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in the facility’s nearly full parking lot, talking on my cell phone. It was a day late in September, warm even in the mountains, and I smelled the scent of the nearby trees sheltering the sanctuary. Dante was inside the fence, and the last time I’d seen him, he was again—still—interviewing everyone around when mama wolf went missing. I hadn’t met Dante long ago, but I knew that, as charming as he could be, patience in obtaining answers to a question he considered important wasn’t exactly his strong suit.
    Mine, either.
    Which was why I’d decided to make this call. It may have been poor judgment on my part, but when faced with a problem, I always consider it best to engage all possible resources to resolve it.
    “Hi, Althea,” I said after pushing a button for a saved and utterly familiar number—one I hadn’t used in more than a month. “This is—”
    “I haven’t forgotten you, Kendra,” chided the voice at the other end. Althea Alton was an employee of Hubbard Security. Yes, that Hubbard. Jeff. My onetime significant other, who’d hurt me badly a while back. So badly that I’d decided we were obviously out of each other’s lives.
    Since then, he’d attempted to change that. I didn’t mean to be an unforgiving louse, but I’d moved on.
    For one thing, I’d met Dante.
    Even so, it was useful, murder magnet that I am, to know a private investigator and security expert like Jeff.
    More helpful yet was his employee Althea—grandmotherly in age and absolutely youthful when it came to knowing about all things technological.
    Like computers. And how to get any information available online.
    Using sources I knew better than to attempt to nail down.
    Yes, Althea was, I believed, a hacker of outstanding skill.
    “I hope you’ll never forget me,” I told her. “I’ve missed talking to you. And—”
    “Cut through the crud, Kendra,” she said in a dry tone. “What do you want me to find out for you?”
    A car I didn’t recognize drove into the HotWildlife parking lot. Not that I knew more than a tiny fraction of the people whose cars were here. Even so, I kept looking for someone who could help find mama wolf. Was this the one?
    I scrutinized the car and its occupant as I spoke. “It could be a matter of life and death,” I advised Althea. I explained where I was and what little creatures I craved saving. And why they needed it.
    The person in the white sedan got out. A woman, middle-aged. She didn’t appear to be the canine kidnapping type.
    But then again, who did?
    She seemed somewhat hesitant as she approached the main gate. She stopped to buy a pass. Probably just a visitor.
    “So,” I concluded to Althea, still holding my cell tight to my ear, “I spent considerable time Googling Warren Beell, who dropped the pregnant wolf here in the first place. He seemed really bent out of shape that someone might wonder if he’d steal her back. I gather he’s in the car-sales business. But I didn’t get much background on him. If you could check him out, see whether there’s anything available online about if he ever adopted a wild animal, legally or not, that would be great. Or anything else that might help us find the mother wolf. Maybe there’s a site somewhere that says someone has just seen a female wolf wandering around the San Bernardino area. Whatever. I’ve used my usual resources to look, but haven’t found a thing.”
    “Got it,” she said. “And I’ll be glad to help. Although, Kendra, you know that before I spend any time on it—”
    “You have to clear it with Jeff.” I heaved a hearty sigh. I knew that would be so. Still, I hated to get him involved. And especially to feel beholden to him again.
    But I needed to exhaust every resource, especially the best. And there was no one better than Althea.
    “I’ll let you know what he says,” she said. We completed our farewell pleasantries and hung up.
    I felt like folding into a frustrated heap, right there on the pavement.