Archive of Our Own

The Due South Alphabet Series

W Is For Wolf
by Grey

″Have you noticed anything different about Dief lately?″

Ben turned from doing the supper dishes and stared at Ray in surprise. ″What?″

″I said have you noticed him being off a little lately.″

″Off?″ Ben dried his hands on the towel and walked over to his partner. ″In what way?″

″Slower, sleeping more, not really eating as much. He’s got a little come-and-go limp on his right front leg, too.″

Ben frowned and came around to sit next to Ray on the sofa. He kept his eyes on his sleeping friend. ″You’ve noticed these things?″

″I was asking you that.″

″To be honest, I’ve been so busy with work lately I’ve not paid that much attention.″

Ray hated to bring it up, but he’d been noticing changes for a while. At first he’d hoped he was just imagining it, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t, not anymore, not after the whole turning down the doughnut situation. Dief never met a treat he wouldn’t eat. ″It’s been going on for a few weeks. I wanted to brush it off, but today when Cheri had a powdered doughnut, he wasn’t even interested. Only ate about half his kibble, too. I’ve never known Furface to turn down food. You think something’s wrong?″

″He’s not said anything.″

″I know he’s not due for his shots, but maybe I should take him to the vet tomorrow.″

″I suppose it couldn’t hurt.″

Ray noted Ben’s worried expression and put his hand on his arm for comfort. ″I’m sure it’s nothing. Maybe he just needs a tonic or something. He’s getting older.″

″I hope that’s the case, but it could be something serious. I should’ve been paying closer attention.″

″Like you said, you’ve been busy. It’s getting closer to Christmas. Things get hectic for cops this time of year.″

″You’ve been busy, too, Ray.″

″I know. I’ll call the vet first thing tomorrow morning and take him in. I’m sure it’s nothing big. Maybe he ate a bad rabbit or vole or something just as disgusting.″

″Perhaps.″

″Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have said anything.″

″No, I’m glad you did.″ Ben got up and stooped beside Dief and petted his head several times. It was their regular signal to go out for their nightly walk. The animal opened its eyes, but instead of getting up, Dief only snuffled softly before closing his eyes again.

His expression darkened and Ben took the time to run his hand slowly over Dief’s back, along his sides, then under his belly and his over neck. His hand stopped right at where the right leg met his chest. ″There’s a lump here.″

Ray sat forward. Fuck. Lump? He hated that word. It had so many bad connotations, could mean so many things and none of them good. ″A lump?″

″It’s not large, but it’s there. We definitely need to take him to the vet.″

″I’ll take him. My schedule is more flexible than yours.″

″But you’ll call me as soon as you know something.″

″You know I will.″

Ben stood up and walked back over to the sink to finish the dishes.

Ray spoke to his back. ″It’s probably nothing.″

″Probably.″

But Ray could tell from the tone that Ben agreed with him. It was likely not nothing and not knowing for sure was the scary part.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″I’ve got to take off this morning.″

Gus stopped reading and looked up from his folder. ″Why’s that?″

″I’ve got to take Dief to the vet. The doc can work me in if I get there in the next thirty minutes.″

″What’s wrong with Dief?″

″That’s what I want to find out. He’s been off lately.″

Gus took off his glasses, his face solemn. ″I hope he’s okay. He’s a good mascot for the business.″

Ray recalled how having Dief around also seemed to keep unruly clients from getting too out of hand. People saw a wolf and suddenly decided to act decent. Go figure. ″And a good guard dog.″

″That, too. Let me know what you find out.″

″Sure. And I’ve got Buddy running down more notes on the Lyndon case. We still don’t have all the discovery from Grimm. Thought I’d give him a call when I get back and find out why.″

″No, I’ll do that. Everything should’ve been handed over by Monday’s deadline. He’s likely just stalling because he knows he’s got a weak case.″

″Fine. But I’ll make up the lost time one way or the other.″

″Don’t worry about it, Ray. You’ve put in plenty of overtime since your honeymoon. Take your animal to the vet and stop worrying so much.″

″Force of habit.″

″Yeah, I know. In my experience ex-cops make the best investigators because they’re stubborn bastards who always put in more hours than anyone else. Now, head out and find out what’s going on with your dog.″

″Thank, Gus. Appreciate it.″

Walking out of the boss’s office, he found Cheri at her desk. She was petting Dief’s head and not looking like her happy self. ″He’s still puny, Ray.″

″I know. I’m taking him to the vet now.″

″Good.″ Ray motioned for Dief to follow, but before they made it to the door, Cheri called to his back. ″That other Ray person called. He didn’t leave much of a message. Just said to tell you that he called and to call him back as soon as possible.″

Ray rolled his eyes. Vecchio was bad about that, just calling but without giving a reason. He expected Ray to just drop everything and call him back immediately. ″Listen, if he calls again, tell him to leave a message like everyone else. That way I can know whether it’s important or not.″

″I’ve tried, Ray, but he doesn’t really let me get a word in edgewise, you know?″

″Yeah, I know.″

″He just says what he says and hangs up before I can say much.″

″Don’t worry about it. I’m not. I’ll call him back when I get a chance.″

Ray opened the door and headed out to the truck. He’d worry about Vecchio later. Ever since the Italian moved to Whitehorse, he’d been calling at least two or three times a day. Ben said he’d been calling at the station, too. Most of the time it wasn’t even important, more of just a check in or some weird question that could be answered by using common sense. The only thing Ray could figure was that the guy was lonely. It wasn’t easy being a single dad in a strange place. But it was Vecchio’s choice to stick around. Nobody forced him to move to Canada. He could be back in Chicago with built-in baby sitting if he wanted. The Vecchio clan was huge and they loved babies more than anything else, especially Ma and Frannie.

Ray wasn’t convinced that Vecchio didn’t have some kind of ulterior motive for staying in Whitehorse. He’d never said anything to Ben about it, but he figured Ben suspected Ray wasn’t happy with the insertion of Vecchio into their lives. They just didn’t discuss it.

Still, it was nice to babysit Vecchio’s little girl Benita from time-to-time. The kid was going to be a real knockout when she grew up. She already had every man in her world wrapped around her tiny little baby finger. Ray had to admit that being around the kid made him feel warm inside and super protective. He’d never say it out loud, but being with her sometimes made him briefly wish to be a father himself someday. He wondered if Ben ever felt that way, too. He’d been afraid to ask because he feared the answer.

Ray had enough sense to know that a cop and a private investigator would have trouble caring for a baby without a lot of disruption to their lives. Ray knew deep down that despite his desire for a child, it wouldn’t be good for the child or their relationship. Besides he was too old and set in his ways to start from scratch with a baby. That would just be a recipe for disaster. So, he settled for being a provisional uncle to Benita instead. He just wondered if Ben felt the same way.

In the truck, Ray pushed away his thoughts about Vecchio and Benita and focused on the wolf beside him. Dief didn’t sit up like he usually did, but had lain down instead. Ray reached over and rubbed his head. ″It’s going to be okay, Dief. I promise.″

Even as he said it, Ray knew he shouldn’t make promises he might not be able to keep.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″And how old is he again?″

″We’re not sure exactly, but we figure he’s around eight.″

″That puts him in the senior category for a dog his size. Still, hybrids usually live longer, closer to ten on average, sometimes twelve.″ Dr. Samson had done the exam and made notes on his clipboard. He was in his fifties with gray hair. He was around six foot and fit. Ray figured he had to be since he didn’t just care for pets, but large farm animals, too. It took a lot of muscles to do that kind of job.

″So what do you think, Doc?″

″I’m not sure, but there’s definitely something there that shouldn’t be. It’s not soft, so it’s likely not an abscess. If it’s okay, I’d like to do blood work and then an X-Ray. Do you have time for that right now?″

″Sure. Do what you have to.″

Samson stooped to pet Dief’s head and then stood back up. ″You can wait in the waiting room. We need to take him to the back for the tests. It should be about 20-30 minutes on the X-Ray.″

″And the blood tests?″

″We have to send those out to the lab, but it’s local. I’ll put a rush on it, so I should have the results by early tomorrow morning.″

Ray watched as Samson led the wolf through the back door of the exam room. Then he headed out front to wait. Several other customers were there with their animals, a couple of cats along with a border collie and a huge Great Dane named Ralph. Ray flashed on Benita riding the animal like a horse.

Instead of sitting on one of the orange plastic chairs, Ray paced from one end of the room to the other a few times. Then he stood by one of the back windows and watched the parking lot. People were coming in and others leaving, the whole area busy for such a cold day. He wasn’t really focusing on any of them. He worried about Dief. He’d seemed even more sluggish in the truck than yesterday.

While Ray was waiting, he figured he’d give Vecchio a return call. He’d probably bitch otherwise that Ray was ignoring him. ″Hey, Vecchio. What’s up?″

″About time. I called the office half an hour ago.″

″And you didn’t leave a message that it was important. So what’s up?″

″I’m looking for Bennie’s purple bunny. She had it the night when you were over, but now it’s nowhere. I’ve looked all over.″

Ray could hear Benita, now known as Little Bennie or Bennie, in the background. She was fussing, but not really crying. The bunny was a favorite toy and he knew from experience that if he gave it to her, she’d settle down quickly. He tried to remember the last time he’d seen it. Embarrassed, it came to him. ″Have you checked the bench by the backdoor?″

″The kitchen bench? Why the hell would it be there?″

″Because that’s where I last had it. I was letting Dief in from the backyard. I might have left it there. Benita had already gone to sleep.″

″Hold on and let me check.″

Ray stood there, staring out the window, his stomach knotted, not about the missing bunny but about waiting to hear about Dief. Finally Vecchio came back on the line. ″Found it. She’s already better. Next time try to at least put it back in the toy box.″

Irritation got the better of him. ″Listen, I babysat after working a 16-hour day, Vecchio. You’re lucky I didn’t lose the fucking baby.″

″Whoa, calm down. Sorry. You know I appreciate you and Benny taking care of her, right?″

Ray sat down in one of the empty chairs and took a deep breath to calm down. ″Look, it’s not about babysitting her. We like doing it, but there’s other stuff going on right now.″

″What kind of stuff?″

″I’m at the vet. Dief is getting blood work and an X-Ray.″ He lowered his voice slightly. ″He’s got a lump. It’s right where the leg meets the body. Vet called it the axilla or something.″

″Fuck.″

″We don’t know anything yet.″

″Well, let me know when you do. Benny loves that mutt.″

Ben wasn’t the only one. ″I know.″

″It’d kill him if anything happened to Dief.″

″It woudn’t kill him, but it wouldn’t be good.″

″Okay, listen. I’m sorry I bothered you with the bunny thing. Call me when you know something.″

″I will.″

″Later.″

Vecchio hung up just as the Dr. Samson stuck his head out. ″Mr. Kowalski?″

″Here.″ Ray got up and followed the man back to the exam room. Dief wasn’t there. ″Where’s Dief?″

″He’s still in the back.″ The vet put an X-Ray up on the light box. He pointed at a lighter circle about the size of a quarter. ″This is what we’re feeling. I would like to do a needle biopsy. That would tell us a lot more than this does.″

The B word, biopsy. He’d known a lot of people who had biopsies. They nearly always meant bad news. ″You’re going to do that today?″

″I’d like to, but I can’t. I don’t have the time scheduled for that. However, I can do it first thing in the morning. I do most of my surgeries between 6 and 8. I’d like to keep him overnight, make sure he doesn’t eat anything since I have to put him under sedation to do it. I can examine the cells immediately. If it’s suspicious, I can do the surgery to remove the tumor. If it’s not, then we should probably still remove it, but that’s up to you and Sergeant Fraser.″

Ray gathered up his nerve and asked the tough question. ″Do you think that all these symptoms he’s having mean that he’s got cancer?″

″Not necessarily. I’ll need to see the blood work results to get a better picture about that. But I really think the biopsy and doing the surgery to remove whatever it is are the best steps to take.″

Ray knew that Ben would agree with his decision. ″If you think that’s best, yeah. Go ahead and remove it.″

″Good. So, you leave him here and then I’ll call you early tomorrow after I get the blood work results and do the biopsy. We’ll have a much better picture of what’s going on then.″

″Thanks.″

Walking out of the vet’s office, Ray got hit with a strong gust of icy wind. It suited how he felt inside, cold and unsettled.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″Hey, earth to Ray!″ Buddy Frank snapped his fingers to get Ray’s attention.

″What?″

″You were off in dreamland, Kowalski.″

″No, I wasn’t. You were talking about the Lyndon case.″

″And what did I say about the Lyndon case?″

Ray had to confess that Buddy caught him not paying attention. He’d been thinking about Ben’s weird response to the phone call about Dief. He’d taken it quietly, like it was no big deal. His low-key reaction worried Ray. When Ben got quiet like that, it meant he was pushing down the biggest emotions. Still, Ray was at work and he needed to straighten up. He needed to set a good example for the younger folks around him. ″Sorry. I’m just worried about Dief.″

″I know, man. I hope the wolf will be fine. Maybe you should take the day off.″

Ray shook his head and leaned forward against his desk with his hands clasped together. ″No. I’ll take off later if I need to, but for now, tell me again what you found out.″

″I said Lyndon’s ex admitted that she used to date Grimm.″

That was a hell of a coincidence. Their client’s ex just happened to have dated the Crown’s chief prosecutor and the one handling her ex-husband’s felony case? If there was one thing Ray hated it was something fishy like that. ″How did the subject even come up? Did she volunteer it or what?″

″I saw a picture of them together on a bookshelf and asked her how she knew him.″

Smart. Ray was impressed. A lot of people might have missed something like that. ″That’s really observant. Good move.″

″Thanks. Apparently they were an item when she moved to Edmonton after the divorce three years ago. She said and I quote, ‘Tony and I were together for almost a year. He’s a real sweetie.’ Gag me now, please.″

Ray knew the feeling. ″Why didn’t we know about this relationship before?″

″Beats me, but doesn’t this mean that Grimm should recuse himself from the case or at the very least reveal it to the court? I’m no lawyer, but it sure sounds like a conflict of interest when a guy prosecuting the case is an ex-boyfriend of a defendant’s ex-wife.″

″I agree. What’s the ex’s name?″

″She kept her married name, so it’s Marion Lyndon and she just moved back into town to be closer to her mother, or so she says. Who’s to say she didn’t move back to be closer to Tony Boy Grimm?″

″You’ve got a suspicious mind, Frank.″

″Only because I learn from the best, Boss.″

″And did you get her statement about her relationship with Grimm?″

″I got her interview statement this morning, but nothing formal. I figured I’d talk to you or Gus first about getting her to come in and get something we could use in court.″

″We might not need to go that far. Let me talk to Gus.″

″Sure, no problem.″

″Good work.″

″Thanks.″ Buddy stood up and thumbed toward the door. ″I’m heading out to get some lunch now. You want anything?″

″No, thanks.″

A few weeks ago, Ray had gotten a lead on a cheap rebuilt 1975 Ford Mustang from his mechanic friend Jimmy Kovack. He’d convinced Buddy to buy it. ″So, how are you liking your first car? Beats a Schwinn, right?″

″In this weather? You bet. But I have to say, I do kind of miss how easy it was to just hop on a bike and go places really quick. Now I have to worry about getting a parking space and buying gas. Still, I’m not freezing my ass off, so that’s a plus, especially on dates.″

″Dates? You still seeing Dana?″

Buddy’s pale face pinked up slightly. ″Yeah. She’s great.″

″I only met her that one time at the wedding, but she seems nice. Too smart for you that’s for sure.″

″Yeah, she sort of is, but she puts up with me. Anyway, so far, so good on the girlfriend front.″

Ray thought about teasing his young friend some more, but decided against it. He was glad the kid was having some luck in the romance department. ″I’m glad things are working out for you. Now, hit the road and I’ll let Gus know what you found out about Grimm.″

Buddy headed out and Ray went over to Gus’s office. ″What’s up?″

Ray quickly related what Buddy told him. Gus sat back, his expression darker. ″Well, this explains a lot.″

″Like what?″

″Like the fact that Grimm pursued this case in the first place. The police have about the weakest case ever. They’ve got no physical evidence tying Carl Lyndon to the scene. None. Not a fingerprint, DNA, nothing. They’ve got one witness, a 75-year-old neighbor who’s hard of hearing and wears glasses. The robbery happened in the middle of the night, too. She picked Lyndon out of a photo array. His picture was included, but he wasn’t the main suspect.″

″So he was one of the fillers?″

″Yes.″

″And how did they even have his picture to include?″

″He had a reckless driving charge from about three years ago.″

″Was it right after his divorce?″

Gus cocked his head and his eyes widened. ″You’re suggesting that Grimm planted it there on purpose. But how would he guarantee that the neighbor would pick him out?″

Ray thought back to all the sleazy ways he’d seen other cops ″guide″ a witness to get the ID that they wanted. It could be as simple as a touch to the hand, a word, or even a finger placed on the preferred photo. ″There are ways to do it. But Grimm wouldn’t have been the one to show her the photos. It would’ve been one of the investigators.″

Gus opened the file and read through it. ″Shit.″

″What?″

″The main investigating officer is a Joel Borders. He’s a good friend of Grimm. We need to interview him. I’m betting he got direction about those photos from Grimm.″

Ray disagreed. He knew cops and he knew there was no way a cop would incriminate himself on something that involved also possibly taking down a Crown prosecutor. ″Borders would never admit that and there’s no law against it even if he did. Our best chance is to go to Grimm directly about his connection to the ex. If he doesn’t recuse, we’ll get a formal statement and give it to the court.″

″That won’t get the charges dismissed.″

″No, but another prosecutor would likely see the weak case and drop it. If not, you go to court and wipe the floor with whoever has the case. If I’d been a cop on this thing, there’s no way Lyndon would’ve been charged on such weak evidence. He’s got no serious criminal history, no history of burglary and he doesn’t live anywhere near that neighborhood. No stolen goods were found. I mean, what the fuck? First thing that comes to mind is a set up.″

″It does stink.″

″To high heaven.″

Gus nodded and closed the folder. ″I’ll call Grimm myself.″

Ray was already tense. He’d enjoy going a few rounds or two with the prosecutor that had been a pain in his ass for months. ″You sure you don’t want me to do it?″

″No, I’ll do it. I need you to compile my list of cases for next week. And I need to know what else we need to follow up on before the trials. I don’t want to miss anything. Oh, and in case I forgot to tell you, the office will be closed the week of Christmas.″

That was unexpected news, not that Ray was complaining. ″Yeah? The whole week?″

″The whole week. The court is closed the 24th through the 28th unless it’s an emergency hearing, so I plan to take advantage of that. Ana and I are going out of town for a few days.″

″Sounds good.″

″Yeah, we haven’t seen her Cousin Evie in a while and she invited us for Christmas this year. She lives right outside of Calgary. It’ll be a good break.″

″I’m happy for you. I’m not the only one who works hard around here.″

″Thanks. What about you and Fraser? You two got any special holiday plans?″

Ray flashed on Dief being in the animal hospital. He knew they couldn’t make any solid plans until they knew about their wolf. ″It’s kind of up in the air right now.″

″Because of Dief?″

″Yeah.″

″Well, hopefully, he’ll be fine and you can have a great Christmas.″

″Fingers crossed. Anything else?″

″No, I’ll call Grimm. I’ll let you know later what I find out.″

Ray headed out the door and to his office. He sat behind his desk and then swiveled to see the empty dog bed by the window. It just didn’t feel right being there without the wolf. Everything was wrong with that picture. He closed his eyes and thought that the only things he wanted for Christmas were a well Dief and a happy partner. He didn’t think that was too much to ask for.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ben hadn’t said but about ten words all evening. Ray didn’t want to push it. When his partner got in his head like that, he just needed space. Right after supper, Ben went to the shed where he had a makeshift workshop, but that was three hours ago. Not a peep since. Despite the fire going, the cabin felt empty and a lot lonely without Ben or Dief. Ray got up and grabbed his coat and wool cap. He hunched his shoulders to brace himself against the wind and headed out to check on his brooding Mountie.

Inside the shed, there was a heater going and a bare light hanging from the ceiling. On a table was a wooden box, more of a chest really, with a lid. Ben sat in the chair by the heater taking his time carving something. Ray stepped inside and shut the door against the weather. ″So this is where you’re hiding out.″

Ben didn’t look up, just kept working. ″I’m not hiding. Christmas isn’t far away.″

″So?″

″I’m trying my hand at making some of my gifts.″

″You make gifts every year.″

Ben held up the board and asked, ″What do you think?″

Ray stepped closer and whistled under his breath. He took the board from Ben’s hand and then ran his palm over the image. ″It’s beautiful. Why an owl?″

″Owls stand for protection and wisdom. I’m making it for the toy box.″

″For Bennie?″

″Yes.″

Ray nodded in approval and handed it back. ″Good choice. Vecchio will like it.″

″It’s not finished yet. I still need to do the sanding and waxing.″

″Does staying busy keep you from thinking so hard?″

Ben shrugged. ″Some. It’s difficult not to worry. We both know that his age works against him having a good prognosis.″

″I know, but he’s a strong wolf and Samson’s a good vet. We can’t write Dief off yet.″

″I’m not, but as you well know, waiting isn’t easy.″

″It’s easier if we’re together.″

″Normally that’s true, but I fear I’m not very good company tonight, Ray. It’s not just because of Diefenbaker.″

Ray pulled up the spare chair and sat in front of Ben. ″What else is going on?″

Ben didn’t look up, just kept carving. ″The sergeant who took a medical retirement is in the hospital. His cancer treatments aren’t working. I fear he waited too long to seek help.″

″Shit. That sucks.″

″It does, indeed, suck. The thing is, Ray, I can understand why he’d wait. The job he was doing was incredibly difficult. For five years he did double the work of the other sergeants, but because he didn’t complain and did a more than adequate job, nothing was done to ease the load and make it more fair. I fear we’re all to blame for not doing something about it.″

″What could you have done? You’re not in charge of his workload.″

″No, but I was working with Ezra in scheduling this last year. I worked with Malone with the training program. I knew that his duty covered twice the number of people as the rest. We all knew and yet because we’re understaffed, we did nothing. Malone’s sense of duty put him in spot where I would imagine he felt he couldn’t responsibly take time off to get checked. I feel terrible about that.″

″You can’t take the blame, Ben. The higher ups knew. They could’ve done something. Or Malone could’ve kicked up a fuss.″

″True, but I could’ve broached the subject. I should have. I didn’t last two weeks on his schedule before I said it wouldn’t work. It took another month before they split the district more fairly so that now it’s covered by two people, not one.″

″It’s good that they finally made changes.″

″I just wish I’d trusted my instinct and said something sooner about the unfairness of it all.″

″Might not have made any difference. You and I both know that as long as you carry the load, the bosses don’t tend to give you any help. They just tend to pile it on more.″

″Sometimes that’s true. At any rate, hindsight doesn’t help.″

″No, I guess not.″

Ben stood up and took the board to the table and put his tools in their case. ″Ezra told me that they don’t expect him to live long beyond Christmas.″

Fuck. ″I’m sorry, Ben.″

Instead of answering, Ben walked over to turn off and unplug the heater. ″Let’s go inside. I think we should make it an early night.″

″It’s not that early. It’s after ten.″

″Is it?″

″Yeah, you need a clock out here.″

″No, I like not knowing the time while I’m working.″

″You’re a freak that’s why.″

Ben quirked his first smile of the night. ″It’s been said.″

Ray wrapped his arms around Ben’s waist, pulling him closer. ″But you’re my flavor of freaky.″

Ben kissed him gently and then pulled back. ″Thank you kindly.″

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

It was eight in the morning and Ray waited anxiously by the phone. He was on his third cup of coffee and thinking about pouring another one to finish the pot. He snatched up the phone on the first ring. ″Kowalski.″

″Samson here. I’ve removed the tumor. I’ll send it to the lab for closer examination, but it looks benign to me. We won’t know for sure until they take microscopic tissue samples, but nothing looks suspicious at this point.″

″Benign?″

″Not cancer.″

″Oh, thank god.″ Ray was happy to hear that, but then asked, ″So why’s he been so off?″

″He’s got an elevated white blood count which means he has an infection somewhere but I don’t know where exactly. That’s not unusual. I’ll give him a shot of antibiotic and he’ll have medication for the next ten days. The rest of his blood work was normal for an animal his age.″

″That’s great. So when can I pick him up?″

″He’s still recovering. Give him until this afternoon to wake up completely.″

″So around lunch?″

″Make it closer to two. I’ll see you then, Mr. Kowalski.″

″Thanks, Doc.″

Ray hung up and sat back against the sofa. Relief washed over him. Dief should be okay. Before he could relax, he rang Ben at work. Ray didn’t give him a chance to say anything. ″Doc says it’s benign.″

″He’s sure?″

″He said he’d send it to the lab to check, but it looked benign to him. He’s been a vet a long time.″

″But we won’t know for sure until the lab results are finished.″

″I guess, but I trust Samson to know what he’s talking about. This is a good thing, Ben.″

″I’ll feel better when the official results come in.″

Ray pinched the bridge of his nose thinking about how tough it was to be the positive one in the partnership. ″I’ll take it as a win. Meanwhile, he needs antibiotics. I pick him up around two.″

″Good. Did the vet say anything else we should do to make him comfortable?″

″No, but I’ll ask when I see him.″

″Thanks for letting me know, Ray.″

″I’ll see you tonight then.″

″Yes.″

″And no hiding in the workshop.″

There was a low chuckle. ″Maybe, maybe not.″

″You’d rather carve wood than be with me?″

″I didn’t say that, but I have gifts to finish.″

″You know you could just go shopping like the rest of the world.″

″Where’s the fun in that?″

″Freak.″

Another chuckle tickled Ray’s ear. ″And you love me for it.″

″Yeah, I sort of do. Later.″

When he hung up, Ray got up and grabbed his coat. He’d told Gus he’d come in late after the call from the vet. Heading out to the truck, he decided he needed to figure out what he could do for Ben for Christmas. He wasn’t creative like him. He couldn’t carve or make stuff and Ben wasn’t into engines and mechanical things. He’d have to think of something, but he’d better hurry. Less than two weeks would whiz by faster than he could blink.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ben glanced up to see his old friend stepping around the corner and heading for his desk. ″Quinn?″

″Ben. Could we talk?″

From his tone, Ben knew something wasn’t right. He stood and came around the desk to meet him. ″We’ve got the break room or we could go somewhere more private.″

″Private would be best.″

Whatever brought his friend to the station must be serious. ″Follow me.″

Once they were in the interview room, Ben motioned to one of the chairs. ″Have a seat.″ After Quinn sat down, Ben joined him across the table. ″What brings you in, Quinn?″

″It’s a delicate subject.″

″In what way?″

″I don’t wish to betray a friend’s trust, but I’m worried.″

″This is about Eric Brightlight.″ It wasn’t a question.

