Why am I bringing this up, you ask?
Well, this past week I’ve noticed this dog hanging around the trees at the edge of the apartment complex. He reminds me a lot of a wolf, gray and black. I don’t think he’s a full wolf because he’s always alone and seems comfortable with civilization, although he’s really skittish. Maybe he’s a mix of some kind. Whatever he is, he’s huge. I know it’s a bad idea to mess with unfamiliar dogs, but I’m worried he might be sick or something.
I can hear you telling me to call animal control, but I hate to see him wind up in the pound, or euthanized. I thought I’d leave some food out for him. See how he responds to that. I’m not trying to make him the next White Fang or anything, but I don’t want to see him suffer if I can do something about it.
I’ll try to catch him on my camera phone and text you a pic.
Mani never sent me that picture, and I forgot about his canine charity case until I re-read the e-mail. What were the chances that a wolfish dog had haunted his apartment complex in the days before his death? From my current perspective, the mysterious dog and Mani’s death had to be more than coincidence. But how did that fit in with my dream of a prophetic wolf tearing my brother apart? Maybe my subconscious had gathered things from several sources that had no business going together. But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?
Reading through so many documents had left my eyes dry and gritty, and I wanted to splash a little cold water on my face. I leaned back, rubbed my eyes, and stretched until my back popped. “Where’s the bathroom?” I asked Val.
Val looked up from a box full of ski bibs and motioned in the general direction I needed to go. “Use the one in the back of the storage room.”
I hopped from my stool and headed through a set of swinging doors into a storeroom littered with boxes. Merchandise spilled off the shelves. I lurched over and around the disorder, an inventory obstacle course, until I reached the bathroom in the back corner. On my return trip, I kicked over a box of D-rings and spilled them across the floor. I cursed and knelt to gather them up.
At my family’s bakery, we kept our storerooms and kitchen immaculate. Our sanitation grade depended on our efforts. The Thorin Adventure Outfitters’ stockroom defiled every one of my sensibilities about storage and orderliness. I peeked through the swinging doors; a couple of customers interested in climbing harnesses had occupied Val’s attention. I glanced over at the counter where my computer waited and blanched at the thought of reading more documents. My brain felt overloaded and ready to blow. I needed to process, and organizing the stockroom would keep my hands busy while my brain digested the glut of information I had stuffed in it.
In one hour, I made more progress organizing the store’s inventory than I had made in getting rid of Mani’s things over the past couple of days. Making decisions about water bottles and dehydrated meals presented far less trouble than decisions about my brother’s collection of British punk rock vinyl. I lost myself in the work and didn’t notice anyone had come into the room until he spoke.
“Miss Mundy, I’d ask what you thought you were doing, but I think it’s apparent.”
I sprang up from where I knelt among a pile of mismatched thermal underwear and spun around to find Aleksander Thorin smirking at me. “I’m organizing,” I said.
“Obviously.” Thorin’s eyes skimmed over the shelves and growing floor space, and then he looked at me. “Did Val put you up to this?”
I blew several loose hairs out of my eyes. “Hardly. I came back here to use the bathroom and almost killed myself trying to get past this stuff. I hope you don’t mind.”
Thorin shook his head. “I’ve been trying to get the staff to do this for months.”
“I thought you were the big bad Boss Man.” Thorin’s presence roused my defense mechanisms, and sarcasm was one of my standard shields. “Don’t they bow at your feet?”
He ignored my derision and stepped further into the room. “Why are you here, exactly?”
I shrugged. “Val asked me to keep him company, and I was happy to get away from Mani’s place for a while.”
“Are you looking for a job, Miss Mundy?”
His non sequitur knocked me off guard. “What?”
“Most people don’t clean stockrooms for the fun of it.”
I shook my head and waved him off. “I have plenty of work waiting for me back home.”
“Which you’ll be going back to… when?”
I squinted at him, trying to decide whether he did the condescending thing on purpose. “Four more days. Can’t wait to get rid of me, huh?”
Thorin put his hands out at his sides, open, apologetic. “We keep getting off to a bad start, Miss Mundy.”
“It would help if you didn’t keep calling me ‘Miss Mundy.’”
Thorin grinned like a cat grins at a mouse. “I’m only trying to be polite.”
“Really?” I said. “Maybe you should try harder.”
Thorin’s smile broadened, showing genuine humor for the first time. “If you change your mind about the job offer, let me know. I think you’d fit in around here.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled back at him. “I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
The door swung open, and Val stepped into the stockroom. He stopped short upon finding me organizing inventory in the presence of his employer. “Uh, hey, Thorin, what’s up?”
“I was complimenting Miss Mundy’s initiative. She’s done a great job organizing our mess.”
Val’s gaze roamed around the room before settling on me. “I was wondering what happened to you.”
I shrugged. “I needed a distraction.”
“What about those police files?”
I looked at Thorin, who showed interest, but I didn’t want to discuss my activities with either of them, so I changed the subject. “Is your shift over yet? I’m hungry.”
Val chuckled. “Sure, Skyla just showed up. We can go over to The Pits.”
I wrinkled my nose. “We can?”
“What’s wrong with Pits?”
Before I could form a defense, Thorin pulled out his wallet and handed a crisp bill to Val. I couldn’t tell what denomination. “Take her somewhere nice,” Thorin said. “She’s too good for Pits.”
