Heart of the Wolf by Terry Spear

would inform him someone had stolen Rosa from the wolves’ pen.
    “Thompson here,” he said.
    Too much silence followed. The seconds lingered like minutes, yet Thompson didn’t speak a word. The suspense was killing her. When no one conversed further, she opened her eyes. Thompson stared at her with raw disbelief.
    She swallowed hard, the moisture in her throat all but gone.
    “Yeah,” he said into the phone. “The little lady just came to. I’ll ask her where Rosa is.”
    The hardness in his face and the grim set of his mouth and jaw indicated losing Rosa had angered him. Good. Then if he wanted her back, he could promise his undying love to her and —
    “Call you right back when I have some answers.” He snapped his phone shut and then furrowed his brow. “What were you doing in the wolves’ pen?”
    Gone were the kid gloves.
    What the hell was she supposed to say? Her mind was slightly muddled still and any fabrications she might have conjured up weren’t coming to her readily.
    Wondering what the police officers’ take was on the situation and wanting to avoid Thompson’s steely-eyed glower, she glanced over at them. Both mid-thirties, one taller than the other with questioning green eyes, both dark brown-haired.
    The green-eyed cop’s phone rang and he lifted it to his ear. “Sgt. Stevenson. What? Detain him. I’ll be right down.” He shoved his phone into the pouch attached to his belt. “Man at the front desk is asking about a woman brought in half frozen from hypothermia.”
    “The media?” Thompson asked, steeling his back, his voice concerned.
    “Yeah, suspect so. We don’t need a media circus here. I’ll head him off.” He turned to his partner. “You stay here. Call you in a minute.”
    The other man nodded, and in five quick strides, Sgt. Stevenson disappeared from the room.
    Thompson turned his attention back to Bella. More interrogation. Didn’t the doctor tell the zoo man to take it easy on her? At least that’s what she thought he’d said.
    She closed her eyes. How in the hell was she going to get herself out of this mess now?
    Thompson cleared his throat. “Now listen, miss, if you’re some kind of animal rights activist and wanted to free the wolf... “ He paused and then continued. “Okay, let me tell you a little tale. Last year we had a similar scenario. The red wolf was someone’s pet, but the owner decided he couldn’t manage the animal when his wife had a new baby. So what did he do? Afraid the wolf might attack his child, he released the wolf into the wild. Sure, wolves are feral, but this one had been domesticated, too. She kept returning to Portland neighborhoods, looking for the home life she was used to, and finally killed someone’s toy poodle — not out of vicious-ness, but because she was starving. So the dog owner shot and killed her. If she’d been brought to the zoo, she would have been safe, protected, well fed, and content.”
    And mated with Big Red.
    Saddened that the dog owner had destroyed the red wolf and that his beloved pet had to die, Bella hid her feelings and still didn’t say anything.
    “Several have asked to transfer Rosa to other zoos. It wouldn’t have been you and some of your cohorts, would it?” Thompson added.
    The cop said, “If you suspect her of wrongdoing, she needs to be read her rights and — “
    Thompson interrupted him and directed his comments to Bella. “Listen, we only want to protect Rosa. I know you and your friends do, too. If you hand her over to us, we’ll drop the charges.”
    Was he bluffing to make her tell him the truth? No, she believed he’d honor his word.
    “Okay, let’s start off all over again. My name is Henry Thompson, one of the biggest contributors to the zoo. I oversee some of the more endangered species, including red wolves. I’ve worked with other zoos for years, trying to return a select number to the wild, but we can’t set Rosa loose out here. No red wolves exist in the Cascades