″Yes. As you know, Eric asked me to be his partner in his guide business.″

″I remember. However, the last time we talked, you said you were still considering and hadn’t made a final decision. Has something happened since that conversation?″

″You could say that.″ Quinn was silent a bit longer, but finally spoke quietly. ″I’m afraid that Eric’s business is in serious trouble.″

″I’m sorry to hear that.″

″I’m sorry, too. I had hoped to move here and to join him, but I’ve seen his books. He’s having fewer and fewer tours.″

″That surprises me, Quinn. The winter tourism business is thriving here in Whitehorse, especially the ones like Brightlight’s that take people out for excursions into the wilderness.″

″At first I thought it was just a dip in the local economy, but you’re right. Other tour companies are doing well at the moment. So, it’s not that there’s no business.″

″Just no business for Brightlight.″

″Apparently.″

Quinn hesitated and Ben prompted. ″Do you know why?″

″I’m afraid so. I’ve gone out with Eric a few times in the last month and I’ve seen how he’s treating his customers. I have to admit that I was surprised by his behavior.″

Ben was almost afraid to ask. ″What kind of behavior are we talking about?″

″Not criminal, at least not yet.″

″What does that mean exactly?″

Quinn leaned in closer. ″This is where it gets sticky, Ben. I’ve known Eric since we served in the army together. The man running his business into the ground is not the man I once knew. He’s drinking and he’s taking out customers while under the influence. He’s rude and, frankly, negligent.″

″Criminally negligent?″

″That’s not for me to say. However, I couldn’t in good conscience send any customers out with him unless he was sober, which he rarely is. I’m frankly shocked at how he’s been acting.″

″I’m sorry.″

″Indeed. The thing is, Ben, I’m not sure what to do or where my responsibility lies. Obviously I’m not going to be his partner, but I feel obligated to tell someone about what’s going on. At the same time, he’s my friend, or he once was. I don’t know what to do about it.″

Ben had to admit that it was a tricky subject. ″As you know there’s no license required to be a tour guide in the Yukon at this time. They are talking about making it a requirement, but the law hasn’t been passed yet. I have no authority to challenge him on that. However, in terms of public safety, taking paying customers out in the wilderness while intoxicated, well, that’s something I can do something about.″

″I’m sorry to bring this to your door, Ben.″

″No, you did the right thing. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to come here.″

″It wasn’t. I did try to talk to him first, but he’s not listening to me. He’s angry and defensive. I didn’t know before, but apparently a long-term relationship recently ended. I think that might have been a trigger to this self-destructive behavior. He’s had a drinking problem before, but he was sober for years. Now, he’s drinking again. It’s not a good situation for him or his business.″

″I’ll talk to him personally.″

″I appreciate it, Ben.″

″And what about you? Will you return to Yellowknife now?″

″I will for now. It’s possible that if Eric doesn’t change soon, he’ll go out of business. That will leave an opening for mine, but for now I’ll stay on my own patch.″

Ben confessed. ″I’m sorry about that. I’ve enjoyed seeing you more often.″

″I agree, but for now my life is in Yellowknife. I’ll be leaving first thing in the morning.″

″It’s a shame you can’t stay through Christmas.″

″Agreed, but you have your own life here, Ben. My life is elsewhere, at least for now.″

Both men stood and walked to the door. Quinn asked, ″How’s the wolf?″

Ben arched an eyebrow. ″Why do you ask?″

″I dreamed of him last night. We were running together through the woods.″

″Do you dream of Diefenbaker often?″

″Sometimes.″

″He’s actually at the vet’s. He had a tumor but it’s been removed.″

Quinn put his hand on Ben’s shoulder and squeezed gently. ″He’ll be fine. He’s a great spirit. He’s not ready to move on just yet.″

Ben was always surprised by some of the intuitive things his friend said. It was almost like he could read Ben’s mind sometimes. ″How did you know I was worried about that?″

Quinn smiled and shook his head. ″There are connections in this world that we can’t explain, Ben. Haven’t you figured that out yet? Your wolf has a spiritual connection to you and thus to me. There are invisible threads that tie us and our fates together.″

″I’ve always had trouble believing in that sort of theory.″

Quinn smirked. ″I can’t imagine why. I mean, you of all people should know that our spirits aren’t limited to just our bodies.″

Confused, Ben asked, ″Why me of all people?″

″You do know that I know about your father’s ghost, right?″

Ben couldn’t believe it. He’d never once discussed his father’s spirit with Quinn, not once. ″What?″

″Don’t look surprised. I’ve known for a while. You see his ghost. It’s nothing to be ashamed about. It’s a rare gift to see our ancestors.″

″But how did you know?″

″I can’t see him, but I feel his presence sometimes. And it’s not just your father. You have an aura about you, Ben. Your inner energy is strong. I think that’s part of the reason why the wolf is so connected to you.″

″He came to me, you know. Saved my life when he was just a pup really. I don’t understand it myself.″

″Of course not. You’re too wrapped up in the Western view of the world.″

″And you’re not?″

″Sometimes. But my grandfather used to tell me tales about how my grandmother walked with spirits. She’d talk to her ancestors as you do. One has to be open to it. Don’t close yourself off to the world beyond our basic senses. It’s a much bigger universe than any of us know, my friend.″

″It’s scary to think about how much I don’t know.″

″It can be scary or wondrous. The universe exists far beyond our basic senses. You decide how much of it you want to know. Now, I have to go. I need to have one final talk with Eric before I leave town.″

″Be safe, Quinn.″

″You, too.″

Quinn walked out of the room before him. Ben lagged slightly behind, thinking about what his friend had told him. He’d visit Brightlight himself. Perhaps an official warning would be enough and motivate him to straighten up before someone got hurt.

The rest of the conversation rattled him more than he wanted to admit. He’d grown up to respect logic and rational thinking all his life. His grandparents had pushed living practically, avoiding religious or spiritual intuition. He prided himself on being logical despite not having a lot of formal education. However, after his father’s death and his spiritual appearance, all that rationality collapsed.

It was hard to have both the natural and the supernatural in the same mind. Plus, he had to admit that from the first time he’d met Diefenbaker, he’d felt a deep connection, something stronger than just the bond between a man and a wild animal. If Quinn were to be believed, Diefenbaker was indeed special. Of course, he already knew that, but Quinn’s comments simply confirmed it.

Ben shook his head and worked to clear it. All Quinn’s talk of auras and ghosts was too much, especially while he was at work. He had to focus on the here and now, the practical and the concrete. The rest would have to wait until later, much later if Ben had anything to say about it.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″What are you up to?″

Ben frowned and glanced up from his computer screen. ″Did you know that Eric Brightlight has had five complaints filed against him in the last two months?″

″Eric Brightlight, the tour guide?″

″Yes.″

Ezra pulled up a chair and sat next to Ben’s desk ready to listen. ″What kind of complaints?″

Ben looked back at the screen and read off the list. ″Two are for verbal abuse, two for refusing to give a refund after being drunk on the tour and the last one was an assault that was filed when the person claimed Brightlight hit him while they were out on tour. That charge was dropped because the man didn’t want to stay in town for a trial, but the others weren’t really handled with more than a verbal warning.″

″None of that sounds good. Why are we just hearing about this?″

″Likely because these came through the front desk and his business isn’t under my purview.″

″Still five complaints against one business owner in such a short time is a lot. However, except for the last one, they’re really legal nonstarters or civil cases. We can’t do much about any of them.″

″Perhaps not, but I do plan to talk to him. My friend Quinn came by. He said Brightlight has been drinking and taking tours out while under the influence. That’s a public safety hazard.″

″Well, it is, but we have to catch him at it.″

″Indeed. Do you have any problem with me handling this personally rather than sending someone else?″

Ezra shook his head. ″Not at all. If he’s actually working drunk, somebody could get seriously hurt or worse. I’m all on the side of prevention.″ Ezra quickly shifted the topic. ″Have you heard about Dief yet?″

″The vet says it’s likely not cancer.″

″Thank god.″

″But we still have to wait for the tests to come back to confirm it.″

″But if the vet says it’s okay, it’s probably okay, right?″

″One can hope so.″

Ezra cocked his head slightly to the side. ″Don’t worry so much, Fraser. I’ve known Dr. Samson for years. He’s good at his job.″

″I just hope he’s right this time.″

″Same here.″ Ezra stood and put the chair back to where it had been. ″Let me know what happens with Brightlight. We don’t need any injured or, even worse, dead tourists because some guy gets drunk and drives them off a cliff somewhere.″

″No, we certainly don’t.″

″And if he gives you grief, let me know that, too. My Uncle Bert is a friend of Eric’s. He might have a word or two to say to the guy, too. Uncle Bert ran tours for forty years until he retired. He knows a thing or two about what should and shouldn’t happen. Plus, Eric respects him, or he once did. My point of all this rambling is just to say let me know one way or the other.’

″I will.″

Ezra walked away and Ben grabbed his hat and coat. There was no time to get a job done, even an unpleasant one, like the present.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″Oh, man, Dief.″ Ray knelt in front of the wolf. The animal’s chest was shaved and he had a white bandage wrapped around his front leg and shoulder. Worst of all, he wore the plastic cone of shame. He did not look the least bit happy. ″Is this cone thing really necessary?″

″It’s to keep him from licking or biting the sutures. You need to keep it on for at least a week. After that it should be okay. Bring him back in ten days to remove them. I’ll also have the final lab report by then, too.″ The doctor handed Ray a bottle of pills. ″Give one pill twice a day until they’re all gone. One in the morning another at feeding time at night.″

Ray stood up and opened the bottle to check out the pills. ″Are you sure these are the right ones? They look more like horse pills.″

Samson chuckled. ″I’m sure. If he doesn’t want to take it, wrap it in cheese or hide it in his food, but he needs to take all of them.″

″Anything else we can do to help him out?″

″Increase the protein and reduce the sugar. Basically treat him more like a carnivore instead of a furry human.″

″So no more pizza and doughnuts then?″

″Lord no. At the very least cut back.″

Ray slipped the pills into his jacket pocket. No way Dief would stand for that nonsense, but he put a show on for the vet. ″Sorry, Buddy. Change of diet. Doctor’s orders.″ Turning his attention to Samson again, Ray asked, ″So, what’s the damage?″

″The receptionist has the bill at the desk. Oh, and, if he’s not better in the couple of days, call me. I might need to see him again. Sometimes we have to change the medications to get it right.″

″Sure. Thanks.″

Ray motioned for Dief to follow. It was so strange to see his wolf wearing that stupid plastic cone along with the rest of it. He looked more like road kill than the majestic animal he was. At the front desk, Ray asked about the bill. When he saw it, he gulped a few times. Jesus. ″Are you sure this is right?″

″Yes. Do you need it itemized?″

″Sure. Do that.″

The woman pushed a few buttons and then printed out the bill again, a bill that was three pages long, not one. Each and every service was listed with a price. Ray looked it over and then pulled out his wallet along with the personal check he’d brought. He filled it out and then handed it over. He’d not paid that much money since when he’d paid to fix his truck after his accident during the blizzard.

The young woman handed him his receipt. ″I know it’s a lot, sir, but Diefenbaker’s getting the best care.″

″I know.″ And Ray did know, but he was just glad at that moment that he and Ben were okay in the money department. Otherwise, the wolf’s medical journey might not have a happy ending at all.

Out in the truck, Dief whined and shook his head. Ray didn’t have to speak wolf to know what he wanted. ″Look, if I take if off, you have to agree not to lick or chew on the stitches. Got it?″

Dief stared right at him like he was an idiot and gave a low growl. ″That’s not very friendly.″ Dief gave a wolfy huff and shook his head as hard as he could. If he kept it up, he was going to do damage to himself and the truck. ″Cut it out.″

Ray couldn’t handle the big pleading eyes aimed right at him. He knew he should follow the directions from the vet, but it was going to be a hell of a long time before he’d get any peace if he didn’t do something. Ray made a snap decision. He hoped it was the right one. ″Look, I’ll take it off, but you have to promise to be good. No licking or doing anything to mess up Samson’s work, okay?″

It was almost like Dief understood every word because he sat up straighter and held his head high. Ray could swear the wolf was smiling. He undid the ribbon holding the cone in place and took it off quickly. Dief shook all over, fur flying, and yowled in delight. He put a paw on Ray’s arm and then licked his face to say thank you.

″You’re welcome. Don’t make me regret it.″

Dief rubbed his face against Ray’s shoulder and then turned in the seat a few times before he settled down, his body curled up and eyes closed. Ray reached over and petted his friend. ″Rest. Get well. No checking out before your time, got it?″

Ray was so glad that Dief would be with them a little while longer. He’d make sure whatever time the animal had left, it was all good. He’d be the most pampered wolf on the planet. Hell, he already was, but Ray was determined to make his life even better than before. He saw a big juicy steak in Dief’s future. Hell, they might even all share it to celebrate Dief’s second chance.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ben stood in the open storage area where Brightlight kept his sleds and equipment. It was unheated and he noted the obvious disrepair of some of the common items such as the snowshoes and skis. There were also several snowmobiles around. One had its engine cover up like it was being serviced and the others hadn’t been cleaned from the last trip out. There was mud and caked dirt all around. Everything looked worn and raggedy, not clean or well maintained like one would expect with a reliable tour company. To be honest, if he were a customer and came into that area, he’d have walked right out again.

Eric Brightlight was first nations. Unlike Quinn, he was dark complected and had long black hair with one streak of gray down the right side. He was around six feet and one hundred and eighty pounds, still well muscled, but his face was ravaged with acne scars from his youth. It was also a flat face with a wide nose and thick lips. At the moment Brightlight was aiming his angry bloodshot eyes in Ben’s direction. ″You’ve got no right to be here, Sergeant. I’ve not done anything wrong and you don’t have the power to perform an inspection.″

″I’m not here for an inspection.″ In his mind, Ben thought that if he had been, the man would fail. There was a strong smell of alcohol on Brightlight’s breath mixing in with pungent body odor. ″I’m here because I’m concerned for public safety. It seems that you’ve had several complaints filed in the last two months.″

″So? They didn’t come to anything. This is about Quinn.″

There was no use denying it. ″Quinn did come to see me. He was concerned about your welfare.″

″He’s a rat. I never thought in a million years he’d go running to his pet Mountie to try and ruin me.″

Ben ignored the pet Mountie remark. Instead he focused on the task at hand. ″He doesn’t want to ruin you. Neither do I. We’re just concerned that you might need some kind of intervention. It’s obvious that the business isn’t do well.″

″That’s none of your fucking business. Now get out.″

Instead of leaving, Ben took a step closer. ″Mr. Brightlight, I have to warn you that if you take customers out on a tour while you’re inebriated, you will be arrested.″

Instead of being intimidated, Brightlight got even angrier. ″You can try and I’ll sue you for everything you’ve got. I’ll sue the service, too. Bunch of fucking hypocrites, always sticking their noses in.″

″I’m sorry you feel that way.″

″You and Quinn will pay for this. I’ll sue you both for slander.″

″It’s not slander if it’s true.″

Ben saw the man flinch and his hands turn into fists. He readied himself for an attack, but then Brightlight came to his senses about assaulting a police officer and stepped back. ″Get out before I throw you out.″

Disappointed, Ben realized there was no way to have a good outcome, not with Brightlight in his current condition. ″Good day, sir.″

Brightlight shouted at Ben’s back as he left. ″Fuck you and Thomas Quinn. Fucking traitor.″

Once he was on the other side of the door, Ben heard curses and crashing items being thrown against the wall. Eric Brightlight was very out of control. Ben needed a plan to safeguard the community. He also needed to talk to Ezra about what he should do and how they could legally stop him before a tragedy occurred.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″Good lord. I had no idea it’d gotten so bad. This is concerning.″

″I agree, Ezra, but I’m not sure what we should do.″

″Well, if he’s drunk and taking people out on tour, we’ve got to arrest him. Perhaps we could have a unit outside his business when a tour is scheduled. An officer could arrest him then.″

″Brightlight is incredibly litigious. He, in fact, threatened to sue Quinn and me for slander. If he thought we were harassing him with surveillance, he might bring a case against the service.″

″Do you know if he’s ever sued anyone or is he just talk?″

″I know that he uses Gus Moody as a lawyer. Ray mentioned that he’d had several cases through them. One was a liability case because of an injury to a customer. But the customer had signed a waiver so he lost. However, I don’t think any contract would waive liability when there’s true negligence on Brightlight’s part by being inebriated.″

″I agree. Waivers don’t apply in such instances.″ Ezra considered the situation before he asked, ″What about some kind of sting?″

″Sting? You want to put an undercover agent in as a customer?″

″That’s exactly what I’m suggesting. We get someone to sign up for a tour. Brightlight shows up under the influence and we’ve got him.″

Ben wondered why he hadn’t thought of that. ″Who do you have in mind?″

″If we have one of our officers do it, he might say it’s entrapment. I was thinking about maybe having a civilian do it.″

″It can’t be Ray. It would be considered a conflict of interest since he works for Moody.″

Eric smiled. ″I agree, but what about the other Ray, your Italian friend?″

Surprised, Ben stood a little straighter. ″You want Ray Vecchio to go undercover as a tourist wanting a wilderness tour?″

″Yeah, why not? He’s new enough in town that Brightlight wouldn’t know him. And he’s an ex-cop. He knows police procedure and how to handle himself in a situation if something were to go sideways.″

The more Ben thought about it, the more it made sense. Ray Vecchio would be the perfect choice, well, except for one thing. ″There’s only one problem.″

″What’s that?″

″His wardrobe.″

″His wardrobe?″

″Ray Vecchio is a very formal dresser. In fact he’s opening a new men’s fashion store in the spring.″

″And you don’t think he could dress down and pass for a tourist who wants to connect with nature?″

″I’m sure he could, but we might need to reimburse him for a new outfit, one that is a bit more casual than his usual fare.″

″Surely he’s got some jeans and flannels. He’s living in the Yukon for goodness sake.″

″I’ll check. I can ask him a little later today.″

″Good. Let me know as soon as you know. I’ll have one of your juniors call and get a tour schedule. I want to set something up as soon as possible.″

″Understood.″ Ben hesitated before he added, ″What about my partner Ray?″

″What about him?″

″If I tell him about going after Brightlight, he might feel obligated to tell his boss, Gus Moody.″

″You decide. You only tell him if he can swear to keep it to himself until after we bring a case against Brightlight. Otherwise, you’ll need to keep him in the dark.″

″I can’t lie to Ray.″

″Then he’d best be able to keep a secret. I would assume as an ex-cop who worked undercover, he knows how to keep his mouth shut.″

″He can when necessary, yes.″

″Good. So, let me know about Vecchio as soon as possible. I’ll fill in Inspector Paris on what’s going on. Your friend will need to wear a wire. Later.″

As Ezra walked away, Ben sat down at his desk. He picked up the phone and called his best friend. After three rings, Ben nearly hung up, but at the last minute he heard Ray’s voice. It sounded a bit frantic and a lot winded. ″Vecchio.″

″Hello, Ray.″

″Hey, Benny. I’ve got my hands full right now. Could you call me back once I finish Little Bennie’s diaper change?″

″Certainly, but just so you know, I’m calling about a favor.″

″Favor?″

″Yes. I’ll explain when I call back. I’m at the station.″

″Sure, Benny. Call back in about fifteen minutes.″

″It takes that long to change a diaper?″

″It does when you have to throw away the diaper, the clothes and wash the baby, too. Where’s a hazmat suit when you need one?″

″Oh, dear.″

″Oh, dear and then some. Later, Benny.″

″Later, Ray.″

The line went dead and Ben couldn’t help but smile at the image of his meticulous friend dealing with a very messy baby girl. For some reason it amused him to think about Ray being willing to fight his persnickety ways in order to care for his child who was anything but tidy. Babies were inherently challenging to keep clean and for someone like Ray even more so. He admired how his friend was doing his very best to raise and care for her. Even so, he thought Ray might enjoy a respite from diaper duty by stepping back into the duty of safeguarding the public. If nothing else, it would be a lot less malodorous and Ray would appreciate that. Ben chuckled and thought of another possible gift for his friend’s Christmas, an airtight diaper pail.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″So, let me get this straight. You want me to dress up like some tree hugging wannabe tourist guy and pretend like I want to go sledding or skiing out in the snow like some crazy person?″

Ben had decided to go to Ray’s home instead of calling back on the phone. His rental property was less than a ten minute walk from the downtown station. ″Yes. Then if Eric Brightlight is inebriated, you can signal us to come in and arrest him before he endangers any of his customers.″

Ray Vecchio sighed and crossed his arms. ″I don’t know, Benny. Sounds like something anybody could do. Why do you need me?″

″Well, you’ve been here less than two months, so it’s likely he wouldn’t recognize you. You’re already trained in procedures and you’ve worn a listening device before. I thought you’d be the perfect candidate.″

