easy-going charms, but it’s not long before Peter’s onto his scent, and the consequences prove explosive.

There’s no way that Peter’s going to get away without some explanation for his recent behavior, and being pushed into a corner somehow brings out his softer side. It seems like, maybe, just maybe, Peter could be boyfriend material, but the full moon is near, and disaster is following close behind.

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About Ariana Hawkes

Ariana graduated in English and Latin Literature. Since then, she’s been writing full time, for both work and pleasure. When she’s not doing that, she loves reading literary fiction, fantasy, romance and erotica, and snuggling with her man and their two huskies.

She had always loved the idea of serials – cliffhangers, dynamic writing, the thought of the writer sitting up all night to get the latest installment finished – and was sad that they weren’t in fashion anymore. So she’s super excited that ebooks offer the perfect format to bring this exciting writing style back to life again!

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