Page 106 of What a Wolf Wants
Twenty minutes later, they arrived, and Ethan started the steaks while Charlene asked if everyone wanted a margarita.
“Oh, my, yes, dear. As long as I’m not driving home.” Mrs. Osburn took a seat in the living room while Noah worked on making mashed potatoes and Charlene served up the drinks. “So what do you do?”
“Manage house rentals on the coast, but I was a former homicide detective,” Charlene said.
“Oh, me too. Not the house rentals, but I was a former homicide detective in Sacramento, California,” Mrs. Osburn said.
“I’ll be damned,” Ethan said.
Mrs. Osburn smiled. “Everyone thinks I’m just a little old lady who goes to church on Sundays, knits, sews, and plays bingo, but I was a great detective in my time. Just like your sweetheart, I imagine.”
“So what made Oakley take a different path in life?” Ethan asked.
“He liked the thrill of criminal pursuits. He always did. No matter how many times I tried to steer him onto the right path, I just didn’t have any sway like Kroner did,” Mrs. Osburn said.
“And Clara Snyder?”
“Oh, yes. She was a black widow. Some believe another drug lord took out her husband, but I was certain she hadhim eliminated so she could take over the operation herself. My, this drink is really good.”
“Thanks,” Charlene said.
Ethan was so glad things were wrapping up and after dinner, he and Charlene would have their time together. And now he wasn’t going to worry about Kroner or Clara or Renault any longer. His parents’ killers would finally face justice. For that he was grateful, especially since his mate, who he loved with all his heart, had been at his side.
***
Charlene still was shocked to learn not only that Renault was involved like they thought he might have been, but also that Clara Snyder had been the real boss. She was glad to know Mrs. Osburn was a nice lady, one of the good guys, and had provided enough videotaped evidence to prove who had ordered what done and what they had received in payment.
“Didn’t your grandnephew know what your job used to be?” Charlene asked Mrs. Osburn.
“You know kids. They never think us old, retired folks know anything.” Mrs. Osburn smiled. “But old habits die hard and when Oakley began to have meetings with Kroner, Renault, and Clara at the house, I recorded them while I was with my friends.”
“Here we had a secret weapon at the house, and we didn’t even know it,” Ethan said, bringing out the steaks while Charlene made up some salads and Noah served up themashed potatoes and butter.
“I was going to turn them over to the police once Kroner was caught,” Mrs. Osburn said. “I knew he would kill me if he learned I had turned them over and he was still on the loose. Though I had left a note in my will as to where to find them if I died before that happened.”
Charlene was glad Mrs. Osburn had lived to see all her hard work pay off.
When they were done—everyone talking about old cases they had worked on and then thanking Mrs. Osburn for being so instrumental in the case—Noah and Mrs. Osburn said good night and he drove her home.
“Wow, here we thought she might have even been involved in all this,” Charlene said.
“While we kept waffling about Renault.” Ethan finished cleaning the grill while Charlene put the dishes away.
“Now you can retire.”
Ethan smiled, took her hand, and headed to bed. “I sure can. But now my boss is going to have to hire three new DEA agents.”
She gave Ethan a look to say he better not even think of staying on the force any longer.
He laughed and swept her up into his arms and carried her to bed. “This is my new job—maintenance manager of beach houses, and your lover at your beck and call.”
She chuckled and kissed him. “That’s just what I want to hear, because that’s what I want to be for you too.”
Epilogue
Charlene loved Ethan so much and was so glad he was perfectly healed up now. She couldn’t believe that the DEA raiding her rental home in Portland would have led to her finding a wolf she adored and ending up mating. Returning to the Oregon coast where she had loved spending time with her grandfather had given her and Ethan the perfect place to start their own family and their own pack. Though they would think of it as a pack within a pack because they cherished being part of the red wolf pack out of Portland. And their own little family was going to be expanding soon, which she couldn’t have been more thrilled about.
She and he had even managed to move into the new home, rent out the other, add wolf doors to all the rentals and their main home, and decorate them with the photos she and he had taken on the special trips they’d made—during walks on the beaches, while on the whale excursion, viewing the sunsets off the ocean, visiting the iconic shipwreck of thePeter Iredale, and while at the parks in the area.