″Why can’t Kowalski do it? He’s does undercover.″

″He also works for Brightlight’s lawyer as the lead investigator.″

Vecchio nodded in understanding. ″Conflict of interest. Got it. Look, normally I wouldn’t hesitate, but I’ve got Little Bennie now. I can’t take any chances.″

″The danger is minimal. We just need someone to signal us before he takes out a tour if he’s under the influence. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours.″

″A few hours, huh?″

Ben leaned in and made an offer. ″I’ll pay for the babysitter myself.″

″You get Kowalski to babysit and it’s free.″

″Ray will be working, but I’m sure your regular babysitter would enjoy the extra income.″

″Carla is taking finals this week. So if it’s during the day, I can’t do it unless Kowalski does it.″

Ben couldn’t help but think there was a reason Ray was being so stubborn about his partner being the one to babysit his child. ″Why Ray? Surely you have a backup babysitter by now.″

″I do, but just between you and me, Little Bennie seems to like him better than Carla or Rosie.″

There was flicker of pride in his chest. ″Ray is a fantastic babysitter.″

Ray shook a finger at him. ″Don’t you dare tell him I said that.″

Ben teased. ″I would never divulge such a confidence.″

″Yeah, the guy doesn’t need a bigger head.″ Ray sat back and relaxed slightly. ″I wonder why he and his ex never had any kids.″

No longer smiling, Ben thought all the times Ray had spoken about his sometimes difficult life with Stella. ″She apparently didn’t want children.″

″It’s a shame, because I have to tell you, Benny, despite all the crap and being exhausted so much, it’s really kind of big kickstart to the heart. I’ve always loved my family, but I’ve never ever felt the love I feel for my little girl. I can’t explain it. It’s just too big for words, you know?″

″I’ve heard people say that.″

″But you don’t believe it?″

″I don’t have any real experience, Ray. I can’t say.″

″Yeah, I guess until you have a kid, you don’t understand it. I sure as hell didn’t. I had no idea how she’d impact my life. Totally kidnapped me into a new way of thinking and living.″

″It’s obvious that you love her very much.″

″I do, Benny. I’d die for that little girl.″

″Let’s hope that’s not ever a possibility.″

″You’ve got that right. And that brings us back to your little sting operation. How can I be sure there’s no danger?″

″There’s danger just walking out your front door, Ray. But the chances of anything other than arrest happening during this operation are minimal.″

″Okay, I’ll do it, but only on the conditions that Kowalski watches Bennie and that I can dress the way I want.″

″How do you plan to dress?″

″Like I normally dress.″

″But you won’t be dressed for the tour.″

″But I’m not planning on going on the tour. I just plan to show up and when he calls me out for not being dressed right, I’ll be able to tell if he’s drunk. If he is, the plan goes forward. I give the code word and you guys come in and arrest his butt.″

″I suppose that would work, but I don’t know why you can’t just wear jeans and a flannel shirt like I suggested.″

″Because flannel makes me break out in hives and it’s against my religion.″

″Now you’re just being facetious.″

″I might be, but that’s doesn’t change my mind. Do we have a deal?″

″We do.″

″So when will this dance start?″

″There’s a tour scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10 am. I’ve already had one of my officers sign you up.″

″Using my real name?″

″Yes. I didn’t think it would be a problem since he doesn’t know you.″

″What’s fun is that? Couldn’t you come up with something classy like Richard Hightower the third or something?″

″We could call back and change it.″

″Nah, don’t bother. This is going to be a breeze anyway.″ Ray rubbed his hands together. ″Actually, it might be fun to be out of the house for a little bit, get the old cop juices going again. It’s a shame it’s such a lame assignment.″

″If it guards public safety, it’ll be worth it.″

″You don’t have to keep selling it, Benny. I’m in. Now you go tell Kowalski that he gets to babysit first thing tomorrow. Tell him to bring the wolf. Bennie loves that mutt.″ Ray grew more serious. ″I’m glad he’s going to be okay, Benny.″

″Thanks. I’m relieved as well.″

″Then why aren’t you smiling bigger?″

″Well, we won’t know for sure he’s fine until the biopsy results come back.″

″Oh, I get it. It’s that whole worse case scenario thing you do.″

Ben couldn’t help take offense. His partner always said the same thing. ″I’m not being pessimistic. I just find it difficult to have false hope without all the facts.″

″I know.″ A little cry came from the other room. ″Well, that’s my signal to get the bottle ready. You want to get her and change her?″

Ben winced. ″Would you think less of me, Ray, if I declined and headed back to work?″

″Absolutely.″

Ben stood up and donned his cap. ″Then I guess I can live with that.″

As he headed to the door, Ray grinned and called out. ″Coward.″

″Pragmatist. I forgot my gas mask.″

As he left the small home, Ben heard laughter mixed with baby cries from the other side of the door.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″Why am I stuck doing the babysitting during work hours?″

″Because that was part of Ray’s deal.″

″Vecchio made me babysitting his kid part of his terms to do the sting?″

″He did.″

″Bastard.″

″Now, Ray, you know very well, Ray’s parents were married.″

″Not what I meant and you know it.″ Ray paced a few times, irritated. ″I’ve got a ton of work to do tomorrow. I don’t have time to babysit.″

″It’s only for a few hours, Ray, and if it’s paperwork, you can bring it to do while you’re there.″

″I can’t do paperwork and babysit at the same time. Benita is a full time job.″

″Not while she’s sleeping.″

Ray came over to sit at the table where Ben was working on his report. ″You know I’m not pissed about doing the babysitting, but you really should’ve asked me first.″

″I know. I’m sorry.″

Ray reached out and took Ben’s hand, stopping him from writing. ″So why didn’t you ask me?″

It took a second, but Ben finally brought his head up and met Ray’s gaze. ″I honestly just wanted to get Ray to say yes. I didn’t think you would mind. You seem to like babysitting Benita. However, it was wrong of me to assume. It won’t happen again.″

Ray squeezed Ben’s hand and released it. ″Thanks. And you’re right, I do like babysitting, but not when I should be working. That’s especially true when I can’t tell Gus what I’m doing until Brightlight’s arrested.″

″I’m sorry this puts you in an awkward position.″

″I know. I also know why you’re doing it. A guy gets drunk and takes people out where they can fall into a ravine or drive off a cliff, that could be a disaster. I never really liked Brightlight as a client because he’s rude and he’s a bully, but I didn’t know he was a full time drunk, too.″

″Do you think not telling Gus about Brightlight will be a problem?″

Ray thought about it, thought about how his boss was really picky about certain aspects of the law that others might let slide. He wasn’t sure where his situation would fall on that broad spectrum of legal gray area. ″I don’t know. I hope it won’t hurt me, but I won’t know for sure until he finds out. I do know that if you arrest Brightlight and Gus takes his case, I can’t work on it.″

″I understand and I’m hoping it won’t be a problem. We’re just concerned about the general welfare of Brightlight’s clients.″

″I know.″ Ray turned his attention to the sleeping wolf in front of the fireplace. ″Anyway, in other news, I’m glad Furface seems better. He ate all his kibble and the steak I gave him. He also took his medicine without a fuss.″

″He feels better.″

″Did he ever say why he didn’t mention feeling sick before?″

″He told me he didn’t want to bother me with it, but I let him know that in the future, I’d expect him to tell me. I was very stern about it.″

″Stern, huh? Is that when you gave him the extra cheese?″

″Indeed. I think he gets the message.″

″Well, that’s one present down.″

Ben cocked his head in confusion. ″One present?″

″Yeah, I told Santa I only wanted two things for Christmas this year.″

″And what’s that?″

″One, a well Dief.″

″And two?″

″A happy partner.″

Ben’s expression softened and he smiled. ″Then you’re going to be very pleased with your gifts this year.″

″Am I?″

″You are.″ Ben stood up and pulled Ray to his feet. ″I’ve never been happier, Ray.″

″It’s not Christmas yet.″

″I plan to be happy as long as you’ll have me.″

Ray leaned in, kissed him and then whispered, ″Then thanks, Santa. We’re both going to be happy this holiday.″

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Vecchio tested the wire taped to his chest for sound. ″Checking in. Flash the headlight if you can hear me.″

The front lights of the unmarked sedan across the street came on and off once. Ray relaxed. ″I see you. I’m going in now. Clean out your ears and listen up.″

The lights flashed once more and Vecchio grinned. It was going to be a piece of cake. He braced himself for what would happen next. He pushed the front door of Brightlight Tours open to start the show. Inside were six other people standing in a tight circle. Two pairs were obviously a couples. One man held a woman’s arm like she might disappear any minute. There was an older couple, too. Why two gray-haired types would want to go traipsing off into the wilderness was beyond him. The other two were younger, more like college age, an Asian girl and a blond kid. The blond kid glanced at him and smiled. ″You don’t look dressed for the tour, man.″

″How should I be dressed?″

″Boots at least. Those fancy shoes are cool, but your feet are going to freeze once we get out in the snow and frostbite’s no joke.″

″Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine.″

″They’re your toes, man.″ He held out a hand to introduce himself. ″I’m Eddie Mansfield. Nice to meet you.″

Ray shook the hand and noted the firm grip. ″Vecchio. Ray Vecchio.″

″You sound American.″

″Chicago.″

″Cool. Great city. Went there once with my grandmother when I was a kid. We had a wonderful time, lots of ethnic food. Think I gained ten pounds.″

″It’s a wonderful city for food, that’s true.″

″What brings you to Whitehorse?″

″I could ask you the same thing, Kid. Why all the questions?″

Eddie lifted both hands in the air as if to surrender and chuckled. ″Sorry for the third degree. I don’t mean anything by it. I’m just curious about people.″

″I get that.″ Ray glanced at his wrist watch. ″So, when does this tour thing start anyway?″

The gray-haired man spoke, obviously annoyed at the delay. ″I was thinking the same thing. We were supposed to get started five minutes ago.″

His companion nudged him. ″Don’t be in such a hurry, Harold. We’ll get there when we get there.″

″Time is money, Marion. I paid for a full day tour, not a whenever he decides to show up tour.″

Eddie tried to smooth things over. ″He’ll be here soon. I’ve taken this tour before. He tends to run a little late, but he always shows up and you get your money’s worth.″

That piqued Vecchio’s curiosity. ″You know the tour guide?″

″Yeah, a little. He used to come to my school and lecture about aboriginal ways and wilderness survival.″

Ray asked, ″What school was that?″

″The local high school. I grew up here. I’m in Yukon University now. I’m majoring in history.″

Ray couldn’t imagine anything more boring. Plus, he had no idea what a history major would do to make a living other than teach other history students. Sounded like a vicious circle and definitely not practical. ″Well, good luck with that.″

Eric Brightlight took that moment to show up. Even at a distance, Ray could see the bloodshot eyes and the measured movement of a man trying hard to hide being under the influence. Oh, boy, Benny was right about this one. ″Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks for signing up for the tour. We’re going into the storage warehouse to collect some of the equipment we need for our adventure together. Follow me.″

As they walked as a group into the open warehouse area, Ray noted how everything was grungy. He knew it would be hard to keep floors clean, but the equipment looked worse for wear, too. Brightlight pointed at the five snowmobiles. ″I’ll be riding in the front. You’ll be paired up on the others. Since there’s an uneven number, one of you will ride with me. Eric zeroed in on Ray. ″You, the tall one. You can ride behind me.″

″Why can’t I ride on the one in the back alone?″

Brightlight hesitated and then reluctantly agreed. ″Sure. You want to drive alone, that’s fine. Now, we need to go through some safety stuff. There are hand signals you need to know.″ Brightlight took about ten minutes to tell them about when to stop, slow down or turn. The words were slow and slurred. Then he pointed toward some brightly colored tops and pants hanging at the back on pegs. ″Those are your riding suits. They’re water repellent. You’ll also find the helmets and visors you need to wear. Find something that fits and suit up so we can get started.″

There was no way Ray was going to let anybody get on a snowmobile and leave the facility with a drunk. He stepped up closer to Brightlight and winced at the strong stench of whiskey. ″Listen, Brightlight, I’m not going out with someone who’s got booze on his breath.″

Everyone in the warehouse stopped what they were doing, turned and stared. Brightlight stepped closer to Vecchio. ″What did you say?″

″I said you’re drunk. You stink of it. I’m not going out on some snowmobile with someone who can hardly talk or walk.″

Brightlight’s eyes flashed with anger. ″Get out.″

″I’m going.″ Vecchio turned to the other customers. ″It’s not safe. You should get a refund and head out.″

Brightlight yelled. ″You leave and there’s no refund.″

Eddie chimed in. ″He’s right, man. You’re drunk.″

″Shut the fuck up and stay out of this.″

Ray glanced through the window of the warehouse door and saw Benny and his young constable cohort headed toward them. Before he could walk over and let them in, Brightlight grabbed his arm. ″You’re not going anywhere.″

″Let go. Don’t add assault to your problems.″

Brightlight released him, but then he reached under a tarp and pulled out a rifle. ″You’re not leaving. Nobody’s leaving.″

Well fuck.

Eddie protested. ″Man, that is so not cool.″

″Shut up! All of you over there. No talking!″

As they all huddled together, Vecchio checked out the possible entrances or exits. There were three, the warehouse door that led from the lobby, the general exit where they could drive the snowmobiles outside and a mystery door marked exit. He had no idea where that one went, but probably the street at the back of the property. After getting a fix on the general layout, his main priority was to defuse the situation before anyone got shot.

The older woman whimpered. ″Harold, what’s going on?″

″Seems like he’s lost his mind, Marion, that’s what.″

Eric waved the rifle in their direction. ″Just shut up. All of you. I need quiet.″

″You need more than quiet, Brightlight.″ Ray kept his composure, put on his commanding Armando face. ″You need an exit plan that keeps you from getting tagged with kidnapping or murder charges. You do something stupid and you’ll either end up dead or in prison for the rest of your life. For an outdoor guy like yourself, I’d guess you’d rather be dead. Am I right?″

″Who the fuck are you anyway?″

″Just a concerned citizen.″

″Bullshit.″ Eric Brightlight’s eyes narrowed. The sound of sirens got louder and louder as they approached from all directions outside the building. ″Fuck. Let me guess. That Fraser asshole put you up to this?″

″And I’m glad he did. They’ve got you on tape. You’re done with the tour business for now, but if you keep this up, that will be the least of your problems. Put the rifle down and surrender. Don’t make this worse than it has to be.″

Eddie spoke up for the group. ″Listen to him, man. This doesn’t have to go down as anything more than bad judgment. We’ve all had rotten days. Just let us go.″

Brightlight shook his head, his words tight and angry. ″I’m fucked and we all know it. I let you go and they’ll bury me.″

Ray gave him another hard truth. ″They’ll bury you if you don’t.″

Eric raised the rifle and pointed it under Ray’s chin. ″I’m sick of your bullshit. Shut up. Now.″

Then he punched Ray in the mouth and struck him again on the left side of his face. He saw stars and tasted the copper tang as blood flooded across his tongue. But he stayed standing. They were tough punches, but he’d had worse, lots worse. Ray wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and shook his head a few times to clear his vision. He tried again to make the man see reason. ″Look, I got a kid. She’s not even a year old. Don’t do anything stupid.″

Brightlight hesitated and then stepped back. He lowered the rifle slightly but not far enough to indicate surrender. ″I’m tired of this shit. Tired of people coming at me, talking shit about stuff they don’t understand.″

Ray knew he needed to buy time so that the cops outside could set up. And if he was really lucky, he might be able to actually talk the guy out of shooting anybody. Sometimes those departmental hostage negotiating sessions actually paid off. He prompted the man to tell his story, to talk about his life. ″Then tell us about it, Brightlight. Maybe we can help.″

″You can’t help. Nobody can help.″

Ray kept on trying to make his case. He used the man’s name to try to make a more personal connection. ″Listen, you’re in charge here, Eric. That rifle makes sure of that, but do you really want to end up dead or any of us dead for no reason?″

″You talk too much.″

″Then you talk. Give me a reason to care about why you’re doing this.″

Brightlight seemed to take that as permission to spill his guts about his own misery. ″Do you know what it’s like to work hard all your life only to have all your dreams ripped apart? I built this company from the ground up. I wanted to build a life for me and Gina, but Gina left me. Said I bored her because I worked too much and didn’t appreciate her. Who the fuck did she think I was working for? Now what do I have? The business is failing and I’ve got nobody, nothing.″

Brightlight suddenly turned the rifle toward himself. Ray lunged forward and grabbed the thing just as it went off with a blast. It nearly took his head off just as Mounties rushed through every door. Brightlight was tackled to the ground and the gun ripped from Vecchio’s hands. Ben came up to him. ″Ray, that was incredibly foolish.″

″You’re telling me. He missed me by just a few inches.″

″Still, it appears that you’ve saved the day.″ Ben handed Ray his white handkerchief to wipe the blood from his mouth. ″That’s going to be quite the bruise.″

″Not the first one I’ve ever had.″

″We’ve got ice packs at the station. You should use one before you give your statement.″ Ben hesitated and then added, ″I had not idea Brightlight would react like this. This is the last time I’ll ask you to do anything dangerous like this, Ray.″

″Promise?″

″I promise.″

″Good, because I have to tell you for an easy slam dunk case this was sort of a failure.″

Ezra walked up to both men. ″That was amazing. They’ve got Brightlight under control and the others are safe off site. Ezra looked at Ray’s busted face. ″Ouch. He got you good, eh?″

Ray rolled his eyes. ″Tell me about it.″

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ray was getting anxious. He’d spent the morning entertaining the five-month old Benita with reading, singing and dancing. She’d also started doing the grabby thing with her toys. He’d put a plushy turtle down for her and she’d reach out and snatch it. Then she’d drop it and giggle. She apparently loved making him dive for it and doing the same thing over again and again and again. If it was one thing Ray had learned about little ones is that they had an unlimited capacity for repetition. Benita never seemed to get bored with peekaboo or keep away. She also loved the book MOO, BAA, LA LA LA, especially when Ray made all the different animal noises or made the words into a song.

The baby seemed to have a special love for rock. Ray brought over his own CDs so he could hold her in his arms as he danced around the room to some of his favorite tunes like ″Born in the USA″ and ″Dancing in the Dark″. She smiled and giggled like crazy. She definitely loved ″the Boss″. She had great taste.

Bennie also seemed to have a voracious appetite and would gobble her bottle. He’d burb her and then it was without fail time to do the diaper change. That, of course, was his least favorite part of babysitting. How one little human could produce such rank stinks, he had no idea. But once Benita was cleaned up and bouncing on his knee or doing her tummy time on the blanket, all the nastiness was forgotten.

It was afternoon and Ray was getting antsy. He’d put the baby down for a nap, but he was pacing the living room of Vecchio’s rental house. It was a small three-bedroom, one bath place that he’d rented from them after he first arrived. One of the tenants had left without warning so it became available which was super lucky for Vecchio. One of the bedrooms was being used as an office. The plan to open the men’s clothing store was in the process. Ray being Ray checked out some of the many papers on the desk. There were all kinds of applications and forms about store rental, a work visa and a business license. Once again, he thought Vecchio was pretty ballsy to start up a new business in a whole new country.

As he turned to leave and go back out into the living room, the edge of one of the forms caught his eye. He picked it up and noted that it was a reprinted birth certificate for one Benita Raye Vecchio. Frowning, he looked at the paper behind it and saw that the form was a name change from the original birth certificate issued in Toronto, Canada. It listed Benita’s original name as Victoria Kay Bowen and no father was named. Wow. Apparently Benita’s mother had gone to Canada to have her baby, which made Benita a Canadian by birth, not American. On the reissue, it listed her mother’s name, but also Ray Vecchio at the father.

Ray realized that to have that kind of name change done and his identity added as the father in just a few months, Vecchio had to have pulled some mighty big strings. He likely had the FBI involved and also had it done so that it wasn’t a public record. Otherwise it would’ve been too easy to track him down after the end of the Vegas mess. Uneasy, Ray knew he had no business looking at such a personal record, so it put it back where he found it.

Back in the living room, he checked the clock again. It was nearly one. Ben should’ve called already. He picked up the phone and dialed the station. Ben picked up on the first ring. ″Ray?″

″Yeah. What’s going on? What’s taking so long?″

″There’s been rather a serious development.″

″Is Vecchio okay?″

″He is. He’s a bit battered and bruised, but nothing serious. He’s making a statement right now, but it’s going to be another few hours before he or I can leave.″

″It was supposed to be an easy op. What the hell happened?″

Ben told him quickly and Ray could hardly believe it. He sat on the sofa and shook his head. ″He could’ve been killed.″

″But he wasn’t. He acted quite bravely. However, I’m having to run interference. The local media is doing its best to turn him into a front page hero.″

Ray knew that would be the last thing Vecchio would want or need. His face plastered on the news would let the wrong people know where he was. That would be a big problem if some gangster saw his face and assumed that Armando Languinstini had been somehow resurrected in the far north under a different name. ″We don’t want that.″

″No, we don’t. At any rate, can you stay there with Benita a while longer?″

″It’s fine. I’ll call Gus and let him know I won’t be in today.″

″Actually he’s here, Ray. He’s not happy.″

Fuck. ″How not happy?″

″About as not happy as I’ve ever seen him. However, I’ll do my best to explain the situation. I’ll also let him know you won’t be in the rest of the day.″

″Thanks.″ Ray heard Benita crying in the other room. ″I’d better go. Call me before you two head home.″

″I will.″

Ray hung up and went to pick up the baby. She was wet again. ″You’ve got a leak, Kid.″

Benita grabbed his nose and wouldn’t let go. She had a hell of a grip, too, getting stronger with every try. Ray sighed, but couldn’t help smiling. Taking care of the little one made him happy. He got her changed quickly and then took her into the living room. He put her down on her tummy and watched as she rolled over. It was her favorite game. She liked being on her back. He handed her a ball, which she immediately stuck in her mouth and slobbered all over it.

As he watched her play, Ray thought about his boss and his anger. He hoped it wouldn’t be directed at him, but if it was, he couldn’t change that. If he lost his job because he’d kept the Brightlight operation a secret, so be it. The guy had to be stopped and if it took him keeping his mouth shut so Ben and Vecchio could get it done, that’s the way it was.

The baby threw the ball and Ray grinned. ″You’ve got a good arm there, Kid.″ Then he fetched the ball and they did it again and again and again.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″You look like the wrong end of a bar fight.″

Vecchio winced as he touched his puffy lower lip. ″Yeah, well, you should see the other guy.″

Ray knew the story, so he figured Eric Brightlight would be sobering up in the drunk tank. That was never a good look. ″Still, nobody can ever say you can’t take a punch.″

Instead of talking about his morning, Vecchio asked, ″So, how’s Little Bennie?″

″She’s sleeping. She’s had a good day. No problems.″

″Great. Thanks for watching her.″ Vecchio motioned toward the bedroom that acted like her nursery. ″I’ll just go check.″

As he walked out the room, Ray turned his attention to his partner. He saw the tight lines and drawn features. ″What’s wrong? You’ve got the guy, right?″

″We do, but Moody is asking for a psych consultation.″

″Seems right. If the guy is a drunk and willing to take hostages, he’s obviously got some issues to iron out. It’s pretty standard.″

″I know, but he wasn’t happy with me.″

″What he’d say?″

″I don’t think it was so much what he said, but how he said it. He said we caused the situation by having Ray pretend to be a customer.″

″He’s going for entrapment? That won’t fly.″

″I don’t think so, either. However, it might be wise for you to call him tonight. He was extremely upset when he left the station.″

″I will.″

″Ray, if you lose your job over this...″

″Then I lose my job. Don’t worry about it. I agree that something had to be done. I’m sorry Gus is upset, but given the same circumstance, I’d do it again.″

Vecchio returned to the room, not looking any happier than Ray felt. ″You think you’ll end up tossed for this, Kowalski?″

″I might. I don’t know yet.″

″Well, I’m sorry if that happens, but working for the defense, that can be a problem in and of itself.″

″Sometimes, but every crook is allowed a defense.″

″The operative word there is crook.″

Before Ray could get into it with Vecchio, Ben intervened. ″I think we should shelf this rather strident discussion for another time when we’re not all quite so tired. Ray and I need to go home.″

Vecchio held out his hand to shake. ″Thanks Kowalski for watching her all day. I know it’s not easy.″

Ray shook hands and disagreed. ″Actually it wasn’t bad. Except for the diaper business, she’s an easy kid to watch.″

Vecchio beamed with pride. ″She is, isn’t she?″

″She is.″ Ray turned his attention to Ben. ″I’m starving. Let’s stop and pick up something to eat. I don’t think I can wait until we cook something at home.″

″I think that can be arranged.″

Vecchio pulled some bills out of his pocket. ″Here. Let me pay for it.″

Ben shook his head. ″Of course you’re not paying for it.″

″Look, Kowalski watched her the whole day, Benny. That wasn’t the deal. Paying for supper is the least I can do.″

Ray waved away the money. ″Put it away. When I want to be paid, I’ll let you know. Meanwhile, I’ve got a burger with my name on it somewhere.″

Reluctantly, Vecchio put away the cash. ″Thanks.″

″You’re welcome.″ Ray patted his leg and Dief came over to follow them out to the vehicles. Once they were outside, Ray leaned against his truck. ″You want to pick up the food or do you want me to?″

″I’ll do it. You take Diefenbaker on home. It won’t take long.″

″Good, because if I don’t eat something soon, I might have to grab some of Dief’s kibble.″

Ben chuckled. ″I think I can do better than that.″ He got in the Jeep and headed out.

