Page 55 of What a Wolf Wants
“I can’t believe it either. But hell, he’s known about all the missions I’ve been on.”
“He was with you on the mission when you raided Charlene’s house. You caught two of the guys. If Renault had been a mole, he would have made sure that both Kroner and Benny weren’t caught,” Noah said.
“I know. That’s puzzling. Then again, Benny was new to the gang and Kroner still was released.” Ethan couldn’t believe Renault would be down here on his own, trying to catch these guys. Grainger wouldn’t have sent him without telling Ethan. Ethan planned to just watch the perp’shouse and then share the information with his boss. He sure wouldn’t be knocking at a dangerous perp’s door on his own without a whole backup team. “Why did Renault move from Florida to Oregon?”
“He said he wanted a change of pace. Like me, he was from Florida. His family had broken up when he was a kid and he’d been on his own since he was sixteen. So he worked really hard to finally make his way up the ranks and become a DEA special agent. I just can’t imagine him working with them.” Noah sounded shook up that his friend could be involved with these guys.
“We’ll have to approach this situation with caution. He may not be in league with them.” Even so, Ethan would be wary of Renault until they knew for sure what was going on with him.
“I agree. I would hate to lose a good friendship by accusing him wrongly of being a mole in the department. On the other hand, I’m damn glad I didn’t tell Renault what I was doing and where I would be,” Noah said.
“Yeah, I’m doubly glad for that.”
When there was no further action after two hours of surveillance, they finally went home. “Hey, don’t worry about your buddy. We’ll figure out what’s going on.” Ethan was really concerned about Noah and how he felt about his friend. He didn’t want him worrying about it until they could investigate the matter further and learn the truth.
“Thanks.” Noah sounded appreciative that Ethan genuinely cared how he felt. “In the morning, we’ll be camping near the great-aunt’s house an hour before church, right?”
“Yeah, why don’t you come by and eat breakfast with us in a couple of hours? And then you and I will head out.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, just get some sleep for the next couple of hours and we’ll do this.”
“All right. Thanks.”
“See you in a little bit.” Ethan grabbed his thermos and backpack.
“See you.” Then Noah drove off and Ethan headed into the house.
He left his thermos in the kitchen, his backpack on the table, and headed for the bedroom, eager to rejoin Charlene. He put his gun in the bedside table drawer on his side of the bed, then slipped into bed with her, hoping he wouldn’t wake her, but she quickly pulled him into her arms.
“I treasure being with you. You make every moment special,” he said, kissing her, not having wanted her to stay awake for him, but he would have done the same for her, had their roles been reversed.
“I feel the same way about the time I’ve spent with you. I’ve never trusted or cared for anyone like I care about you.” She caressed his face, her touch loving and gentle, welcome.
“The feeling is mutual. I feel safe with you.”
She chuckled and kissed him. “When I’m not biting you.”
He smiled. “You know I’m falling in love with you.”
“Oh, yeah, you’re definitely making me feel the same way about you.”
He hugged her and nuzzled his face against hers. “We’re having breakfast with Noah in the morning before we go tothe great-aunt’s house to see if we can take Oakley down. We’ll have breakfast at six.”
“Hmm, okay.”
And that was the end of talking for the rest of the morning, knowing they needed to get some sleep so they could function for the next part of their mission. He would tell her about Renault when they woke.
Chapter 15
Charlene was so relieved when Ethan returned to sleep with her. She’d had a devil of a time getting back to sleep after he had left because she missed his comforting cuddles. She was dying to know what he and Noah had seen while they were on surveillance, but she knew they had to sleep too so she had kept the talking to a minimum once Ethan returned to bed.
She woke to find Ethan had already left the bed and was in the kitchen making coffee. She hurried to dress and joined him, hugging and kissing him. “Good morning, you,” she said to him.
“Good morning, honey. So would eggs and ham be all right to fix? I probably need to go to the grocery store and pick up some more groceries. I left the food I had bought at the house for Noah so he would be all set up.”
“That was sweet of you. Eggs and ham for breakfast will be great to have.”
