Running Wild

Private I

Lila stood and turned to face him, smiling.

“Good evening, Mr. Schmidt. I was just telling my partners about our run-in this morn-ing...” she trailed off, noticing that he was now in a navy suit, tailored to perfection around his muscular frame; his beard was trimmed short and hair brushed and in a half-pony, the silky waves falling just past his shoulders. He smiled gently at her as she starred.

“Glad to meet you, sir!” Drew chimed in, closing the database before standing and extending a hand for a handshake. Tobias returned the handshake, nodding once to acknowledge Drew.

“Please, Tobias is fine, gentlemen,” he spoke as his hand left the handshake and returned to his pocket. He turned his attention back to Lila. “Actually, Detective Himmel, I’m here on police business. At least, I’m hoping you can help me.”

Lila stepped back to her desk and motioned for him to take the seat adjacent to her. She sat down, pulled a small notebook from her breast pocket and grabbed a pen. She felt him watching her, but his eyes returned to meet hers when she looked over at him. “I will certainly try. What can I do for you Mr.—Tobias,” she caught herself.

“I’m afraid seven of my cattle have gone missing. I would say eight, but the eighth one was left behind and rather..” he paused as if considering his next words. She paused from her shorthand and looked up at him. “Torn to shreds.”

Lila raised a brow, but wrote that down in quotes on the notepad.

“You mean like a wolf got to it?” Jacob inquired. Only now did Lila realize that there’s a buzz around the office and it seemed people recognized who she was talking to.

“Something of that nature, yes,” Tobias responded, shifting in his seat. He crossed his legs at the knee and settled up against the back of the chair. Lila realized she hadn’t introduced Jacob yet.

“My apologies... this is Jacob, my partner. If you would like me to take care of your case, I’m afraid we’re a package deal,” she mocked Jacob gently and he rolled his eyes at her. Tobias must have caught onto the negativity in your voice; he rose from his seat suddenly.

“Good to meet you, Jacob. May I see the captain, please?” Lila gave him a nod, but had a confused expression. Drew recognized her look and helped her out by showing Tobias to the Captain’s office. The door shut behind Drew as he walked back to his desk and Lila leaned back in her chair, waiting.

A few minutes go by and Tobias emerges from the captain’s office. She watched as he shook hands with the captain and then head out the doors to the street. Peering out a window, she noticed a car had been waiting for him out front. He slides in to the silver luxury car, and it pulled away from the curb.

“Himmel! With me!” the captain’s voice boomed from the other end of the room. Lila jumped to her feet and hurried back to the office. Closing the door gently behind her, she stood in front of his desk.

“Yes, Captain?”

“Mr. Schmidt would like you take care of his cattle poachers personally. Considering his high station, he can’t have a team of police on his personal property without raising too many questions from the media. Jacob will be your Q, but you will handle the field work yourself. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” She shifted her weight on her feet.

“Good. Now... grab your gear and get to his farm. He’s left his address and cell number for you,” he slid a card across the desk towards her. “Someone in his... position wants to work with some level of privacy. So, if there’s information you don’t need to share, I don’t want it written anywhere.

“Sir?” He looked up from his paperwork, slightly annoyed as Lila grabbed the card.

“Is there a problem, Detective?”

“No, Sir. Simply clarifying that you want me to bend the rules on this one?” He leaned back in his chair, sighed lightly and set his glasses down. He had always been tough on Lila, but she knew it was just his way of building her up as not many women tended to be police in the county.

“Lila, you’re a great cop. Ultimately, I'm surprised he asked for you specifically, but he’s good friends with the Mayor and I knew his father... So, I guess I'm using you as a surrogate to return a favor. Understood?”

She was a little torn, but she knew how to work around things and still keep it legal. He had taught her well. She weighed the odds quickly, but ultimately nodded, looking down at the card.

“Yes, sir.”

He smiled lightly and shooed her out of the office with a few quick waves of his hand. She stepped out of the office and could feel most people in the precinct staring at her, including Drew and Jacob. She hurried back over to her desk and started to grab her gear. Jacob rose, pulling his gun from his desk, but she shook her head and motioned for him to sit back down. “Mr. Schmidt has asked for me to handle the case alone. I’ll need you here in case I need information, but I'll be doing the field work alone.”