Ray let the wolf in the truck first and then climbed in himself. As he started the engine, he wondered if he’d have a job the next day.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″What did Moody say?″

Ray sat on the sofa staring at the fire. Gus, his boss, usually friendly, had been weirdly strange and distant on the phone. Ray didn’t think that was a good sign in terms of him keeping his job. ″He said we’d talk in the morning. It’s probably just as well. It’ll give us both time to cool off.″

″Are you angry?″

″Not angry. Disappointed. I hoped Gus would understand my position, but if he doesn’t, he’s not the guy I thought I knew.″

″Well, we don’t know for sure what he’s going to say.″

″I know. But it’s not the end of the world if I get fired. I’ve got my investigator’s license now. I can start my own agency or work for someone else. I’m not worried.″

″You’re sure?″

″I″m sure.″ Ray was tired of talking about it. So, he decided to change the subject. ″We need a tree.″

″A tree?″

″Yeah. Look at this place. We don’t even have a single decoration out. Christmas is next weekend.″

″Then we should get one.″ Ben scooted in closer and put his arm around Ray’s shoulder to pull him closer. ″I know just the one we should cut. It’ll be perfect.″

″Yeah?″

″Yes. It’s an Eastern white pine at the back of the property’s edge. It should be just the right size.″

″Do we have any bulbs or other stuff to put on it?″

″I don’t think so, no.″

Ray shrugged. ″No problem. I’ll stop at the store and grab some stuff tomorrow, maybe some lights, too. You like the all white lights or lots of colors? I like the colors myself.″

″Then multi-colored lights are fine.″

″And we need a wreath and some of that garland stuff. I want us to really fix up the place. I was thinking we could invite Vecchio and the baby over for Christmas dinner.″

Ben seemed surprised. ″Really? You wouldn’t mind?″

Ray grinned. Ben was always a worry wart when it came to how he and Vecchio got along. They were kind of oil and water, but Ray knew how to behave on special occasions. Besides, Vecchio always acted better when he was around Ben or the baby.

″You’re cooking, right?″

″I am.″

″Then sure. We’ll do our own thing on Christmas eve, but Christmas day, it’d be nice to have a baby around. That’s sort of what Christmas is about, right? Little kids.″

″Indeed. Is there anyone else you want to invite?″

Ray shook his head. ″Everybody at work has their own plans. What about you? You want to invite Ezra and his wife?″

″They’re going to Yellowknife to visit her mother, so no. And Quinn is spending Christmas there, too.″

″So I guess that means it’ll just be the four of us. But first we start with the tree.″

Ben kissed the side of his face. ″We’ll cut one first thing Saturday morning.″

Ray turned his head and grinned. ″Not first thing. I’ve got other plans first thing.″ Then he kissed Ben with enough passion to give him a preview.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″I’m disappointed, Ray. I expected more.″

″More what?″

″Loyalty. You know I’m his lawyer.″

″And Fraser’s my partner. Plus, Brightlight was putting people in danger.″

″You could’ve told me. I would’ve talked to him, got him into rehab before all this had to happen.″

″You think Tom Quinn didn’t try that? Fraser talked to him, too. The man has a problem and he was putting his customers at risk. The cops did what they did to protect the public.″ Ray took a deep breath and decided to give it his best shot. ″Look, I know you’re his lawyer so you have to be committed to looking out for his best interests. I get that. But you have to understand that coming from the cop point of view, I had to go with my gut. My instinct said Fraser was right to see if he was still taking people out on tours while he was drunk. On top of that, Brightlight is so off the deep end that he took seven people hostage and assaulted one. There’s no way to condone that.″

″I know the facts of the case, Ray.″

″Do you also know that if Vecchio hadn’t stopped him, Brightlight was aiming to blow his own head off?″

″Yes.″

″So, to my way of thinking, he stopped him from hurting both the customers and himself.″

Gus rubbed his face with both hands, his shoulders finally relaxing slightly. ″I hear what you’re saying, Ray. I just wish you’d have told me about the proposed operation.″

″I couldn’t.″ Ray bit his lower lip and spoke the biggest truth of all. ″As much as I respect and admire you, Gus, my loyalty will always be to Fraser first. If that means you need to fire me, then that’s up to you. I hope you don’t, but I’ll understand if you do.″

Gus shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. It was obvious he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. ″I’m not going to fire you, Ray. You did what you thought was right and I’d never fire someone for that if I can see his point of view. However, you can’t work the Brightlight case.″

″I understand that. Are you going to let Buddy work it or get one of the other investigators?″

″I’m not sure. Right now I just want to get him a psych review and see if we can postpone any trial until those results come through. I’ll worry about the rest after that. I’ve already got a substantial file on the man from previous cases. There might not be that much research left to do.″

″I’m sorry for the situation, Boss.″

″Me, too, but while I have you here, you should know that Grimm dropped the case against Lyndon. So we can close that one out before the end of the year.″

″Good to know.

″Yeah, that was good work on Buddy’s part. If he hadn’t been on his toes, we might have missed the connection between Grimm and the ex-wife.″

Ray agreed wholeheartedly. ″It was first class work.″

″So, give me the rundown on the rest of our cases before we close down for the holidays after tomorrow. I’d like a folder on each by noon today if you can do it.″

That would be rushing it, but Ray figured he’d have to do his best work to get back into Gus’s good graces. ″I can do it.″

″Good. And, let’s not talk about the Brightlight thing again, okay? I’d like to put that behind us.″

″Same here.″

Walking out into reception, Cheri was there feeding Dief some treats. ″He’s so much better, back to his greedy, piggy self.″ She patted his head and fur flew everywhere. ″We really need one of those little handheld vacuum cleaners.″

″I know. It gets everywhere.″

Cheri rubbed Dief’s head again just to have more fur to the air. ″I’m glad he’s okay.″

″Yeah, me, too.″

″Then why do you look so gloomy?″

Cheri wasn’t privy to the whole Brightlight situation and she didn’t really need to know about it. ″It’s nothing. Do you have the updated client list I asked for?″

She handed him the folder and asked, ″Do you know when Buddy’s coming in?″

″I don’t. Why?″

″No reason. I just wondered.″

″Well, you’d know better than me. He still lives with you and your mum, right?″

″He’s actually been staying with his girlfriend most nights. I thought he might have called you about being late this morning.″

Ray raised an eyebrow at the news. He teased. ″Our little Buddy’s growing up.″

Cheri’s smile vanished. She practically huffed. ″As long as he pays his part of the rent, I don’t care where he sleeps.″

If Ray didn’t know better, he’d say their young receptionist was jealous. He needed to tread carefully. He did not want to get involved in any kind of workplace romance drama. Been there, done that with Stella. Not doing it again. ″I’m sure he’s fine. I’ll talk to you later.″

″Let Dief stay out here, okay?″

The request surprised him. Dief nearly always stayed by his side. ″Why?″

″I like his company. Besides it makes me feel safer.″

″Safer?″ Ray frowned and asked, ″You don’t feel safe out here by yourself?″

″I do most of the time, but right now I’m not so sure.″

″Why’s that?″

Cheri lowered her voice and whispered. ″Remember the tour guide we have as a client? Brightlight?″

″I do, yeah.″

″Well, I heard he went nuts yesterday and took hostages. Some American stopped it, but we’re still defending him as a client. I’m not sure I feel safe if he comes here for some kind of consultation.″

Ray saw the real fear in her eyes. ″Look, he won’t be coming here right now. But if he gets an appointment, it shouldn’t be a problem. He’s not dangerous unless he’s drinking.″

″You can’t promise that.″

″No, but I can promise to make sure you’re safe.″

″Okay. I appreciate it.″ She said the words, but she wasn’t the least bit convincing.

Ray decided Dief could be security if it made her feel better. ″I’ll let Dief stay out here as long as you promise no more doughnuts. He’s got a two doughnut limit. Vet’s orders.″

″Sure. I promise.″

It kind of hurt his feelings that the wolf yipped his approval of the deal to stay with Cheri. But he had to admit Dief had good taste so he really couldn’t hold the animal wanting to stay with a pretty girl against him.

Instead of going into his own office, Ray decided he needed to talk to Gus one more time. He knocked and then entered when Gus called out to come in. ″What?″

″Do you realize that Cheri is afraid of having Brightlight in the office?″

″She told you that?″

″She did. I didn’t tell her I was involved. She read it in the paper and made the connection since he’s one of our clients.″

″Well, fuck.″

″What should I tell her?″

″She’s really afraid?″

″She is.″

″Thanks for telling me. I’ll talk to her.″

″You think we should invest in security?″

Gus smirked. ″You’re my security, Ray. Remember that first day when I hired you, how you took down the guy who attacked me?″

Ray flashed on the thrill of taking down the upset father. He might not be a cop anymore, but he still had the moves. ″I remember.″

″Just assure her that you’ll be here when or if he comes into the office.″

″Or better yet, meet him off premises.″

″I might. I’ll have to think about it.″

″I’ll let her know.″

″Sure. And, Ray?″

″What?″

″I’m sorry about earlier. I might have been hurt about what happened, but I respect and understand why you did it.″

″Thanks.″

Ray walked out and over to Cheri. ″Don’t worry about Brightlight.″

″We’re dropping him?″

″No, but if he comes to the office, I’ll be here.″

″Promise?″

″Promise.″

″Okay, but make sure you have Dief. The guy gets out of line and the wolf will eat his face off.″

Ray chuckled. ″You’re not wrong.″

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ben knocked on Inspector Paris’s office door. ″Come in.″

Once inside, Ben said, ″You wanted to see me, sir?″

″I did. Shut the door.″

Ben did as he was told and then stood at attention in front of his superior. The man closed a file and took off his glasses, his expression serious. ″At ease, Sergeant.″

Ben assumed a resting posture. ″Yes, sir.″

″It gives me no pleasure to report what I’m about to say.″

″What’s that, sir?″

″There’s been an official complaint filed against you.″

″A complaint?″

″Brightlight. He says you harassed him.″

It didn’t really surprise Ben that Brightlight would try to distract from his own responsibility for his illegal behavior. However, it still hurt to be falsely accused again. ″I did not harass him, sir. I did warn him the day before his arrest that if he continued with his dangerous behavior that I would have to take action.″

″I know. Staff Sergeant Crow told me you made him aware of the situation and that you had his blessing for your course of action. I’m sure there’s no heft to his accusations. It’s a way to skirt the issue which is that he was a danger to the public. However, we need to step carefully. We don’t want to be accused of insensitivity to any cultural differences.″

″What does culture have to do with it, sir?″

″We don’t want anyone to think he was targeted because of his race.″

″He wasn’t. We had five complaints from his customers in the last two months. Plus, a close friend of both Brightlight and myself came to me with his concerns about his behavior. Thomas Quinn is also First Nations.″

″I see. Good to know. But this Quinn didn’t make an official complaint?″

″No, but if asked, I’m sure he could give testimony to his concerns about Brightlight’s alcohol use and negligent behavior with his customers.″

Paris face brightened slightly. ″Good. That’s a relief.″ Paris sat back in his chair and studied Ben for a moment. ″I knew it was a bogus complaint, Fraser, but I needed to check. Plus, you have a right to know. I’ll let the higher ups know about Quinn. That helps considerably.″

″Is there anything else, sir?″

″How’s your Italian-American friend doing?″

″Ray Vecchio is fine, sir. Though I don’t think I’ll be asking him for any favors again.″

″I hope we won’t be in a position again where we need to ask for any. At any rate, good job with the whole operation. I’ve known Eric Brightlight for years, but I never once knew he was so unstable. He always seemed so reliable and steadfast, top of his game actually. You just never know about some people.″

″True.″

″Well, thanks for your input, Sergeant Fraser. Dismissed.″

Ben saluted and then left the office. He was no sooner at his desk when Ezra came up. ″Did Paris tell you about Brightlight?″

″About the complaint? Yes.″

″Son of a bitch has some nerve. His alcohol level when he was arrested was three times over the legal limit if he’d been driving. Can you imagine if he’d gotten on a snowmobile and taken those people out somewhere in the middle of a snowfield? I don’t even want to think about it.″

″I agree.″

″Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be dismissed.″

″Unless he brings civil action.″

″Well, he can try, but you’ve got all the cards on your side. I wouldn’t worry about it.″

″I’m not.″

″You sure?″

″I am. I know intellectually that he’s just trying to assign blame to anyone but himself for his troubles.″

″And emotionally?″

″I don’t have to like it, but it’s a reality that sometimes people go out of their way to hurt others. I don’t plan to let that happen. I know what I did with Brightlight was appropriate both morally and legally.″

″Good. Just so you know, I’ve got your back on this, Fraser. But, you should call your buddy Quinn and let him know what’s going on.″

″I called last night to let him know about the arrest.″

″Then call again and let him know about the complaint. Maybe he can talk some sense into his friend.″

Ben thought that was actually a good idea. He felt if anyone could get through to Brightlight, it might be Quinn. ″Thank you. I’ll do that.″

″Good. Now, tell me how you think Sergeant Lansing is doing with his new assignment.″

″He’s adjusting remarkably well. Promoting him and having him take over the new district was an excellent idea.″

″I agree. He’s been on the ball from the start. He’s good with his men, too. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t being biased. I’ve always liked Lloydd.″

″Agreed. He’s very personable, which is why he was such a good training officer. It’s a shame his injury made him decide to leave that program.″

″I know, but it works in our favor. He’s more valuable as a sergeant than a corporal.″

Ben wanted to broach the subject of returning to the training program when it restarted. It seemed like the perfect opportunity. ″Ezra, have you found someone to take over the training program? It’s getting close to the deadline.″

″I haven’t.″ Ezra stepped in a little closer. ″Actually, I was thinking of letting you return as the program leader, but to do that, I have to find another sergeant to take your place.″

″And there’s nobody else you can promote for that position?″

″I’m fresh out of promotions. However, there is an application from a Sergeant Andrew Jolly from Yellowknife who wants to move here. I’m in the process of checking him out before I approve the transfer.″

So there was hope after all that Ben could return to what he liked doing most, working with the new recruits. ″What are the chances of that being before the new training program starts?″

″The odds are getting higher all the time since I know you’re still interested in returning to it.″

″I’m very interested in it.″

″Good. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.″

″Well, even if I don’t get the program back, you’ll need someone to run it.″

″I do. Last year you took over when our trainer did the emergency transfer. This year, you could be with them from the start. There have been other years when we’ve had to delay the start and one year we even missed out completely.″

″That would be a disaster. We need the people to fill our multiple vacancies. It’s the training program that keeps our staffing levels even manageable.″

″I know, Fraser. I’m working as hard I can to get someone in here to take your place so you can get back to the training officer position.″

″Work harder.″

Ezra grinned. ″Who outranks who here?″

″You do, sir, but seriously, I really want my old job back.″

″But you’re doing great as a district sergeant.″

″Thank you, but I much prefer the previous position.″

Ezra patted him on the shoulder. ″I’ll do my best. Surely there’s at least one sergeant in the service who’s willing to transfer here this time of year.″

″One would hope. I actually like it here.″

″Maybe we should make a recruiting commercial. You could be a poster boy.″

Ben rolled his eyes. ″Be serious.″

″I am. The problem is we don’t have the budget for it. But believe me, if we did and you were the one to put out the plea to come work here in Whitehorse, every single lady sergeant across the country would be on the horn begging to come here immediately.″

Ben’s cheeks heated. ″They’d be wasting their time.″

″Yeah, but we don’t have to disappoint them that until they get here.″ Ezra laughed and then slapped Ben’s shoulder again. ″Okay, enough chitchat. I’ll let you know if I can get this Sergeant Jolly a transfer, the sooner the better.″

As Ezra walked away, Ben rubbed his left eyebrow as he mulled over the images of himself being put on display in order to entice sexually frustrated young ladies to come seek him out. He shuddered at such an unappealing scenario and then decided he should call Ray. He could use the excuse of telling him about the complaint, but the real reason was that talking to Ray always settled him down, anchored him when he was on edge. Well, that was true unless they were talking about sex in which case, Ray unsettled him completely for a whole different reason.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″Son of a bitch has some nerve.″

″You don’t have to be so angry on my account, Ray. The complaint won’t be substantiated by the facts. I’m sure it’ll be found to be without merit eventually and dismissed.″

″I know that, but it still busts my balls that he’s got the gall to turn around and pull that shit. Son of a bitch needs a good kick in the head.″ Ray barely dipped his little finger in the bubbly marinara sauce and then tasted it. ″God, that’s good. Where’d you learn to make that? From Vecchio?″

″Actually his mother.″

″Oh, even better. Ma Vecchio would make a fortune if she ever opened up a restaurant. I’ve never tasted anything better than her cooking.″

″Indeed. Now go sit down. I’m getting ready to serve.″

″Good, because I’m starving.″

Ray settled at the table and watched as Ben piled the food on their plates. Once he did that, he put the used pan in the sink and sat down. He tucked the napkin under his chin and picked up his fork. Ray couldn’t help but smile. Ben asked, ″What?″

″You.″

″I don’t understand.″

″My mum used to get on me for doing this very thing.″ Ray copied what Ben had done and put the napkin into the neck of his sweatshirt to essentially make a bib.

″No disparagement of your mother, Ray, but I’ll have you know that I have it on good authority, that it’s perfectly acceptable to wear your napkin when you’re eating Italian food.″

″Good, because I make a mess otherwise.″

″I know. I’m the one who does the laundry.″

Ray chuckled and then swirled his fork to get the biggest bite he could muster. He stuffed it in his mouth and then shut his eyes as he chewed and savored the delicious flavor. He had to admit that the Italians had it made when it came to good food. ″You know, I like some Polish dishes, but I don’t think I’ve ever eaten anything Italian that I didn’t like.″

″You didn’t like the calimari.″

″Well, no, but that’s yucky stuff. I’m not big on seafood, but the pasta and sauces? Yum.″ Ray accented his point by having another big bite of spaghetti.″

Ben smiled and then started with his own meal. He had a green salad, too, something that Ray never bothered with. As they continued with the meal, Ray asked, ″So, I’ve been thinking.″

″Oh, dear. That sounds painful.″

″Funny man.″

″I try.″

″But seriously, I need to know about next weekend. Are you off on Christmas eve and Christmas day this year?″

Ben wiped his mouth and sat back. ″Christmas eve is next Friday, so I work, but I’ll be off at my regular time of five. That will give me plenty of time to get home and fix us a nice holiday meal. I can make several of the dishes ahead of time. It’s just the two of us, so I don’t want to cook a whole turkey. I thought a chicken breast would be fine.″

″Sure, that makes sense. What about Christmas day?″

″I’m off Saturday since it’s my regular day off.″

″Great. And did you talk to Vecchio about coming over with the kid?″

″Actually, he invited us to his place. He wants us to come around noon so we can exchange gifts. He’s planning to make a traditional Italian meal. I told him I’d have to ask you about it.″

″Hey, that’s fine with me. That’ll give us a chance to see Bennie open her presents.″

″Indeed.″

″So, what’s a traditional Italian meal in Vecchio’s book?″

″Knowing Ray, I’m assuming lasagna.″

″Now we’re talking. I’m thinking he’s got his ma’s recipe, too, am I right?″

″I think so.″

″Works for me.″

As they continued eating, Ben asked, ″We haven’t discussed gifts for Ray or Benita.″

″I thought we did. You’re making her a toy box, right?″

″Yes, but you mentioned getting Ray a camera from the both of us.″

″I know. I think if we got him a camera, he could take a lot of pictures of the kid. You don’t think he’d like that?″

″I think he’ll like that very much. So we’re decided on that?″

″I think so unless you’ve got a better idea. I was going to pick it up this weekend. I thought a Nikon 35Ti along with a couple of rolls of film would work. They’re having a Christmas sale at the Murray’s camera shop and I’ve got one on hold.″

″I think he’ll appreciate that. Ray always liked taking pictures back in Chicago.″

″And I got her a bunch of cute stuffed animals, some clothes and books. I just need to wrap them all. I figure we can put them in your toy box.″

Ben visibly relaxed. ″Well, it seems we’ve got things in hand then.″

″For Vecchio and his kid, yeah, but have you thought of anything for yourself that you might want?″

″Whatever you want to buy is fine, Ray.″

Rolling his eyes, Ray thought about how hard his partner was to buy for. He really wasn’t into clothes or anything for his car. He already had his carving tools and most of the books he read came from the library. With Ben it was all about being practical. But Ray had another idea for this year. ″Good, because I’ve got a good start on it.″

Ben lifted his right eyebrow. ″Are you suggesting that you’re making my gift this year?″

″I might be.″ Ray liked teasing his partner sometimes, and he really hoped Ben liked what he’d decided to do. ″It’s a surprise, so don’t go peeking in where you shouldn’t be peeking.″

″By the same token, you should also try to curb your curiosity.″

″Easier said than done. Old detective ways die hard.″

″Then we must both endeavor to be up for the challenge of surprising our partner for the holidays.″

″Works for me.″ Ray took his last bite and pushed his plate away. As hungry as he had been, he was seriously stuffed. ″Listen, we can do the whole hide and seek thing for the gifts, but we really need to get on the tree deal. I’ve got a bunch of ornaments out in the truck. I thought I’d leave them there until we get the actual tree on Saturday morning.″

″Did you buy a tree stand?″

Ray slapped himself in the forehead. ″Fuck. I knew there was something I forgot.″

″It doesn’t matter. I can create one that will work just as well. I have the materials in the workshop.″

Ray teased. ″You’re so handy.″

Blushing slightly, Ben shrugged. ″I try.″

″You do more than try. If there’s a problem, you solve it. Easy peasy.″

Ben got up and gathered the dirty dishes and took them to the sink. He spoke with his back to Ray. ″I called Quinn this afternoon.″

″Yeah? Why?″

″I thought he might be able to talk to Brightlight about the complaint.″

″And can he?″

″He said he would try, but he didn’t think he’d listen.″

The light mood evaporated and Ray was back to worrying about his partner. ″You know the complaint isn’t personal, right?″

″I do.″

″But?″

″But it’s still hurtful to be unfairly accused. I only did my job.″

″I know.″ Ray hesitated, not sure if he should mention it, but decided to take the chance. ″I could talk to Gus. Find out if he’s planning to file a suit.″

Ben turned, frowning. ″Do you think Gus would actually file a suit against me on his behalf?″

