Page 2 of His Undercover Wolf

We all laughed although Ishaan spoke the truth.

“Bennett’s father was a politician, Senator Owen Bennett. He and his wife, Krylee, retired to Florida two years ago. Bennett was an only child.”

“Wait…Is Xavier the grandson of Wilfred Bennett, a past vice president?” Ophelia asked.

I nodded. “One and the same. Apparently Bennett has a brilliant mind for electronics with no interest in following the family legacy and entering politicians. Their thinking is ‘worlds apart’ which is where the company name came from. He always had an interest in electronics and wanted to develop gadgets to help those who were disabled. According to an article in The Langer Falls Herald, who ran an article on him being one of the youngest and most successful business owners in the United States, he was determined to make his own success.”

“What about Groves?” Declan inquired.

“He’s interesting…Groves initially grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. At the age of twelve, he found himself in the system after his father murdered his mother and two sisters. The father went to prison for life and died in a prison fight three years ago. The family Groves went to live with recognized he was highly intelligent and although they were comfortably off, they weren’t able to afford somewhere like Cromer, but they were determined to give the boy a chance in life after having suffered so much and applied to have him tested by the Cromer entrance committee. He passed all subjects with an average of ninety-eight percent and was offered a full scholarship. That scholarship included uniforms, books, excursions, everything for the remaining six years of his education. According to initial investigations, the boys struck up a friendship almost immediately and it has endured to this day.”

The team scribbled a few things I’d said in their small notebooks but so far I hadn’t said anything referring to a crime.

“Neither man is married.” Knowing that piece of information about Bennett gave me a great deal of satisfaction but I was puzzled about the reason why, set it aside to consider later, and moved things along.

“Groves is known to have spent time with Maria Aladrotti during the past week…interesting.”

The Aladrotti family were a mafia crime gang and to date, the serious crime squad hadn’t been able to gather enough evidence to put them away. The fact a number of witnesses had disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again, hadn’t made their job easy.

“Why would Groves associate with the daughter of a mafia family knowing it could have serious ramifications for his best friend’s company?” I mused.

“If there is crime connected with the company, Groves is beginning to look like a prime suspect,” Ophelia stated.

“I agree,” Hunter nodded.

I wasn’t convinced and trusted Landon when he said Groves wasn’t involved. “Moving on…According to this outline, a device women can clip on their clothing that emits a siren type sound, and immediately connects with 911 when the end is tugged on, was released almost ten years ago and is when things started to change as far as the company was concerned.”

“The Matilda Personal Alarm,” Elouise informed.

“That’s right. The interest of officials was snagged when the company’s stock shot up by six percent, thirty days before the product was due to hit the market. One week after Matilda’s release, the stock was sold off and those involved made a fortune.”

“That’s not unusual,” Ishaan argued. “When companies announce something new and in this case, innovative, their stocks always rise and then fall after release when there is sell off. It’s what speculators do; they are constantly watching the market.”

“You’re right but in this case, it was five days after the stock spiked before the company put out a formal release date for Matilda.”

“Insider trading. My money’s on Groves, especially knowing his connection with the mafia family,” Declan said pointedly.

I shook my head. “Why? What reason could he have to betray his best friend and jeopardize his position at the company? It doesn’t make sense, but then, it’s not the first time something in a case doesn’t add up and it won’t be the last. It doesn’t matter how many years’ experience I have in this job, or how many cases I work, there is always a curve ball.”

We spent the next hour discussing some of the idiosyncrasies of executive staff at the company until the late hour demanded we call it a day.

Ophelia and Declan ran off copies of everything in the file for each member to study before we met again the following morning and they left to head home.

After the team left, I did one final check of my email before turning off the computer, and grabbing my folder, purse, and car keys. I crossed the squad room and poked my head into Landon’s office. He was seated at his desk, a deep frown on his face, his eyes fixed on the computer screen. When he sensed I was there, he waved me inside.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“I hope not, but not sure yet.”

Landon’s cryptic answer had me frowning. “Okay. I’m heading home, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Have a good night. Thanks for your hard work on the Fitcher case.”

I nodded and left the station, climbed into my car, and started on the ten-minute drive home. My skin was crawling with anxiety and when I peered up at the sky, it was to see the expected full moon.

Chapter Two

Xavier

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