Page 76 of What a Wolf Wants
Noah was already there checking into the hotel. They smiled at him and joined him at the registration desk. Then they got their key cards and went up to their rooms, not speaking to each other, just in case someone had seen them enter and thought they were with each other. So far, they didn’t believe anyone knew Noah was an undercover agent working with Ethan. They didn’t want anyone to realize that he was.
“Well,” Charlene said, “this is like a honeymoon before the honeymoon.”
Ethan laughed. “I’m glad you can see the positive side of this.”
“Always. It helps me get through the bumps in life.”
He unlocked their door and walked inside with her. The expansive room featured a king-size bed, ocean paintings on the walls, a gas fireplace ready to warm a cold night, and a soaking tub and shower for some sumptuous cuddling and more. The curtains were open, revealing a patio showcasing a view of the ocean, the whitecapped waves rolling onto the sandy beach. Binoculars rested on a table to use for bird-watching, along with lanterns to use while taking sunset walks on the beach. Luxury at its best. Now this was super nice.
They quickly dumped their bags on the carpeted floor, stripped off their clothes, and slipped under the silky beige comforter, sinking into the supersoft mattress. It was so late that they needed to sleep more than anything else. But of course, they couldn’t shut down their inquisitive minds right away.
“What happened during your stakeout?” Charlene asked.
“No one was at Oakley’s house and his great-aunt’s home was quiet too,” Ethan said.
“I guess that’s why you could come to my aid so quickly.”
“Even if they had been at one of the houses, we would have been on our way to rescue you.”
Charlene ran her fingers over Ethan’s chest in a light caress. “Okay, so I’ve been thinking. What if Renault is trulythe mole? Even though he thought you were retired, Kroner still wants you out of the picture. Renault said he sent me the roses because he thought we could start seeing each other and I might move back to Portland. That seems pretty far-fetched to me. Renault didn’t know where you were living because you were staying in a DEA safe house. He learned where I lived, knew we were seeing each other, and came to my house.
“I think he was trying to see me in the event he could connect with you, then tell you all about his stalker. Being the good agent you are, you would have to protect his back. If Renault was working for Kroner, the plan was probably that Thor would kill you, but instead you captured Thor. What if Renault, not Thor, had told Kroner that you had been staying with me? Kroner planned to eliminate you, and me too. That didn’t work out for him either. I might have the scenario all wrong, but what if I’m right?”
“Then I need you to stay with Leidolf and Cassie until I take care of the threat,” Ethan said.
She shook her head. “I know these men mean business. I’ve dealt with their kind before. Sociopaths who kill for killing. I’ve got my rentals to manage, and I live here. It could be months before we take these guys down. I’m not going to hide away at the pack leaders’ ranch for months until that happens.”
He hated to admit that it could even be years. “All right.” This still changed Ethan’s focus. Instead of searching for these guys and trying to bring them in, he was going to have to stay close to home to make sure they didn’t take Charlene hostage or kill her to get back at him.
“We need to let Noah know what your thoughts are on the matter.” Ethan grabbed his phone off the bedside table and called Noah and put it on speakerphone.
Then Charlene explained what she thought might be the case again.
“If that’s the case, I’ll kill Renault myself,” Noah said.
“Yeah, that’s the way I was feeling,” Ethan said.
“I would rather he spend a long time in jail, and he would have to face the people he had helped put behind bars,” Charlene said.
“True,” Ethan agreed. “So we need to know what Renault’s motive would be if he is involved in this business. Money issues? Drug habit? Blackmail of some sort? There has got to be a reason he would make a deal with these thugs, if he has.”
***
Ethan was damn glad that Charlene had been okay when he and Noah came to her rescue, but if Renault was the mole, Ethan had to do a lot of rethinking the situation. “But Renault gave me Agents Manx and Ryerson’s names as possible moles in the DEA.”
“Yeah. I was wondering about that too,” Noah said.
“Right. I had a case like that. A neighbor told us he was passing by a house where the murdered woman lived while he was walking his dog. He gave a description of the vehicle parked nearby that didn’t belong there and then subsequently left. It wasn’t until later in the investigation that I realizedhewas the one who had committed the murder,” Charlene said.
“But he had sent you on a wild-goose chase looking for a mystery car,” Ethan guessed.
“Exactly. What if Renault knew Cohen and Ryerson were taking drug deals but they didn’t know that Renault was involved with Kroner too? The other thing I keep thinking about was Renault knew Noah was coming to Portland, and he would realize Noah wouldn’t like it if he sent flowers to me.”
“You’re damn right,” Noah said. “Only another wolf beat me to it.”
Ethan smiled. He was damn glad he had. “But Renault’s a beta and he also understood Kroner wanted to find me and he had to get that information no matter what.”
“Right. That would mean Renault was more afraid of Kroner than he was of Noah. Which would make sense. Noah might have ended his friendship but—” Charlene said.