″I doubt it. I doesn’t sound like something Gus would do, but he might know Brightlight’s intentions.″

″But he’s told you not to discuss Brightlight again.″

″Yeah, but I need to know as much as you do.″

″Why’s that?″

″Because if he is planning to sue, I’ll need to hire my own lawyer.″

″Because?″

″Because I’ll be kicking Brightlight’s ass.″

Ben rolled his eyes, but he was smiling and for Ray, that was a win.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″A civil suit?″

″Yeah. I was wondering if you knew anything about it.″

Gus shook his head. ″I don’t. And if Eric had come to me with this, I’d have advised him against a complaint or a lawsuit. I’ve read all the details of his arrest and he’s got no case.″

″You’re sure?″

His boss shut the folder and sat back. ″I’m sure. Eric Brightlight is clutching at straws. Right now he’s in the hospital as he detoxes and is being evaluated by psych services. He’ll be there for another few days bare minimum. Once they’re satisfied that it’s safe, he’ll be taken to the jail where he’ll be held until the courts open up after the holidays.″

″There’s no way he’ll be released before then?″

″Not without a hearing, no. His only window for release was today sometime and he missed it.″

That was a huge relief. Ray wouldn’t have to deal with Brightlight until they came back from the break. ″Well, I hope you can talk him out of doing anything stupid.″

″I can’t really discuss it with you, Ray.″

″Yeah, conflict of interest.″

″Big time.″ Gus smoothed down his new tie decorated with bright red Canadian flags. ″Thanks for this, Ray. Very patriotic.″

″Yeah? Ben said you might think it was a joke tie.″

″Made of silk? Not hardly. I think it’s very dapper.″ Gus reached into his desk and pulled out three envelopes. He held them out to Ray. ″It’s not as personal as picking out a tie, but I thought you and the others might like getting your Christmas bonuses early today.″

Ray picked out the one that had his name on it. He wasn’t sure what the protocol was for opening bonuses since the Chicago P.D. never gave him anything at Christmas except grief and rotten coffee. ″Should I open it?″

″Sure.″

Ray ripped the envelope open and saw a check inside. The amount was more than generous. It was nearly a month’s salary. ″Jesus, Gus. This is too much.″

″No, it’s not. You’ve done a lot to get this agency going gangbusters. I’ve actually had to turn down clients. I’ve never done that before. The bonus just shows that I appreciate your efforts.″

″And I appreciate the money. Thanks.″

″You’re welcome. Now, you can distribute the checks to the others. I’ve got some work to do and I really need to get things cleared up before I leave this afternoon. We’ll be out of town until next Sunday. You’ve got my cell if anything comes up.″

″What would come up if we’re closed?″

″You never know. At any rate, Merry Christmas, Ray.″

″Should I say Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukka?″

″Merry Christmas will do. Ana’s Christian and I’m kind of a lapsed Jew. We do secular holidays.″

″Sounds like Ben and me. He’s not religious and I haven’t done the Catholic thing in years.″

″I get that. Anyway, have a great week off, Ray.″

Ray nodded and headed out of reception. He smiled when he saw Cheri using the new dust buster he’d brought in as a present for the office. It also pleased him that she was wearing the dangling gold butterfly earrings he’d given her. ″You’re doing a great job, Cheri.″

She turned off the machine and then emptied it. It was stuffed full of nothing but wolf fur. ″We should’ve had this months ago.″

″Well, we’ve got it now.″

Ray held out her envelope. ″Gus wanted me to give you your Christmas bonus.″

Cheri’s eyes brightened as she took it and ripped it open. She giggled. ″Oh, my god, I didn’t expect this much.″

″We’ve had a good year.″

The young receptionist threw her arms around his neck and hugged him with enthusiasm. ″Thanks. This means I can buy Mom that wool coat I wanted to get her.″

It warmed Ray’s heart that the first thing Cheri thought about was giving something nice to her mother. ″Sounds like a good plan. But you should go in and thank Gus before you leave today.″

″I know, and I will, but I wanted to thank you for the earrings, too. How did you know I like butterflies?″

Ray smirked and picked up her tea mug and pencil holder, both covered with brightly colored butterflies. ″Just a lucky guess.″

Cheri giggled again. ″Anyway, thanks.″

″You’re welcome. Have you seen Buddy?″

She motioned toward the room with the company’s main computer. ″He’s working on some kind of database.″ Cheri leaned in slightly and whispered. ″Might want to tiptoe. He’s been a grouch all morning.″

″A grouch, huh?″

Cheri didn’t seem to be too upset about that. Instead she added, ″Some kind of tiff with Dana. Young love, eh?″

She folded the check and slipped it into her purse which she put back in the bottom desk drawer. Then she proceeded to type the last of the reports. Ray walked into the room where Buddy was hunched over and taking notes from the computer screen. The kid looked rough. His blond hair stood on end and he had dark circles under his eyes. It was not the jolly holiday look Ray expected. He closed the door behind him. ″Hey, Buddy.″

The young man didn’t look up. ″I’m not finished with the background on Kroger yet. I should have it by this afternoon.″

″No problem. The trial’s not until mid January.″ Ray stepped closer. ″You okay?″

″I’m fine.″

″You don’t look fine.″

Buddy slammed down his pen and crossed his arms. He looked like a pissy twelve-year-old having a tantrum. ″Women are so fucking frustrating. I don’t have a clue about what they want.″

Ray didn’t even call him on his cursing. He’d had that horrible frustration with the opposite sex too many times not to appreciate how maddening it was. Instead he pulled up a chair and sat in front of the desk. He kept his voice calm. ″You and Dana have a fight?″

″She wants me to meet her family.″

″The nerve. And at Christmas, too. What a jerk.″

Buddy raise his head, ready to fight, but lost steam when he saw that Ray was smiling. ″It’s not funny.″

″I know. Meeting the family is a big deal. Women don’t do that for just anybody. She must like you.″

″You think so?″

″I do if she’s asking to take you home. Why’s that a problem?″

Buddy shifted uneasily and then leaned forward. ″Me and family? I’m not even sure what that means, Ray. I had my grandmother and that’s about it, nobody else. I mean, Dana and I get along great, better than great, but then she brought this up and I kind of freaked out.″

″Why? You’re halfway decent and presentable most of the time.″

Buddy rolled his eyes. ″Thanks. But I’m serious.″

″I am, too. Just be yourself. Besides, whether they like you or not, it doesn’t really matter in the long run. You’ll either make it work or not depending on how you treat Dana.″

″Then why go to the hassle of meeting the parental units?″

″Parental units?″

″Yeah. I mean, if we make it or not, is up to us. Why complicate things?″

″Human nature I guess. If she wants you to meet them, you should.″

″It’ll be a disaster.″

″Not necessarily. I mean, my ex’s parents hated my guts.″

″See? That’s my point. You got divorced, right?″

″Yeah, but not for a long time. We were married for fifteen years and together before that. We wanted to be together and so screw her parents. But I have to say, it would’ve been nice to be accepted. You can’t really say one way or the other until you give it a chance.″

″I guess.″ Buddy still didn’t seem convinced. ″I should probably call her and apologize.″

″Probably.″

″You don’t even know what I did.″

″Don’t have to know. If you think you should apologize, you definitely should. Go with your gut on that.″ Ray pulled out the last of his envelopes. ″This is for you.″

Buddy took it and frowned. ″What is it? You already gave me the hockey tickets for Christmas.″

″It’s from Gus. It’s your Christmas bonus.″

Surprised, Buddy finally smiled. ″I get a Christmas bonus?″

″You do. Maybe you can use some of it to have a nice holiday over the break.″

Buddy opened it and stared at the check. He whistled. ″I’m liking this Christmas bonus idea. Sweet.″

Ray stood up and put the chair back in its place. ″Spend it wisely, my friend. Oh, and by the way, Cheri is serving her mother’s jam cake with caramel icing in the break room.″

Buddy licked his lips. ″Her mom makes the best jam cake ever.″

Ray had already chowed down on two pieces and could testify to that fact. ″You’ve got that right.″

As he turned to leave, Buddy called to his back. ″Thanks, Ray.″

″The check came from Gus.″

″I’m not talking about the check.″

That made Ray smile and he gave his young assistant a thumb’s up. ″Got it.″

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ben finished filing the last of his evaluation folders and then shut the metal drawer. He sat down at his desk and pinched the bridge of his nose. How could doing paperwork make a man so tired? He suddenly had a flash of one of the times he and Ray ran off down an alley together, the biting wind and rain stinging their faces. Just the rush from the thrilling memory of the chase warmed him, kept him going. He had Ray and the adventure of working as partners, or as Ray would say a well-oiled machine for justice. Now, Ben had to admit to himself that some days, not often, but some days, he wished he was a mere constable again and working the liaison program with Ray. The paperwork and responsibility of being a sergeant was wearing. Ben found sometimes at night he’d even dream about being buried alive in nothing but mountains of paper forms. That fact that he was good at his job didn’t mean that he had to enjoy it every minute of every day.

In his present position, Ben also found he had less and less interaction with the men he commanded. He would talk to them about different cases, meet them in the morning and before checking out at end of shift, but overall the bulk of his day was down to forms, statistics, schedules and cost-saving strategies. At least when he was working with the recruits, he spent at least half the day outside, driving different routes watching them work as he evaluated their progress as police officers. He had to admit that he missed that.

Just as he turned on his computer to do another adjustment to the holiday schedule, he saw Ezra heading his way. ″Hey, Fraser. I’ve got great news.″

″Yes?″

″Sergeant Jolly from Yellowknife is willing to transfer and be here by the start of the new year.″

The boredom lifted and Ben found himself already feeling lighter. ″He’s taking my place?″

″Yes. You’ll be head of the training program again which will start mid-January. Jolly wanted at least a week in transfer time and said he’d like to spend another week with you so he could be oriented on the protocols of your position. I figure that’ll be the week right after New Years. You okay with that?″

″I’m very okay with that.″

His friend wore a big smile and slapped him on the shoulder. ″Merry Christmas, Fraser.″

″Thank you. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift.″

″Well, you’re getting one anyway. I also just heard from Paris that Brightlight withdrew the complaint.″

It was unexpected, but Ben was pleased. ″That’s a relief.″

″I figure he sobered up and figured he’d be better off not making a stink when he knows he’s in the wrong.″

″It’s possible that he listened to my friend Quinn. He was supposed to call and talk to him about it.″

″Maybe. I don’t know, but either way, it’s a good thing.″

″It is, yes.″

Ezra thumbed toward his desk. ″Well, I better get on this. It takes as much paperwork to transfer a guy as it does to wrap a tank these days. Then again, it keeps me employed, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.″

As his friend walked away, Ben found his mood greatly improved. He knew he had wanted the training position, but had accepted that it might be lost to him. He kept trying to convince himself that it would be fine however the situation resolved itself. However, he realized he’d been lying to himself. He really needed to get out on the job more. Sitting behind a desk all day, every day simply wasn’t good for his physical or emotional energy levels.

He picked up the phone and dialed Ray’s cell number. His partner answered on the second ring. ″Hey. What’s up, partner?″

″Do you ever think about our time in Chicago?″

There was a long pause before Ray answered. ″All the time. Why?″

″I, too, find myself thinking of those days fondly.″

″Yeah, being shot at, stabbed and nearly drowned, that’s a good time.″

″It was an exciting time.″

There was another short pause before Ray asked, ″What’s going on, Ben?″

″I got my training job back.″

″Great! So, why the tap dance down Memory Lane all of a sudden?″

″I was just thinking about it, that’s all.″

″See, that’s where you get in trouble. You get in your head too much. Go with the moment.″

″Then all I’d be doing is paperwork.″

″Okay, I’ve got it. You’re bored.″

″A little, but knowing I can return to work with the recruits helps.″

Ray’s voice got suddenly a bit husky. ″You know what else would help?″

Ben was almost afraid to ask, but he couldn’t help himself. Ray could be so provocative sometimes. ″What?″

″I’ve got lunch coming up in thirty minutes and I’ve got the key to the new vacated rental at the apartment complex not far from the station. You know the one?″

Ben’s groin tingled in anticipation. ″I do. What are you suggesting?″

″I think you can figure it out, Mountie Man.″

″We shouldn’t. I only have an hour for lunch.″

Ray’s voice got even lower and sexier. ″Then I guess you better hurry.″

The phone clicked off and Ben suddenly wasn’t the least bit bored.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″Wow.″ Ray rolled over on his back and ran his right hand through his sweaty hair. His whole body swam with that special buzz that only happened with coming after great fucking. ″Just wow. I needed that.″

Ben grinned smugly and licked the side of his neck. ″That was delicious.″

″And then some.″ Ray turned on his side to face his naked partner. ″I love you.″

″I love you, too, Ray. This was a wonderful idea.″

″You think?″ Ray reached out and ran his thumb along the side of Ben’s face before drawing it softly over the swollen lips. ″You distracted enough yet?″

″I’d say so. Did you think I needed distracting?″

″You were blue and bored. It happens. Sex can put you back on track.″

Ben captured the hand teasing his face and then kissed the palm before holding it against his chest. ″I’ll admit to being bored this morning. I find paperwork to be more difficult when that seems to be my primary function and focus. However, once I’m back to training officer, it should improve.″

″Glad to hear it.″

Ray lay back and put his free arm behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. ″You know, we don’t have to rent this place out again right away.″

″Why wouldn’t we?″

″It’s only five minutes from the station. I’m off all next week. We could have ‘lunch’ every day. Just a thought.″

Ben scooted over and stretched himself over Ray, their cocks aligned. ″Normally I’d say that was an economically impractical notion, but at the moment the idea of a lunch special sounds incredibly enticing.″

″Lunch special? That’s what we’re calling it?″

″Seems appropriate.″

Ray’s heart beat faster as Ben rubbed against him to punctuate each word. ″You keep that up and I’m going to get hard again.″

Ben gave him another thrust against his crotch. ″Optimist.″

Ray chuckled, knowing that his cock really was trying, but he’d just come a few minutes ago. He was nearly forty and not a teenager anymore. ″Doesn’t mean I can’t live in hope and enjoy the effort.″ Ray shoved his hips up and then hooked the back of Ben’s neck. He kissed with lots of tongue and knew that lunch was going to be a little longer than usual. He broke away, breathless. ″You going to write yourself up for being late?″

″You know I will.″

″Then I better make it worth the demerit.″

And he did.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ray walked into the cabin with his arms full. He dropped the mail and the holiday tins containing the cookies and jam cake that Cheri had given him for Christmas on the table. He kept his hat and coat on as he hit the switch to start coffee. He stepped over to the fireplace and was so glad he had a reliable partner who always laid the wood for the evening fire before heading to work. It made starting it so much easier when Ben did half the job ahead of time. Once the logs caught, Ray pulled the screen back in place. He rubbed his hands together and warmed them before going over to the thermostat to turn up the heat. He and Ben had a running debate about keeping the cabin so cold during the day. If they had central heating, why not use it? Ben thought it was a waste of energy to heat the cabin when they were gone. So, they compromised and lowered the number to 55 during the day, 65 the rest of the time. That meant for the most part, Ray was always cold, which was why he loved a fire in the winter.

As Dief settled on the rug by the hearth, Ray went over and sat down at the table to go through the mail. It was more than usual. Most of the time they’d get maybe one or two pieces at the most. This time there was a whole stack. He smiled when he saw the card from Frannie. It had her huge script that reminded him of old books with fancy writing. He put it aside. He’d open it when Ben got home. Then he saw a couple of bills for Ben to deal with along with some junk mail. He stopped suddenly when he saw the return address on the last envelope, Arizona. Shocked, he quickly opened it and inside was a Christmas card with the picture of a sun bleached adobe church in the desert. There was a cactus in front of it draped with chili pepper lights. It made Ray smile as he thought of his own lights he’d bought after the divorce.

Inside the card itself was a quickly jotted ″I love you″ signed by his mum. But there was also a folded letter. He put the card down and opened it. Ray recognized his mother’s handwriting right away. Nervous about what it might say, he got up and took off his coat and hat before sitting down again. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he read it.

″Dear Stanley, I hope this finds you well. I know I’ve not written or called since you left Chicago, but your father was so angry and hurt, I couldn’t. He doesn’t know I’m sending this now. I had to sneak it to the post office.″

Ray stopped and wiped away a stupid tear that made his vision fuzzy. Before he could read the rest, he got up and poured himself a coffee. He sugared it and thought about how sometimes he just wanted to scream and smack his old man for being such a fucking dickhead. His whole life he’d been told that a kid was supposed to love his father no matter what, but didn’t that work the other way around, too? What happened to loving your son regardless? Apparently his Pop never got that memo or didn’t care. Ray took a couple of sips and then sat down again. He braced himself for the rest of the letter.

″Your father has forbidden me from calling you, but he can’t control who I write to. I love you, Stanley. I’m so sorry about what’s happened. I do hope and pray that you are happy with the person you’ve chosen to be with. I really do. I don’t understand it, but I know you wouldn’t do it if you didn’t love him very much. So, I’m sending you my love and best wishes this Christmas. May God be with you and your partner. Love, your mother. P.S. Please, Stanley, try not to hate your father too much. Maybe one day we can all be together as a family again.″

″Yeah, right.″ Like that was ever going to happen. Fuck his father and fuck trying not to hate him for being such a homophobic prick. His mother could wish for a lot of things, try to make up for his failures, but when it came down to it, Ray could no longer claim he had a dad.

Ray eyes stung as he fought down the growing anger. Was he sad about his dad? Sure. But it was so much easier to be pissed, to rage against the fact that he drew the short straw in the dad department. Then again, he did get lucky with his mum. He just wished she’d stand up to Pops or leave him and be on his side for once. But he knew that was never going to happen. His mother, being the good Catholic she was, loved his dad no matter what. He couldn’t change that. Didn’t mean he had to like it.

Ray dumped his coffee down the sink and reached above the cabinet for the whiskey bottle. It was half empty, but it was enough to do the trick, to dull the welling anger surging up into his throat. He poured a generous amount into his mug and carried it over to the sofa. He sat down and raised it in a toast. ″Fuck my dad. May he someday regret being a dickhead.″ Then he drained about half the liquid, the heat a snaky burn down to his belly. Holding the drink in both hands, he closed his eyes. Regardless of what his dad thought, he’d actually come out on the winning side. He had Ben and that was all that mattered. He drank the rest of his whiskey to celebrate.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ray opened his eyes and frowned as he tried to remember when he’d zonked out. He couldn’t. After the last drink, it was all a blank. His cottonmouth made it hard to talk without a few swallows first. Then he sat up, threw off the blanket and shook his head to clear it. It was dark both inside and out except for the firelight. And quiet. It was way too quiet. He had a flash of quick panic. ″Ben?″

There was movement in the bedroom. Ben came to the door, leaned against it and crossed his arms. He was dressed in jeans and his favorite cream-colored sweater. Despite the casual clothes, he didn’t look relaxed, anything but.

Ray asked, ″What’s going on?″

″You tell me, Ray. I came home to find you drunk on the sofa.″

Suddenly defensive, Ray protested. ″I wasn’t drunk.″

″You were.″

″No, I wasn’t. I was taking a nap.″

″Ray, it’s nearly ten at night. I tried to wake you and you just grumbled to leave you alone.″ Ben walked over and sat beside him. His voice was low and soft. ″I found the empty whiskey bottle in the trash.″

Well, fuck. ″To be fair it was half empty before I started.″

″Ray, I also found the letter from your mother. I’m sorry.″

Anger hit him again and he snapped. ″Fuck the letter and fuck my father. He’s an asshole.″

″That’s being kind, but I am sorry that it’s upset you so much that you felt like you had to become inebriated.″

Ray ran both hands through his short hair. This was not the evening he’d had planned. He’d wanted to fix a nice meal, have some dessert and take Ben to bed again. But now he had to deal with all the hard emotions he had about being disowned. ″I know he’s my dad, but I hate him so much sometimes.″

″I know.″

″Do you?″

″I do. For a long time, I had much the same reaction to what I saw as my father’s abandonment and rejection. Worse, I thought it was my fault.″

Ray cocked his head to the side as he considered that. ″Do you think that’s what I feel, that I’m responsible for him disowning me?″

″Is it?″

″No.″ Ray stopped and then shrugged. Was it his own fault? Did he not try hard enough to please his old man? He really couldn’t decide. ″Maybe. I don’t know.″ Ray took a second to refocus, to put his feelings into words that made sense. ″I’ve disappointed him so much all these years. When I was a kid, he’d sometimes look at me with an expression that made me think he’d been the unluckiest man alive to get stuck with such an idiot son. I sucked at school and team sports weren’t any better. I was okay at baseball, but never the star. About the only thing that worked between us was the car thing.″

″Such a mutual interest gave you a connection.″

″It did. And then I got distracted with Stella when I was thirteen. But that wasn’t too bad because he figured I’d hit the jackpot in the love department, that I could go places if I hitched my wagon to her rising star and all her money. But then I had to spoil his hopes and dreams by becoming a cop. It’s like I stabbed him in the heart or something.″

″I never understood his reasoning for that reaction.″

″Me, neither, not really. He said I’d end up with a stink on me because all I’d ever do is be around criminals. He just didn’t get me, never did if I’m honest.″

″But you reconciled.″

″Yeah, or I thought we had. Apparently, I’m still not good enough. With the gay thing, well, I knew when I stepped over that line with you, it would be the end of me and my dad.″

Ben reached over and took his hand in his. ″But you did it anyway.″

Ray squeezed Ben’s hand and nodded. ″You can’t fight love.″

″No, you can’t.″ Ben kissed their joined hands. ″I’m sorry your father has reacted this way. It’s not fair to you. It’s one thing to reject you on his own, but to keep your own mother from calling or seeing you, that’s incredibly hurtful.″

Ray really didn’t have a good answer for that, so he went with a cliché that pretty much said how it was for him and his dad. ″It is what it is.″

″Perhaps. However, I’ll say one thing and then I’d like you to eat something before bed.″

″What’s that?″

″Please don’t drink like that again, Ray. It scares me.″

Ray lifted an eyebrow in surprise. ″Scares you?″

″I don’t like you being so unhappy and out of control like that. I’ve had friends who’ve had drinking addictions. I don’t want you to ever feel like you have to resort to alcohol in order to manage your emotions. Please, talk to me instead.″

Ray studied the tense features, heard the sincerity of the words. He never wanted to scare or worry his partner about shit like that. He knew it was a bad pattern. He’d done a lot of drinking after the divorce, but he’d stopped that habit when it affected the job. He needed to stop again. ″I’m sorry. I promise I’ll try harder not to scare you like that.″

″Thank you.″ Ben cupped and then patted his cheek. ″Please go brush your teeth and I’ll reheat your supper.″

″Why brush my teeth if I’m just going to eat again?″

″I hate the smell of whiskey.″

″Got it.″ Ray got up and headed to the bathroom, determined to make it up to the man he loved and the man who also loved him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″Now, that’s what I call a tree and a half.″ Ray admired the Eastern white pine that now stood in the corner right by the front window. It went nearly to the ceiling. There was just enough room for a star or angel, whichever Ben wanted to use, but that was it. It looked like something from a Hallmark movie. He couldn’t have picked out one any better. And the bonus was that it was free because they’d cut it on their own property. ″I’m glad I got that new tree stand yesterday. It just fits the base.″

″You don’t think it’s leaning a little bit to the left?″

″I think it’s perfect, or at least as perfect as it can be before we decorate it.″

Ray handed Ben a bag of ornaments and garland. ″You do the gold and I’ll do the red.″

″Ray, we should put the lights on first.″

″Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.″ Ray held up a finger and grabbed another bag from the table. He pulled out two boxes of lights. ″I got the bigger light bulbs. Is that okay?″

″It’s perfect.″ Ben opened one of the boxes and proceeded to do the placement, taking care to space out the lights on the branches. ″What about your chili pepper lights? Did you want to add those, too?″

″You want to?″

″Well, you did bother to ship them here from Chicago and you’ve not put them up in the kitchen. It seems the tree would be the perfect display choice.″

″Cool.″ Ray raced to the bedroom closet and pulled out the small bag in the back. He came out into the living room and handed them to Ben. ″You put them on. It’s easier if one person does the lights and then I’ll do the garland. We can do the bulbs and ornaments together.″

″Understood.″

Ben being the meticulous person he was, took his time. Finally he plugged in the lights, made a couple of quick adjustments before standing back. ″What do you think?″

″Outstanding.″ Ray pulled out the silver garland and then coiled it around the tree. Checking it out, he tilted his head to give it a solid appraisal. Sweet. ″It looks good just the way it is.″

″It does, but I think the red and gold glass bulbs will add a nice touch.″

Between the two of them, they had the tree finished in next to no time. Ray put the bulb boxes back in the bags for later when they had to take it down again. Ray always hated those days. They were depressing.