“You’re not really leaving me with him alone, are you?” Drew pipped up. Lila laughed and put her gun in its holster and pinned on her badge.

“You can take care of him for me, can’t ya Drew?” She stepped over and lovingly hit him on the arm. Slinging her pack over her shoulder, she headed towards the door, despite the protests between the boys behind her.

--

About an hour later, she stood at the entrance to the beautiful farmhouse. She glanced down at the card again just to make sure it was the right spot; which she thought was odd because she had only been there earlier that same day. She then realized how nervous she was. Why? Because he was now as incredibly attractive as she had thought he’d be? She blushed. ‘Thank goodness it’s dark...’ she thought. She stepped up to the door and knocked firmly a few times. There was no response after some time, so she stepped back and called, “Mr. Schmidt? Detective Himmel calling!”

“Oh good, you’re here.”

A low voice came from behind Lila and she turned quickly, her hand instinctually landing on her gun. It was just Tobias and he raised his hands in mock surrender, a smirk on his face. “Don’t shoot, I live here,” he teased.

“Sorry Mr. Schmidt. Habit, I’m afraid,” she admitted, removing her hand from the handle and settled her hands on her hips. She started to walk down the stairs to him and stood next to him.

“Well then... I best not be sneaking up on you, shall I?” He chuckled lightly and she swore she saw his amber eyes glimmer in the dim lights cast from the porch. His face tuned a bit more serious as he grabbed a flashlight and started walking towards the heard. Lila took out her own flashlight and followed behind. There were a few moments of silence as they headed towards the field, then Tobias spoke up. “I’m sure the captain explained that someone in my position needs a certain level of privacy?”

“He made it very clear, sir.”

He stopped walking for a moment. “Tobias, please. When I hear ‘sir’, I'm reminded of my father.” His hand landed on the latch of the gate and opened it up for her. She nodded, agreeing, and pulled her camera from her bag. He led her to the cow and she started photographing everything. “I left it as I found it.”

Lila approached the carcass and knelt down to get a better look. She put on some gloves and lifted some torn pieces of flesh, her brow furrowing. She stood back up and slung the camera over her shoulder, before taking out her notebook again, writing her findings. “I’m not sure it was a wolf. Whatever did this.... it was much larger and much more powerful.” She resumed taking photographs and Tobias remained oddly quiet as he stared at the carcass. “Have you seen any bears on your property, Tobias?”

When he didn’t respond, she looked up to see an angry expression across his face and tension in his shoulders. She raised a brow at him. “I’m sorry detective. I have some phone calls to make. I’ll have my assistant come out and answer any questions you may have.” He handed her the flashlight and took off towards the house at a quickened pace.

Returning her attention to the carcass, she kept photographing and looking for any clues that could lead her to the culprit. When she heard heavy footsteps approaching, she turned to see Tobias’ assistant. The large man stood about 6’5” and was built like a brick wall. The scars across his face piqued her curiosity, but he smiled and introduced himself.

“Good evening, Detective. Mr. Schmidt said you may need me. My name is Luke.”

“Good evening, Luke. I’m Lila. And as this moment, I'm just looking around for more information. Have you seen any bears on the property?” As she asked, she noticed some tracks by the fence line that didn’t quite look like bear prints. Inquisitively, she bent down and took a few photographs.

“Can’t say that I have, Miss. Not wolves then? Hmm.” He didn’t seem entirely convinced.

“This was something bigger and stronger. We’ve been getting reports of bears getting more ballsy and coming to residential areas, so I’m just trying to figure out if those line up with any of the damage done to the cattle. Any idea where they’re getting in?” He looked around and pointed along the fence line.

“Perhaps somewhere along the line? Maybe there’s some loose boards and their getting the cattle out that way?” She stood up and they walked over to the fence. Considering how large the property was, it could take a while to find anything. Luke seemed to think the same thing and headed off towards the other side of the field, looking with his own light.

