It was a curious question. The ranger had never told the sergeant the pack’s secret, and the sergeant had never asked. But now, it was obvious that the man had his suspicions, possibly like other people in Redstone.

Garrett shook his head. “No. I don’t think you do.”

Sergeant Martin let out a sigh. “All right, but what are we going to do now? If other people start losing animals, they’ll expect something to be done about it.”

“You take care of the people in town and leave the forest to me.”

The sergeant nodded.

Just then their attention was caught by Ernie’s flashlight as he panned his beam past them and into the forest.

“What are you doing?” the sergeant asked.

“They’re still out there,” he answered. “And I’m going to find ’em. And when I find ’em, I’m going to kill ’em.”

The two men walked over to where Ernie stood, his shotgun raised waist high and his finger clearly on the trigger.

“Nobody’s going to be killing anything,” said the sergeant, putting a hand on the barrel of Ernie’s gun and guiding it safely toward the ground.

“But they’re in the forest. I know it,” Ernie said.

“They might be,” said the ranger. “But all you’re going to do is get yourself killed, wandering through the forest in the middle of the night.”

“You saying you’re going to let ’em get away with it?”

The ranger shook his head. “No one’s getting away with anything. But you know as well as anyone that if you live up on the mountain with wild animals, every once in a while things like this are going to happen.” There’d been many times the ranger had been called into Redstone to wrangle a mountain lion or bear that had wandered down main street, or was napping in the school yard behind Redstone Elementary.

“But they killed Jaeger!” Ernie shouted. He stood there a moment—his body shaking uncontrollably—until he suddenly broke down and cried.

Garrett placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “We know how much he meant to you and we’re sorry. But killing a wolf won’t make things right. We’ve got to track the animals, trap them, and relocate them—maybe north, maybe east. It’s going to take some time, so you’ll just have to be patient.”

They guided Ernie back to the cabin.

“And, in the meantime,” said the sergeant, “no hunting wolves.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

“That’s not good enough…You have to promise me that you won’t be heading out into the forest.”

“All right, I promise.”

Satisfied that the old man was calm enough to be left alone, Garrett and the sergeant prepared to leave. But before they did, Garrett asked Ernie, “Would you like me to take Jaeger’s body away for you?”