Page 104 of What a Wolf Wants
Renault finally knocked on the door and Mrs. Osburn answered it. She smiled at Renault. “You’re here. We thought you weren’t coming. Come in. Come in.”
We.Ethan had his gun out but concealed. He heardsomeone coming up behind him and he suspected it was Kroner, but when he looked over his shoulder, he was relieved to see it was Noah, hurrying to join him before he went into the house.
Then their favorite patrolman, Jenkins, and another officer pulled up and hurried to join them.
Renault was so intent on getting through the door that he didn’t see the reinforcements Ethan had called on. Ethan quickly grabbed Mrs. Osburn’s arm and pulled her out of the house to get her out of harm’s way.
One of the officers took Mrs. Osburn back to his patrol car for her safety.
Ethan was using Renault as a shield, figuring if he was involved with Kroner, he could take the risk of getting shot first. All hell broke out then as Kroner started shooting, and despite figuring Renault was in cahoots with him, Ethan dove for him, slamming him to the floor behind a sofa to protect him.
Noah was shooting back at Kroner and so was Officer Jenkins.
Sirens alerted them that Ty had sent more patrol units to help them with their case. Ethan was grateful to him.
Kroner cried out and Ethan was certain he had gotten shot. Ethan motioned for Noah to stay with Renault, who looked surprised that he wasn’t allowed to help out further. “I’ve got this,” Renault said.
“You just stay here with me,” Noah said.
Then Ethan and the patrolman moved to take Kroner into custody. He was gasping for air, and it appeared he’dtaken a bullet in a lung. Ethan called for an ambulance while the patrolman secured Kroner’s weapons.
“Renault is just as dirty as the rest of your friends,” Kroner said to Ethan, his voice coming out in gasps. He was so angry that his face was chili-pepper red.
“Hell, that’s not so,” Renault shouted from where he was standing with Noah.
As soon as Ethan read Kroner his rights, the EMTs arrived, and the patrolman and his partner provided security as they took him to the hospital.
What they were unprepared for was to hear someone in a back room, and Ethan hurried back there to learn who was in the room. What surprised him was to find Clara Snyder hiding in a bedroom closet.
“You can come out now,” Ethan said. She hadn’t been tied up or beaten. She looked like she was there of her own free will. He suspected she was just as guilty as everyone else they had arrested. “We’re taking you in for questioning.”
They were also taking Mrs. Osburn. But when he hauled Clara outside, he found a tearful Mrs. Osburn. And his beautiful mate, Charlene, was speaking with her. Since Charlene had been a homicide detective, she knew how to interview a person.
“She was Kroner’s hostage,” Charlene said to Ethan.
“But you knew Renault,” Ethan said to Mrs. Osburn.
“Yes. He has seen Kroner any number of times. I know my grandnephew was involved in some shady business dealings, but he was always good to me. Oakley took me to church sometimes and he would take me out to have a nicelunch afterward. Kroner was a bad influence on Oakley. He always has been. I tried to get Oakley to make new friends, but Kroner is…just persuasive in an evil way.” Mrs. Osburn wiped away tears. She saw Clara coming out of the house and Mrs. Osburn pointed to her. “She’s the one in charge. She’ll pretend like she’s a sweet old lady, but she’s the mastermind behind it all.”
“How do you know this?” Ethan asked, surprised.
“I’ve got recordings of lots of their meetings.”
Ethan couldn’t believe it. Here he’d thought Mrs. Osburn was either a sweet old lady or involved in a cover-up with her grandnephew. But in retrospect, she had been gathering intel for them just when they needed it.
“It shows Kroner threatening me if Oakley didn’t do what he said, so it’s all yours now that you’ve caught the bastard. Just don’t let him go again. And that woman?” Mrs. Osburn said, pointing at Clara Snyder. “She pulled all the strings. Look at her now, pretending to be so innocent. She was never a schoolteacher. She has been involved in all this for years. Her husband used to run things, and when he was shot, she took over the business. Renault was the sneaky one though. The other bad cops and DEA agents never knew he was working for Kroner. When I was participating in sewing circles or bingo nights with my friends, Oakley would have his meetings with Kroner, Renault, and Clara. That’s when I began recording them to see what they were up to.”
Ty ended up at the scene and Ethan said to him, “Agent Renault Green and Clara Snyder are under arrest. Kroner is on his way to the hospital. Mrs. Osburn has some informationto help us with the investigation.”
But Ty was glancing at Renault like he couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah, apparently Renault wanted a piece of the criminal action like Agents Ryerson and Cohen,” Ethan said.
With all the bad guys and the woman in charge in custody, Ethan needed to interrogate everyone at the police station. He said to Ty, “Can you have a couple of guys watch Charlene and her place until I can return after interrogating everyone?”
“Yeah, I sure will.”
“Thanks.” Ethan called his boss then and filled him in on the details.