After a while, it’s clear she wasn’t going to find anything on her line of fence. So, she returned to the remains and wait for Luke.

“Down here, miss!” he calls. Lila spun and saw his flashlight a few hundred meters away. She grabbed her pack and jogged over to him. He shined his light on the fence as she approached, and she saw what he meant. There are some scratches and fur on the top plank of the fence. She snapped a photo of it and placed the fur in a bag. I was a dark brown, almost charcoal color and she wasn’t able to tell what kind of fur it was in the light of the flashlight so she would have to check back at the lab.

Luke’s phone buzzed and he answered it, looking over at Lila. “Mr. Schmidt would like you back at the house.”

“But I haven’t finished--”

“He says now, miss.”

Clearly annoyed, Lila turned and then remembered what her captain had said. She pocketed the evidence bag, taking a deep breath to let the annoyance go, and followed Luke back up to the house.

When the porch was clearly in view, Tobias stood from his chair next to the table on the patio. He had changed into some dark jeans and a t-shirt; much more casual than the suit from before, but still as handsome as ever. “Thank you, Luke. That will be all.” Luke nods and headed into the house. Tobias gestured to the seat across from him for Lila to sit. “Please, Detective, sit.”

She sat in the aforementioned chair and set her camera and evidence bag down on the wooden deck next to her. “I wasn’t able to finish Tobias. I'd like to--”

“I understand, Detective. I apologize for the interruption. But perhaps coming back during the day would be better.”

“I-- yes sir.”

“Please, Lila. Call me Tobias.”

“All right, Tobias,” she surrendered. “How about I come by on my way to work? Will you be here or at your family’s company?” The smile on his face fell as soon as she mentioned the company and she instantly wished she could take it back. It seemed like there was more to the story there, but not really her place to question.

“I’ll be where I'm needed, Detective,” he said, shortly. “You can text me when you’ll be arriving. Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?”

“No, I’m sorry. I’ll be here tomorrow, thank you.”

“Until tomorrow then, detective. Good night.” Luke reappeared on the porch behind Tobias. Lila scooped up her gear and headed back towards the squad car. As she opened the door to get in, she heard Luke and Tobias talking in hushed voices. She strained to hear, but the only word she could pick out was “pack”.

Lila’s phone lit up in the passengers seat next to her: her best friend Millie was calling. She reached over and placed Millie on speaker.

“How’s work, boss?” She asked. She was clearly eating her after dinner snacks, while inevitably watching some drama show. Lila gave a relieved laugh.

“Girl… you have no idea how today has been…” Lila shifted the car into reverse and turned around to head back down the winding driveway. There was barely a pause on Millie’s end before she spoke again.

“Tell me all about it!” Lila knew she could always count on Mil for support and an ear to bend. She told her about her jog this morning, about the interaction at the precinct, and the time at the farm, skipping details about the case since it was still an on-going investigation.

“So let me get this straight,” she said. “You run into messy man in the morning, cleaned up, extremely HOT billionaire bachelor later, and now you’re LEAVING his house before any real fun stuff could happen?!” Lila rolled her eyes.

“You know I can’t do that on the clock, let alone let a victim and personal life clash.”

“You don’t seem to understand: BILLIONAIRE. BACHELOR,” she practically shouted. “After everything you’ve been through, you deserve to have someone who can take you places at the drop of a hat. And maybe your best friend too.” She said nonchalantly. Lila laughed out loud. She had been through a lot in her life, but she never wanted to date for money, she wanted to date for love.

“I know I need to see the world, but you know I don’t date because of deep pockets, Mil.”

“Too bad. I do!” She laughed, joking. “But seriously. All jokes aside. Why don’t you slip him your number when the case is done? You’re obviously attracted.”

“Maybe…” Lila trailed off as her mind drifted to his silky hair, dashing grin, strong, muscular frame…

“Lila!” Millie shouted. Lila shook her head abruptly. “Stop day dreaming about Mr. Perfect and let’s discuss this last episode…” The two of them went on chatting about their favorite show and latest episode while Lila drove back to the city.