″Now for the topper. I didn’t know whether to get a star or an angel.″

Ben went to the hall closet and brought back a small carved star. It’d been stained a yellow color. ″I hope you don’t mind. I made this for the top.″

″Works for me. I can return the other stuff I bought next week. Neither look as nice as that.″

″I’m glad you like it. I wasn’t sure which custom you’d prefer.″

″Either works for me.″ Ray watched as Ben used a wire to attach it to the top. It was rustic and not shiny, kind of plain even, but it worked. It was so like Ben, one of a kind and special. ″You did a great job with that. You’re getting good with all the carving business.″

″Thank you kindly. I rather enjoy it. It’s very tactile.″

″Tactile?″

″Touchable. I like working with my hands.″

Ray snickered. ″I like when you work with your hands, too.″

Ben blushed at the sexy tease, but then came over and stood beside Ray. He wrapped an arm around his waist. ″It’s beautiful.″

″Yeah, and now all we need to do is add the presents, which means we’d better get busy wrapping.″

Ben turned and kissed him. He pulled back and caressed Ray’s face. ″Merry Christmas, Ray.″

″It’s going to be the best ever.″

″Indeed.″ Ben gave him another quick kiss before he released him. ″Would you like some coffee or hot chocolate to celebrate the erection of our tree?″

Ray laughed out loud. ″You said erection.″

Ben rolled his eyes, but he was grinning as he repeated his question. ″Coffee or chocolate?″

″Chocolate. I had coffee this morning. Besides, it’s tree day. It’ll always be hot chocolate.″

″Excellent. I even bought the tiny marshmallows you like.″

″You mean the ones you like.″

Ben blushed again. Busted. ″Right you are.″

Ray sat at the table and watched Ben move around the kitchen making their hot drinks. He had to admit he never expected to ever have a life where he could feel so damn cozy about putting up a Christmas tree with his partner. He just had to be sure not to fuck it up by being stupid.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ray knocked on the door and waited impatiently. He moved from foot-to-foot as Dief scratched to be let in, too. There was a whopper of a storm coming and it was too fucking cold to be standing out in the open too long, so he knocked again with a little more gusto.

The door jerked open and Vecchio stood there holding the baby. She was clutching her purple rabbit to her mouth. The thing was soggy as hell with baby slobber. Poor bunny. ″What are you doing here, Kowalski?″

Ray realized he should’ve called first. But he had a good excuse. He held up the fresh pine wreath Ben had made for their friend’s front door. ″Free delivery.″

Vecchio eyed the wreath with the big red ribbon, relaxed slightly and then motioned with his head. ″Come inside. I’m freezing my balls off standing here.″

As he walked in, Ray complained. ″That’s some mouth on you in front of the baby.″

″Fuck my mouth.″

″Not in this lifetime.″

Vecchio groaned at the weak joke. ″What a comedian.″

Little Bennie fussed and let out some little cries. She was not her normal happy self. ″What’s wrong with her?″

″Beats me.″ Vecchio bounced her a little as he walked back and forth. ″Look, I appreciate the wreath. Tell Benny I said thanks, but it’s not a good time for a visit.″

Ray put the decoration on the round kitchen table as Dief curled up over on the rug by the unlit fireplace. Ray took a long minute to study Vecchio. His eyes were bruised and bloodshot. He hadn’t shaved and he was wearing a stained blue shirt. He wore mismatched socks and no shoes. The normally dapper Italian was obviously having a tough time so Ray took pity. ″Look, I’m off today and just running errands. Why don’t I take her while you go get a shower and get cleaned up? She been fed yet?″

″She had her bottle half hour ago, but I couldn’t get her to burp.″

″Then that’s probably why she’s crying. Gas will do that.″

″When did you become a baby expert?″

″Believe it or not, research.″

″Research?″

Ray played it off like it was no big deal. When Vecchio first showed up on the scene with the kid, Ray made sure he knew how to take care of her. ″Hey, if I’m going to babysit, I want to do it right. Plus, I used to babysit my cousin’s kids when they were little and too young to be mouthy yet. So, let me take her while you take a minute for yourself.″

Vecchio hesitated. ″You sure?″

″I’m sure.″ Ray knew he had him then. He might not be a cop anymore, but he hadn’t lost his ability to read people. Vecchio was on the edge of losing it and needed a break. Single parenthood was never easy. Ray took off his gloves, hat and coat quickly and put them in the front closet. ″I’m sure. Now hand her over before I change my mind.″

″Thanks.″ Vecchio let Ray hold her and then stood there an extra moment. He rubbed his whiskers with both hands and shook his head, obviously in distress. ″I don’t know what I’m doing here. I’m horrible at this shit.″

″You’re doing fine. You’re just tired. Now, go get a shower. You stink of baby crap.″

″Now who’s got the bad mouth?″

After he left the room, Ray sat down holding Benita. He did his best to burp her, but all she did was whimper. It was one of the worst sounds in the world. ″Poor little thing. You got a belly ache?″

She stuffed her left fist in her mouth, gumming away. He tickled her cheek and then put her on his lap again as he gently patted and rubbed her back. He talked soft and slow. ″Better out than in, little lady. Come on. You can do it. Be a champ.″ After about two minutes she finally let out a huge belch along with way too much smelly spit up. It went all down her front and got on Ray’s jeans, but he still smiled. ″Way to go, Bennie.″

Luckily, there was a small damp cloth on the back of the sofa. Ray grabbed it and cleaned her up some before taking her to the nursery to do it right. While he was changing her, he realized that it just seemed to come natural. Were babies hard work? Sure. But for some reason, it didn’t bother Ray like he thought it would. He’d even gotten used to the nasty odors. Ben called it being nose blind. Whatever the reason, he was glad he didn’t gag anymore whenever he changed a diaper.

Once she was all fresh again, Ray took the bunny and replaced it with her second favorite toy, a blue elephant. She loved the nose and floppy ears. She didn’t even seem to notice when he put the soppy rabbit toy out of sight. It needed to be deep cleaned and dried before she played with it again.

They went back to the living room and Ray put her down on a fleece blanket for tummy time. As he took stock of the small home, he realized there wasn’t a single Christmas decoration anywhere, nothing, not even a candle or ornament. He thought Italians were all into Christmas, what with the Nativity scenes and lots of shiny stuff. He’d been to other cops homes and the Italians were all about the season. Something wasn’t right.

Though when he thought about it, Vecchio had his hands full just taking care of his child and keeping his head above water. He didn’t have time for the extras. Ray made a snap decision. He’d start with the wreath on the door first and go from there.

About thirty minutes later, Bennie had flipped onto her back and dropped off for a nap. Instead of moving her to her crib, Ray covered her with a blanket and just let her sleep. Vecchio came in looking and smelling a lot better than before. He whispered. ″Thanks.″

Ray kept his voice low, too. ″It’s no biggie. Everybody needs a hand now and again.″

Vecchio sat down in the chair by the sofa. He kept his eyes on the baby, not Ray. ″I’m not used to that.″

″What? Asking for help?″

″Yeah. I’m usually the one handling everything.″

″I get that. Ben’s the same way. He hates asking for help.″

″Tell me about it. He’s always had a thing about being in control.″

″Yeah, and we both know why.″

Vecchio lifted his head and met Ray’s gaze for the first time. ″His old man has a lot to answer for.″

Ray couldn’t disagree. ″He does. Anyway, don’t worry about it. All you have to do is call and one of us can be here pretty quick. I know it can’t be easy raising a kid on your own, especially in a new country.″

″I hate to admit it, but it’s harder than I thought it would be. I don’t know how moms do it.″

″Some don’t. We both know plenty who were lousy at it. But I get what you’re saying.″

Vecchio sat back, more relaxed. ″I guess I got lucky. I have a great mum.″

″Me, too. My mum is the best.″

″And your dad?″

″Not so much.″

″Join the crowd. What’s it say that all three of us had lousy fathers and we all ended up as cops?″

″I’m not sure, but probably nothing good.″ Ray wasn’t in the mood to talk more about his dad. He decided to change the subject. ″Ben tells me we’re coming here on Christmas day. That still on? I mean, you’ve got a lot going on.″

″I still want to do it. I want her first Christmas to be good, you know? I figure I can make most of the food the night or two before.″

″We could bring things.″

″Bring dessert if you want. I’ve got the rest of it all planned. It’s just I have to get out and get the ingredients. This weather doesn’t help.″

″It’s a pain. Anyway, if you decide you’d rather come to ours, we can do that, too. You don’t have impress us or kill yourself to cook a meal.″

″I won’t.″

″Well, look if you’re planning to play the holiday host, let me and Ben at least help make the place look the part.″

″What’s that mean?″

″You need a tree, Vecchio.″

″A tree?″ He waved his hands in dismissal. ″No, thanks. I had enough of that stuff back in Chicago. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get needles out of a carpet?″

Ray snorted. ″I supposed you like the fake ones?″

″Works for me. Put it up and then put it back in the box a few days later, no fuss, no bother.″

″No holiday spirit.″

″Now you sound like Benny.″

Ray had to laugh. There was a time he’d have been on Vecchio’s side with the artificial tree deal. No fuss, no bother would’ve been his chorus, too. But those times were gone. ″Well, you hook up with a Canadian, you learn to love the real thing.″

Vecchio snorted in amusement. ″Yeah, Benny never met a tree he didn’t hug. But about getting me one set up, forget about it. I might get a small one but I don’t want to bother with all the rest of it. It’s too much trouble, at least for now. I’m fixing a big meal and making sure she gets lots of presents. Maybe next year I’ll pop for a tree.″

″Your loss. If you change your mind, call. We’ve got a whole forest full of the things. As soon as the storm is over, we’ll cut one and get it to you before the big day.″

″Storm?″

Ray leaned forward, suddenly concerned. ″Look, you live in Canada now. You need to pay attention to the weather reports. Storms can come in fast and stick around a day or two. You need to make sure you’ve got supplies in and don’t leave the house unless you have to. It gets so bad they even close the roads. These ain’t the storms like we had back in Chicago. These are killers.″

″It’s just weather, Kowalski, but I take your point. It’s pretty damn cold here.″

″And it gets colder if your power goes out.″ Ray saw that the log pile by the fireplace was low. ″You got a wood supply out back?″

″Yeah, but I don’t like having a fire with the baby.″

″But you should still get some extra logs inside before the storm hits. If the power goes out, that’s your only source of heat.″

″Fuck.″

″I know.″ Ray stood up, went to the closet and put on his outerwear. ″I’ll do it this time, but in the future, don’t let your wood supply get this low inside. You don’t want to be without heat, not when it’s negative twenty outside and there’s a white out.″

″Tell me again why I moved here? I must have been crazy.″

″You wanted a new life. Welcome to Canada. It’s the kind of beautiful that can kill a guy if he’s not careful.″

Ray headed out into the backyard with the wood bag, thinking to himself. ″Amateur.″

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The storm was raging outside, heavy snow, high winds that nearly knocked him off his feet and ice thrown in for good measure. It was the Canadian Trifecta weather-wise. Ray got the fire started and turned on the coffee maker. If the power went out, he wanted to at least have some hot caffeine in his system first. It was going to be a hell of a long night. He called the station and Ben picked up by the third ring. ″Sergeant Benton Fraser, Whitehorse RCMP station. How may I be of assistance?″

″Ben, it’s Ray.″

His partner dropped the official phone voice for his warmer personal one. ″You’re using the house phone.″

″Can’t get a signal on the cell. They closed the road right behind me. You won’t be able to get home unless they open it again before you get off work.″

″I was going to call you. I’ll be staying here for a double shift, maybe longer. The roads are treacherous. All of us will be remaining on duty until the morning. We’re only answering emergency call outs. Local businesses have been told to close early due to safety concerns. Conditions are deteriorating rapidly.″

″Any power outages yet?″

″Not yet, but they’re likely to come. I primed the generator and got extra wood in before I left this morning just in case that happened.″

″I saw that. Thanks. Man, Ben, I hate that you’re stuck there, but better there safe than out on the roads right now. It was a real carnival ride getting home. Dief wasn’t happy.″

″None of us are happy, Ray. You need to be sure not to leave the cabin. Stay put until this storm passes.″

″I’m not an idiot. I’m not going anywhere.″

″Good.″

″Oh, and I delivered the wreath to Vecchio. I also got his wood inside and warned him about not leaving the house in this weather.″

″I’m sure he has enough common sense to know that.″

″I would hope so, but to be honest, he’s not doing great right now. I think this whole single fatherhood business is getting him down.″

″I can understand that. It’s a huge responsibility to raise a child.″

Tired of talking about Vecchio, Ray complained. ″I hate that you’re stuck there, but be safe, okay?″

″I will.″ Ben’s voice got softer like he didn’t want others to hear. ″I love you, Ray. Be careful. They’re saying the wind gusts could be record breaking.″

″I love you, too. Just take care of yourself. No playing hero if you don’t have to.″

″Understood.″

Ben disconnected the call and right on cue the lights flickered a few times and the power gave up the ghost. Well fuck.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

God, how Ray hated winter. Why the fuck was he living in a country where winter was the main season? As he sat huddled on the sofa next to the wolf, he stared at the fire wishing like hell that the storm would be over soon. The wind howled outside and he could actually hear the ominous creaking sounds of the wood of the building. He closed his eyes and prayed that the cabin would remain standing and that they’d still have a roof when it was over. The whole night dragged on and was the longest night in history. Well, except for that time in the hospital when Ben had his back surgery. Other than that, it was the longest fucking night he could remember.

Ray wrapped his arm around the wolf and held him close. Dief rarely got on the sofa and was usually content to just sleep curled up on the floor next to the fire. Ray figured it was the wind or whatever extra sense that animals had that something wasn’t right that got the wolf up close and personal so that they both could be warm.

Sleep was an alien concept when the world was a white bomb all around. He only knew it was eight in the morning by checking out the clock. It was still dark but white at the same time. He didn’t know how the world managed that, but it somehow did.

The phone rang and he jumped. He snatched it up. ″Ben?″

″Vecchio.″

Disappointed, Ray asked, ″What’s up?″

″I’ve got no power and don’t know how long it might be out. I thought you guys might know.″

Ray thought of another Christmas present Vecchio needed, a battery-operated radio for weather emergencies. Every home needed one in this neck of the woods.

″Ben’s at the station, pulled double duty. The roads are closed. I just heard on the weather report that the storm should end around noon today. You got the fire going?″

″I do, thank god. I’ve never seen such crazy weather.″

″This is worse than usual. I knew it was going to be bad, but not this bad. Just hang in there. If you want, you can ask Ben to stop by after the storm if you need something.″

″Any idea on how long the power will be out once the storm stops?″

″They usually get it back on pretty quick if you’re in town, but I’m not sure. Just hang in there and keep feeding the fire. How’s the baby?″

″It’s weird.″

″What is?″

″She’s sleeping better than usual. She’s not bothered by the wind noise at all.″

″Good for her. I wish I could’ve channeled that last night.″

″Yeah, I didn’t sleep, either. Well, thanks, Kowalski. I’ll let you go.″

″Later.″

Ray had no sooner hung up and the phone rang again. This time it was Ben. ″Ray, I’m sorry. I can’t get home yet.″

He was disappointed, but not surprised, not with the storm still raging. ″I figured. Any estimate on when you can leave?″

Ben answered, his voice tight. ″I’m not sure. There’s been an incident.″

″What kind of incident?″

″A unit went out on an emergency call last night. The car went off the road and one of the constables is in critical condition. We’re not sure if he’ll survive.″

Ray knew what that was like. Having a fellow officer injured in the line of duty hurt like hell. ″I’m sorry. I hope he’ll be okay.″

″And the worst part is that it was apparently a prank call.″

Well fuck. ″A prank call?″

″Yes. Children.″

Double fuck. Kids could be seriously evil little shits when left to their own devices. ″I don’t even know what to say other than that sucks.″

″At any rate, I thought I’d let you know that I’ll be delayed a while longer. How are things at home?″

″Still standing. This is a hell of a storm. The walls are shaking, but hanging in there.″

″It’s a record breaker on all levels, Ray. Listen, I have to go, but I will keep you updated. I’ll call right before I leave.″

″Thanks.″ Before Ben hung up, Ray added, ″Oh, you might want to check on Vecchio. I think he’s freaking out a little with not having power.″

″The power should be restored in town soon, but I will give him a call to reassure him. I doubt power will be returned to our place until tomorrow or the next day.″

″Then bring some extra gas for the generator when you come home. I’m just using it for the refrigerator and a few lights, but I don’t want to run out.″

″There are two extra containers in the storage shed, but I’ll bring more if I get a chance. Love you.″

″Love you, too.″

Once the line closed, Ray hugged Dief a little harder. ″Looks like we’re on our own just a little while longer, big guy.″

It was almost like the animal understood the words. He rubbed his face against Ray and lay down beside him to rest his head in his lap. Petting his fur, Ray was so glad that his companion would be with them a while longer.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The storm stopped almost like magic, suddenly and without warning, around noon. The howling high winds ended and the snow stopped swirling. Ray could actually see out the front window for the first time since two the day before. It was like a winter wonderland, something off a beautiful Christmas card all covered with glitter. But Ray knew from experience that it was cold as fuck out and that there was at least eight new inches of snow on the ground. Luckily, it was super fine, dry snow, not the wet heavy stuff. Bundled up, Ray went outside with Dief and did his best to shovel a path from the parking area to the porch. He also dug out his truck in case of an emergency. They really needed a garage, but Ben had vetoed that idea because of the expense. Ray was freezing by the time he finished and they got back inside.

Instead of gloves, he wore mittens for the task. Ray discovered that they kept his hands a little warmer than gloves, but not by much. He held them up in front of the fire to warm them. He checked out the clock. It was after four in the afternoon. Ben had been on duty for more than three twelve-hour shifts in a row. He was tempted to call the station again, but he resisted. Ray knew what it was like at a cop shop during emergencies, all hands on deck, everyone busy and running on coffee and adrenaline. Well, in Ben’s case it was strong tea instead of coffee, but it was the same principle. Luckily, Ben didn’t need as much sleep as most people, but he was still human, not some superman. He needed rest like anyone else.

The phone rang and he snatched it up. ″Ben?″

″Ezra Crow.″

Ray frowned worried that something might be wrong. ″Ezra? What’s up?″

″Just wanted to let you know that Fraser’s on his way home. I kicked his ass out, but I thought I’d let you know he’s headed in your direction.″

″Why didn’t he call me himself?″

″Well, he might have, but I insisted that he leave before he fell out. He’s been going nonstop for nearly 36 hours now. No downtime. Wouldn’t even take a food break and drank his tea on his feet, but made sure the rest got fed and got some sleep. He’s a little punch drunk if I’m honest. In fact, I wanted to have a unit drive him home, but he insisted he was capable of doing it himself. If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know he made it home okay. I’ve gotten some sleep so I’m staying here throughout the night shift.″

″When did he leave the station?″

″I should’ve called you as soon as he left, but we had an emergency come up. It was about forty minutes ago, right after they opened the highway out to your place. They’re still advising people to stay off the roads, but he’s used to the bad conditions. It should be fine.″

Before Ray could answer he heard the Jeep engine. He glanced outside the window and saw his partner pull up in the parking area he’d just cleared. The tight band around his gut eased up in relief. ″He made it. He’s here.″

″Good. I’m glad he made it home okay.″

″I appreciate you calling, Ezra.″

″No problem. In case I don’t get to talk to you again before the holiday, Merry Christmas, Ray.″

″Same to you.″

As soon as the call ended, Dief went to the door and waited patiently. A minute later, Ben got inside and shut the door. He petted the anxious wolf just before Ray wrapped him in a hungry hug. ″Welcome home.″ As he held him, Ray felt the tension all through Ben’s body even through the heavy Mountie winter wear.

Ben kissed him and pulled away. ″Thank you for clearing the path. I was afraid I would need snowshoes to get inside.″

″Never fear. You hungry?″

″No, thank you.″ Taking off his hat and coat, he shook his head as if to clear it before putting his stuff in the closet. Then he removed his gun to store it. His movements were steady, but a bit slower than usual. ″I’m sorry, but I just need to lie down and get some sleep. I haven’t been this tired in a long time.″

Ray saw the tight lines and pale features. It must have been a rough time because Ben’s tough five o’clock shadow hadn’t been taken off. He had a real beard starting, something Ben would never normally let happen while he was working. He even kept a disposable razor at work just in case he stayed over. ″You need a shave, too.″

Ben rubbed his whiskers. ″I do, but not now. I’ll sleep a few hours and be able to join you for something to eat later.″

Ray walked over and caressed the side of his face. ″Sleep as long as you need to. You look exhausted.″

″I feel exhausted.″

Ray gave him a quick kiss and then used both his hands to turn and push him toward the bedroom. ″Then go sleep. Do you need help undressing?″

″I fear such help would be wasted.″

″Wasted?″

″I’m too tired to reciprocate so we can both enjoy it.″

Ray chuckled. ″You saying you’re too pooped to fuck?″

″Crudely put, but accurate.″

″Go to bed, Ben. I’ll be here when you get up.″

Ray watched as Ben didn’t look back and held the wall as he dragged himself off to sleep. As much as he’d have liked to spend time with his partner after being alone all night and day, Ray was satisfied with just having him home and safe, getting ready to rest and recover in their bed.

As he turned to go sit on the sofa, the lights flickered and came on. Ray could say one thing about the Whitehorse power folks. They were better about getting power restored after a storm than those in Chicago. Granted, it was a smaller city, but still he was happy to have electricity back. He put his heavy coat on once again to go turn off the generator. Then he’d wait for his sleeping beauty to wake up.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″You’ve been busy.″

Ray looked up from one of Ben’s books about the Franklin Expedition. It was one of the better ones and had a lot of pictures and maps. Ray was on his third read through. ″Not that busy. You look a lot better.″

Ben wore his red thermal long johns. His unruly cowlick was standing straight up in the back. He looked adorable and very fuckable.

″I feel better.″

″It’s only ten. You need more sleep.″

″I do, but I needed to relieve myself. Plus, I suddenly realized I’m actually starving.″

Ray put the book on the side table and stood up. ″That’s good because I made a big batch of bean soup with that ham bone we had left over. I’ll heat you up a bowl. You want a sandwich to go with it?″

″No, the soup will do nicely.″

″Have a seat. I’ll get it and make you some tea, too.″

″Thank you.″

Ben sat down at the kitchen table, running his hand through his hair trying to tame it, but it was a losing battle. Plus, he still had the beard thing going on. It seemed so strange for Ben not to be clean shaven. Ray busied himself with the soup and got the tea done first. He put the cup in front of his partner. ″You want to tell me about all that went on?″

″Not right now, Ray.″ Ben sniffed and then sipped the tea. ″I can tell you that Constable Newcastle will make it. His condition has been upgraded from critical to serious, but stable.″

″That’s a relief.″

″It is.″

Ray remembered that name from somewhere. ″Newcastle? Isn’t he one of the recruits you trained?″

″He is, or was. He’s a fine officer. I think he’ll likely be a corporal within the year. I’ve been impressed with his service and dedication to duty.″

″I’m sorry he was hurt. What’s going to happen to the kids who phoned in the prank?″

″I don’t know. That’s up to the crown to decide. They’re discussing whether the parent might also be held accountable for her actions since both boys were quite young, nine and ten and left on their own during the storm. Their mother was at a pregnant cousin’s house delivering groceries, but was delayed in returning home because of the road conditions.″

″She should’ve probably taken her own kids over there, too, but it’s a tough call. She probably didn’t want to risk taking them out in that weather. It’s kind of a rock and hard place situation. I’m glad I’m not working the case.″

″Indeed.″

Ray poured the soup into a bowl and handed it to Ben. ″You want some cornbread? I made a fresh batch.″

″That sounds delicious. Thank you.″

Ray got him the cornbread and then sat down in the chair beside him. As Ben ate, he just watched him and thought about how easily it could’ve been Ben in that patrol car. It could’ve been his partner who went off the road and was critically injured. He shuddered, thinking how grateful he was that it wasn’t Ben who was hurt.

