Page 6 of His Undercover Wolf

“They have switched over to warm so they’re both ready,” Hunter informed.

“I’ll have one while you’re there.”

Minutes later a mug of steaming hot coffee was placed in front of me. Ophelia and Hunter set their mugs on my desk, grabbed their files, pulled chairs closer, and sat.

I nodded toward the yellow folders. “What do you think?”

“This has been one fucked up case from the onset,” Hunter grumbled. “Almost fifteen years and the fuckwits at security haven’t got a clue who’s involved.”

“Any suspect?” I questioned, keen to establish Hunter’s direction of thought.

Hunter exchanged a glance with Ophelia. “No doubt…We both reckon it’s Groves.”

“We?”

I’d suspected they had started seeing each other, but neither had said anything and I was waiting for them to come to me with the revelation. It was amazing they hadn’t started something years earlier. The pair had been dancing around each other, and their feelings that would have been obvious to a blind man, because Hunter had been married. The marriage had been a disaster from the start, and even though destined to fail, Ophelia had confided to me that she would not be the cause.

Another glance was exchanged, and Ophelia shrugged. “We’ve started seeing each other now Hunter’s divorce is final. We went over the file together last night.”

“I don’t give a fuck if you are seeing each other outside of work, I’ve been expecting it for some time, but don’t let your relationship affect our cases.”

“Won’t happen, Boss,” Hunter assured which was good enough for me. I trusted every one of my team with my life and never questioned their word.

The rest of the team arrived in quick succession, and I grinned when they each wished me a good morning and made straight for the coffee before joining me at my desk. Once everyone was settled, I got straight down to business.

“You all took a look at the file?”

Each of them gave me their opinion in turn on who they suspected. Groves was the overwhelming favorite with only Ishaan disagreeing with his colleagues. He was convinced it was someone else but wasn’t sure who at that point. I agreed with him.

“Why don’t you think it could be Groves, Otsana?” Elouise asked.

“Bennett and Groves have been as close as brothers for more than two decades. They have done everything together. The initial investigators made a point of saying they both brought the information and their suspicions of insider trading to them on every occasion it occurred.”

“Groves could be cooperating to throw suspicion off his tail,” Hunter argued.

“Possibly, but I honestly don’t believe it’s either of the men. My instincts tell me it’s someone who has been overlooked because they would be the last one we would think could be guilty.”

“Who’ll be our plant?” Ishaan asked.

“Calliope. I’ll speak with her this afternoon. Bennett’s personal assistant—Betty Lowe has resigned. She and her husband have decided to retire and move to Florida. Taking her position will be the ideal cover for Calli.”

My sister-in-law was a beat cop over in Rotoma, north of the city, and suited this case perfectly.

“She’s done some undercover for one of the drug squads…Not Aodhan’s team because it would be a conflict of interest, and she also has a black belt in jiu jitsu. I spoke with the captain about her last evening, and he checked with Chief Ramsey who had no objection despite our being related. Calli is calm under pressure and extremely observant thanks to her work on the streets.”

I didn’t mention my sister-in-law had extremely acute wolf instincts.

After further discussion, the team split off to hit the streets and speak with their informants, and I called Worlds Apart to request a meeting with Xavier Bennett. After a short wait, I assumed while the request went up the food chain, it was granted for 2 pm. While I waited for the time to pass, I made notes on points I wanted to discuss.

Chapter Four

Xavier

A knock sounded at thedoor to my office, turning my attention away from the computer, and I called out, “enter.”

Betty pushed through the door carrying a small brown sack in one hand and her ever-present notebook in the other. I knew without asking the sack contained an almond bear claw sprinkled with extra sugar frosting. It was my absolute favorite pastry. I restricted myself to two each week and added an extra half an hour to my workout those days to make up for having indulged.

Betty crossed to the coffee station, plated the delicacy, and made me a mug of coffee before setting both on my desk. She then sat in the chair opposite me, positioning her notebook and pen in front of her.

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