″Ray?″

″What?″

″Is something wrong?″

Ben was always tuned into Ray’s mood. It was hard to get anything past him. ″I’m just happy you’re home and you weren’t the one who went off the road, that’s all.″

″Understood.″

Ben finished the soup, but before he could take the empty bowl to the sink, Ray did it for him. As he washed up, Ben finished his tea. Then he said, ″You’ve been busy wrapping.″

Ray glanced over at all the presents piled under the tree. There were about half a dozen mostly in red paper with gold ribbon and bows. ″Yeah, well, I didn’t have much else to do. Thought I’d make myself useful. Most of those are for Vecchio and the baby, but there might be one or two for you to unwrap. You got some catching up to do.″

″I do, indeed.″

Ray dried off his hands and hung up the dish towel. He turned and leaned back against the counter. ″Enough chitchat. Dief’s been out, I’m tired and you need more sleep. Let’s hit the hay.″

Instead of playing their little lingo game about what the phrase hitting the hay meant, Ben simply surrendered and stood up. ″I daresay I’ll sleep a lot better when you join me.″

″More than happy to oblige.″ As the walked to the bedroom together, Ray wondered if after sleeping all night whether Ben would be in the mood in the morning and how that beard would feel against all the tender places. He figured he might find out if he was lucky.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ray blinked several times as he struggled to wake up. He saw Ben standing naked in the doorway to the bathroom drying off from the shower. He’d also already shaved. Well, damn.

Ray glanced over at the bedside clock and frowned at the time. It was only six in the morning. ″What are you doing up so early?″

″With the roads as bad as they are, I need to leave a little earlier than normal.″

Scrubbing his face, Ray took an extra moment to really clear his head. He sat up and leaned back against the headboard as he pulled the blanket a little higher to stay warm. ″You worked an extra shift, more than an extra shift. Don’t you have the day off?″

″Well, I could have, but I thought I could take off on Friday instead. Ezra approved it.″

Ray disappointment shifted to surprise and then joy as he realized what that meant for his holiday plans. ″You’ll be off all day Christmas eve?″

″Barring another storm or unforeseen circumstances, yes.″

Smiling, Ray was thrilled. He’d accepted that Ben would be on duty most of the day on Christmas eve, but now they could spend the whole day together. For Ray Christmas eve was the big day, the real Christmas. ″That’s great.″

″I thought you’d be pleased.″

″I am. This makes for a whole different game plan. We can go all out on making the Christmas meal. I can help with both the shopping and cooking. We don’t have to rush around after you get off work.″

″That’s true. Though I do plan to buy most of what we need the day before. I don’t like waiting until the last minute. I already have the menu sorted and planned the timeline for cooking.″

″Sounds good to me.″

Ben finished towel drying his hair and then turned to go back into the bathroom to dress. Ray lay there, happy with the change of schedule. Things were looking up.

Ray wasn’t normally a morning person, but he was suddenly more energized. He swung his legs out of bed and pulled on his flannel robe. Standing in the doorway, he grinned as he watched Ben dressing. ″You hungry?″

″I thought I’d stop at the diner or bakery and get something on the way in.″

″I’ll fix you some tea and eggs instead.″

″Do I have time?″

″Make time. It won’t take long.″ Ray walked over and gave him a quick kiss. ″Eggs and toast coming up.″

As he walked into the living room/kitchen area, Dief raised his sleepy head. ″Morning, Buddy.″ Ray let him out and then proceeded to make the best morning send off a Mountie could have minus the sex.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ben put the finishing touches on the domestic violence report and sent it to the printer as well as digital records. He had to admit that the week had flown by as the city, including the police, worked to clean up the storm mess. He was proud to say that they’d gotten everything running like normal in less than 48 hours. It was nearly end of shift on Thursday and he would be free for both Christmas eve and the big day itself. He also had Sunday off as well. He was looking forward to the time off to be with Ray.

Ben smiled to himself as he thought of how much fun Ray was having with his gift project. It wasn’t so much getting the presents themselves, but the idea of keeping it all secret from Ben’s deductive powers. It was like a game and they were both enjoying it.

″What’s put that smile on your face? Or is it safe to ask?″

Ben glanced up to see his friend observing at him with amusement. Cheeks heating, Ben once again raged internally against how his body never let him be cool like Ray. ″I was just thinking that I’ll be happy to have this weekend off for the holidays.″

″Yeah, you got lucky with that. But you deserve the extra time. You pulled out all the stops during the storm. Speaking of which, I have an update on Constable Newcastle. His wife called to let me know what the doctors said. As of this afternoon, he’s been upgraded to satisfactory condition.″

″I’m glad to hear it.″

″He’s still in the hospital. A concussion along with the broken right arm are the worst of it. He’s pretty much black and blue all over, but he’s doing a lot better. It’s going to keep him out of commission for about six weeks, but he’ll make it back. They’re talking about releasing him right after Christmas if he keeps improving. Concussions are tricky, so the don’t want to risk letting him out too soon.″

″It’s good news though. I’m sure his wife is pleased.″

″His parents and siblings are, too. I went to school with his brother Tommy Newcastle. He was a hell of a quarterback for the high school.″

″You played football?″

Ezra chuckled. ″Look at me, Fraser. I’m too big to play much of anything else.″

His friend had a point. Ezra Crow was a giant of a man. At six foot five and two hundred and forty pounds, Ezra was one of the tallest and heaviest men in the service. However, Ben had been amazed to find that despite his huge size, Ezra was still incredibly quick and nimble out in the field. His skills were impressive. ″I don’t know. You’re fast, as fast as I am. I could see you participating in track, especially cross country.″

″Thanks, but running just to run never really appealed to me. That was my brother Mitchell’s thing. I prefer team sports.″ Ezra quickly changed the subject. ″Anyway, since I won’t see you tomorrow, I wanted to give you this.″

Ezra held out an envelope and Ben took it. When he opened it, his eyes widened in surprise. ″Tickets to the National Tribal Charity concert on New Year’s eve? I thought these were sold out.″

″They are. My cousin got a pair of tickets as a gift from her work but she and her husband have other plans for the night. I knew you were looking for tickets, so I thought you’d appreciate them.″

The concert was part of a hugely successful Canadian tour celebrating Indigenous music and dance. The Whitehorse concert was being given for charity, the money going to the local homeless shelter and food pantry. He’d been totally unsuccessful at finding two tickets anywhere. ″I should pay you.″

″They’re a gift and the money’s for a good cause. Make a donation on the night if you want. I hope you and Ray will enjoy the show. My wife and I will be there, too. We know several people in the dance group.″

″I’m deeply moved, Ezra. Thank you.″

Ben reached into his desk and pulled out a small gift. ″This seems puny in comparison.″

″I’ll be the judge of that, my friend.″ Ezra removed the paper and held the six inch carving of a howling wolf sitting on a hillside. It was made of pine wood and had been burnished with several coats of wax. Smiling, he spoke quietly. ″It’s beautiful. Such fine detail.″ He turned to Ben and asked. ″You did this?″

″It’s a hobby and my own design, yes. I thought you’d like it.″

″I do. The wolf is a powerful symbol to my people.″

″I know.″

″Thank you, Fraser. I know Christmas is a Christian holiday, but I respect the principles behind it. I wish you a Merry Christmas.″

″And I you, my friend.″

Nodding, Ezra stared at the carving with admiration and headed back to his desk. He put it next to his computer as he sat back down to finish his reports.

Ben slipped the tickets into his pocket and decided it was time to head home, time to start the Christmas he planned with the man he loved. Ray might hide a boxed present, but the real gift was just being in his life.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ray tied the last gold bow on the red package. Proud of his achievement, he put it under the tree and stood back to give it a quick appraisal. It looked perfect. The lights, the presents, it was all symbolic of their new life together in Canada. He found his eyes stinging with tears when he thought back over all the changes and troubles they’d gone through to get where they were now. God, he was such a romantic sap.

″It’s a fine tree. We never had anything like this when I was a child.″

Ray turned to see his ghostly father-in-law admiring their work. ″Ben said they never had one when he was a child, either. Never even had a stocking to fill.″

Bob frowned and shook his head. ″That’s not true, not entirely.″

″You saying he’s lying?″

″No. It’s true about his time with my parents. They did very little for any holiday. Christmas was no exception.″

″Well, that sucks.″

″But he apparently doesn’t remember the times with his mother. Before she died, she did her best to make wonderful holidays for the boy. She spoiled him something terrible. Gave him books and toys along with candy. Granted, we might not have cut down a tree to display, but that was only because of where we lived. Trees were for building and fuel. We couldn’t afford to use them for decorations.″

Ray once again marveled at how different his childhood was from his partner’s. That was one thing his mum always insisted on, a tree and making sure Ray had at least one great present every year along with lots of sweet treats. Apparently Ben was lucky to get a day off from chores. It made him sad and mad at the same time to think about what Ben missed out on.

Ray tried to keep the anger out of his voice. ″He says he doesn’t remember much about that time, which is odd considering he remembers everything else that’s ever been said or done around him.″

″Trauma affects one’s memories. There’s nothing quite so traumatic as losing one’s mother.″

Ray bit his tongue, not saying that his father leaving him didn’t help, either, but as usual he couldn’t hide what he was thinking.

″I know my leaving like I did hurt him. I regret that.″

″You should. I mean, if I had a kid who just lost his mum, there’s no way I could leave him on his own with people who hardly knew him.″

″I won’t try to justify my actions. I just know that at the time, I was in no condition to care for him.″

″Okay, I could see that for a little while, a few months maybe to get yourself together. It had to knock you off your ass to lose the love of your life.″ Ray turned and faced the ghost of Ben’s father head on. He said what he’d been holding back for ages. ″But you left him alone long after you started working again. What was your excuse for that, old man? Did you think he didn’t need you or did you just think of yourself?″

Bob Fraser didn’t answer right away, just flickered a few times before he finally spoke. ″The truth? The longer I was away, the harder it was to return. I’d look at him and see his mother, a woman I failed to protect. It was just easier for me to stay away.″

″Easier for you, not for Ben.″

″You’re right.″ Bob smoothed down his left eyebrow, much like how Ben did it. ″He says he’s forgiven me. He seems to be genuine in his feelings.″

Ray pushed down the rage. What good did it do to be pissed off at a ghost who was trying to at least make amends? ″He told me that, too. He’s a better man than I am.″

Bob brought his head up and took a deep ghostly breath. ″He’s a fine man, but you are, too. I commend you for defending him.″

″Someone has to.″

″Indeed.″ Bob Fraser walked over to the Christmas tree, bent down and reached out to ghost his hand over the last gift that Ray had put there. ″Oh, he’ll like this.″

″You think so?″

″Oh, yes. Good thinking.″

And with that, he stood straight again. ″Merry Christmas. Tell Benton.″

″Why can’t you stay and tell him?″

″I have to go and might not be back for a while.″

Ray frowned in confusion. ″Why not?″

″It’s Christmas. There’s choir practice and then the concert for the orphans. So many things to do. Even in the afterlife, holidays are hectic.″ Then he simply blinked away. Ray scratched his head and wished like hell that his father-in-law would stop being so unpredictable about when he showed up. Then again, as a ghost he might not have much choice in the matter.

Ray heard the sound of Ben’s Jeep parking outside. He’d just missed his old man, but that was nothing new. He’d been doing that his whole life.

As Ben came through the door, Ray wrapped him in a big hug before he even took his coat off. ″God, I’m glad you’re home. Your dad was just here.″

Ben pulled away. ″And he didn’t stay?″

″Said he had things to do.″

Ben smirked. ″Nothing much changes even after he’s dead.″

″For real. But he did say to tell you Merry Christmas.″

″That’s something I suppose.″

As Ray helped him off with the coat, he couldn’t contain the good news. ″Guess what.″

″What?″

″Got a call from the vet. Dief’s lab tests all came back negative. He’s good.″

Ben face lit up with joy, his eyes sparkling. ″That’s wonderful news.″

″It is. And to celebrate, I’m making supper tonight.″

″You’ve made supper all week.″

″I know, but I splurged and broke the budget. I’m making a roast with potatoes, onions and carrots for supper. Apple pie for dessert with vanilla ice cream.″

″You baked an apple pie?″

″I bought it. I wanted you to keep breathing through Christmas.″

Ben grinned. ″I appreciate that, Ray, thank you.″

″So, you go change into something comfortable and I’ll finish making your tea.″

″You spoil me.″

″You deserve it.″

″I love you.″

″Right back at you.″

Ben gave him a quick kiss and then walked over to bend down to pet the wolf. ″Congratulations, old friend. I’m relieved you’ll be with us a good while longer.″

Dief licked his face and hand. Ray chimed in. ″You might want to get a shower while you’re at it.″

″What? You don’t like wolf spittle?″

″Spittle, slobber, whatever. I’m used to it. I’m just thinking that you might want to clean up and shave. I think tonight will be a nice preview for the big day tomorrow.″

Ben stood up and smiled. ″You want to open your present early?″

Ray moved the tea kettle to the side and turned off the burner. ″You don’t have to ask me twice.″

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ray woke up and smiled when he remembered what day it was. Christmas eve. It was his favorite day of the year, bar none. When he was little, he’d be a terror all day long, annoying his parents and asking, ‘Is it time yet?’. It was so hard to wait, but waiting made it even better when the time actually came.

When Ray was very small, younger than five, his mother would make him take a nap before supper and that was pure torture. He wasn’t a nap kind of kid, never was. Why would Christmas eve be any different? It wasn’t. But when he finally was allowed to come to the table by way of the Christmas tree, he’d squeal in delight at the bike or wagon under the tree. Santa always came early at the Kowalski’s.

He’d run over and be greeted with presents that his mum and pop would let him open ahead of the big meal. He figured he’d worn them down enough that they wanted to eat in peace. And it worked, mostly. He’d chatter nonstop about all the places he’d ride or take his toys around the trailer park. He’d show off to his friends the day after Christmas or when school started after the break.

Man oh man, how he loved Christmas eve. And it wasn’t just the presents, though that was a big part of it when he was a kid. It was being with his parents and seeing relatives drop by, people he didn’t really see that often except on the other biggies like Easter and Thanksgiving. It was all good, all the cousins running around playing and whooping, having a great time.

As an adult, it got even better, at least for a while. He’d spend time with Stella and their friends. It was nearly always a good time, well, except after the divorce. There were a couple of bad years after that, but then he met Ben and it all turned around, got better again. And because of that, he was bound and determined this was going to be one of the best Christmas eves ever.

Lying there, Ray smelled something delicious from the other room. Cinnamon and coffee. He threw back the covers, grabbed his robe and headed to the kitchen to find Ben kneading dough on the table. ″Morning, Ray.″

″Morning. I smell something tasty.″ His stomach growled to second that opinion.

″You do, indeed. Have a seat and I’ll pour you some coffee. The rolls are nearly done.″

″Rolls? Cinnamon rolls?″

″Yes. I got the recipe from Turnbull.″

″There’s a name I hadn’t thought of in a while.″

Ray motioned back toward the bedroom. ″I’ve got to go first. I’ll be right back.″

″No hurry. We have all day.″

Despite Ben telling him not to hurry, Ray didn’t listen. He hadn’t had homemade cinnamon rolls in years. His mother used to make them when he was a kid. After he relieved himself, he washed up and headed back to the table. He sat down just as Ben pulled a big pan of the baked goods out of the oven. They smelled delicious. Ray couldn’t wait to chow down. Ben put his coffee in front of him. ″They have to cool a little so I can add the frosting.″

″I’m not good at waiting.″ Ben laughed like Ray had told the funniest joke in the world. He tried not to be offended. ″It isn’t THAT funny.″

″It really is. Understatement is always rife with humor.″

It wasn’t worth fighting about, especially since Ben had a point. Ray changed the subject. ″How long have you been up and why didn’t I hear you?″

″I’ve been up several hours. I wanted the dough to have time to proof. As to why you didn’t wake, I would imagine it’s because you were tired.″

Ray grinned over the coffee cup and then shrugged. ″Well, you did sort of wear me out last night. Thank you for that by the way.″

″You’re welcome, and thank you as well. I do believe the pleasure was quite mutual.″

″For sure.″

Ben dribbled some thin white frosting over the top of the rolls and then served a couple on a plate while they were still hot. He handed it to Ray. After only one bite, Ray closed his eyes. He hadn’t had anything so sweet and good in ages.

Bean asked, ″You like it?″

″I need to send Turnbull a gift basket of cheese. These are delicious.″

″I’m glad.″

″Not that I’m complaining but why this morning? You’ve never made them before.″

″Well, they do take a little time to prepare, but mainly I wanted to surprise you. I remember you mentioning before that your mother used to make them on special occasions like Christmas and your birthday.″

Ray had no memory of telling Ben that little tidbit. ″When did I say that?″

″It was a few weeks after we first met. We were on the Tolliver stakeout.″

″But that was over two years ago. You remember that?″

Ben finished kneading the bread and put it in a bowl before draping a dish towel over the top. ″I remember everything you tell me, Ray.″

″Everything?″

″Yes.″

″Even then bad stuff?″

Ben met his gaze. ″Everything, Ray. However, I prefer to focus on the good things.″

Ray stood up and came around the table. He wrapped his arms around Ben’s middle and pulled him closer. He kissed him and then whispered. ″I love you. That’s the main good thing to remember.″

Ben kissed him back as his answer.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ray sat on the sofa and studied the pile of presents under the tree. There were a few more there than the day before. He grinned at that. He was tempted to shake the ones with his name on them, but he didn’t dare while Ben was still working in the kitchen. It was almost like the man could read his mind. ″It won’t be much longer, Ray. The chicken is almost done and the vegetables will be ready soon after. Then, and only then, can you open the presents.″

″You’re getting as bad as your old man knowing what I’m thinking.″

″It’s Christmas, Ray. There’s no need to be insulting.″

″I’m not insulting, just stating a fact.″ Ray got up and walked over to the table which was fancier than usual with a table cloth and a centerpiece with a candle along with some pines and greenery. He’d offered to help earlier, but Ben said he had it all in hand so he didn’t push. Maybe he should have. Ben was doing all the heavy lifting. ″You sure I can’t help?″

″There’s nothing much left to do. But you can let Diefenbaker back in and then wash up before I serve.″

″Sure.″ Ray went over and let the wolf in. The animal proceeded to shake and throw wet snow all over the place. Then he went to settle in front of the fire. He’d already been fed, so it was nap time for Furface.

Ray went to the bathroom, washed and dried his hands. He checked himself out in the mirror. He’s shaved a little later in the day than usual and he’d used a touch of gel for the hair. Ben liked it when it stood up some.

Then he went to the bedroom closet and pulled out the last present he’d wrapped. He walked back into the living room and put it under the tree before sitting at the table. Ben raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he put the chicken in the center of the table before sitting down to join Ray. ″Dinner is served.″

″It looks and smells fantastic.″

″I tried to fix some of your favorite things.″

″I see that.″ And he did. Ben had fixed the sides of mashed potatoes with lots of butter, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mac and cheese. There were some green beans for Ben, too. Put it all together with fresh rolls and it was carb city, but Ray didn’t care. Christmas eve was only once a year. He’d work out and burn off the extra calories next week. He piled his plate high and dug in.

Ben didn’t bother with the mac and cheese or stuffing. He also took much smaller portions. Ray complained. ″I’m going to get fat eating all this. The least you can do is join me.″

″You’re not going to get fat, Ray. I just wanted to save room for dessert.″

Even stuffed, Ray couldn’t help but smile. ″Chocolate pie. Yep.″ Ray patted his belly and pointed at the lower left side. ″I’ve got one little spot for it right over here.″

″I don’t know how.″

″Hey, I might be skinny, but my belly is mighty from practice.″

Ben chuckled and finished his meal. He got up and put his empty plate in the soapy water. Ray said, ″You don’t have to do that. I’ll do the dishes after we’re done. You cooked it all.″

″I don’t mind. For a large meal like this, it’s easier just to do it as we go along.″

″You sure?″

″I am.″

There was no way Ray wanted to fight about doing dishes. Instead, he just went along with it to make Ben happy.

″All righty then.″ Ray held up his own empty plate and Ben took it. Ray asked, ″You want me to cut the pie?″

″I’ll do it.″

After the pie was served and eaten, Ray sat back and undid his belt buckle. ″Don’t judge me if I grow too big for my britches.″

″In some cultures it’s a great compliment when one eats to excess.″

″Good, because you keep cooking like this and I’m going to be the one in excess. But I’ll be happy. Yum. Best meal you’ve ever cooked.″

Ben seemed very pleased, grinning while he cleared the table. ″I’m glad you liked it.″

″Yep, you did yourself proud. We’ve got plenty for leftovers, too.″

″We do.″

″We’ll be eating great for days.″

Ray got up from the table and helped Ben finish the clearing up. By the time they were done, Ray was more than ready for the grand finale. ″Can we do presents yet?″

Instead of agreeing right away, Ben surprised him. ″I thought we might drive into town and look at some of the light displays instead.″

Excited, Ray couldn’t believe it. ″But you said it was a waste of energy and that we shouldn’t do it.″

″I know, but I’ve reconsidered. You said you enjoyed it as a child.″

″But I’m not a kid anymore.″

″No, but would you still like to do it? The roads are clear tonight and most of the subdivisions have been cleaned off, too. It’ll only take an hour or so.″

″Hey, you don’t have to convince me. I’ll get our coats. We taking the wolf?″

″Of course. Diefenbaker has often remarked at how much he enjoys the folly and excesses of man during the holiday.″

″Folly and excesses?″

″In a matter of speaking. He’s rather philosophical for a wolf.″

Ray chuckled and handed Ben his heavy coat and the Stetson. ″So, truck or jeep?″

″Jeep. That way you can check out the lights easier without getting too distracted to pay attention to traffic.″

″You saying you think I’d get distracted and crash the truck?″

″Not at all.″

But Ray didn’t believe it for a second. Then again, why take the chance? ″Good. You drive. Jeep it is.″

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

″That was fun.″ As they entered the cabin, Ray was laughing. ″I loved the one with Santa going down the chimney headfirst into the igloo best, but the tropical Santa was a close second.″

″They were very creative light displays. It’s hard to pick a winner.″

″It’s a shame we can’t put up lights.″

Ben put their coats away and went to relight the evening fire. ″We could put up lights.″

″But no one would see them, so what would be the point?″

″We could put them up for ourselves.″

″Nah, but if we ever do move to a neighborhood, we should think about it.″

Ben tensed slightly before continuing to get the fire going, but Ray saw it. ″What? Did I say something wrong?″

″Not wrong, no.″ Ben put the guard back in place. He stood up and sat down on the sofa.

Ray wasn’t convinced. ″Don’t give me that. What did I say?″

″It’s just you mentioned moving to a neighborhood. Is that what you would like for us to eventually do?″

Relieved, Ray smirked before he sat down beside Ben. ″You mean move to a place where our neighbors aren’t bears, moose and badgers?″

Despite Ray’s teasing, Ben still wore a serious expression. ″Yes.″

Surprised, Ray pulled back slightly. He had to nip Ben’s doubt of his dedication to their building their life together in the woods in the bud. ″I was just jabbering, Ben. I do that sometimes. I love this place. More importantly, you love it. You wouldn’t be happy in some neighborhood where the people live on top of one another.″

″But if you wanted that, I could stand it.″

Ray took his hand in his own. ″I don’t want that.″

″You’re sure?″

Ray squeezed his hand to emphasize his point. ″I am.″ He leaned in and kissed him to put a period to that discussion. When he pulled back, Ben was more relaxed. ″So, you ready for presents yet, Mountie?″

Ben’s eyes sparkled. ″You’re like a big kid.″

″You knew that when you married me. No backing out now.″

″Wouldn’t dream of it.″

″So, who plays Santa’s elf? You or me?″

″I’ll do it.″ Ben kissed him briefly, stood up and then went to the tree to sort through the presents. He brought over a small stack for Ray and another for himself. Ray only knew what he’d gotten Ben, but he really had no idea what Ben had for him. Ben held out what was obviously a shirt box. ″This one first.″

Ray took it and ripped open the paper. He didn’t miss the little grin on his partner’s face. Despite his tuts, Ben got a kick out of Ray tearing into things. Inside the box was a dark royal blue cardigan. Ray lifted it from the box and then stood to try it on. It just fit and he ran his hand over the surface. ″It’s so soft.″

″It’s fine merino wool. One of the receptionists is a knitter. I gave her the pattern and she made it.″

″She did a great job. I love it.″

″It suits you.″

″It does. Thank you.″

Ray kept the sweater on. He imagined he’d be wearing it a lot. Just in the short time he’d had it on, he already felt warmer. He handed Ben one of the packages. ″Speaking of wool. Open this.″

Ben did as he was told and pulled out three pairs of hand knit wool socks. They were all solid colors, red, gray and blue. ″They’re lovely.″

″Cheri’s mom knits as a side gig. I put in an order for solids early enough that she got them done in time for the holiday. Your others were getting worn out and having your big toe stick out before you get a chance to darn it has to be against Mountie regulations or something.″

″Thank you, Ray. They’re wonderfully crafted. It would seem we were both worried about the others comfort.″

″I know your feet get cold.″

″And I know you get cold in general.″

″I’m already warmer. This thing isn’t thick, but it’s really toasty.″

″I’m glad.″

Ray handed him another package. ″Open this one.″

Ben removed the paper carefully and smiled at what it revealed. There was a wooden box with an inlaid picture of a wolf. ″It’s beautiful.″

″I saw you looking at it when we were at the festival back in October.″

″Ah, at Martin Huntsman table. I remember.″ Ben opened the box and inside was a small card. ″What’s this?″

″Part of your present isn’t made yet. I ordered a new work table for your workshop. There should be a picture of what I ordered inside the card.″

Ben checked out the card and grinned. ″This will work nicely.″

″Better than that makeshift thing you made out of bits and pieces. But the wood didn’t come in because of shipping delays. It should be finished by February though.″

″I appreciate it, Ray. It’s something to look forward to.″ Ben then handed Ray an envelope. ″This one is for you.″

Ray smiled when he saw what was inside. ″I can definitely use this.″

″You’re always complaining about how dirty your truck gets.″

″So you got me twenty free car wash/waxes. Works for me. Perfect. Thanks.″

″You’re welcome, Ray. I know how much you love your truck.″

″And a clean truck is a happy truck.″

″Indeed.″

Ray took a deep breath. He knew the next present was the biggie. It was the one he was most worried about. Ray pushed the box closer to Ben. ″I wasn’t sure about this one. If you don’t like it, it’s fine. I just don’t want you to be upset.″

″Why would I be upset?″

″I don’t know if you will be, but just in case, you should know that I won’t be hurt if you don’t like it.″

″Well with a preamble like that, I’m a little concerned.″

″Don’t be. Just open it.″

Ben took time to take off the ribbon before removing the paper. He folded it and put it all aside. Ray bit his lower lip, hoping like hell that Ben wouldn’t get bent out of shape about what he did. When Ben took off the lid, his breath hitched. ″Ray?″

″You like it?″

Ben took out the first framed photo and held it out to stare at it. The image of his mother was one from the scrapbook Buck Frobisher had given them. Ray had it enlarged and any distortion had been corrected by Lenny at Murray’s Camera Shop. Ben’s mother was smiling into the camera, her eyes bright and happy. She was beautiful, absolutely stunning. Ben’s voice choked. ″It’s wonderful, Ray. Why would you think I wouldn’t like a picture of her.″

″Well, I suggested it before and you said maybe later.″

″I did say that, but this is the perfect gift.″ Ben stood up and put the picture on the mantle. He adjusted its position slightly and sat back down. Then he pulled out the second framed photo. His parents were standing together, holding hands and staring into each others eyes with what could only be described as true love. ″Oh, Ray, this is perfect.″ He put the picture next to the one on the mantle and returned to his spot on the sofa.

Ray prompted. ″There’s one more.″

At the bottom of the box wrapped in white tissue paper, there was a framed photo of the two of them, but it was from when they first together in Chicago, when they were work partners, but weren’t married. Ben smiled fondly as he held it up. ″I remember this day. It was Detective Huey’s birthday. You were sitting with your feet on the desk and I was standing behind you next to the file cabinet. But who took the picture and how did you get it?″

″Frannie took it. I asked her if she had any pictures of us from back then and she sent me several, but this one stood out.″

″But we weren’t even together at that point.″

″No, but I wish we had been. I can tell from your expression you weren’t watching the party. You were watching me.″

Ben skin pinked up slightly. ″I was smitten even then but afraid of saying anything.″

″I wish I’d seen this picture. You obviously wanted more than what we had at the time. I might have mustered up the courage to say it for both of us.″

Ben leaned in a kissed him briefly before putting the picture on the other side of the mantle. ″After this Christmas, we need to get our own camera and start taking pictures.″

Ray laughed at how ironic it was that they were on the same track. Ben asked, ″What?″

″I bought one for us when I bought one for Vecchio. It’s in the bedroom.″

″Good.″ As Ben sat down again, he moved all the other things off the sofa between them. ″Starting tomorrow we should make a resolution that we should take more pictures together and start keep a scrapbook.″

Ray agreed. ″We can do that.″

″I know we can.″ As Ray stood up, Ben grabbed his arm. ″We’re not done yet.″

Ray sat back down. ″But the rest of the presents are for Vecchio and the kid tomorrow.″

″There’s one more for you.″ Ben got up and reached under the tree to retrieve a large red envelope that Ray had somehow missed. ″Here.″

Ray took it, unsure of what it could be. ″That wasn’t there earlier.″

″I know. I put it there right before we left for the lights.″

Crafty devil. ″Sneaky.″

″I try. Now open it.″

″What is it?″

″Ray, just open it.″

″Now who’s impatient.″

Before Ben could get too crazy, Ray pulled out some papers. As he read along, he couldn’t believe it. ″What is this? Is this a contract for a new two-car garage?″

″It is.″

″But you said it was too expensive.″

″I did, but with our rental and investment incomes in addition to our jobs, we have the money. As you said before, it’ll increase the value of the property. Plus, we won’t have to clean off our cars in the winter.″

″Which is what I’ve been saying.″

″And I was listening, Ray, but I had to be sure to do the sums first and find a reliable and licensed contractor. There was also the permit situation.″

″Permit situation?″

″I had to apply and have the blueprints approved. I got that done and Herbie Redfeather can start in the spring.″

″Herbie Redfeather. I’ve never heard of him.″

″He’s Ezra’s cousin’s wife’s brother. I did the background check and got recommendations about his other work. He’s reliable and affordable.″

Ray stared at the paper again and back at Ben. ″This is fantastic.″

Ben kept talking like he hadn’t heard Ray’s reaction to such a great gift. ″I know it’s not a present just for you, Ray. I’ll benefit as well, but it’s something you’ve wanted for a while. I’m sorry I resisted so long.″

″It’s a great present for the both of us and I love it. Thank you.″

″You’re welcome.″

″And you win.″

″I win?″

″You kept the best Christmas present secret.″

Ben shook his head. ″I don’t think so. It’s a tie.″ Ben motioned toward the pictures on the mantle. ″I never suspected, not once.″

Ray beamed with pride. ″Then we can call it a tie and we both win.″

″What do we win?″

Ray leaned in with a kiss and gave him his first big hint.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Vecchio came to the door wearing an apron with Elmo and Big Bird on the front. ″Come on in.″

Ray chuckled to himself as he walked past Vecchio. ″Nice outfit.″

″Little Bennie likes it.″

″I can see why. It’s like Elmo’s right in the room saying tickle me.″

″Shut it, Kowalski. It’s Christmas.″

Ben walked in behind Ray carrying the toy box with a big red bow on it. ″So it is. Merry Christmas, Ray.″

Vecchio shut the door behind them. ″Merry Christmas, Benny. Wow, what is that?″

″It’s a gift for Benita.″

″You make that yourself?″

″I did.″

″It’s gorgeous. Beats the cardboard box I’ve been using. Thanks.″

″You’re welcome, Ray. Where should we put it along with the rest of the gifts?″

Vecchio motioned toward a side table in the living room next to the fire place. There was no fire burning and the table had a two-foot plastic tree on it. There was silver garland around it and a few silver balls. It was about the most pitiful thing Ray had ever seen. Charlie Brown’s tree had more pizzaz. But he kept his mouth shut. Instead he arranged all the packages on the table while Ben put the toy box on the floor.

Ray decided to play nice and say what he thought when he first came in the door. ″This place smells like your Mum’s place.″

Vecchio headed back to the kitchen while he talked over his shoulder. ″It should. It’s her recipes I’m using. You guys just put your stuff in the closet.″

As Ben put their coats away, Ray walked over to the table that was already set for three. At least Vecchio had made a bit of an effort for the holiday by using a red tablecloth and some place mats. ″Anything Ben or I can do to help?″

″No, but thanks. I knew Benny would be on time, so everything’s ready except the garlic bread. It should be out in about ten minutes. Want something to drink? I’ve got wine or some soda. There’s tea for Benny.″

Ben stepped up when he heard his name and smiled. ″Tea would be fine for me. Thank you.″

Ray hesitated. After the whiskey incident, he thought he might hold off any drinking for a while. ″I’ll go with the soda.″

″Cola okay?″

″It’s fine.″

Vecchio quickly obliged and got them their drinks. ″Go on, you two, sit and get comfortable.″

As they sat down at the table, Ray realized that it was a lot more quiet than usual. ″So, Little Bennie sleeping?″

″She is. I fed her early. If we’re lucky we’ve got about an hour’s window before she wakes up and decides it’s time for Santa to come. By that time we should be finished eating.″

″Speaking of which, why’d you call and tell us not to bring anything?″

″When I asked you to bring dessert before it was only because I didn’t know if I’d have time to make one. But I did, so you’re off the hook.″

Ben interjected. ″We would’ve been glad to bring something.″

″I know, but this way you didn’t have to. I made it last night.″

Ray had to ask. ″So, what’d you make?″

″Guess.″

″Guess?″

″I’ll give you a hint. What’s the perfect Vecchio dessert?″

Ray thought about the one Christmas he’d spent with the Vecchios. It couldn’t be. ″You made Ma’s Italian Cream Cake?″

Vecchio beamed. ″I did. I started yesterday and finished around two this morning. It turned out pretty good if I do say for myself.″

Ray teased. ″I’ll be the judge of that.″

Vecchio actually laughed and then proceeded to take the bread out of the oven. Ray had to admit it was good to see the man smile. Ever since he’d shown up with the baby a few months earlier, he’d had an exhausted hangdog expression that kind of hurt to see.

After cutting the bread, Vecchio poured himself a big glass of red wine and then stood at the table. ″We’re doing this my Ma’s way. Self-serve. Go dig in and meet back at the table.″

They did as instructed and filled their plates. By the time Ray finished scarfing down his lasagna and bread, he was stuffed. He was even fuller than he had been with Ben’s feast. He sat back, wiped his mouth and rubbed his belly. ″I’ve got to say, if you ever decide to give up opening a clothes store, you could easily make it in the restaurant business. Whitehorse starved for a good Italian place to eat. That was great.″

″Thanks.″ Vecchio finished off is wine and seemed pleased. ″I don’t know about you two, but I don’t think I have room for dessert. Why don’t we wait on that?″

Ben nodded. ″I second that opinion.″

Surprising, they both looked at Ray and he shrugged. ″I’ll third the opinion. I’ll admit that I’m pretty full to the brim.″

Ben grinned and teased. ″Not even one little spot saved?″

″Not this time, nope.″

Vecchio gave his two cents. ″Must have been that second helping.″

Sheepishly, Ray confessed. ″That might have been a little over the top, but it was worth it. I haven’t had lasagna like this since I was last at your mum’s.″

Vecchio filled his glass with more wine and sat back. He raised his glass in a toast. ″To Ma’s cooking.″

Both Ben and Ray lifted their perspective drinking vessels to join him. Afterward Ben asked, ″How is your business licensing process going, Ray?″

Vecchio put his glass down and leaned forward against the table, suddenly serious again. ″I got the business license. It came through about mid-December. I’m waiting for the real estate guy to get back to me on a storefront I want to rent. If I can get that contract signed, then I can start looking at hiring a contractor to make the renovations I need for the store’s layout. Then it’ll come down to ordering stock and hiring a manager, a tailor and some sales staff.″

Ray was impressed. ″It sounds like you know what you’re doing.″

″When it comes to business, I do. There’s a bit of a learning curve doing it here instead of Chicago. Supplies take longer to get here and everything takes longer to finish. Nobody seems to be in a hurry but me. But it’ll get done. My target date for opening the store is the end or March, early April. As we get closer, it’ll be easier to make adjustments.″

Ben asked, ″Are you going to put Benita in daycare or have a nanny?″

Vecchio sat us straighter. ″No daycare. I’m still looking for a good nanny. I’ve got a couple of reliable babysitters, but I really need to find someone full time. I’ll be working some pretty long hours in the beginning, but I’m hoping with the right manager and staff, I can just put in normal hours once we’re up and running. I don’t want to spend day and night at work and not have time for Little Bennie. What’s the point of that?″

None that Ray could see. ″You know I could ask around about someone looking for a nanny position.″

″I’d appreciate that.″

Ben added. ″I’ll do the same. If I get any names, I’ll pass them on to you.″

″Thanks, Benny.″

A cry came from the nursery. Benita was awake and kicking, ready to get changed and then have her first Christmas in Whitehorse. ″That’s my cue, guys. I’ll be back in a little while to clean up.″

Ben shook his head. ″Don’t worry, Ray. We’ll do that.″

″You sure?″

Ben glanced over at Ray who nodded in agreement before he answered. ″I’m sure.″

As soon as Vecchio left the room, Ray and Ben worked as a team to clean up the kitchen and put away the leftovers. Ben did the washing and Ray the drying. Standing at the sink, Ray complained. ″He needs an electric dishwasher.″

″Well, we’re his landlords, Ray, so if he gets one, we’ll be paying for it.″

″In that case, keep washing.″

Ben chuckled rather smugly. ″I thought so.″

″Listen, when we get a dishwasher, he can have one.″

″Then it’ll be a while.″

Ray laughed. ″I thought so.″

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Benita lay on a thick pink blanket in front of the sofa surrounded by new plush toys. There were a fox, polar bear and an ostrich. Vecchio laughed. ″One of these things is not like the others. An ostrich?″

Ray defended his choice. ″It’s cute and she likes things with long necks so she can grab ‘em.″

Vecchio nodded and agreed. ″That’s true.″

On top of all her toys, Benita has raked in three new outfits, little dresses, two packs of sleepers and a case of diapers. There were also three new books. ″Thanks. You guys didn’t have to buy her all that.″

Ray hated to explain himself to Vecchio, but he confessed. ″It was actually kind of fun looking for all that stuff. Who knew they had so many options for little girls?″

″She’s got you wrapped around her little finger.″

Ray couldn’t deny it. ″Yeah, she sort of does.″

Ben spoke next. ″Now it’s time for the grown up presents.″ He handed Vecchio the two boxes they’d brought. ″Here.″

Vecchio took his time and opened first one. He chuckled and lifted the camera up. ″This is great. I needed this. I’ve been thinking about getting one.″

Ray explained. ″We just thought you’d want to make sure you captured the moments, you know?″

″I do, thanks.″ Vecchio opened the next one and laughed when he saw the transistor radio. ″I could’ve used this earlier in the week.″

Ben picked up the box and pointed out some of the special features. ″This particular model has a button where you can listen primarily to all the weather channels in an emergency. You don’t have to tune it to local stations.″

″That’s great, Benny, Kowalski. Thanks.″

Vecchio went to the side table and brought back a big box. ″I didn’t really know what to get, so I just sort of went with my gut. It’s for the both of you.″

Ray was surprised. He really hadn’t expected to get a gift from Vecchio. It just never occurred to him. Sure, he might get something for Ben, but not him. Weird. Ray asked Ben. ″You want to open it?″

Ben instead handed the box to Ray. ″Open it for both of us.″

Ray ripped off the Big Bird paper and opened the mystery box. He wasn’t sure what he was seeing. He pulled it out and the folded thing fell open. It was all different colors, but mainly blue, green, brown and gray, all woven together on a white background in a design Ray had never seen before. It looked like some kind of tribal version of a wolf. It was beautiful and really heavy. ″A blanket.″

Ben spoke quietly. ″An Inuit blanket.″ He spoke to Vecchio. ″Ray, where did you get this?″

″I went to this craft fair back when I first got here. I saw it and thought it looked like you two.″

Ben stood up and took it to hold it up to see the whole thing. ″It’s stunning.″

″So you like it?″

″I do. Thank you.″

Ray had to admit, it was a gorgeous blanket. ″Yeah, what he said. You’ve got good taste.″

″I just wanted to give you two something nice for being good friends while I’ve been starting a new life here. You’ve been there for me and Benita.″

Ben cocked his head to the side. ″It’s what friends do, Ray.″

″I know what’s it’s supposed to be, but that’s not always what is, Benny.″ Vecchio’s voice choked slightly. ″It’s just, I wasn’t in a good place when I first got here. Coming out of Vegas, getting shafted by the feds and the PD, too, well, I just wasn’t in the right head space to appreciate much. Moving here was really kind of a last ditch effort to pull myself together and start a new life. You two helped me do that without having any strings attached.″

Ray took pity on the man. Lord knew he’d been there, too. ″It takes a while to get over being under for so long. Finding out about Little Bennie must have been a kick to the ass, too.″

″It was. Anyway, the blanket is just a token. I knew Benny would like it, but I’m glad you like it, too.″

″Well, I do. It’ll make it a lot cozier during the winter.″

Ben refolded the blanket and put it back in the box. Everyone in the room was aware that men sharing their deepest most personal feelings wasn’t the usual way of things between them. After a short awkward pause, Vecchio stood up and rubbed his hands together. ″Who wants Italian Cream cake?″

Ray couldn’t say yes fast enough.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Ben was super quiet on the way home, too quiet. Walking inside the door, Ray gave it long enough to get inside, get the coffee and tea started and to hang up their coats. ″So, you want to talk about what’s bugging you yet?″

As Ben put the gift box on the sofa and then started the fire. He at least didn’t pretend not to know what Ray was talking about. ″I’m just thinking, perhaps too much.″

″Nothing new there.″

Ben put the screen in place. But then instead of coming over to the table, he opened the box and took out the blanket. It was large so he put it over the back of the sofa and over the seat, too. He smoothed it into place. ″Ray has no idea what the significance of this blanket is, Ray.″

Vecchio wasn’t the only one. ″What kind of significance are we talking about?″

″In aboriginal culture the blanket is symbolic. As you can imagine living in such cold climates, a blanket is a prized possession. One gives or receives them on special occasions. They’re given at weddings, birthdays and when someone does something like go on a first hunt or with the birth of a new baby.″

Ray was beginning to get the picture or so he thought. ″So, this blanket has some kind of symbolism attached to it?″

″It’s a union blanket. The wolf pattern is for protection.″

″So Vecchio did good, huh?″

That brought Ben’s head up and he smiled his megawatt smile, the one that went straight to Ray’s heart. ″Indeed he did, Ray. This isn’t a new blanket, either. I have no idea why it was on sale at the festival. These are rarely sold outside the tribe.″

″Well, that’s strange.″

″It is, but I’ve found that in this world, strange things happen.″

″Hell, getting a used blanket for Christmas isn’t even close to strange in the long list of bizarro stuff we’ve had happen. Think performance arsonists, terrorists armed with thermonuclear devices and voodoo curses just to name a few. Am I right or am I right?″

″Well, when you put it like that, Ray, you are, indeed, quite right.″

″Good. Now turn the lights on the tree and get over here for some tea. I’m having coffee. We need to toast the last hour of Christmas day.″

Ben did as he was told and came over to sit down just as Ray handed him his mug of tea. ″I’m sorry we got home so late.″

″Not your problem. I could’ve said no when Vecchio asked you to help him fix the backdoor and do all that handyman stuff. Besides, it gave me a chance to play with Benita.″

As Ben sipped and then nursed his drink, he spoke softly. ″Have you ever thought about us having a child?″

Ray sighed as he waited for his coffee to finish. It was finally time for the big discussion he’d been avoiding since Vecchio came to town with a baby in tow. ″It doesn’t suit our lifestyle.″

″But you seem to have such an affinity for Benita.″

It was time to fess up and come clean. ″I love her, Ben. I can’t say when I first realized she stole my heart, but she has. Vecchio is one lucky son of a bitch.″

″Then you do want to have child?″

″No, I don’t.″

″I don’t understand.″

Ray pulled out a chair and sat down next to Ben. ″Just because I love a little girl doesn’t mean that I want that responsibility full time. We’re both workers, Ben. We live for our jobs because we love what we do. It takes nearly all our time and energy. If we had a child, at least one of us would have to give that up.″

″Not necessarily. We could share the burden.″

″But it shouldn’t be a burden. Having a kid is a gift. But I know myself and I can be a selfish prick. As much as I’d love raising a child, I’d come to resent not having a career. I really don’t know how people do it, raise a child and do their jobs, too.″

″People do it all the time.″

″Maybe, but we’re not most people. We don’t live or work like most people.″

Ray studied Ben’s worried expression carefully and asked the question he should’ve asked first. ″What about you? Do you want a child?″

″I do if you do.″

″Wrong answer.″

Ben frowned. ″Why is that the wrong answer?″

″Wanting a child should be fundamental. It’s something you want deep inside. Is that what you feel, Ben? Do you want a child like nobody’s business regardless of what I want? Be honest.″

There was a long pause, but Ben finally answered. ″No. That’s not saying I wouldn’t grow to feel that way if it’s something you truly wanted.″

″It’s not. Sure, if something happened and we needed to take in a kid, I’d do it. I’m just saying that right now I’m happy to help out Vecchio and then come home where it’s quiet and all I have to worry about is feeding the wolf.″

Ben took a moment before he asked one more time for reassurance. ″You’re sure?″

″I’m very sure.″

Visibly relaxing, Ben nodded in acceptance. ″All right then.″ His partner reached over and caressed Ray’s face. ″I think I’d like to go to bed now and celebrate the last hour of Christmas together.″

Ray saw the growing heat in his lover’s eyes. ″What do you have in mind, Mountie?″

″Why don’t you come and find out.″

″I like the coming part.″

Ben stood up with a big smile on his face. ″I’ll be sure to make that happen.″

Ray let Ben pull him to his feet. ″Merry Christmas to me then.″

″Merry Christmas to the both of us.″

Ray agreed and knew he’d be remembering the year’s holiday together as the best one yet.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&The End